Out of State Turkey hunt

[Muskie456]

Hey guys,

I am disappointed I did not draw my turkey tag this year here in MN so I am going to hop in the truck and hunt out of state. I know a lot of you hunt out of state regularly. Any suggestions? I do not want to hire an outfitter or pay for land to hunt. I have been looking at Kansas and I am about to pull the trigger (pun intended) on buying that tag. There seems to be a lot of walk-in areas and public land. My consern is hunting pressure. Any imput on Kansas or any other state would be great. I do not care how I kill them bow or gun.

[DonBo]

I know Kansas has an early archery only season that should see little pressure, same in Nebraska. Black Hills tags are over the counter and is a popular destination.

You could certainly look closer to home. Lots of leftover tags here in Minnesota for the later seasons and Wisconsin has tons of leftover tags that will go on sale late next month. Permission is relatively easy to obtain in most areas of Wisconsin that I've hunted and there are a lot of birds. It's my favorite spring destination.

[Code-Man]

Kansas is over the counter tags and depending on where in the state you are your able to get 2 toms. The archery season is 2 weeks long and is the first two weeks of there hunting season. I thought about going down there but my buddy suggested not doing that because it's a little early and the birds are not very easy to hunt that time of the year.

[Muskie456]

Donbo,

I just have apprehenion to go to Wisc. for some reason. It seems there is not a lot of public land in turkey country (I may be wrong). I would hate to have to find both birds and permission. It just seems anymore people aren't willing to give a total stranger permission to hunt their land. I like the idea of public ground.

I know we have late season tags here and still may do that. I haven't looked, but do you loose pp if you buy a surplus tag?

Code-man,

Why would that be a tough time of year in Kansas? I would think with an earlier spring that time of year would be right in the guts( again, pun intended).

[paceman]

No you do not lose Prefence points if you get a surplus tag. I went that route last year.

[sticknstring]

Should be plenty of surplus tags for E season and later in many areas. That's the route I'm going to take this year, the same as last. I'll also be travelling to NE for a public land hunt. I've always been intimitaded to try WI as well, just one of those things until you do it I guess... DonBo mentioned some good options as well - you can't go wrong.

[DonBo]

All the years I've hunted Wisconsin, I can only recall a handfull of people who have turned us down.

I will be in Kansas for the early archery season. The hunting could be tough because flocks may not be broken up very well yet. It's an issue in any state with an early season. Hard to call a tom away from a flock of 30 or 40 hens.

[mrklean]

I'll be in Kansas early season opening weekend this year. Tons of birds down there if u can find a decent area down there you will get into birds. I wouldn't look past outfitters you might be able to do a diy hunt for really cheap

[Wallydog]

Long drive but you can buy up to 2 over the counter tags in Idaho........we have a few birds too!

WD

[Hoyt4]

WI has been a great place to hunt turkeys. Permission is very easy to get from what I've found over the years. It's my second favorite hunt of the spring. NE early archery I will try never to miss and WI so many places to hunt.

If you go and do the Kansas archery season you could also get permission on private. From what I've found that early archery season is a good time to get private land locked up. Most are hunting with guns and will not be around.

[Muskie456]

mrklean,

I have looked into the pay hunts down there and found three day hunts for $500.00. That includes lodging but, I really do not want to pay that if I don't need to. I guess i'm o.k. with no kill and saving the $500.00.

[goblueM]

dude, just get an over the counter tag for the Minnesota late season

worst case scenario you drive a coupla hours (dunno where you are) and stay at a state park for camping. pretty cheap

[delzz7]

go to nebraska. there's thousands of acres of public land, camp for free in some areas, and tags over the counter

[Muskie456]

I have hunted MN for 9 yrs now and love it. I hunt SE and have private land to hunt. It will be pretty shot up by the time E season rolls around (Friends and Family). I just have a good excuse to go out of state. I wouldn't mind shooting a differant sub-species and hunt birds in a differant environment.

The other reason I don't want to pay to hunt is (other than saving money)I really would like to figure it out for myself. Not that there is anything wrong with paying I just don't want to.

[engadine52]

Muskie456

Like yourself I am a Do It Yourself (DIY) kind of guy. For 20+ years I have planned out of state turkey hunts (departing from Rochester MN)and when I draw a MN license it is a bonus. My preferred destination has consistently been the Black Hills (SD or WY) or the Pine Ridge Area in NW Neb. close to Chadron or Crawford. We always hunt Natl. Forest or WMA's and have done very well. Camping for a long weekend and a 5-6 day trip including driving days, make for a very inexpensive and doable trip. Make sure you bring a cooler to bring your bird or birds home. Merriam turkeys live there. I went to SW Kansas once for Rio Grandes. It was a difficult hunt. The Public WMA's did not seem to hold turkeys at all. So we started knocking on doors for permsission to hunt. We quickly found out the big farms and ranches were "tied up and not available with hunting leases". We got lucky and found a small farm (120 acres)with turkeys that let us hunt. They saved our trip.

[Muskie456]

Engadine52,

Thanks a bunch for the info. Do you run into other hunters very often in NE or does there seem to be enough room for everyone?

Thanks again,

Pat

[engadine52]

Muskie 456

We occasionally run into other hunters in the woods but very seldom. Walk 1/2 mile from the road and your vehicle and you have eliminated 90% of your competition. Compared to MN the are not that many hunters "out west".

And there is lots of room to roam.

If you decide on NW Neb, send me an email and I can give your some more specific advise on where and what. Email: [email protected]

I am better about checking email then this forum.