Public land

[g8rvet]

. The land I hunt on has many a roads through it so the idea of walking deep is not an option... the farther you get from one road, the closer you get to another.

That is very true in my area too.  It is why I tend to hunt along a river because at least there is a boundary that direction that keeps folks from driving in on ya.  They can always come by boat, but there are less folks that do that. 

[NightHawk24]

Public land is all I hunt. Makes it tough sometimes especially with the added pressure from other hunters

[Paulmyr]

I don't think it is necissarily getting far away from roads as it is using terrain features and private property lines to get away from pressure. In most public places there are areas that are tough to get to. Most people aren't going to climb up that 300 ft ridge to get to the top that is protected by private on the back side. You gotta really want it to go up there. Same for dropping into the valley because you have to climb back out. If you get into these spots it's highly unlikely some Skippy will be walking up to you at 6:30am asking you how it's going. Those are the areas that I look for. As a matter of fact my legs are aching right now from carrying a big old public land Tom this mourning out of an area just like this.

[Brad_Colvin]

I hunt both private and public but the vast majority is public. I actually prefer public because normally I have a lot of room to roam and that's my preferred method to turkey hunt. The private spots I have access to are mostly small, less than 100 acres. They can either be dynamite or quiet as a church mouse. The problem with the small properties is if it ain't happening at daylight it ain't going to happen. On bigger public land I can normally cover enough ground to find one gobbling. Even if I don't find one gobbling I get to see a bunch of new and beautiful ground. I have actually had more negative experiences with other people on the private places I've hunted.

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[Jmbradt3873]

I hunt mostly public also. I have a couple of spots that I have been invited to hunt on private land but they're small areas. I prefer to hunt on public because when the Enduro crowd comes it's easier to move a couple of miles away than it is on private.

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[GobbleNut]

A lot of folks tend to categorize turkey hunting difficulty using "public" or "private" as their baselines.  Simply put, that is flawed reasoning.  Personally, my baselines are the amount of hunting pressure an area receives, whether public or private, and also the turkey densities in the area I am hunting. 

All other things being equal, the factor that most directly affects turkey hunting success (or failure) is the amount of hunting pressure put on any given area whether it be public or private.

That "all other things being equal" factor is the wild card.  Private land hunters have some level of control over things like guys calling to turkeys pre-season, or worse yet, calling at turkeys they see from the road out the window of their vehicle,...or setting up their campsite under the roost tree,...or any number of other "you just made 'em harder to kill" antics. 

[WorkingBirds]

Hunt public land from time to time.

[CALLM2U]

I have a love/hate relationship with public land hunting.   In some states, I love to hunt public land because I can walk all day and rarely run into another hunter.  In others, I despise it tremendously because there are people everywhere and the turkeys are tight lipped.   

This year, getting away from others has been even a bigger challenge than normal. 

[g8rvet]

A lot of folks tend to categorize turkey hunting difficulty using "public" or "private" as their baselines.  Simply put, that is flawed reasoning.  Personally, my baselines are the amount of hunting pressure an area receives, whether public or private, and also the turkey densities in the area I am hunting. 

All other things being equal, the factor that most directly affects turkey hunting success (or failure) is the amount of hunting pressure put on any given area whether it be public or private.

That "all other things being equal" factor is the wild card.  Private land hunters have some level of control over things like guys calling to turkeys pre-season, or worse yet, calling at turkeys they see from the road out the window of their vehicle,...or setting up their campsite under the roost tree,...or any number of other "you just made 'em harder to kill" antics.

Great point.  I was in one lease that was mostly deer hunters and had the run of a 2000 acre club that was mostly river swamp and only 4-5 other hunters and they were only there on weekends.  That was an awesome place.   Was in another lease that was full of turkey hunters and you had to pick a stand location and could only hunt a limited distance from that stand without moving your pin to the new location.  So you pick a stand, the bird gobbles closer to the other stand, you had to leave and hang a pin near that one.  That lease sucked.  They all deer hunted the turkeys.  We crossed over a creek one time and called the bird in and killed him.  You would have thought we kicked their dogs because we did not "check in" to the other spot (no one was there, it was mid week). 

[AppalachianHollers]

That lease sucked.  They all deer hunted the turkeys.  We crossed over a creek one time and called the bird in and killed him.  You would have thought we kicked their dogs because we did not "check in" to the other spot (no one was there, it was mid week).

Provided this kind of idiotic arrangement isn't in place, it seems you can get access to good private land by joining a hunting club as a "spring turkey-only" member for relatively cheap.


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[ElkTurkMan]

90% of my turkey hunting as well as Deer hunting is on public land these days.

[DMTJAGER]

Was blessed beyond measure to have had excellent private turkey land beginning my fifth turkey season and for the next 11 seasons. Now I have a mix of both public and private. Have done extremely well on both and in the last 25 turkey seasons have failed only twice to take a turkey for myself and both times had ample opportunity just messed up. Three seasons ago missed not one Tom but two within one hour of each other due to my rear fiber optic iron sight having come loose and moved.

Was first season I can recall since doing it having NOT patterned my gun prior to season and paid the price. Shot it later that same day and my pattern was impacting 16" high and 6" right. Rear sight was actually damaged some how and I couldn't get it back to zero. I then installed a Leupold VariX-II 2-7x33mm shotgun scope and it works fantastic.

I thoroughly enjoy hunting the public land in my state and fully 1/2 my Toms of the last 15 years came off public land and are now looking to try states public land that border my home state as my sons LOVE turkey hunting and would like to extend thier season and our time hunting together.

[Chordeiles]

Public land is and always will be more difficult to hunt than private. I love the mountains but they are extemely hard to hunt. Game can be scarce and you may have limited oppertunites so better make them count. Make sure you know how to call when hunting turkeys and have scouted a lot preseason. Hiking away from trail heads or roads is time consuming and will wear one down quickly over time. Weather is often unpredictable and combined with difficult terain can take its toll. Being in good shape will make a hunt easier, climbing, lifting weight and cutting wood are some of the prepartations I use to get conditioned. I also shoot year around both shotguns and rifles. Nothing is more depressing than to miss a shot after days of hunting public land.

I am talking about the East not some DIY hunt out West. I have hunted Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico and Canada and they can be difficult. In the East I hunt the Jefferson and George Washington NF about 1.6 million acres. I don't know about all the "heros" on here but hunting can be down right miserable at times. However, success can be sweet.

I seldom find pressured birds on public land I hunt because I hike in very early and through the use of maps, GPS and scouting key in on areas that seldom if ever see a hunter. I do hunt presured birds on private land because of all the neaibors.

Sorry about the long post but what I frequently read on here so often varies from my experience of public land hunting. Its very hard but completly doable. I just never hear about the sweat, blood, blisters, sore muscles, bottles of tylenol, bad weather, days of seeing no game that I have experienced. Maybe I am doing something wrong like setting my goals or standards too high but when success occurs it is sweet and I can just smile at all the folks riding the roads that never really understand what hunting public is all about. I do understand that obligations such as family or work can limit ones time to prepare or even hunt public land but with the current Corona Virus making its impact now is the perfect time to hit public land. This means even if you just pick a trail and start walking. No telling what is around the next bend. So RiverRoost I highly suggest you give it a try.

I hunt the same NF and pretty much agree with everything you've put in this post.
At this point in my life, while I'm still healthy, I wouldn't have it any other way.