Point me in the right direction

[Hoytmystic]

I am looking for a good place to start in MN or other states for spring turkey hunting. Not looking for anyones honey hole but would like a good place to start. I have never turkey hunted. Just looking for something to hunt in the spring. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hoytmystic

[Cheetah]

Have you tried the MN DNR HSOforum? The Wild Turkey Hunting section specifically. They publish a lot of data about past hunt statistics and permit lottery results. The DNR also has some online map tools to find public land to hunt.

I see you are in northern MN. There are far fewer birds up north, but they are spreading more and more each year it seems. There are quite a few birds down near Mille Lacs area I have heard. Your best bet is to look into the SE corner of the state for higher permit numbers. If you know of some local flocks near you though you can try to get a permit for those areas too.

[DonBo]

You will definetly have to go south in Minnesota to find huntable populations of turkeys, I douby there is even a zone up your way.

Most hunt where they have permission, good public land is scarce in MN.

So Dak, Nebraska and Wisconsin are all popular destinations for MN turkey hunters. So Dak has tags available over the counter for the Black Hills. Nebraska has OTC tags as well and also has lots of public land. WS has an easy draw for NR as long as you apply for the later seasons, they also have plenty of left over tags you can purchase OTC.

[Borch]

The Black Hills spring hunts still need to be applied for but everyone gets drawn. It's one of my favorite hunts and it's hard to beat the beautiful places turkeys take us there.

Some of the higher MN turkey densities are in SE MN and Central MN. There seem to be more public blocks with good turkey populations in SE MN. If you do you homework you have huntable populations within an hour of Grand Rapids. But you'll find birds in pockets and it'll take more scouting to get on them.

[mrklean]

im going to try and do the Black hills next spring when does the application period open start of the new year?

[DonBo]

So Dak Spring apps will be available in January, applications for the first drawing are due Feb. 18.

Many of you read the story about my fall hunt out in the Hills. Beware that numbers this year may be WAY down in the areas you hunt.

[mrklean]

we were looking around the spearfish around which i think was near the area you were hunting