BigBendFishing.Net

I am new to turkey hunting, having only been out a few times on a buddy's lease. I applied for some limited quotas in the NWR, but didn't draw in the first phase. Put in a second time and drew a Tate's Hell permit.

From what I've seen on other forums, most people who have had success near the SW river system on the WMA; however, it seemed that very few were ever successful.

Just posting today to see if anyone else had experience in the unit or in the general region.

Turkey hunting on public land= don't call much, if at all. Set up in a good ambush spot.

Scout. Then scout some more. Then scout again. You should have a strong game plan set by opening day. Then be prepared to change it 5 times on the first morning. Improvise, adapt, overcome.

I second scouting, scouting, more scouting, scout a little more, and just for a change of pace, scout a little more. Learn the terrain. Be prepared to know exactly where the birds are, only to show up the next morning and you can't even buy a turkey. They're maddening, frustrating and aggravating creatures. I love em.....

My experience is almost entirely on public land turkeys. I've found that some days calling like a banshee is the way to go. Other days, don't make a sound. I am probably one of those hunters that aggravates a lot of other hunters (or maybe they just laugh at me but that's ok too) because I do call a good bit more than many people seem to on public land....sometimes it's very effective. Other times not so much. You'll figure out your own particular style (I have a friend that has a friend who used to call...two or three soft little yelps every 15 minutes on the dot and another that calls a lot...that's what he does when he gets bored....it's what worked for them). One thing with calling a lot though is that sometimes you can find yourself a hot gobbler, who really wants to talk to his lady....just beware that other hunters can hear "YOUR" gobbler as well. I've had at least a turkey or two "stolen" from me by hunters that were doing the same thing I was doing....basically stalking, calling, and trying to get in position. It's disappointing, but nothing to get pissed off about....and in other ways something to be proud of because you had a turkey coming to you.

Get some topographical maps of areas that you will hunt a lot. Mark off the boundaries of the WMAs, roads and any other features that help you out. Then on that map, keep track of where you hear gobbles and kill birds and maybe some other notes. Over time, at least this has been true for me, you'll see a pattern emerge of where birds tend to be found or heard. So if one year it's drier than normal or wetter than normal and you have notes like that, you'll have areas to start looking if other "normal" areas aren't working out for you. Plus it's a great hard copy resource to have if your GPS loses all its data, if you keep track of spots that way.

I've never hunted Tates Hell so can't help you out with that location, though my areas aren't so far from Tate's Hell.