Toughest state

[Ozark Ridge Runner]

I won't say that my home state of Missouri is the toughest to hunt because I haven't hunted them all.  But I will say that the gobblers of the deep Ozarks are super difficult to hunt for many reasons.  I hunt some farm country here as well and those birds are not nearly as difficult as the big timber ones.  Those buggers will gobble some mornings and not on others.  They will gobble on the roost and then shut up after fly down.  They will travel long ridges looking for hens and there is no way to get ahead of them short of sprouting wings.  They will set up on small humps of terrain in the timber that there is no way for you to get on without being seen and they will absolutely not come off that hump.  They will circle the call to the point that I will call standing up and then move laterally 40 or 50 yards before setting up to at least give myself a 50/50 chance of being right.  They never roost in the same place two nights in a row.  I'd like to blow em up with dynamite at times.  When you kill one its the best feeling in hunting.  I've been fortunate to do it over 100 times.  I love it.

[Scottyb]

Well, it's been 7 years since I posted this! Thanks for all
Of the great replies. Delaware has had a serious turkey explosion and I no longer feel it's hard to find a bird on most public lands- but their permit and lottery system is still screwy.  I began hunting New Jersey also since I posted. I am starting to add my home state of MD as one of the harder states I've hunted because the birds here are gobbling less, and gobbling less at you. They have started just drumming when responding to a call and it makes it a PIA!! Sc is still by far the hardest place I've hunted though.

[Tomfoolery]

I live in louisiana and i have to say our public land birds are by far the toughest ive hunted. Hunted LA, SD, TX and alabama

[Spitten and drummen]

Homochitto National forest in South West Mississippi . If you can kill birds there consistently , you can kill them anywhere.

[3bailey3]

S and P i would included any government land in Ms.

[MS!48]

I live in the hill country in NE MS. Where it's all rolling hills and timber. And NW AL is the same thing. All my turkeys have come from NE MS and NW AL. I'll be honest though they kick my butt more than I do theirs lol. I will say though we have a lot of turkeys here, and on private land ain't so bad. The few times I've hunted public land made me thankful for private land!


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[EasternGobblerHunter69]

Alabama no doubt. Especially if hunting in rolling hills. Can't get close enough to them on roost without spoiling them cause of limbs and crunching leaves from walking in dark hoping a copperhead or cottonmouth doesn't decide to have a taste of your leg.

[BrowningGuy88]

I'm from Alabama and Ive had guys from West Virginia, Florida, Arkansas, Michigan and Texas hunt with me here and they all said that we had some pretty stubborn birds.

Me too...

We have had a great run with great private land to hunt for many years and we could put people on birds that came to visit, but putting them on birds and them killing those birds are two different things.

I will say this though, I find Mississippi the hardest for me. It's the only other state I have hunted in enough to have an opinion about and I've killed my limit a few times over the years when I had more time to hunt, but bird for bird, I find those birds harder to kill than the ones I hunt in Alabama.

Honestly, I think a lot of it has to do with hunting strategy, the terrain you are hunting, and knowing the area. I can kill every bird I hear on my private land if I have enough time to hunt him, but take me and put me on a place I don't know and my odds go WAY DOWN.

[Kcub205]

Hawaii!!!!

[Southerngobbler]

I lived in New Mexico for 10 years and killed a gobbler the first year I hunted them and one or two every year after that. I thought I knew what I was doing until I moved to N/W FL. The turkey killing ceased immediately. Public land Eastern's. It took me 4 or 5 years to even get one. Now I get one every year but it takes the whole season usually. In NM I would get on in a weekend or two.

[Longbeardfever4ever]

I have hunted SD, NE, KS, PA, and SC. PA was my home state, and while the birds on public could be pretty tough, they loved to gobble. As long as birds are talking it's not too bad.

But I totally agree about SC turkeys being the toughest I have hunted. Just like you said, most of the time they don't gobble till right before flydown. I have managed to strike up a few birds mid morning and had some luck, but off the roost is real tough.

[LaLongbeard]

There's only a few people that have hunted every state and have a legitimate opinion. Each individuals experience level clouds there judgment. If you've been Turkey hunting 5 years and been to two states your opinion is useless in a "toughest state" comparison. A couple of the guys that have completed the Super Slam have voiced  ther opinions of what state was hardest.
Dave Owens said Louisiana or Florida and I have to agree Louisiana's population is low and public land can be crowded. Doesn't matter if your Daniel Boone's direct descendant if there's one Gobbler in a 3 mile area  he's gonna be tough to find or kill.

[kjnengr]

There's only a few people that have hunted every state and have a legitimate opinion. Each individuals experience level clouds there judgment. If you've been Turkey hunting 5 years and been to two states your opinion is useless in a "toughest state" comparison. A couple of the guys that have completed the Super Slam have voiced  ther opinions of what state was hardest.
Dave Owens said Louisiana or Florida and I have to agree Louisiana's population is low and public land can be crowded. Doesn't matter if your Daniel Boone's direct descendant if there's one Gobbler in a 3 mile area  he's gonna be tough to find or kill.

Not to mention if the sole experience of "that guy" was a single 3-4 day trip.  If the birds were on fire and willing, the state doesn't seem so difficult.  And yet, if the birds are hard headed for whatever reason, then the birds (although they might not be that bad typically) seem more difficult. 

[Spitten and drummen]

There's only a few people that have hunted every state and have a legitimate opinion. Each individuals experience level clouds there judgment. If you've been Turkey hunting 5 years and been to two states your opinion is useless in a "toughest state" comparison. A couple of the guys that have completed the Super Slam have voiced  ther opinions of what state was hardest.
Dave Owens said Louisiana or Florida and I have to agree Louisiana's population is low and public land can be crowded. Doesn't matter if your Daniel Boone's direct descendant if there's one Gobbler in a 3 mile area  he's gonna be tough to find or kill.

This may be true , but Louisiana guys run over here to Mississippi pretty regular. There are more Louisiana guys hunting the Homochitto national forest than residents. They help a great deal on our turkeys education. I have killed a few birds down around the pearl river area and they were tough but not as tough as those Homochitto birds. I have been hunting turkeys 40 years and have hunted in 7 diffrent states. Southern birds are hands down tougher than the mid west and northern birds I have tangled with. Just my 2 cents.

[owlhoot]

Missouri.  2 birds for every hunter and one of those is a hen.