Best Turkey Hunting states??

[Bonefreak]

After having a brutally dismal NJ season with hardly any action after countless hours afield and lots of lost sleep, I vow to never let that happen again....and maybe after I retire in 3 years, to set up a spring turkey huntin trip and hunt the whole spring season in a few different states.......so......

just wondering if anyone knows which states offer some of the best turkey opportunities when considering: # of tags, distance from NJ, access to properties (state/gov't land or knockin on farmer's doors), population #s, pressure from other hunters, etc

[Thunderchicken]

New Jersey would rank high in my book.

New York and Nebraska are 2 good states worth considering and researching.

just my opinion.

[LRG]

Upstate New York and  State Game lands in PA are good ...  personally seen tons of tracks and sign back in Feb when going out to Cabela's  on a scouting/boot shopping trip ...  but you have to put the miles on your truck starting now to get ready and pinpoint spots for next year.

https://www.bowhunting.com/blog/2018/02/22/12-best-turkey-hunting-states/

my issue is I am trying to keep my driving to 1 hr...   so just going to keep putting boots on the ground...

Thunderchicken.. you are def located in the heartland of NJ Turkey.!!

 

Just started my Deer Scouting this past Holiday Weekend and found wet wing feather in strut zone in clear cut and also hear faint gobbles about 1/2 mile away in another spot...   of course.. you cant hunt Turkey in neither of these spots I was at....    There's birds out there in a bunch of spots....   its just hard to get at them and tough to locate..     mostly woods birds... 

No Turkeys this season for me, but learned so much this year!!   I cant wait till next April already!!

 

[Shootstraight]

Man, there is a good amount of states that hold gobblers. Alabama 5 tags, North Carolina 2 Tags, Florida 2 tags, Missouri 2 tags, New York 2 tags then of course out west Nebraska and Wyoming. If your looking for DIY just have to do some research but it can be done and if not there are reasonable outfitters so you enjoy a great hunt at a decent place. 

 

SS!

[Mountain Goat]

Pa has tons of public spots that hold plenty of turkeys.   I live in Pa. and hunt turkeys both in Pa. and NJ.  I hunt public land in both states and have shot plenty of birds for myself and others.  Some Pa. game lands are very vast and you never run into other hunters.

[Bucksnbows]

I have found NJ to be better turkey hunting than any other state I have hunted for them in.   NY is a close second, but PA had lousy numbers in Potter County where our old hunting camp was located, but that was mainly due to poaching issues.  

[Bonefreak]

39 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

I have found NJ to be better turkey hunting than any other state I have hunted for them in.   NY is a close second, but PA had lousy numbers in Potter County where our old hunting camp was located, but that was mainly due to poaching issues.  

You must be referencing the northern part of the state, because, although there are a lot of birds down here in Central Jersey (lots of "yard birds" too that hide between developments), property access is an issue and crowded WMAs are another issue.  NJ has a liberal season and good opportunities, but I would like to be able to cover a few miles walkin and not have to run into other guys, cross roads, deal with noise pollution, etc etc

[Bucksnbows]

15 minutes ago, Bonefreak said:

You must be referencing the northern part of the state, because, although there are a lot of birds down here in Central Jersey (lots of "yard birds" too that hide between developments), property access is an issue and crowded WMAs are another issue.  NJ has a liberal season and good opportunities, but I would like to be able to cover a few miles walkin and not have to run into other guys, cross roads, deal with noise pollution, etc etc

I am, Sussex County.  I've never hunted central or south Jersey for anything myself, so I don't have a good frame of reference.  

[Bonefreak]

12 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

I am, Sussex County.  I've never hunted central or south Jersey for anything myself, so I don't have a good frame of reference.  

Yep, I have hunted all regions of NJ and you guys up there definitely have "room to roam" with the massive amounts of fed, state, and watershed lands as compared down to here.

[chenrossi]

I was just out in Nebraska for a conference last week. Guy I got talking to there said turkeys are about a guarantee and multiple species there depending on where you go. I think he mentioned you get 3 for spring and 2 for fall, but you can buy unlimited others. He said the kicker is the lack of public access. Like 3% of land is Nebraska is public. Here is NJ, public land is upwards of 18-20%. Do we have near the population, probably not, but like others have said, I do think we have some of the best opportunity for turkeys on the east coast.

 

Best advice I can give you is to not be discouraged over one (or a couple) futile efforts. Took me nearly ten years to harvest a gobbler in NJ and it will forever be one of the most rewarding hunts I've experienced.

Edited May 29, 2018 by chenrossi

[Sako76]

Oklahoma (3 tags) and Texas (4 tags), if you got a lot of money hit Nebraska or Kansas!

[mazzgolf]

5 minutes ago, chenrossi said:

Like 3% of land is Nebraska is public. Here is NJ, public land is upwards of 18-20%.

That's one thing that worries me when thinking about where I want to move when I can get out of this state. As much as I complain, I have to say, NJ does have a lot of public lands to hunt.

I was looking at South Carolina and North Carolina awhile back, and though I didn't look at it real close, it did seem to me there wasn't that much public land (SC looked worse than NC). I dunno - maybe I'm just more familiar with NJ and know where a lot of the public land is, but looking at other states and their WMA systems, it just doesn't seem like its the same.

I hope to be wrong and its just my ignorance of the land available in other states on the east coast. 

I won't have enough money to purchase my own acreage, and besides, I like going to a bunch of different places to hunt - hunting the same 50 acres over and over would get boring to me.

[Bonefreak]

I would not throw out the idea of spending the month-long + spring turkey seasons somewhere up near where NJ meets Pennsy and NY......some good liberal seasons, public lands, and good fishin all thru there as well, with shad, trout, bass etc to pass the afternoons!!

I also heard Tennessee has some liberal season....a fella on FBs Gobblers Annonymous posted his 4 birds this yr. Some cool dudes on that forum, some real call carving addicts!!

[hammer4reel]

Nebraska for Merriam and Rio Grande

[Bucksnbows]

23 minutes ago, chenrossi said:

I was just out in Nebraska for a conference last week. Guy I got talking to there said turkeys are about a guarantee and multiple species there depending on where you go. I think he mentioned you get 3 for spring and 2 for fall, but you can buy unlimited others. He said the kicker is the lack of public access. Like 3% of land is Nebraska is public. Here is NJ, public land is upwards of 18-20%. Do we have near the population, probably not, but like others have said, I do think we have some of the best opportunity for turkeys on the east coast.

 

 

But when you do the math, NJ has 1,745 square miles of public lands using the higher 20% and Nebraska has 2,321 square miles at only 3%.  Now take populations and you have 9 million NJ (legal) residents and in Nebraska that number is only 1.92 million.  I'll take Nebraska's measly 3% public lands all day over NJ's 20%.....