Toughest state

[bbcoach]

I've hunted FL (2), WI (4), KS (1), SD (1) and my home state of NC (10+) and my vote goes to Florida by a BIG margin.  Birds there will gobble on the roost and not so much once they hit the ground.  Tons of running and gunning and cold calling.

[roberthyman14]

I've hunted FL (2), WI (4), KS (1), SD (1) and my home state of NC (10+) and my vote goes to Florida by a BIG margin.  Birds there will gobble on the roost and not so much once they hit the ground.  Tons of running and gunning and cold calling.

Very tough birds to hunt.  And the amount t of pressure on public land really adds to it. 

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[Cutt]

Can't really say, as I only hunt two States, PA and Ohio on public land. But as others have said I believe the timing of the Season when you can hunt, has a lot to do with making it appear easier or harder, more so than location.

Good example as I reside in PA and live within 5 miles of the Ohio line. Ohio Season starts on average 2 full weeks before our PA season starts in May( one of the latest starting States) To me it is much easier to kill a Gobbler in Ohio than PA, but is only due to the earlier start there. As I basically hunt within 5miles east to west in Ohio and PA, so the breeding of both areas is basically the same, where the timing of actual hunting creates an illusion that one area is easier or harder. If both states were to start the same exact day I honestly wouldn't sense a difference, but do notice a difference with an earlier start in Ohio than a later start here in PA.

[tider]

Alabama by a long shot, In my opinion.  I've only hunted in a handful of states , but these birds here are a worthy opponents for sure.   You don't get away with anything , especially any small movements.   

I have a lot of friends that hunt all season in Alabama and sometimes only kill 1 or no birds at all , but  always fill their tags when they go out of state for a few days. 

We don't have the number of turkeys that we once did, but the ones we have are not a pushover. 






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LaLongbeard]

Toughest state?
The state of confusion that a lot of "hunters " I run into on public land are struggling with ,lol

[mtns2hunt]

Toughest state?
The state of confusion that a lot of "hunters " I run into on public land are struggling with ,lol

x2

[avidnwoutdoorsman]

Lot of east coast representation and maybe that is fair.... tbd in my book....

I have hunted HI, WA, OR, ID, FL and BC. CA, NV, and UT are for sure on the list this year.

All Public Land:
HI - Easy
WA - Merriams = Easy, Rio's = Difficult, Easterns = Hardest bird to successfully kill to date
OR - Not terribly hard
ID - Merriam = Easy
FL - Not difficult
BC - Easy

So from my limited experience it would be a Washington State Eastern. But I say this not because of it being an Eastern, but because of numbers, accessibility, and effort. If you find and Eastern in Washington, its a dead bird. The problem is finding one.

Florida public land was tough, but no tougher than first hunting public land in any other state. You put in the time and research ahead of time and you will connect on a bird. I talked to a gobbler 5 out of the 6 days I hunted public land in Florida. I only hunted daily quota tracts too.

After reading through this, I'm excited though to hunt more east coast and see what the hype is about.

[Pluffmud]

I've heard Merriam's are tough. Ive watched a bunch of videos of people hunting public land in other states, and it blows my mind as to seemingly how easy it was for the hunter to kill those birds. I always tell myself, "that would never happen here in SC." TOTALLY has nothing to do with my turkey hunting abilities...

[GobbleNut]

I've heard Merriam's are tough. Ive watched a bunch of videos of people hunting public land in other states, and it blows my mind as to seemingly how easy it was for the hunter to kill those birds. I always tell myself, "that would never happen here in SC." TOTALLY has nothing to do with my turkey hunting abilities...

Hard-hunted Merriam's turkeys can be tough to call in.  Their downfall is that they gobble WAAYY too much for their own good.  A good turkey hunter will eventually kill those birds just by tracking their gobbling and repositioning until they make a mistake. 

Hunt Merriam's in an area where the gobblers are quiet and you will find they can be as tough as gobblers anywhere.  Right now, there are just a lot of places to hunt on public land where they are very vocal,...and also very numerous.  Hunt somewhere that they are neither of those and that reputation of being easy to kill will evaporate very quickly. 

[Turkeyman]

No such thing as a "toughest state"...it all boils down to just how "humanized" the turkeys are. Give me a tom in any state that has never encountered a human nor heard an artificial turkey call and even a novice will take him home. The only fly in the ointment to that is if he's totally tied up with real hens it may take you a day or two to kill him...but you will. So my point is that, if you're talking toughest state, it's due to the "humanization factor" and that can occur in a particular area of any state.

[LaLongbeard]

I've heard Merriam's are tough. Ive watched a bunch of videos of people hunting public land in other states, and it blows my mind as to seemingly how easy it was for the hunter to kill those birds. I always tell myself, "that would never happen here in SC." TOTALLY has nothing to do with my turkey hunting abilities...

I've never heard anyone with much experience say a merriams is tough? Probably the easiest of them. Any turkey or animal is going to be difficult to hunt if there not in the area your hunting. But if there's merriams around they are usually dumb. I've had them come to a call from unbelievable distances and they gobble a lot, which alone makes them easier. I've killed several and the scenery is usually nice but I'm done with the merriams .

[mtns2hunt]

I've heard Merriam's are tough. Ive watched a bunch of videos of people hunting public land in other states, and it blows my mind as to seemingly how easy it was for the hunter to kill those birds. I always tell myself, "that would never happen here in SC." TOTALLY has nothing to do with my turkey hunting abilities...

I've never heard anyone with much experience say a merriams is tough? Probably the easiest of them. Any turkey or animal is going to be difficult to hunt if there not in the area your hunting. But if there's merriams around they are usually dumb. I've had them come to a call from unbelievable distances and they gobble a lot, which alone makes them easier. I've killed several and the scenery is usually nice but I'm done with the merriams .

I too found Merriam's fairly easy but fun to hunt in the hill's of Northern New Mexico. I really enjoyed hunting Rio's in Kansas as they were not easy but not hard either. Eastern's have been the hardest by far as the weather is usually bad pressure on public land can be tough. They can also be hard on private land. Seems Easterns demand a lot more patience and better calling ability.  I swear they have eyes in the back of their head and are the only turkey species that can smell.

[Escout711]

Rhode Island. They just passed the 200 bird mark for TOTAL statewide harvest a couple years ago. Limited private land access and highly pressured public land.

[saltysenior]

S. Florida birds are widely known to be tight lipped ....that alone makes them the hardest to hunt.

[GobbleNut]

S. Florida birds are widely known to be tight lipped ....that alone makes them the hardest to hunt.

I will grant you this for "unrestricted" public land.  On controlled, private lands,...not even close from my experience.