Trails on Public

[cwhitfield96]

I hunt some out of state public land that has cut trials and also horse riding trails. The more I hunt there the more I have been trying to stay away from these trials. I also avoid any fields/meadows as it seems the Toms avoid them due to pressure, even when it's raining. Then you drive down the road and see all sorts of turkeys in public fields. How many of you have had luck killing birds on these heavily traveled trails vs out in the woods?

[GobbleNut]

To me, it all comes down to hunting pressure and the association the turkeys in any location make with humans and danger.  Turkeys can become quite adaptable to humans if they are not hunted and do not make that connection. 

Having said that, I generally would advise hunters to be as inconspicuous as possible in areas where other public land users are around.  In your particular case, hunting and shooting close to folks riding their horses, nature hiking, bird watching, or any other number of "things" that non-hunters (not to mention anti-hunters) do is sure to start a sh*tstorm at some point in time. 

My advice is to get off the beaten path far enough that you minimize the chances of negative interactions with those non-hunting folks.  If those places where you see the turkeys on public land you can hunt are accessible (and reasonably distant from those other users), that is where I would be hunting.   

[cwhitfield96]

I missed spoke, I see the turkeys in private fields near public but rarely if ever in public fields.


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[GobbleNut]

I missed spoke, I see the turkeys in private fields near public but rarely if ever in public fields.

I hear ya', buddy!  That is becoming a real problem for us hunters.  As a public land hunter, I have hunted many a state where the vast majority of the turkeys were stacked up on private properties while the adjacent public lands had very few birds.  I can't tell you how many times I have hunted those places by trying to get as close to those private holdings on public and trying to call the turkeys off of that private stuff. 

My advice in your situation is to refer to a map (or mapping app) and figure out if you can get within calling distance of those birds from public land...and give that a try, if feasible (recognizing my first comment about minimizing negative interactions with other public-land users).  Sometimes that just seems to be the only recourse available in certain situations.

[cwhitfield96]

Thanks for the reply, I use OnX and have hunted some areas close to private but haven't killed one doing that yet. The tract I'm hunting is over 50,000 acres of public so there's plenty of birds on public they just aren't usually easy to work with because of the pressure the land gets. I have killed a couple on public that is pretty far from private but both were in the same spot and I want to get some other good spots in my line up. One issue is that even though it's a ton of and there are roads everywhere and you will be pressed to find a spot a mile or more from a parking area. I am mainly just wanting to know peoples success rate killing birds on a logging road or trail vs deep in the timber.


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[GobbleNut]

I am mainly just wanting to know peoples success rate killing birds on a logging road or trail vs deep in the timber.

Again, I think it all boils down to the bird's association of a particular place with danger...which often boils down to hunting pressure rather than just the presence of humans.  As I stated, turkeys can become quite comfortable (within reason) around humans that are not demonstrating actions that they interpret to be dangerous to them.  In my opinion, as a general rule, any place where there is no imprinted association with danger is a better place to try to call a gobbler than a place where they have made that association. 

[eggshell]

I agree with the comments and that is why I try to approach my public spots from areas that differ from the majority of hunters. My buddy and I figured this out a couple decades ago. We avoid calling off trails or common pull offs. On year we were traveling along a forest service road on an Out of State hunt and saw a truck and hunters calling from a common pull off. My buddy told me to pull in behind them as they were leaving. I said there's no use but he insisted. When I did he just wanted to sit a minute and not get out. So we chatted then he suggested we pull down the road about 200 yards and pull over. I wasn't on the same page but I agreed. When I stopped he said lets slip down into the woods about 50 yards and call. This was still the same valley we just watched guys leave the head of. Soon as I called a thundering gobble came back. He told me to go park the truck in the pull off to deter other hunters and he'd keep tabs on the bird, but to walk back to him without making any calls. So I did. When I got back he whispered, "he's on his way set up". We set up and he shot the bird 5 minutes later. We have repeated this scenario many times over the years. I have people argue with me that birds don't get call shy and they don't learn....to that I frankly say Bullsh#t ! You bet they know about those areas and this is why so many people struggle on public land, following the masses.

[Kylongspur88]

Pressure definitely affects birds and their behavior. I think they get quite and call shy and I try to get as far away from other hunters as possible, but saying that I've also killed some on pressured public land that were gobbling their heads off in areas that did receive a lot of pressure. Cases in point.... A few years ago walking in on an afternoon hunt I stopped and hit my pot call about 100 yards from the parking lot and a gobbler answered. 10-15 minutes later I had my boot on him. I guess like everything in turkey hunting there's no absolutes and it depends a lot on the individual bird.