Tennesse Turkeys

[mbecnel]

Any of you guys hunt Tennessee. I'm only in my second season of turkey hunting so I still have plenty to learn. I'm from Louisiana and hunt here, but this spring we're going to make a hunting trip around Franklin Tn. My brother in law has around 90 acres that he uses to train his bird dogs but doesn't hunt it and he told me there are plenty turkeys on it. Being from Louisiana and hunting FLAT land what do I need to do different in the hills ?

[JW]

Nothing - all the same tactics you use in LA will work in TN.

The terrain might be a bit hillier but birds use open areas just like back home.

JW

[PHA]

A while back, a friend and I hunted near Maryville in eastern TN. We heard and worked a lot of birds but just couldn't close the deal. It was a great hunt even though we ate our tags.

I would say start high on the mountain before first light and then go to the birds. Calling from above or the same level usually works better.

Good luck.

[superstrutter]

I also hunt in LA. I have hunted Tenn. the past four seasons. I have hunted private and public. All but one of those seasons was really tough. Not a whole lot of birds on any of the trips. I did manage to take two gobblers in those four seasons. I hunted just east of Memphis, in Hardeman County close to Hickory Valley, and in Waynesboro. Just like JW said, just use the same tactics. They are Easterns just like in LA. They can be tough to hunt, just like in LA. Make sure you are in pretty good shape to hunt the hills or mountains. It will wear you out if you are not in shape. The terrain is just a little bit different than in LA. The terrain around Memphis and Hardeman County is no different than LA.

[mouthcaller]

I live in Jackson, TN, and have hunted the whole state since the spring of 1981.

The first turkeys I killed in the early 80s were on public Mississippi river bottom WMAs in W. Tennessee. Those woods look just like your bottomlands in LA - wet, cypress, and hardwoods, cane, etc. Other parts of West and Middle TN are rolling, mixed ground with pretty hillsides, valleys, farmland, small and large tracts of hardwoods. East Tennessee has the Smokey Mountains, foothills, and Cumberland Plateau. You can get into anything over there.

In summary, while the state is divided into three distinct geographical areas, the turkeys are basically the same in my experience.

[hunter0206]

I live just outside of Chattanooga, TN and the hunting over there is tough. The mountain birds are alot different than the ones in the valley. In the last 4 years or so the mountain birds haven't been gobbling until about two weeks into the season. It makes it really hard to hunt em if you cant locate em. So bring you some good hiking boots and be ready to walk to find those birds. good luck!

[mbecnel]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I made an aerial and a topo map of the property using mytopo.com. Actually the property only has about a 50-75 feet elevation change if that has any effect. Now the surrounding property does have a little more elevation change