Nebraska turkey hunting

[tracker#1]

Planning a trip out west this spring. Anyone know how the turkey hunting near North Platte Nebraska is ? Or most birds in Nebraska.....

[Hook hanger]

I would go to far north west Nebraska.

[fallhnt]

Not worth going. Nothing to hunt. Stay home.  Lol

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[joey46]

Now that we've got that out of the way my one concern with NE is how much it is discussed.  Got to be a public land circus opening week.  I hope to do an out west trip in 2018 but am looking for a reasonable NE alternative that fits my budget and several other factors.  Thanks for any "real" comments.

[Uncle Nicky]

Now that we've got that out of the way my one concern with NE is how much it is discussed.  Got to be a public land circus opening week.  I hope to do an out west trip in 2018 but am looking for a reasonable NE alternative that fits my budget and several other factors.  Thanks for any "real" comments.

I have hunted in Nebraska a number of times, it's all been positive so far. To answer the OP's question, the North Platte area has a lot of birds, mostly hybrid Rio/Merriams mix. My understanding is the Pine Ridge area holds what would be closest to a "pure" Merriams. I can't speak on public land, every trip out so far has been DIY on private land. Birds seem pretty un-pressured for the most part, compared to what I am used to here in PA.

[Yoder409]

ANYWHERE in NE the early season weather needs to be taken into deep consideration.

You can........... CAN.......... end up in a heap of trouble.........

[HookedonHooks]

I went there this spring and hunted three times killed two birds.... Killed the one bird my first morning there in less than 10 minutes. I hunted a seperate property that evening and returned to the property I had success on in the morning, and killed another in a couple hours there.

Mind you this was private land birds, but there's a plethora of cattle farmers across the whole northern edge of the state that hate turkeys and allow many people to come hunt for free or with a small "trespassers fee". Find a place that has public lands you'd also be interested in hitting on your trip, then hit the local bars looking for prime private land, where these turkeys are simply seen as nuisance, but the plethora makes for easy eradication.

[joey46]

Going to bump this up one more time - Narrowed our on line search for a 2018 Merriam Hunt to two states.  WY and NE.  Tried to contact one long time outfit in N/W NE and haven't even got a response.  Not a good sign.  Am really leaning towards WY.  It appears at first look that the WY tags in the Hulett/Sundance area are over the counter and not real expensive. Any thoughts or suggestions always appreciated.  Thanks.

[turkeyfoot]

One of the prettiest places you will ever hunt is Wy you'll  have ball as long as weather cooperates

[HookedonHooks]

I will also add this, weather wise neither place will be a guarantee, because NE even had snow the last week of season this year, but the safer bet on weather would likely still be in Nebraska. If it was my call I'd say hunt both states, and also hunt South Dakota in between.