Easterns.
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?
5 Worst States for Turkey Hunting
- 5 | Rhode Island. The smallest state in the union (1,045 square miles) only offers limited turkey hunting opportunities.
- 1 | Louisiana. We love Louisiana for its people, lifestyle and culture.
- 2 | North Dakota.
- 3 | Nevada.
- 4 | Delaware.
- 5 | Rhode Island.
- 1 | Louisiana.
- 2 | North Dakota.
What is the easiest turkey to hunt?
Because they tend to live in more rugged areas, Merriam’s are considered to be the easiest subspecies to hunt.
What is the best caliber for turkey?
For a dedicated turkey rifle, though, the best choices are going to be in the lower velocity . 22- to . 25-caliber range, though there can be exceptions to that. High-velocity varmint calibers and bullets are made for explosive expansion on small game and can tear up a turkey.
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.
What state kills the most turkeys?
Missouri. Home to more than 317,000 Eastern turkeys, hunters harvested 47.603 of them. That’s more than any other state despite the fact that hunting ends at 1 p.m. daily. There’s a two-bird limit, and the season runs from mid-April through early May.
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. If she does a soft 4-note yelp, you do the same – if she gets loud, you get loud, too.
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.
How early should you start calling turkeys?
When To Call A Gobbler. OK, so let’s narrow it down to the time of day. In my view, the best times of the day are right off the roost, then again from about 8:30 to 9:30 when more hens start to leave the gobbler to go lay an egg, and again from about 11 until noon.
What turkey is the biggest?
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.
What is a turkey Super Slam?
Billy Barnett is a lineman from Kentucky who recently pulled off a feat that few others have—killing a turkey in all 49 states where they live. To accomplish a Super Slam, the hunter must take one turkey in every state but Alaska (no turkeys live there).
What is the best shot size for turkey hunting?
Pick suitable shot sizes
Shooters might use shot as small as #9 for very small birds like quail, or as large as #2 for large birds like geese and swans. For comparison, there are 585 #9 lead pellets in an ounce versus only 90 #2 pellets in an ounce. For turkey hunting, shot sizes 4, 5 and 6 will all work.
What’s the best shot for turkey?
Lead Turkey Loads
A good compromise is #5 copper-plated lead pellets loaded in a 12-gauge 3-inch magnum shot shell. With this setup, you’ll be good out to 40 yards, and perhaps 50 if your gun is patterned tight. If you want better range and lethality, you’ll need to consider using tungsten shot.
What is the best rifle to hunt turkey?
A 22 Long Rifle and 22 Magnum are good turkey calibers in the right hands under the right circumstances (distance, moving or still target, the accuracy of shooter and firearm).
Which state has the highest wild turkey population?
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 state has the most turkeys?
Minnesota
Number of turkeys raised in the United States in 2018, by leading state (in 1,000 heads)*
Characteristic | Number in thousand heads |
---|---|
Minnesota | 42,000 |
North Carolina | 32,500 |
Arkansas | 31,500 |
Indiana | 20,000 |
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.
Who is the best turkey hunter in the world?
Jeff Budz has taken 91 turkey grand slams—more than any hunter ever.
What is the only state that doesn’t have wild turkeys?
Thanks to this conservation, every state except Alaska has a spring hunting season for turkey. And that’s simply because the turkey range doesn’t extend into Alaska. After deer, turkey is the most common animal hunters choose to hunt. There are a few key things to know before heading out for your spring turkey season.
What is the only state that does not have wild turkeys?
After World War II, active restoration pro- grams and research efforts by state agencies eventually led to wild turkey populations in every state except Alaska. In 1991, spring wild turkey hunting seasons were for the first time open in every one of the 49 states having turkey populations.