For arguments sake lets say you live in Alaska(because its the only state with no turkeys)and you want to come to the lower 48 to hunt turkeys and can choose only 1 state.Which do you choose and why? Price?Limit?Season length?Number of birds? etc................ :popcorn:
Well my first instinct was to say Missouri but then again we only have a 2 bird limit and our season is a measly 3 weeks. So as much as it pains me to say that (I love our turkey hunting) I would say someplace like Tennessee (4 bird limit) Nebraska (3 birds and a loooong season) etc.
Interesting question. Let's see what the group comes up with. I have always considered SC very high on their OOS licenses.
We do have a 5 bird limit 2 per day and the season runs from Mid March- End of May.
Come to Texas..4 birds and all can be shot the same day - $126.00 non resident spring turkey license.
Gman
Texas
Kansas: Plenty of public land, availability of tags, fair cost of tag and license, long season.
Only down side is 2 bird limit but then you can jump across the state line once you tag out and head for Missouri, Oklahoma, or Nebraska and have another good place to hunt.
TX. Super reasonable OOS fee, 4 birds, lots of birds. Then hit OK, reasonable cost, 3 more birds.
Texas=$126.00 gets you 4 birds? No other $ involved(tag/license)? That is very cheap!
Texas - hands down
Quote from: jakesdad on January 12, 2015, 07:22:28 PM
Texas=$126.00 gets you 4 birds? No other $ involved(tag/license)? That is very cheap!
The $126.00 is your license and tags included. Of course, you'll have to find somewhere to hunt...not much public land in Texas. Keep an eye on the Texas hunting Forum in the outfitters page..there should be more hunts showing up there over the next couple of weeks. Most of the operations that advertise there are legit. Oklahoma is another option...more expensive license, but more public land. Stay away from opening week and weekends and you should be able to harvest some birds..and theres always Kansas.
Gman
texas...good to know
Another vote for Texas. Me and 3 buddies are going this year for our 10th year in a row.
If you have an extra $500 to $1,000 to spend, then yes, Texas is the place to go. You will need that to pay for access to hunt somewhere,...unless you have friends, relatives, or other contacts there. Non-resident license fees don't mean much when you have to pay that extra money to find somewhere to hunt.
Another vote for Texas, IF you have a place to hunt. Otherwise, Kansas.
Good thread!
Not mississippi! 3 birds in the spring, 1 per day but it will cost me about $400 as an out of state hunter to hunt my own private land for the spring 7ish week season
Texas. Plus, you can hunt Ft. Hood, which has tons of birds & is public land (or, at least, you used to be able to hunt there as a civie). I think Ft. Hood is over 300,000 acres??!! hahaha...
I've only hunted Alabama as a non res. 5 birds, long season, under 200, enough public land. BUT.. there aint no birds in bama just so you know.
I've searched for hours on a DIY public land hunt in Texas and I don't really think its possible for most people. I really wanted to do a public land trip with my dad for hogs/turkeys but I don't see it happening. I can't get him to pay to hunt hogs eithers. He sees them as a nuisance and can't imagine paying to hunt them. Soooooo.... If you have land access great! If not.. SHOW them the MONEY$$$
Since I can't hunt Alabama this year I'm leaning toward a western hunt. It's between Kansas and Nebraska.
Yes, there are turkeys in Alabama, even on public land. However, there are not near as many as advertised. I know, i live and hunt here for over 30 years ago. It just ain't what it used to be.
Having only hunted 6 states for turkeys (Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas), I'm not sure how much experience I have compared to others here...
Minnesota is a draw and you only get a few days to hunt. Wisconsin is the same. Iowa is expensive for non-residents ($125 NR license, then tags on top of that), so those three are out.
My three favorites were Nebraska, South Dakota, and Kansas. Kansas tags were fairly priced and a two bird limit, but we found access to private land fairly difficult. It seemed like many of the locals were not too excited about non-residents coming to hunt.
South Dakota was fun. Tags are fairly priced, and there was again a two bird limit if hunting in the Black Hills. There are over a million acres of public land in the Hills, and a ton of birds.
Nebraska is my favorite because tags are the cheapest, there is a three bird limit, and private land is fairly easy to gain access to. The locals where we hunt are some of the nicest people I have ever met, and there are a ton of birds. Of all the trips I have been on, Nebraska is the only state I consistently go back to year after year.
Put me down for Texas
Not to derail the thread but I was under the impression that SD Black Hills was 1 bird limit for a nonresident.
I've enjoyed hunting Nebraska in the past.
Birds are too scattered in MT and CO to make them a destination as you describe but could be bonus if you killed out in a neighboring state such as NE or KS. CO mountain birds are hard to beat for scenery but they can be hard to find.
Hard gobbling easterns are hard to beat. I used to think MO was king but I've not been there in a long time.
If I was truly coming from Alaska I would make the hunt a loop through more than one state.
If I am hunting private land I like Kansas and Oklahoma. If I am hunting public land I like Missouri and Mississippi.
Quote from: hobbes on January 13, 2015, 10:11:59 PM
Not to derail the thread but I was under the impression that SD Black Hills was 1 bird limit for a nonresident.
I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that we were archery hunting. In SD, you get an additional Spring Archery tag, but otherwise I believe you are correct - Black Hills is a one bird limit.
Quote from: cornfedkiller on January 14, 2015, 08:37:33 AM
Quote from: hobbes on January 13, 2015, 10:11:59 PM
Not to derail the thread but I was under the impression that SD Black Hills was 1 bird limit for a nonresident.
I'm sorry, I forgot to mention that we were archery hunting. In SD, you get an additional Spring Archery tag, but otherwise I believe you are correct - Black Hills is a one bird limit.
Nothing to be sorry about. I was hoping I was mistaken and the limit was 2 for shotgun. :))
Hire a guide on an Indian reservation in South Dakota, and they'll give you all kinds of tags. :D
Tn has a lot of public land and a 4 bird limit, But our license fees are very high and they are going up even more this year.
Not florida. And I like that.
Been to Florida Public Land hunting three times got one bird two of the three years. But Yes Florida is a hard state to Hunt on public land because of all the hunters.
Quote from: Gooserbat on January 12, 2015, 07:00:36 PM
Kansas: Plenty of public land, availability of tags, fair cost of tag and license, long season.
Only down side is 2 bird limit but then you can jump across the state line once you tag out and head for Missouri, Oklahoma, or Nebraska and have another good place to hunt.
this
Quote from: timberjack86 on January 15, 2015, 09:13:21 PM
Tn has a lot of public land and a 4 bird limit, But our license fees are very high and they are going up even more this year.
$325 is what it would cost me now and here i thought the $267 I've been paying was stupid. I wish you could buy turkey, deer, bear tags separately. Stupid you have to buy them all. Same with Virginia.
Doesn't go into effect till July 1 so we're safe till next year :D
I hunt 12+ states, Tejas, no contest...
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Alaska
Nebraska. Just pure silliness.
Quote from: cornfedkiller on January 13, 2015, 09:28:10 PM
Having only hunted 6 states for turkeys (Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas), I'm not sure how much experience I have compared to others here...
Minnesota is a draw and you only get a few days to hunt. Wisconsin is the same. Iowa is expensive for non-residents ($125 NR license, then tags on top of that), so those three are out.
My three favorites were Nebraska, South Dakota, and Kansas. Kansas tags were fairly priced and a two bird limit, but we found access to private land fairly difficult. It seemed like many of the locals were not too excited about non-residents coming to hunt.
South Dakota was fun. Tags are fairly priced, and there was again a two bird limit if hunting in the Black Hills. There are over a million acres of public land in the Hills, and a ton of birds.
Nebraska is my favorite because tags are the cheapest, there is a three bird limit, and private land is fairly easy to gain access to. The locals where we hunt are some of the nicest people I have ever met, and there are a ton of birds. Of all the trips I have been on, Nebraska is the only state I consistently go back to year after year.
Not to be a nerd but the nonresident cost of turkey tags in Nebraska is right at $90 per bird. They are the highest of the 3 you mentioned.
Hunting the southern eastern is hard to beat. Rios and Merriams just do not act like a hard gobbling eastern. i have hunted Alabama and Tennessee for easterns and its hard to beat.
I agree with JWHUNTER, Easterns are the most fun. It's all I care about hunting.
I also agree with hunting Easterns is the best and I enjoy southern gobblers more than any. From my hunts out west turkeys do not act the same, but I continue to travel to various states and different terrains to maybe one day find a place that will be as fun as hunting easterns in big timber
Quote from: dirtnap on January 23, 2015, 05:46:47 AM
Not to be a nerd but the nonresident cost of turkey tags in Nebraska is right at $90 per bird. They are the highest of the 3 you mentioned.
You are correct, the actual tags themselves are not the cheapest (I should have worded that differently in my original post), BUT the tags are all you have to buy (well plus a small habitat fee or something like that).
South Dakota tags were like $100 a piece if I remember correctly. Kansas makes you buy a non-resident hunting license. I just looked it up and it was cheaper than I remember, but I thought my two birds in Kansas were over $200?
I can definitely say Florida is not on the best list. The FWC could make a TON of money if they choose to raise non-resident prices on turkey.
For TN right now the non-resident license is $251. That's a sportsmans license so not only do you get 4 turkeys but you also get 3 bucks, if in right unit 3 does per day, all other types of hunting, trapping, and fishing. TN also has draw hunts in which you can enter. If you enter the state draws and get a hunt depending on where it is it can be a bonus bird. There are NWR draws as well and those are bonus birds. You also have Ft. Campbell which is 3 birds and the Milan Arsenal. So you have a potential of up to 10 birds if you play your cards right in TN!
I agree with Turkeybow and that's why I spend half myspring in Tennessee. That and the fact there are lots of turkeys.
I'm hoping to put something together for a western hunt in 2016. Me and my Son have been talking about it for awhile now. Black Hills hunt sounds really cool, but haven't decided yet. Going to do some research this year and decide for sure. Might even go the guided/semi guided route if I have too. This has been on my bucket list and I need to start crossing stuff off of it lol!
Quote from: the Ward on January 25, 2015, 07:54:14 AM
I'm hoping to put something together for a western hunt in 2016. Me and my Son have been talking about it for awhile now. Black Hills hunt sounds really cool, but haven't decided yet. Going to do some research this year and decide for sure. Might even go the guided/semi guided route if I have too. This has been on my bucket list and I need to start crossing stuff off of it lol!
Other than Kansas, or Oklahoma, I would do the semi-guided route. It cost a bit more, but in most cases, you're on private land and you should get on birds quicker that have had less pressure.
Gman