dedgeez
death from above
western South Dakota and Eastern Wyoming are both phenomenal, SD has a ton of public land that is great , but with Wyo going to a 2 bird limit this year Im guessing a ton of guys will go there as well. My brother lives in Hullett Wyo in the black hills and I have hunted there a couple times, the hunting is amazing but there are alot of outfitters in that area so access can be harder, but if you do your homework you can find public land there as well. Either way you will have no trouble finding birds, and honestly they are very easy to kill compared to our birds. Good luck
AZHunter
Iowa Boy At Heart
For a bit of a drive, New Mexico has amazing merriams turkey hunting, especially in the Gila National Forest (Gila Wilderness, in particular) and DIY. Tags in most areas are over-the-counter and you can get 2 tags (most areas) for about $120 or $130. I'd offer up AZ, but its a lottery and tags have all ready been issued for the spring. For future planning, turkey tag applications (only one, though) are due in October before the spring hunt. Its an expensive gamble in AZ as a NR, but its amost all public land with lots of birds. If you're a purist (like me) and only want your subspecies from their native ranges (AZ, NM, and CO for merriams), then, for the money, I'd say New Mexico. Carson and Santa Fe NFs are also good, but they may only be one tag (still OTC, though).
biggest buck
Active Member
I have gone to SD and NE the last two years with some buddies. Very little success on the public land. Hunted Black hills two yrs ago, didnt see very many birds. They were still bunched up and the groups we did see were in the city limits of Hill City. We did have a little luck down by Pringle, SD. This area is a little easier walking than the hills by Hill City. I think we were there to early, mid April. Western Nebr last yr at the Ponderosa WMA near Crawford, Ne. Waay to many hunters on the ground. Tried several other WMA's out there as well and ran into the same thing. Now the private ground out there was loaded with them. Seemed like every pc had a nice group of them. We did get permission from 1 landowner but the birds didnt cooperate and it was our last day there. Rushville Ne has tons of birds and there are a couple outfitters in the area. Herb Wellnitz is one but they arent exactly cheap at a little over $1000. The area is beautiful too.
This year we are going to Ogallala, Ne. Found a private landowner on our way home last year. Tons and tons of birds along the Platte river on May 1st. Hopefully I will be able to get a shot at one this year. We'll be in Texas in the days prior to Nebr. trying to shoot us a Rio! Who knows, maybe I'll be able to get me a Rio, Merriams and an Eastern all in about a weeks time.
This year we are going to Ogallala, Ne. Found a private landowner on our way home last year. Tons and tons of birds along the Platte river on May 1st. Hopefully I will be able to get a shot at one this year. We'll be in Texas in the days prior to Nebr. trying to shoot us a Rio! Who knows, maybe I'll be able to get me a Rio, Merriams and an Eastern all in about a weeks time.
goatman
I hunt days ending in Y
I believe the birds on the Platte near Ogallala are rios. Seems like I read that only 40 miles separate the merriams in Pine Ridge from the southwest rios.
biggest buck
Active Member
According to the Nebr Game & Parks Officer I spoke with last year, there are NO rios in Neb. Now I disagree with this as I know there is a band of them in the NE part of Neb. There are also alot of Hybrids in that area. I hunted Bristow, Ne last year for these. The ones we saw last year near Ogallala have the snow white feathers just like the ones in the Pine Ridge area.
Shovelbuck
Active Member
Yep, and that wisdom comes from the same people that until just a few years ago said we had no mountain lions either.
