TN or KY??

[Swampmonkey]

Just thought id throw this topic out and see if anyone has an opinion one way or the other. I have a week of vacation to burn middle of April and was thinking about trying to kill a bird on public land in a new state. Tennessee and Kentucky keep popping up in my mind because I keep hearing about awesome turkey numbers and both states and both are a reasonable drive from home here in SC. If you were going to stick to just public land which state would you guys choose??

[joey46]

I lived nine years in KY and have hunted both states.  The Daniel Boone NF in KY has some nice spots and is huge.  Both non-resident license are pricey IMO.  I do like KY's telecheck system that allows you to receive harvest numbers that update daily.  You can also check harvest numbers county by county for year's past.  One of the best telecheck systems in the country.  Either state is a toss up.  Good luck.

[eggshell]

I have never hunted TN but I have hunted Ky for 37 years. I have hunted several other states and it compares well. There is a good bit of public land and you can usually find an area not too over crowded. Flip a coin and go where suits you best. I am guessing both will be a fair choice. I will say I have seen a decline in the bird density in the last few years, but I see people posting the same about TN.

[Dtrkyman]

Tennessee was throttled last year!

[shatcher]

KY

[Happy]

I would say most states got throttled. Even with travel restrictions there were a lot of people with time on their hands.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Vintage]

Ky public land is crowded in Turkey seasons if I was going to hunt Ky I would think about Land between the Lake or the strip land in Eastern Ky.

[rstewart8706]

There is not a single turkey left in TN.  Better go to KY

[Remington700]

There is not a single turkey left in TN.  Better go to KY

This is sound advice. I doubt I see anything this year! 

[eggshell]

Ky public land is crowded in Turkey seasons if I was going to hunt Ky I would think about Land between the Lake or the strip land in Eastern Ky.

I found it to be no worse than any other state. You have to do some leg work but there are areas not so bad.

[Kylongspur88]

There is not a single turkey left in TN.  Better go to KY

Weird. No turkeys here anymore. Might want to look at Ohio

[eggshell]

Yeah come on up to Ohio, I recommend High St in Columbus, lots of turkeys there.

Ohio is my home state and we aren't one of the densest populations, but we have birds widespread. Some areas have very little public land. S.E. and eastern Ohio have the most public land with birds. You'll want to focus in the lower to eastern part as the flat farm ground of west, central and northern Ohio is all private and sparse bird population.  Most state forest have birds and pressure will be bad on weekends and the first 3-4 days. After the first week it falls off a lot and there's still active birds.

I have hunted several states and Ohio is good if you have connections to private, but as a destination state for public hunting I would only rate it average.

That is being bone cold honest with information.

[timberjack86]

Kentucky, Tn numbers are down