YOUR PUBLIC LAND HOTSPOTS--NOT REALLY A SECRET!!

[quavers59]

Well members- I don't post here much- but today I have posted 2.  Now since the early 1990s- I have seen many of my hotspots in Sterling Forest State Park and Stewart State Forest in New York become a bit crowded as many here who hunt public lands in their areas are already also aware of!  I really only have a few at Stewart State Forest now that sees no turkey hunters but me TG! 
    What is funny to me is that some of these Spring hunters at Stewart State Forest  seem to think they have found a personal area when my Brother in law and I and some others have hunted those areas for 20 years plus. Hey- I know some are on this site. There are a number of hotspots  at Stewart State Forest that I make sure I get to first!! Like 4.15am. That means a 3.30am walk in.    Sometimes getting to a prime field first does not mean much. A few Springs back and I was set up at a field edge with decoy out when a flashlight was coming right at me.  I had to let the other hunter know and turned my flashlight on. He stopped with flashlight on and did not leave that field. He backtracked  to the other side of the field and moved down some before setting up. Not good for either of us for sure. I knew gobblers were probably roosted in that hickory grove of trees like early every May. Did not hear anything in my field. Think he spooked them. Hope members enjoyed the true story.

[silvestris]

The biggest mistake one can make in this game is publicly naming, even generally, one of their public hunting areas.  The second biggest mistake is taking another hunter into one of your favorite areas (there can be an exception for a truly trusted friend).  Almost without exception the person you take to a favorite area will then take another person to your area who will take another to your area, ad infinitum.  It is not a question of selfishness as such, but is merely a fact of human nature.  If someone puts me on a place, I never go there with another and never go there myself without personally contacting the one who took me there to insure that he is not hunting a bird there or whether he honestly has a problem with me going there.  Public land or not, the took me there and in my mind, it is his place.

[GobbleNut]

  If someone puts me on a place, I never go there with another and never go there myself without personally contacting the one who took me there to insure that he is not hunting a bird there or whether he honestly has a problem with me going there.  Public land or not, the took me there and in my mind, it is his place.

Exactly!  One golden rule of turkey hunting:  Find a spot due to your own discovery, it is yours to hunt anytime (unless someone else beats you to it on a given day).  Get introduced to a spot by someone else, never go there unless given permission by the person that showed it to you,...and never tell anyone else about it or take another person to it. 

[tomstopper]

  If someone puts me on a place, I never go there with another and never go there myself without personally contacting the one who took me there to insure that he is not hunting a bird there or whether he honestly has a problem with me going there.  Public land or not, the took me there and in my mind, it is his place.

Exactly!  One golden rule of turkey hunting:  Find a spot due to your own discovery, it is yours to hunt anytime (unless someone else beats you to it on a given day).  Get introduced to a spot by someone else, never go there unless given permission by the person that showed it to you,...and never tell anyone else about it or take another person to it.

I agree with both statements

[quavers59]

Yup--where I hunt on public lands-- 100% of the fields are well known to all veteran turkey hunters of my area. Some are members here. That is why, I now walk in or bike in at 3.30am.  On today's increasingly crowded public lands-- as many as 20 or more Spring hunters may know very well about a public hotspot that you think only your buddy knows about. That was the purpose of my post.
   I have one awesome hotspot where I took a tom with nearly  1 3/4" spurs this past May. No other turkey hunters on this public land TG.    Getting back to the prime fields--I have had numerous Spring hunters enter a field in which I am already set-up. Their flashlights tell me where they are putting out their decoy at 4.20am or so. I hit my flashlight - but the other Spring hunters never leave. This has happened 4-5 times in recent years. That was another reason for my post. In the early 1990s-- if you parked first- another turkey hunter would move on- but those days are long gone.

[RutnNStrutn]

The "joys" of hunting public land!! There are so many.
Unfortunately, in the state I live in, FLA, I have no choice. Land is so over priced, there are so many wealthy people that drive up the prices, and the outfitters hog up most of the land so they can charge $2,000 for an Osceola. That leaves the average Joe like me no choice but to hunt public land. FWC has that so screwed up that I can only get drawn for a hunt in my state every 2 to 3 years.
That's why the places I hunt are a closely guarded secret. I would never advertise what WMA I am successful on. Getting drawn is hard enough, then you have to deal with idiots with no courtesy for other hunters. Then thanks to Google Earth, people can "cyberscout", and don't have to get out there on foot and earn their gobbler. It's super frustrating.

[Double B]

I love to hunt public land, and  have never killed a bird on  private.  Public land is where the birds were reintroduced in my state and it's where I have always hunted them.   I swap info with a few close friends and local acquaintances.   I try to be up front and talk to hunters in parking areas to figure out if we'll be stepping on each other.   Most times folks are upfront and appreciate discussion.   Usually I'll talk to them and compare game plans to hopefully avoid contact in the woods..  You get all kinds of responses from "first time here" to "where ever I hear a gobble". 

Hunt mid week, with mid morning being a great time of day..... when you can.....best advice I can give for public land.   As mentioned, don't talk TOO much......loose lips sink ships. 

[VA_Birdhunter]

I had a great PL place in VA that I've hunted for years along with the private land and leased land I hunt.   I've killed several there and for years seen no one until two years ago.   It appeared my parents neighbor seen me with the gobblers I bagged and knew where I was going and decided to tell one of his friends who was right on top of me the following season.   It happens though and even at times when your tight lipped!   I never give up my spots even when it's on private land or the land I have leased.  It's not that I'm try to be jealous but it's for safety reasons.    I devote a whole lot of time to turkey hunting year round and some just hit it on the weekends a couple times a season and sometimes they seem so desperate to kill one it really worries me if there around.    Either way though I'll be out every day the Lord blesses me to!   God bless

[The Cohutta Strutter]

I might add that a person can very well fall victim to this just by telling that they've killed a bird and then showing it off. There may be more people than you realize that know where you hunt and certainly there are people who will take note of your vehicle and where it's parked. Have you ever tried to disguise your hunting location by parking a ways from it ? With all the ways of communicating electronically,the safest policy is to keep your lips zipped about all of it, lol.

[quavers59]

Good replys all!! Alot of the areas that I wrote about, I really no longer hunt as I see too many flashlights at 4.30am. I have some awesome spots where no one Spring hunts. That gobbler I took with the 1 3/4" spurs had 2 buddies with him. If they were brothers they might be 7 plus years old next Spring . I hope to nail one of them.  No one will find out about this piece of land!!   I hear you RutnNStrutn-- I too can only hunt public lands and am not rich. So for me it is-- Private land turkeys taken=0-- Public Land turkeys taken=113.

[Rick Howard]

Turkey spots on public land will always be found by someone else.  I hold no missconceptions that I am the only person who found the birds I'm hunting.  If someone walks up on me, I offer to share the spot with them.  Often two guns has more chance than one if they are working together.  I have been the first to arrive to a spot but I have also been beaten too spots.  It stinks to be the later.  That walk back out is painful.  Walking back out carefully so I create as little disturbance as possible.  You also know your best chance that morning is not available any longer.  Because your time is now limited you hustle to plan b and I hate to rush.  Which all are partly the reason I offer to hunt with someone.  I'd rather we both got to enjoy the spot.  I'd rather not have them make a racket while leaving too.

[quavers59]

I hear you Rick. If that works for you- great.  For me- the solution is to avoid fields in the early part of the Spring season. In the last 5 Springs--fields have become even more of a magnet-at least in my area. 

[ChiefBubba]

On public land there are no secret spots! If you know about it you can be sure a few others know about it too. On public land you have to out hunt the other Googans as well as hunt the birds. I'd go so far to say the first thing is more important. Chief

[RutnNStrutn]

I hear you RutnNStrutn-- I too can only hunt public lands and am not rich. So for me it is-- Private land turkeys taken=0-- Public Land turkeys taken=113.

113? That's a lot of gobblers, congrats!!!
Either you are very old, or you don't hunt Florida!!!
When you only get drawn every 2 to 3 years, and are limited to 2 birds a season, if you tagged out every season in Florida, that would take you 57 years!!
I am a self-taught turkey hunter who's killed around 50 gobblers, about half of which were public land Osceolas. My point was that FWC does a terrible job of making turkey hunts available, and then when you do get drawn, you have to deal with the crowds.

[TauntoHawk]

The biggest mistake one can make in this game is publicly naming, even generally, one of their public hunting areas.  The second biggest mistake is taking another hunter into one of your favorite areas (there can be an exception for a truly trusted friend).  Almost without exception the person you take to a favorite area will then take another person to your area who will take another to your area, ad infinitum.  It is not a question of selfishness as such, but is merely a fact of human nature.  If someone puts me on a place, I never go there with another and never go there myself without personally contacting the one who took me there to insure that he is not hunting a bird there or whether he honestly has a problem with me going there.  Public land or not, the took me there and in my mind, it is his place.

Truth, I've regretted telling and taking family. most amazing public land spot I've found for birds, tried to help a family member kill a decent one and he pushed those birds out of there so fast they were roosting 3/4 mile off the private line rest of season. started going without out me immediately and calling it "our" spot although he wasn't there scouting all March to locate the birds