What's the easiest way for me to get on some land to shoot some turkey? The only hunting I do is dove and duck and I'd like to try something new. I know a lot of deer leases also allow turkey hunting. Obviously, I don't have a deer lease. Are the turkey specific leases or day hunts that anyone can recommend? What about public land?

When I lived in Maryland, they had a lot of pretty good, uncrowded public lands for shotgun / bow hunting turkey. I never got around to it before I moved back to TX but I'd like to give it another shot.

Thanks in advance.

Be prepared for an addiction. I went on my first Spring Turkey hunts this past March and April and now that's all I want to do. It's a blast. Depending on where you live, there are day hunts available. I have talked to these guys out of the Austin area and they seem professional.

http://www.siscodranch.com/hunts/bird-hunts/

I've found that $300-400 per bird is about average. I'm blessed to have a friend in DeWitt County that lets me hunt.

I also put in for several drawings at WMA around the state for Spring Turkey for the first time. Not counting on it, but I'll keep doing that each year and see what happens. That's another option.

Thanks, I went ahead and entered a few of the drawings as well. Good luck.

I'm no help on a hunting location in Texas, but just about anywhere West of I-35 and east of Midland should suffice if you can find a day lease or a friend with access.

To me, turkey hunting is the most overrated game in our sport. It's 10 minutes of awesomeness while the birds go crazy gobbling on the roost, then a whole lot of wet ass, ticks crawling across your face and snakes across your pant legs until you decide you need to poop in the woods. Honestly 98% of the reason I turkey hunt is because I'm not legally allowed to hunt anything else that time of year.

(Although I will admit hunting Rios is slightly more fun than Easterns because they are much louder and much dumber.)

Southern Tom Green County, specifically around Christoval, TX and Knickerbocker, TX.

Or Sutton County, East and definitely South of Sonora. Turkey HOTSPOTS. I know some guys in both locations that sell hunts and always dirt check a ton of nice Tom's.

Something that Sean likes less than duck hunting?

Turkey < Elk < Duck < many other things < Whitetail < Muleys < All things upland

Stay away from West Texas turkeys.
At a glance they know exactly what you are carrying, and just how far to stay out of it's effective range.

Bump for Dirty 830

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Honestly 98% of the reason I turkey hunt is because I'm not legally allowed to hunt anything else that time of year

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Nailed it.

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To me, turkey hunting is the most overrated game in our sport. It's 10 minutes of awesomeness while the birds go crazy gobbling on the roost, then a whole lot of wet ass, ticks crawling across your face and snakes across your pant legs until you decide you need to poop in the woods. Honestly 98% of the reason I turkey hunt is because I'm not legally allowed to hunt anything else that time of year.

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I'm bored at work, so let's hash this out. I'm just curious why you guys dislike it so much.

My first hunt, I got skunked but it was 12.5 hours of "awesomeness." I had a lone jake come in and destroy my jake decoy and called up four more birds but they were slightly out of range. I got to watch a coyote bluff charge a cow in hopes of separating her from her calf, tons of deer, and a coon meander through the woods.

I got to sit in God's beautiful creation during the spring with the sound of songbirds all around me. Turkeys are awesome birds and learning to call them and interact with them is a blast. When's the last time you walked the woods, saw a turkey and he saw you, and he sat there and watched you or went back to feeding like a WT so often does? They're more paranoid than a coyote. I believe they're the only native animal in N. America with "wild" in their name. Anyways, I guess it's not for all of us, but I freaking love it.

A nice turkey vest with pad, some deet if needed, a pack of wet ones, don't be a girl about the snakes and you're good to go.

Don't waste your time raider. Some people like it and some don't. It's what makes the world go 'round.

fishJones said:

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Don't waste your time raider. Some people like it and some don't. It's what makes the world go 'round.

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I already said that...

Just selfishly hoping for more discussion on turkeys, rather than roto molded coolers and unsubstantiated mountain lion sightings.

I can't speak for anyone else, but here's my "Why."

If you hunt Rios or Merriams then it's a lot more fun because they are much more vocal and aggressive (and dumb). Easterns are notoriously tight-lipped once they hit the ground. The thing that makes turkey hunting fun is the calling/response/calling/response ... lather, rinse, repeat until GOBBLE GOBBLE BOOM! (or THWACK!) Eastern Turkeys on the other hand gobble their heads off on the roost and then go silent 99% of the time once they hit the ground. They'll gobble occasionally for the first hour or so on the ground if you're lucky, but I would bet that a Rio gobbles 10-15x for every single time an Eastern gobbles once they hit the ground.

I kill 1-2 birds every year (2 is our limit), about half of them with my bow so I do hunt and hunt hard. But it doesn't give me a rush. In large part because the vast majority of our turkeys come in completely silent. Maybe you get a shock gobble in the distance so you run as far as you dare and set up. Then you call for 30 minutes hoping that maybe a bird is headed your way. But you never know if he is because they simply don't talk. So you sit for 30 minutes counting ticks and hoping you're still awake if/when the Tom arrives. But also partly because there is almost zero variability in the bird (Oh, this one has a 10 1/4" beard and that one is only 10 1/8"! Wow!). They don't have that visible rack like a deer does. They don't provide that unexpected rush of a flushing upland bird. In fact I much prefer hunting fall turkeys where I can use dogs and flush them like a quail. The final reason is because I think the spring is the least fun time to be outdoors. It's wet and swampy. Every bug in the world is out and about annoying you. It's greened up too much to find shed antlers (unless you sit on them which I've done 3x), and it's hot and humid.

When a turkey hunt goes juuuust right, it's a great thing. Last year I shot 2 birds in 5 minutes. They came off the roost on a neighboring property, hit the ground and strutted a little. When I yelped they literally ran 800 yards directly to my decoys only stopping every 100 yards to gobble and then resume the chase. The most challenging thing to me was to get a bird clear of the gang of other gobblers who were beating up my decoy. If turkey hunting were like that a little more I'd get it. But that happens about 1 in every 50 hunts.

For me, once the redbuds pop and the white bass start running turkey season is all but over because I would much rather catch fish than sit in a wet pile of ticks and hope that a turkey silently sneaks up on me.