Public Enemy: Hunting Turkeys on Public Ground

Public Enemy: Hunting Turkeys on Public Ground

By Ryan Graden

Your season has come and you are rearing to go! You have a tag in your pocket and the itch to get out in the timber and chase some big Iowa Easterns. The gun is dusted off, you have the ammo, the camo, and the eagerness for another hunting adventure. It’s time to venture into “every man’s land”. The public timber!

For some, the word “public” will cause great frustration. Trust me, I’ve talked to lots of public land hunters over the years that have said, “I just need to find some private property to hunt.” As if that would solve all of their turkey hunting problems. I’m here to tell you, change your thinking! That’s right. Any hunter has a great chance to harvest a quality bird in any of Iowa’s public acres. If you know where you’re going and what you are doing!

I just googled the question “How many public acres does Iowa have?” The answer was 425,000 acres of public land. Now, for certain, not all of those acres hold turkeys. However, there are quite a few public acres worth your time to hunt.

Public Timber
As you approach your season and plan where you want to be, do your homework. My suggestion, get out and listen!

I am fortunate enough to have a tract of private land to hunt on. However, for turkeys this land is not a premier spot to do so. I often venture onto public timbers to do my spring turkey hunting.

Preparing for these public timber hunts is super important to having success. A few weeks prior to the beginning of the Iowa turkey seasons, you will find me investigating those timbers in my camo with a call. I like to venture out before dark, choose an area of public timber, and begin calling in hopes of hearing a response.

When I begin to hear those toms sound off as the sun breaks into the morning sky, I make a series of mental notes. I remember how deep I am in the timber, the general area that they are roosting, the number of turkeys that I’m hearing, any tracks that I’m seeing, and ultimately is the area huntable.

In order to have a successful public timber hunt, you have to know your area. That will give you a leg up on other hunters. A majority of weekend public hunters are jumping into the woods for the first time on the opening morning of their season. If you study your quarry and hunting area in the way suggested above, you will be sitting pretty as you watch those toms come to your call.

Competition
There is no doubt that other hunters will be storming the timbers looking for the same birds you are. That’s to be expected and I would suggest that you not get all worked up about it! It’s public timber. It’s anybody’s opportunity! They have the same rights as you do.

I’ve been out on public land and had guys ruin my hunt. Frankly, I’m sure that I’ve ruined other’s hunts as well. It’s never intentional. Good hunters operate by an “unspoken code” in which that shouldn’t happen. But, hey, it could.

My suggestion, you just have to be better than them at the hunt!

Consider getting deeper into the timber. Many weekend hunters or fair weather hunters will only venture so far into public land. It may be because they don’t want to walk too far. It may be because they are unsure of finding their way back. It may be that they don’t know what they are doing. Who knows? My point is this, do your best to find “your place” in these timbers. Go somewhere nobody else would desire to venture to. You will definitely gain the advantage if you choose to do this.

Calling
This is HUGE in having success on public land and here’s why. During a turkey season, turkeys on public property will have more opportunity to be educated. With all the other hunters entering the timber and doing their best to call in a turkey, they will begin to learn what calls are real and what calls are fake. Convincing a turkey to visit your setup will be increasingly difficult as the season continues.

That translates into a couple of things for you as a hunter. First, it might be to your advantage to hunt the early season rather than the later ones. Use your first choice tag for one of the first two seasons in order to get the “edge” on an old tom.

A second thing to battle this issue, PRACTICE YOUR CALLING! A successful turkey hunter is one that has mastered, to some degree, a call. Be it a mouth diaphragm, box call, slate call, or something else. When you can match the sound of a turkey, you will attract a turkey. Do not expect to just go in the woods, open the package that your call is in, and start calling. You will do more damage than good to your hunt and the hunts of those coming after you!

Camouflage
Not only do these turkeys get educated on calling, they begin to notice what’s chasing them too. It’s interesting that in my turkey hunting experience, there is a sincere difference on how turkeys react to a hunting setup on private property vs. public property.

As I stated before, I am lucky to have some private ground that I have permission to hunt each spring. On this private ground, I have harvested some large birds! The largest being a 27lb. 7 oz. limb hanger!

What I’ve noticed is that I have a little more “grace” with these birds when it comes to my setup. I am certain it’s because they do not see hunters until I enter the woods. In two situations particularly, a bird came in behind me when I was calling to an answering tom down the ridge ahead of me. These turkeys snuck into my setup and began to spit and drum.

After I had realized the situation, I ran through my head what I should do. Knowing that if I moved, the chances of getting a shot was zip. However, these birds were hung up and would not come to my setup in front of me. Finally, I chose to spin on to my knees and take whatever shot I may have in that moment. Both times, after my “spin move” the birds stood there looking at me! As if confused and interested. Needless to say, it was their demise!

On public land, however, the situation is different 99% of the time! I have had similar situations where birds have come from behind and I’ve had to make the choice to spin and take a shot.

Before I could even get my forward momentum to move me from my backside, those birds were hauling tail. No pun intended! It was like they were a vanishing shadow! They knew exactly what I was and they were not waiting around to see if they were wrong or right.

Having the proper camouflage and being able to master the skill of being still is the only way you’ll gain the advantage on public property. Make sure that you are dressing appropriately to the current surroundings too. Through our turkey seasons here in Iowa, colors will change. We will go from surroundings of browns to greens in a matter of six weeks! Make sure you match!

Tactics
Tactically, calling on public property can be a challenge! Sometimes the “calling game” will drive you nuts! There have been mornings in the timber that I have pulled out every little tactic that I can think of only to leave more frustrated than ever.
So, in light of that, let me pass on to you a few of the most effective tactics that I have used in public land hunting for “educated” turkeys.

Tactic #1 – Float Calling
This is a two-man tactic, but if you are both experienced callers, it could work well for each of you. Float calling is a setup where a hunter will pick a spot to sit, expecting the answering turkey to pass by that very spot. The second hunter will back up thirty to forty yards behind the sitting hunter. The person calling will call while walking back and forth, face towards and away, scratching the ground, and making other normal turkey sounds and gestures in an attempt to call the bird past the hunter.

This works very well in a public land situation. If a turkey is weary, he might still want to get close to make sure that what he is hearing is not a real turkey. However, getting “close” puts him right near the hunter.

Tactic #2 – Boss the Boss Hen
Tom turkeys might be smart, but sometimes they will, like humans, follow the majority.

I’ve roosted turkeys that I expected to fly down near to me at daybreak offering me an easy and quick hunt to fill my tag. However, being an educated turkey on public land, one of the first things they do is find other turkeys!

Once they’ve become part of a flock, you will usually begin to hear a boss hen calling the shots of the entire flock. She is usually the loudest raspiest hen you will hear in the flock.

A few times over my years of chasing turkeys, I’ve been able to challenge and aggravate the boss hen. When you successfully do that she will come angry, looking to put somebody in their place. If the boss hen comes the flock comes, and so does the tom you are targeting. He might be in the back of the flock, but if you are still enough and you let that boss hen come close, you just might reach out and “touch” him!

Tactic #3 – Going Deep
I hinted at this thought earlier in the article, but I want to explain it in more detail. What I am suggesting here is making a trek deeper into public timbers than most of the average hunters would desire to go.

If you can pick a rather large piece of public timber, you have a chance of not entering into a hunter-saturated territory. That also means that you have to be willing to put on the miles to get somewhere not many hunters have been.

You see, if public timbers are hunted by many on their outer areas, the turkeys will eventually venture to somewhere safer. They are smart. They will seek areas that they can live in without the interruption of humans. Thus, as the seasons continue on, turkeys will move to a new territory if they feel the need to.

If you are willing, and have a knowledge of the area, you could get yourself into a setup that no turkey is expecting. They haven’t seen humans that deep into the timber and therefore, you gain the advantage in a hunt. Proper calling, camo, and patience might just produce a bird for you to harvest.

It will mean a long tow out, but at least you have punched your tag!

Conclusion
My suggestion to you is this, don’t be afraid to hunt in public timbers here in Iowa. It’s a challenge that you CAN take on and have success. Is it easy? Not always. Will you have to put in some extra efforts? Yes, for certain.

But when you wrap your tag around the leg of a bird, no matter what the size, the game is won! Checkmate! Good luck!