2 Lunger

Seems that my father and I have lost our hunting ground in So. Indiana due to the land owner passing away and the siblings dispute on the estate. So, we have decided to adapt to the situation instead of throwing in the towel. I couldn't imagine a year with going turkey hunting anyhow.

The only thing we could think of was to head up to Hoosier National Forrest and do some camping and hiking and get to some birds away from the roads. If anyone could shed some light on this place and point us in the right direction we would greatly appreciate it. Does anyone know if there is a better section or an unpressured section of this National park?

hoosierHUNTER76

i have alot of my friends go there and do good just pick a spot to go in and that all i can think of i had the same idea till i found some other place to hunt

bowmanaj

I have hunted private land right on the edge of Hoosier Nat'l Forest, but never in HNF. However, I've talked to hunters that deer hunt there and they say they seeA LOTof birds. Wish I had more info about it, but I know it holds a good amount of birds.

edit: You might also want to look into Morgan/Monroe State Forest, but I don't know what the turkey regs are there..I'd assume its open to hunt just like it is for deer.

Good luck to you, way to stick with it instead of throwing in the towel.

kevin1

You'll find a chain of lakes on south SR37 a few miles from I-64 in the HNF administered by the Dep. of Agriculture/Division of Forestry, there are four of them, but only three are currently open. All of the lakes are interconnected by an excellent network of hiking trails, the first two (Celina and Tipsaw) have good camping and dock facilities. Turkey and deer are abundant, but don't forget your fishing boat and tackle as the fishing is also great. If you boat over to the opposit side of the lake from the campgrounds you'll have vastly less competition from other hunters. Entry is about $5 per day, and the last time I deer hunted there I might as well have been alone except for two boats on the lake. I saw literally hundreds of deer tracks about every couple of hundred yards, especially where game trails lead down to the lake, turkey sign was also abundant. The terrain is hilly, but not too bad for even this old fatboy.

kevin1

You'll find a chain of lakes on south SR37 a few miles from I-64 in the HNF administered by the Dep. of Agriculture/Division of Forestry, there are four of them, but only three are currently open. All of the lakes are interconnected by an excellent network of hiking trails, the first two (Celina and Tipsaw) have good camping and dock facilities. Turkey and deer are abundant, but don't forget your fishing boat and tackle as the fishing is also great. If you boat over to the opposit side of the lake from the campgrounds you'll have vastly less competition from other hunters. Entry is about $5 per day, and the last time I deer hunted there I might as well have been alone except for two boats on the lake. I saw literally hundreds of deer tracks about every couple of hundred yards, especially where game trails lead down to the lake, turkey sign was also abundant. The terrain is hilly, but not too bad for even this old fatboy.

2 Lunger

Thanks for all your help guys! If anyone else has some advice we would appreciate it.

iamgreatwhite

I'm not familiar with the southern region the Hoosier National, however I am very familiar with the area around Lake Monroe. As far as turkeys go,there are plenty of them. I have messed around in that area a little bit and from what I've seen, it has excellent numbers of turkey. Problem with the Northern Region is that a lot of private ground is interlaced with the public part. If you do hunt the northern section make sure you have a map, otherwise you will have some ticked off land owners. I have friends that own next to it andthey getpeople from all over wondering onto their property cutting them off from birds it seems like almost every season. People in the area for the most part are generous and you have about a 50% chance of gainingpermission to hunt private that borders public. Just make sure you ask politelyand are courteous.
During opening weekend you may run into a hunter or two.But if you hit it during the normal work week you should have plenty ofbirds to yourself. Birds can tend to get"callshy". The way I get past this irritating aspect ofthe huntis I prove to the birds that there really is a bird makingnoise.I don't want to make it sound likeI'm advertising for a companyso I won't list anything specific, but if you use a combinationof a full strut tom with a hen in the breeding position close by you shouldn't have any problem. But remember when setting up ona bird, place those decoys in an area where it can be seen for a good ways. Seems these birds use that head of their'sas a periscope over little knolls and gently rolling hills. If they don't see anything they go the opposite direction. Now if my girlfriend/wife was in the breeding position with another guy standing close by, I would get very angry/jealous and run in to take of business. Kind of the same situation with these turkeys.
I hope this helps. This has been my strategy for the last 3 years and it hasn't failed yet. 100% success rate within the last 3 years resulting in the tagging to 10 birds. 3 for myself of course, and 7 for the people I've helped.

2 Lunger

Thanks greatwhite! We will probably hunt the southern section around Birdseye or in that area. I just called the Tell City office today to get us some info on maps. As long as its not too crowded we should be fine.