1. Easterns: Hunter pressure in tight habitats make this subspecies the most difficult in the country. More turkey hunters roam Eastern states than any of the others. An Alabama Eastern three-year-old longbeard might be the most difficult turkey of all.
What is the hardest state to turkey hunt?
In many cases, there are other great things about those states, even if turkey hunting isn’t one of them.
5 Worst States for Turkey Hunting
- 5 | Rhode Island.
- 1 | Louisiana.
- 2 | North Dakota.
- 3 | Nevada.
- 4 | Delaware.
- 5 | Rhode Island.
- 1 | Louisiana.
- 2 | North Dakota.
What color should you avoid turkey hunting?
Never wear red, white, blue or black clothing while turkey hunting. Red is the color most hunters look for when distinguishing a gobbler’s head from a hen’s blue-colored head, but at times it may appear white or blue. Male turkey feathers covering most of the body are black in appearance.
What are the easiest turkeys to hunt?
Because they tend to live in more rugged areas, Merriam’s are considered to be the easiest subspecies to hunt.
Which species of turkey is the hardest to hunt?
Osceola Turkey
The Osceola is objectively the most difficult of the four subspecies to hunt, let alone harvest, due to a lack of public access opportunity and their extremely small habitat range. Osceolas only inhabit the southern half of Florida.
What state has best turkey hunting?
Here are 7 states that offer the best turkey hunting opportunities for experienced hunters.
- Ohio. 2021 Harvest Data – 14,546 Turkeys.
- Pennsylvania. 2021 Harvest Data – 28,087 Turkeys.
- Virginia. 2021 Harvest Data – 20,541 Turkeys.
- Missouri. 2021 Harvest Data – 34,595 Turkeys.
- Kentucky.
- Arkansas.
- Tennessee.
Who is the best turkey hunter in the world?
Jeff Budz has taken 91 turkey grand slams—more than any hunter ever.
How important is camo for turkey hunting?
Hunter camouflage is an important part of hunting turkey, but it may present a problem. The better you are camouflaged and concealed, the less likely another hunter will be able to see you, and the more likely you could be mistaken for a turkey.
What should you not wear turkey hunting?
Never wear red, white, blue, or black, the colors of a male wild turkey. Dress defensively, and wear hunter orange when moving in the turkey woods. Never stalk turkey sounds or attempt to sneak up on wild turkeys. Always call the turkey to you.
Does camo pattern matter for turkey?
Wild turkeys are elusive, paranoid poultry with unrivaled vision, making them a challenging target and a favorite among sportsmen. In order to take down one of these birds, you have to be well camouflaged and blend into your surroundings, which is why your apparel is so important to your success in the field.
How long should you call turkey?
Calling every 15 minutes or so and starting off quieter and then getting more aggressive/louder as the day goes on are good rules of thumb. If you hear a hen, try to mimic her exact vocalizations.
What state has the most wild turkey?
What makes Alabama a standout for turkey hunting is really two things: it has the largest turkey population (except Texas in some years), and hunters can harvest up to five turkeys over the fall and spring seasons, at a limit of one per day.
What time is best to turkey hunt?
General Weather Conditions: As a general rule of thumb, turkeys are most active during calm, clear days in morning and early afternoon hours. Turkey activity generally decreases with bad weather conditions including wind and rain. During extremely wet and rainy days, turkeys are neither vocal nor very active.
What is the turkey Super Slam?
Considered the biggest feat in turkey hunting, the Super Slam requires taking one turkey subspecies in all U.S. states, except Alaska, which doesn’t have a wild turkey population.
What is the biggest wild turkey breed?
The Gould’s turkey is a bird of the mountainous areas of this region. It is the largest of the five subspecies and resembles the Merriam’s turkey. They have longer legs, larger feet, and larger center tail feathers than any of the other wild turkey subspecies in North America.
What is considered a big wild turkey?
If you hunt Eastern turkeys, you have a distinct advantage over the other subspecies regarding weight. The Eastern is the heaviest of turkeys and can weigh over 25 pounds.
Is turkey hunting easy?
Turkeys are supposed to be tough. That’s why it’s the best hunting tradition for some of us – the difficulty adds to the pleasure. It’s all good – the scouting, locating, sitting on birds, calling to them and sometimes even tagging one.
What state has the most Rio Grande turkeys?
The Rio Grande turkey subspecies thrives primarily in two top states, with Texas and Oklahoma weighing in as the sweet spots. In the Southwest, New Mexico and Arizona hold small populations of Rios mixed in with Merriam’s (and even Gould’s in the latter state).
What is the life expectancy of a wild turkey?
10 years
But in nature, the turkey’s athletic prowess is impressive. Wild turkeys can fly at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour and run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. The natural lifespan of the turkey is up to 10 years, but on factory farms they are slaughtered when they’re just 5 months old.
Who has completed the turkey Super Slam?
When Jason Hart tightened the trigger on a Mississippi longbeard in the spring of 2021, it brought closure to a quest he began nearly a decade ago. With a special turkey gun in his hands, he had completed the U.S. Super Slam of the wild turkey – taking a bird in 49 states across the country.
How many people have completed the U.S. Super Slam turkey?
According to NWTF, only 14 hunters have completed and registered a U.S. Super Slam in their records database.