I was just curious to see if anyone has any tips or suggestions for hunting public land birds. The place I have in mind is relatively small for public land. Any tips for calling, set-ups, or strategies is appreciated. Thanks

Be aggressive early in the season. THen hunt afternoons and weekdays later on. The turkeys will hear lots of calling, so after the 1st couple of days, call very little. Use a call that sound a little different, like tube calls or little, high-pitched boxes.

where are you hunting?

If there is any hunting pressure run and gun. Avoid using calls when trying to locate a gobbler. Instead use a crow call or a hawk call to locate. Don't get me wrong I'll call a little or cutt some to get a reaction. If nothing is heard I'll run and gun Till I find one that will respond.

How much hunting pressure does this land get???

On the public land I hunt I have to worry more about the mushroon hunters than turkey hunters. Basically I try to get one to gobble at first light and set up from there. I try to roost them the night before so I know where they will be in the morning. Then I play it by ear from there...

use a different sounding call like a wingbone yelper, if the area gets allot of pressure I would call sparingly using clucks and purrs. Any sign that you find like tracks, scat and feathers wipe them out someone else may look around and find no sign in the area.

exactly what i do......

im not entirely sure about how much pressure this land gets. last year when we went, it was raining, and the other time, we saw one other vehicle there. the day is was raining, it started to storm as we were getting our gear out. while doing that, we heard three birds gobbling at the thunder. but it began to lightning so we ended up not hunting.

I would go as much as I could the first days! Maybe take a little time off work if possible! Be a little aggresive with the calling at first and remember it doesn't take a long time for them to be a little call shy, especially on public land with everyone else running around calling! If they don't seem to be responding to the loud stuff, try scaling back to something a little softer... like soft yelps and purrs. Good Luck and Safe Hunting!!!

Some very good advice has been given here. To me public land is better than private land especially smaller areas like you mentioned. As already mentioned the weekdays are the best. Also if you can find an area that is only accessible or best accessed by boat. This is by far my favorite way because if the turkeys have lock jaw then maybe the crappie won't