Top Tactics for Successful Public Land Turkey Hunting

Public land hunting seems to be one of the biggest trends in the hunting community these days. For those who are considering to hunt public land turkeys this spring fear not. While public land turkey hunting might seem like a daunting task at first, turkeys are going to behave like turkeys on both public and private land. This guide aims to cut through the hype of public land turkeys being extremely hard to kill and provide you with actionable advice to make your public land experience hunting turkeys a success.

Choosing the Right Location for Public Land Turkey Hunting

I think just about every seasoned turkey hunter would agree that the turkey season doesn’t start on opening day, it starts long before the actual hunt with preseason prep. One of the most important things to check of the preseason checklist is finding the right tract of public land that actually has turkeys. After all, the best calling skills and decoys won’t bring much success if there are no turkeys around, right?

Utilizing Mapping Apps to Find Public Land Turkeys

My strategy for locating turkeys on public land starts with online scouting using online mapping apps like OnX Hunt. By taking an online/map approach at the start I am able to:

• Identify public land and private land boundaries.

• Spots to access public land.

• Identify terrain features and habitat that you will likely find turkeys.

• Add waypoints to areas I want to investigate further once I put my boots on the ground.

• Find areas that other turkey hunters are likely to avoid due to being hard to access or overlooked.

Seeking Out Hard-to-Reach Areas

Back to the topic of finding areas of public land that many hunters are going to avoid. Yep, the tracts of public that don’t have the well maintained logging roads or parking lots. But the areas that require you to go up a steep ridge for the first quarter mile from the truck, cross a river, or something difficult that the average hunter is going to avoid.

These areas are often gems hidden in plane sight due to the fact that the birds haven’t encounter as much hunting pressure. Some of my best turkeys on public land have come out of areas like these.

An example that comes to mind is a bird I killed a few years back hunting public lands in Tennessee. The particular area where I ended up harvesting the bird had horrible access and their was only one spot barely wide enough for me to pull my truck off the road to park.

It didn’t get much better from their. Once parked, the first 400 yards I had to hike up a steep ridge that had some storm damage which made the hike even that much more difficult. However I was hopeful that my efforts would pay off because the timber beyond that point looked like prime turkey woods on OnX. After my exhausting hike to where I planned to start my morning I patiently waited for the birds to start gobbling.

As the black night sky started to show signs of first light, I quickly realized that my efforts had paid off. One bench below my position, two gobblers started gobbling. I quickly analyzed the situation, moved into position, and was able to call in and harvest one of the public birds.

Targeting Smaller Tracts of National Forest

While its nice to hunt some of the larger tracts of national forest ground due to the fact that you have more area to cover without the need to hop in your truck and move spots, don’t overlook the smaller tracks of public dirt. These smaller blocks are often overlooked by public land hunters but can still be great areas to kill turkeys.

In my experience, you are likely to find birds in these smaller blocks that other hunters overlook and can be great locations to hunt turkeys. To find these smaller blocks of public land, I typically start on OnX. This allows me to evaluate the terrain and habitat of the public while also making sure that the surrounding private land has habitat suitable for turkeys.

Pre-Season Scouting Techniques on Public Lands

Once you’ve found areas of interest through your online scouting efforts its time to put your boots to the ground and confirm your suspicions. In most areas of the country this form of scouting can be done anytime of year due to public land birds not moving super long distances throughout the year. While this is the case in most areas its important to think about where you are hunting and the available food sources throughout the year. For example, in areas out west, where you find large winter flocks might not be the same area they call home during the spring.

While doing my boots on the ground scouting I will:

• Look for turkey sign: turkey tracks, scratching, dropping, strut marks

• Listen for gobbling turkeys

• Look for areas that fewer hunters are likely to go

Pro Tip: If you plan to turkey hunt the same public lands that you spend time deer hunting, keep an eye out for an sign of turkeys during your deer hunts and take note of them.

Identifying Roosting Locations

Hunters who spend the majority of their time hunting turkeys east of the Mississippi River can sometimes have a difficult time determining where birds are likely to roost. This is due to the sheer number of large trees found in most areas of the South and Northeast.

To narrow my search for roosting locations eat of the Mississippi, I like to take a look at the surrounding terrain and habitat to make sure its well suited for turkeys. Does the area have food, water, cover? If the answer is yes, then its worth exploring further. Areas that turkeys roost in year round can also be found due to vast amount of droppings located at the base of the trees.

Once you head west, determining where turkeys roost can be as simple as finding trees due to many areas not having many. Its not unusual to see 10-15 birds using one roost tree in these types of areas.

One particular area comes to mind when thinking about a primary roost site. While this area is located on private property its worth noting. I came across this roost site while scouting an area where open hardwoods met a section of open pines. As I looked through the woods I remember thinking it almost looked like it had snowed but the area hadn’t had any snow for a month. Upon further inspection I quickly realized that I had found the mother of all roost sites. The woods floor was while due to the vast quantity of turkey droppings.

Listening for Gobbling

The majority of preseason scouting, in early spring, just before the season opens, consists of early mornings listing for gobbling turkeys before they fly down. Here in Kentucky, I typically start listening in the areas I plan to hunt turkey around the first of March depending on the weather and if the birds are frequently gobbling yet. Each time I find a public land turkey gobbling I will drop a pin on OnX to mark the birds location for when the season arrives.

This is a tactic that can put you ahead of a lot of turkey hunters on public ground due to most of them not putting in the effort before the season opens. In my experience hunting public land, the more gobblers you can find before the seasons start, the better your chances of success. After all, half the battle is finding them.

Calling Strategy for Hunting Public Land Turkeys

While many hunters believe that wild turkeys on public ground are more difficult to call in than other birds I generally find this not to be the case. Yes, every now and then you will come across a gobbler that displays some odd tendencies but you can find this on both public and private lands.

Here are some calling tactics and observations I’ve picked up over the years hunting public land turkeys.

1. Make sure your calling is realistic and matches the situation. As far as producing realistic calls make sure your calls match the rhythm and cadence of actual turkeys. You will also want to make sure your calls match the situation. On overcast mornings, or just before a rain and the woods are dead quite, frequent and loud calling doesn’t sound natural. For this situation, start with soft yelps and work you volume up as needed.

2. Don’t rely solely on locator calls. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on a gobbler and heard someone come in from the opposite direction, blow a crow call and the tom completely ignore it. Odds are if the area your hunting is highly pressured the birds have heard just about every model crow call on the market and are either used to it or have learned to avoid it.

3. Call from places other hunters don’t. Odds are the majority of people who chase turkeys on public walk the logging roads from the parking lot, call, and keep on moving. Turkeys tend to pick up on this and will often associate the calling coming from these locations with danger. Instead of calling from the same position as other hunters, circle around the birds and call to them from an angle that they haven’t heard before.

Proper Etiquette for Hunting Turkeys on Public

If you’ve hunted your local national forest or state wildlife management areas long enough, odds are you’ve had other hunters come in behind you and completely mess up your hunt. This can be a frustrating situation but some people just don’t care and will show complete disregard for other hunters.

Public Land Golden Rule: If someone beats you to a spot, go somewhere else. Its as simple as that. And to be honest if more people would following this rule hunting turkeys on public wouldn’t get such a bad wrap.

This is where your scouting comes into play. If someone beats you to the area for the morning hunt its not a big deal because you’ve scouted plenty of areas to hunt birds.

Overcoming Challenges of Public Land Turkey Hunting

Yes turkey hunting public land does have its challenges and the increased competition of other hunters. But as the saying goes, “Its 10% of the hunters that kill 90% of the turkeys”. The hunters that fall into this 10% category are patient and persistent enough to consistently make it happen.

Here are some key tips for increasing your odds of success during a public land hunt.

1. Approach and call to pressured birds from a direction that the majority of hunters don’t.

2. Stay persistent. If the gobbler you were on at first light has stopped gobbling and met up with hens sit tight. Around late morning his hens are likely to start leaving him to go nest. Once he’s lost track of his hens, your chances calling him in increase drastically.

3. While patience is important, you will also want to balance this with proactivity. This is especially true for out of state hunts when you have a minimal amount of time to make things happen. If the birds in a particular area are not cooperating, won’t waste your trip on them. Stay proactive and on the move until you find a bird that’s ready to play the game and susceptible to turkey calling.

Final Thoughts on Public Land Turkey Hunting

When you remove the factor of increased competition with other hunters in the woods and the fact that the birds have experienced more hunting pressure, hunting turkeys on public is no different than hunting them on private. The key to a successful public land turkey hunt is to stay persistent, understand turkey behavior, and to never stop scouting. By implementing these tactics and strategies, you’ll increase your chances of a successful hunt opening day.