Let's Get Real

[sasquatch1]

Scott, where do you live that you can't find hunting within 3 hours due to crowds??

My standard drive to hunt (as I live where turkeys don't exist) is 3 plus hours away. However I drive it for single day hunts when that's all I have! I drove 6 hours to hunt one morning this year.

Sometimes you either want it or you don't.


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I'm in central KY, the public ground around me is in the northern, north eastern, or eastern part of the state for the most part. The closest place i have to go is an hour, the farthest place I've been is 2 hours and 40 something minutes almost in TN. Not quite 3 hours but close enough in my book. And every piece of public land that I've ventured to this year has had a massive increase of OOS hunters this season spanning from northern Ky to as far south East as you can get. And I'm not the only one noticing it. Opening day, I went out for an afternoon hunt, from 12:30 until around 2:30 I was driving trying to find a place that didn't have multiple vehicles at every gate, I found one gate that was empty and went in, had a bird coming in silently strutting, and here comes two guys walking through and go past me at 50 yards. Back to the truck and driving, spent until fly up doing the same thing I did since 12:30. Put over 400 miles on the truck and spanned 7 counties to find one public gate open. The next day I drove from 3am until 9 am to find a spot that I knew likely didn't hold birds, someone shot a turkey off the side of the blacktop road with me watching, back to driving. It's been the common theme this season. That's unfortunate that you have to travel that far, are you at least getting the opportunity to hunt when you get there?. Myself and other locals of these areas are not. Unless we just pull in behind them and give them the same courtesy that we've received.


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I hunt the common southern states with early openers, so yea there's plenty people. However I do pretty well still.


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[AndyN]

A short summary of what's been said or will be said on every thread about traveling turkey hunters.

-"You just suck at turkey hunting, it not as crowded as xyz state so you can deal with the pressure"
Cool, just because you're good at killing turkeys where there's limited numbers doesn't mean the resource should suffer at your expense.

-"If I don't buy a tag and hotel room your states economy will crash"
These places were doing just fine before some guy with a gopro strapped to his head made everyone want to go there.

-"Get a lease, join a club, or pay a guide you poor bastard"
Keep that cancer where you live, some of us still enjoy permission with a handshake instead of market hunting.

-"Take it away and you'll never get it back"
Maybe so if turkey numbers don't go up. But all of these states didn't start with high numbers of birds and high limits. If a state feels the resource can handle more harvest they're not going to let that potential revenue die of natural causes

Nobody wants an all out ban on NRs. What they do want is a cap on sales. This avoids drastic increases in pressure and keep hunting enjoyable. Just because you're used to combat hunting 2 gobblers on 1k acres of public with 20 other people doesn't mean everyone should have to deal with that. This is a problem that has crept up state by state from the southeast. Their state goes to crap, changes are made too late, they move on to the next state and the cycle continues. There needs to be proactive, not reactive changes to regulations.

[appalachianassassin]

I hunt other states because I know how to kill turkeys and don't want to quit hunting after as many days as number of birds I'm allowed.

[Greg Massey]

I suggest you read the new post about Kansas Changes ...

[joey46]

It is easy to see who hunts multiple states and who doesn't.  There may be room for compromise on this issue but it is quickly fading.  I can't even imagine completing a FL a season on April 23rd and then sitting around until next March because "hunters" from other states are concerned I may race them to a public land gate.   Be assured I'll be somewhere in mid May.  You won't see me and your secret spots will be secure.  Betting several of you will be streaking south on I75/I95 next March to overload south Florida to seek the wiley Osceola.  Hypocrites.

[Louisiana Longbeard]

Y'all can say what you want BUT IN NO REASON should ScottTaulbee have to drive around for hours in his own state to trying and find a place to hunt on public ground because of the number of OOS travelers. As a resident of his state he should have priority over OOS travelers. They should only allow or allocate a certain number of OOS travelers tags per 3 day hunt ...

I disagree. This is America. It is called PUBLIC LAND for a reason. No one person should have priority over anyone else on PUBLIC LAND in the United States. If you don't like fighting the crowds, do like another poster said and try to find some PRIVATE LAND.

[Greg Massey]

Y'all can say what you want BUT IN NO REASON should ScottTaulbee have to drive around for hours in his own state to trying and find a place to hunt on public ground because of the number of OOS travelers. As a resident of his state he should have priority over OOS travelers. They should only allow or allocate a certain number of OOS travelers tags per 3 day hunt ...

I disagree. This is America. It is called PUBLIC LAND for a reason. No one person should have priority over anyone else on PUBLIC LAND in the United States. If you don't like fighting the crowds, do like another poster said and try to find some PRIVATE LAND.

Everyone has opinions, thanks for sharing your ... Good luck this season...

[hipp2412]

So im trying for my grand slam and I hunted Florida this spring. Should I not complete my grand slam ? Should I just stay in PA and not complete my dream?
Joey I was in your neck of the woods for my Osceola so if you want to hunt easterns in PA let me know we have plenty of birds for everyone. I will hook you up.

[joey46]

Of course you should complete your slam.  My comments were directed to those so overly worried about OOS intrusion into their states.  Florida has been an experience.  Took some getting used to seeing half the trucks in a camp or parking area with out of state plates.  Good luck and keep that PA a secret.

[dirtnap]

Wish we could put the genie back in the bottle and these YouTube and social media idiots wouldn't have put our public land turkeys on blast. We wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm thoroughly pissed off.  Public turkeys and turkey hunting has been bastardized for profit and ego. And for every dollar made and ego stroked the turkeys and public land hunters pay x10 in loss of hunting opportunity

This is pretty accurate. 

[Ohiowoodchuck]

Wish we could put the genie back in the bottle and these YouTube and social media idiots wouldn't have put our public land turkeys on blast. We wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm thoroughly pissed off.  Public turkeys and turkey hunting has been bastardized for profit and ego. And for every dollar made and ego stroked the turkeys and public land hunters pay x10 in loss of hunting opportunity

This is pretty accurate.

I agree to. I've watched there shows and the first thing that comes to my mind is, won't these guys go get a job and actually do something to contribute to society instead of rambling on YouTube how your the greatest YouTube Turkey hunter ever. Makes my stomach turn thinking about it.

[dah]

 I get tickled how a resident hunter has paid for the states public hunting areas and should have first dibs when they just bought their first or second hunting license . I have put a lot of money in Texas non resident deer and turkey license and never once went public . Never once used an outfitter . I saw nonresidents this year fill their turkey tag and leave and two weeks later I am still trying here at home .I enjoy going to other states state parks and camping or hiking , man I hope they don't start raping me because I live across a line and didn't fund those parks . Beach , mountain or federal forest trips would be shot . I am struggling to think of anything other than hunting or fishing that I paid a higher amount because I reside in another state . Land of the free , like the other poster stated , be careful what you wish for .

[Prospector]

  A lot of stuff to get real about. I agree at least in part with everyone. But it's not just a OOSer deal; it's a HUNTER deal. Too many from anywhere and everywhere. A shot doesn't have to be fired in order for pressure to exact a toll. I complain and complain but truthfully every other booth in Nashville had tech making it easier for "anybody" to kill a gobbler. Our states allow baiting that makes it easier on "anybody" to kill gobbler(s). If it got harder again a lot of these FaceBook 'kill as' would stay in bed or at the very least limit their time in the woods. Not going to see it because too much $$$ being spent by the masses. Being from Mississippi I can certainly get the whole OOS deal but I also know these are usually dubbed NATIONAL Forests.... Rudeness knows no state lines. Opening myself up to ridicule but imho? Go backwards to older ways and a good many of these folks will go fishing or something....

[joey46]

The good old days are long gone.  It may be time to limit hunter numbers in many states through quota hunts.  Florida certainly does and the system is a problem in itself.  It takes at least five years of preference points to draw a good Florida WMA.  I live within 5 miles of a WMA.  I drew it the first year it opened and killed a nice bird.  I won't draw it again for years.  I'm 76 so the system may beat me.   
I'm still of the opinion when you limit NATIONAL FOREST to only residents you are asking for trouble and some federal judge to step in and say "no no" that's discriminatory.  Surprised it hasn't happened yet.  Bet it's coming. As I've already posted Land Between the Lakes in KY/TN does it right on this issue.  They have quota hunts but the draws are fair to all.  Residents of KY/TN don't get priority.  As a Floridian if I draw a hunt there I still get hosed buying a state tag but the required extra LBL Hunter's Permit cost me the same as anyone else.  It isn't called a National Recreation Area for nothing.
When over 67,000 attended the NWTF gala you knew there was a big hunter numbers problem coming.  It's  here and residents and OOS aren't going to be happy with the obvious solutions.  Those that think screwing the OOS guy is going to work magic are in for a rude awakening.  I'm guessing that in some states the amount of resident hunters has doubled in the last few years.  That's the real problem.

[PalmettoRon]

This is a complicated issue. Decoys, blinds, better chokes, more lethal turkey loads, game cameras, significantly better and readily available information on turkey hunting and more and more hunters all are part of the issue.

Also, drought in some areas, increasing numbers of nonhuman predators, and continued loss of habitat as our population grows are all major issues affecting turkey numbers.

I live in SC which does host a good number of OOS hunters and fishermen. The turkey regs have changed recently. It has long cost a lot for an OOS hunter to hunt in SC. Recently, the laws were changed allowing only 1 bird the first 10 days of the season for all hunters. NR hunters are limited to 2 tags costing an additional $100 compared to 3 tags at 5$ for residents.

Are any of these changes going to have a real effect on the SC turkey population? I don't know, but I know there are more and more residents hunting turkeys.

Does anyone have any data showing the percentage of turkeys killed by NR hunters in their state? Does anyone have data on man days hunting for turkeys by NR/R in their state? I'm sure that is available somewhere.

While NR hunters on public land certainly may affect the quality of the hunt and increase kills, is that really the main issue rather than simply more overall hunters, less habitat, more animal predators and much more efficient hunting methods?

I began hunting OOS in AZ/NM more than 30 years ago. AZ has a 10% tag quota for NR.It's a 1 bird state. NM is over the counter and 2 tags. I do not mean to disparage the hunters of AZ or NM, but I've witnessed many times the locals 3-4 to a truck cruising up and down the logging roads with the passenger side guys locked and loaded and ready to shoot. I've come up on recent kills done in just this manner and even witnessed a guy get out of his vehicle to shoot a gobbler off a blacktop road.

I've been fairly successful over the years doing it the right way.

If quotas are instituted by more and more states, the residents will pay more and may themselves find it difficult to draw a tag.

I'm open to discuss anything to help preserve access to this great sport, but before we demonize OOS hunters, we need the help of biologists to insure the focus is on the right target.