Looking for advice from successful public land hunters.

[deerbasshunter3]

So, I went out this morning and checked out a few fields in some state forest. The first field was already starting to get some green, and had plenty of deer tracks, as well as some turkey tracks. The second and third fields that I checked out had plenty of deer tracks, but did not see any turkey tracks (I did not walk through the entire fields, though). The woods close to the first field were just burned (still smoking). If I am not mistaken, recently burned woods are a great place to find turkeys?

So, what should be my next step in hunting these spots? The season does not start until April 1st. Should I expect everybody and their brother to be out there opening day, since it seems to be a good spot to find turkey?

[Bowguy]

I would expect company. I live in NJ the most populated state in the nation. My area is rural but that means lots of locals hunt n the city people come there to hunt.
I very rarely see anyone.
Climb a hill, cross something-swamp, river, whatever or just out walk them distance wise. Oh n leave the field birds alone on public property. Woods birds are easier imo

[deerbasshunter3]

I would expect company. I live in NJ the most populated state in the . My area is rural but that means lots of locals hunt n the city people come there to hunt.
I very rarely see anyone.
Climb a hill, cross something-swamp, river, whatever or just out walk them distance wise. Oh n leave the field birds alone on public property. Woods birds are easier imo

I was actually going to ask if I should not mess with decoys on public land, due to people possibly shooting them...

[fallhnt]

As the season gets closer the birds will be in there normal roosting areas. This would be a better time to scout. You may need 2 or 3 good spots. Don't get hung up on one area. Hens and hunters can change the game. I use decoys on public, Spring and Fall. Good luck

[MK M GOBL]

Have killed a number of birds of public land, at home and traveling to other states. Very little pressure at home and have access to a few little known spots that produce. When traveling I normally do a few things, first get away from the crowds I'll scout a bit from the truck to locate some bird and get away from others (don't mind walking to get away). Have always found a spot and had great success, but don't rely on one spot. I sometimes will arrive a day or two early of my hunt for scouting and go from there, talking to some locals has been good too, gas stations or find a delivery person or a school bus driver, these people see birds everyday and may lead to those hidden spots.

MK M GOBL

[Bowguy]

I would expect company. I live in NJ the most populated state in the . My area is rural but that means lots of locals hunt n the city people come there to hunt.
I very rarely see anyone.
Climb a hill, cross something-swamp, river, whatever or just out walk them distance wise. Oh n leave the field birds alone on public property. Woods birds are easier imo

I was actually going to ask if I should not mess with decoys on public land, due to people possibly shooting them...

I wouldn't worry about decoy usage on state land causing them to be shot the bigger concern is setting them so you can see anyone coming n they don't shoot you. Turkey hunting unfortunately has accidents every year.
Learn some other ways besides the dekes, it'll give you more options than camping out in a field.

[M22]

All are great answers and help.I have found out best time to hunt public is weekdays most people are working. 

[renegade19]

Weekdays, hunting farther from the road and harder to access areas, hunting mid to late morning when the other hunters are at Hardees eating biscuits and gravy and whining about not killing a gobbler have all worked for me.  Plus, get out early and listen for gobbles.  Put some miles on a good pair of boots. Nothing beats time in the woods!  Good luck!

[catman529]

Well did you walk anything other than the fields? It's good to know where the fields are, but you also want to be familiar with the woods - terrain changes, thickets, old fences, property lines, etc. you will more likely kill a gobbler in the woods than the field, although fields are a good place to check for birds if you can do so without getting busted.

Turkeys do love burned areas too so that is a plus.

You want to know a good place to  listen (preferably higher elevation) and you want to know the lay of the land as well as you can so you can use it to your advantage setting up on a gobbler.

Let's say you've got a strutter in one of the fields, but he has hens and won't come to your call. You hear another bird in the distance gobbling quite a bit, off in the woods somewhere. He's hot and probably very killable. But you know there's an old wire fence about 100 yards in his direction that you found while scouting, and he won't likely cross it...so you know you need to get around it to call him in from a better angle. This is where scouting helps you the most - turkey tracks tell you there are birds there, but won't tell you where exactly the birds will be come April 1st, because they could be literally anywhere. You want to find the turkeys when you hunt, and know the land as best as you can.

Oh and another thing, don't get mad when someone else sets up on "your" bird. It's part of public land hunting. Just make sure you know enough area to move around if the hunting pressure is bad. And stay later into the day if you can, it can be good hunting when people get hungry and go home to eat lunch.


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[LaLongbeard]

I only hunt public land in Louisiana it can be frustrating at times ,a lot of people low bird numbers very few hunters that know what there doing .But I've learned over the years most people aren't killing anything there just spooking and educating the birds ,it makes them harder to kill bit it can be done. Patience and learning to call pressured birds (I'd have to write a book to explain how lol)

[Dtrkyman]

I like to find places with tough or distant access, I have hunted a heavily pressured place in Indiana a couple season and have yet to run into another hunter.

I use a hen decoy often and once in a while a jake but only in a field situation. Killed a limbhanger over a jake decoy in Missouri on public last year, he was standing on the back of my decoy when I shot him.

[EZ]

Find good spots a quarter mile or more from those fields and easy access areas. The turkeys will get knocked back in there as soon as the season begins. I don't use decoys (for many reasons) but mainly cause they not needed.

[catman529]

You don't have to be a mile from the road to kill a turkey. Yes some certain areas will get hit hard, and birds pushed off the area. But sometimes there can still be a gobbler looking for love right next to the road. You never know when one may fire up, and you should be willing to cover lots of ground if the birds don't seem to be there.

[drenalinld]

I like to hunt these areas about 11 or noon after most go home. Have killed gobblers within 100 yards of parking that had a half dozen trucks at daylight. I have hunted turkeys and made huge circles to be opposite them when the road hunters poured it on early.


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[Happy]

Be willing to either work harder or be more patient then other hunters. That isn't very hard to do these days. I spend at least half my time on public land and I have yet to see a hunter in my favorite areas.  I can hear them flailing away on their box calls down below me but not one has climbed the mountains yet to get to where I like to start my day out. I just get further away from them as the day goes on. This is harder to do on flat ground but there are still terrain features the detain a lot of people. A few fellows I know are decent at killing birds close to the parking areas everyone hunts. I can't sit in one spot and cluck softly and scratch in the leaves for hours at a time though so I go the other route. Both methods work just fine though. I am an explorer by nature and love slipping through areas most will never see. I also like to find chucks of public ground landlocked by private. The only way in being a lot of walking. Usually some farmers fields that attract birds butting right up against public ground. I won't trespass on anyone's property for any amount of money. But I am not against calling a turkey over to where he is fair game.

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