Toughest place to kill turkeys in the US?

[Wingbone]

Out of the 13 states I've tagged legs in, I have to say that Merriam's on the Pine Ridge rank hardest for me. But for states in general, Florida takes the cake.

[ghillie]

I agree with TeocTom!!  Lately it seems like every timber or field i walk into has the hardest bird to tag!!

[Tail Feathers]

There is a whole lot of the country that I haven't hunted but so far, it appears that the public land Osceola may be the toughest.
Although our own Hookspur, who is a turkey killing machine, once told me LA was one tough spot to get a bird.

[schuylkillspur]

hunted birds in 8 different states I believe kills total 143 as of this spring. I have the least success @ home here in Schuylkill co Pa, Bird don't gobble anymore.

[RutnNStrutn]

I used to think that public land Osceolas were the hardest to kill. But that was before I started hunting Easterns. I've found that Easterns have been the most challenging bird I've hunted, and they don't seem to be any harder or easier no matter where I go.

[Borat]

I have hunted in WV, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, KY, and TX. The toughest places to get on gobblers and call them in and kill them for me is Mingo Co. WV, and Bath Co. and Highland Co. VA. If you can kill gobblers in these places you can kill them anywhere. Gobblers are very wild natured everywhere but seems to me that gobblers in Bath Co. VA are the smartest and wildest turkeys in the world. Along the Bluestone and New River here at home in Mercer and Summers CO. is running a close 2nd in tough places to kill gobblers, but I don't care how tough a place is to hunt if there are  gobblers in it I will hunt them.

Interesting point about Bath Co., VA.  In the National Forest, I would say once you are above them and on the same ridge, the game is over.  I'm not sure if you've ever had the opportunity to run down South to chase turkeys, but they will change your perception on the difficulty of the mountain turkey. I think the most difficult part about pursuing those national forest birds is simply getting up the mountain to them.   

[lonnie sneed jr.]

The game is never over until you pull the trigger and get your hands on the gobbler. I have hunted the southern gobblers, only FL gomes close in the states I have hunted.

[honker22]

I live and hunt the Florida parishes of La. I have killed turkey in : Ms, La, Tx, Ks and Mo. I would have to say public land in sw Ms is the hardest place with the florida parishes coming in a close second.

What the heck are the Florida Parrishes of La.

John

They are the parishes in La that lie East of the MS river... They were not part of the original La Purchase and were part of West Florida.  There are 8 parishes, and they are basically between Lake Ponchartrain and MS.

I hunt in North La.  I've hunted in La, Tx, MS, AL, MO, NE, KS.  I'd have to say MS or La public are the hardest, for the reasons everyone has already mentioned

[Hooksfan]

I live and hunt the Florida parishes of La. I have killed turkey in : Ms, La, Tx, Ks and Mo. I would have to say public land in sw Ms is the hardest place with the florida parishes coming in a close second.

What the heck are the Florida Parrishes of La.




John

They are the parishes in La that lie East of the MS river... They were not part of the original La Purchase and were part of West Florida.  There are 8 parishes, and they are basically between Lake Ponchartrain and MS.

I hunt in North La.  I've hunted in La, Tx, MS, AL, MO, NE, KS.  I'd have to say MS or La public are the hardest, for the reasons everyone has already mentioned

Honker is right.  I'll add a history teachers lesson here--Sorry can't help it.  At one time Spanish Florida extended all the way to the Mississippi River.  Under the terms of the Adams-Onis Treaty, the US acquired Florida and the boundaries were changed over time as new states were added.  But if you look at the northern border of Louisiana east of the Mississippi River, you will notice it is the exact same latitude of the northern border of Florida--Thats because that line extended all the way to the Mississippi River as the old border of Spanish Florida.---Hence the name Florida Parishes for those Parishes  (counties) in Louisiana east of the Mississippi River.

[cuttinAR]

Gulf coastal plain and ouachita mountains in AR.  Tons of pressure plus few birds makes it very tough.  I've hunted plenty of other states and only MS and AL can come close to comparing. 

[n2deer]

I believe that a turkey is a turkey. If you push him and hunt him hard he will be hard to kill and it doesn't matter where he lives.

TRKYHTR

Well played, even the dumb ones get tough after being ran off a few times.

Ask  me how I know.

[GobbleNut]

My observations, which coincidentally seem to mirror a lot of others that have posted on this subject...
>>>Generally speaking, the harder a turkey has been hunted, both in the short term and in the long term, the harder he will be to call and kill, regardless of the subspecies.
>>>The more a hunter is willing to use "non-traditional" tactics to kill a turkey, the more likely he is to kill a turkey under any circumstances.
>>>All other factors being equal, the Eastern/Osceola subspecies are more difficult to kill than the Merriams/Rio subspecies.
>>>All of the subspecies can be ridiculously easy to kill or excrutiatingly difficult to kill when the circumstances are right,...or wrong.

[wvboy]

From the Sofa 

[hardluckstrutter]

Everyone has made several very good points! Two factors that I feel influence turkey hunting more than anything are....

1. Hunting Preasure
2. Hen Harvest

If you go off of these two factors alone all should point to the deep south. Granted I have not yet had the opportunity to hunt the deep south but statistics alone support. I have hunted turkeys in NY, MD, VA, WV, NE, WY, and NH and I will have to agree with featheredhat that the physical demands of killing a turkey in the mountains of WV, VA, and Western MD is the getting up the hill. Once you get on the turkeys level it is Game Over!

P.S- Nobody really knows where the hardest place to kill a gobbler is. But, I can assure you that everyone knows the easiet place to kill a gobbler is. Thank you Nebraska!

[deerhunt1988]

All dependent on turkey populations,hunting pressure, and what phase of the breeding cycle you catch them in. I have hunted in 8 states, and if you calculate "toughest" as time spent hunting per shot opportunity, my home state of MS would be the toughest. But then again, if I only hunted a week of my choice during the MS season, my time hunted to shot ratio would increase drastically. And of course my private land time to shot ratio is a lot better than my public land ratio in MS.

That being said, I have chased lightly pressured Merriam's in the Black Hills nearly a week straight before downing one...Some times it is as if nothing will work out right..The first time I ever hunted the Black Hills I had a bird down within a few hours.. Totally opposite results at the same place.

Have hunted public land Osceolas three times..And have gotten shots every trip...According to a lot of people on internet forums, these are some of the hardest to hunt. Definitely not from our experience.. But he always hunt opening week which seems to catch them in the perfect stage of breeding for this area with hens leaving them mid-morning.

For several  years I limited out easily in MO on public land. But as turkey numbers began to decline, so did our harvests...A lot harder to kill when you hear half the birds you did a few years prior.   

Kansas is now widely known as a prime turkey destination for out of state hunters..We have been twice, but focused strictly on Rios. Beyond belief, not all of the state is loaded with turkey. We have covered A TON of ground for public land Rios in Kansas, and nothing has been easy about it. We have been successful both trips,but it wasn't NEAR as "easy" as we expected. Now had we hunted the eastern portion of the state where more birds are, that would have likely changed.

Hunted Nebraska for the first time this year... Encountered some birds there that acted exactly like hard pressured MS public land birds..Couldn't believe it at first, how could they get this much pressure out there? After talking to a wildlife biologist in that area, our suspicions were confirmed..The particular area had been hit HARD by hunters the first two weeks of the season, and that was plenty for the turkeys to wise up. Moved a few miles off to hunt some more public land that was harder to access, and it was BAAM BAAM BAAM. Heard less birds at the second spot, but it definitely hadn't received the pressure the first spot had and we took advantage of it.

To sum it up, no matter where you go, there are going to be tough turkeys to kill. Too much variance in populations and hunting pressure over areas to name strictly one spot as the toughest.

My answer for the toughest place to kill turkeys in the U.S. = any heavily pressured public land without great populations of birds or land with few turkey in general.