Public land advice

[Kenny]

Hello fellas, I'm new on the forum. Name is Kenny and I live in the ozarks in Arkansas. I've been chasing easterns for 27 years. I'm really wanting to go after rios or Merriams next year. I'm just a working man, with two kids, so I don't want to pay guide fees. I do it on public land here, and feel like I can get it done anywhere. I'd really apreciate if I could get pointed in the right direction on a public land hunt for rios or Merriams. Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, colorado, or south Dakota would be feasible to drive for me. I'd like to bring my wife and kids, camp a week, and hunt my and my sons tail off. Hes a turkey nut. Eight years old with a jake and a longbeard to his credit. Thanks in advance for any replys.

[Nick_The_Tinkerer]

 

Im no where near as experienced as yourself...but Im going to say the best way would be to contact the game department of each state, and speak with person, get some info on all public lands and the game bilogist for that areas...then when you do your desktop scouting what ever looks good to you then call the biologist about the area you are interested in...that way you can narrow down a area, heck he may even tell you a better spot.

Good luck and tell us how you do.

[mkretch]

I'm with Nick.  I'm a first year turkey hunter, decided to give it a try this year so I've been doing all the reading and research I can do.  I'll be on public land, being new to this part of Western NC, and one of the things I did was pick a gameland close to home and then go to the state website to find the Wildlife Officer for that county.  I've made several scouting trips to this part of the mountains, and so I gave him a ring last week to verify some 'gray areas' in the rulebook and to ask some general advice. 

Super helpful, very positive, even gave some input on specific areas to target that get less pressure than some I had been scouting.  I'd say it's definitely worth the call- as I've learned with learning to hunt other game in unfamiliar areas, free local advice is always worth the price (as long as the giver has nothing to gain by feeding you BS that is, ha!)

Good luck to you and your family out there!

[Turkeyridge Calls]

What part you hunting I hunt western nc also game land all the way ... Even though I live in peidmont

[mkretch]

Turkeyridge Calls, I'm in Asheville area, hunting Green River gameland.  It's my first turkey season, patterned the new gun and have been scouting weekly since mid February, reading lots of books, etc.  Hoping I can put it all together come opening weekend.

How about you?  Been hunting this area for a while?

[baz77]

Black hills of South Dakota 1 million acres most of it public hunting..

[Turkeyridge Calls]

Yes been hunting western nc for awhile I'm hunting the nantahala game lands ,if you don't mind walking ,and hunting mountains it's pretty rewarding....but always challenging ...good luck to you ...if you ever need a partner just holler at me.