Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
12-19-2008, 04:29 PM
#12
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Racine, WI
Posts: 254
RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
Salukipv1,
You have already received some good advice for ways to achieve this but I will add that I have a contact in TX for Rio's, all inclusive (food & lodging & transportation to hunt but NO guide) that I can turn you on to, 550.00 for 4 days and you can take 2 birds.
Also a contact for aDIY (you are just paying a trepass fee of 500-750 bucks/ 4 days and would be responsible for lodging and meals) for Rio's in Southern OK.
Also a contact for what are likely Hybrids (Rio/Easterns) in Kansas 100 / day plus 100 for lodging (food not included but the lodging is right on the property (750 acres). You can do a 4 day hunt for 500 there and its a GREAT place with lots of turkeys.
Also a contact for Merriams in NE, again a trespass fee of 350 / 4 days of hunting, you are responsible for food and lodging here also.
I have found all of these contacts but just calling around, visiting these sites, and asking folks for leads or suggestions. The good thing about this site is that most folks are nice enough to let you talk to them about thier experience (good or bad) at a particular place and I have not been steered wrong yet. I will say that what one man finds is sufficient is certainly NOT sufficient to another, but thats just the way it goes sometimes, but its always good to talk to someone else about thier experience IF you can before you pay to hunt.
Then there is always public land, which is, of course the cheapest way to go but the most work and then least unreliable as far as who else might be there when you are there and such. Again, many many guys have great luck with these sort of hunts on this website. To get started here, one option is to call some wildlife officiers in the area you are interested in after you have explored things online with maps and such and find out what they have to say. I have had great luck with this in WY 2 years ago.
Finally, I have even gone so far as to call some outfitters and ask them about public land options or suggestions in thier areas. Now you have to obviously talk to the right kind of outfitter to get this sort of help but I was blessed to meet such a gentlemen last year that hooked me up with the names of several ranchers in SD that were just glad to have me visit thier place and hunt for Merriams - and the birds were there!
So, in the spirit of passing it on, drop me a PM or give me a call, 262 880 5012 and I'll be glad to tell you what I know if you are interested.
The one thing to remember that MOST folks on this site understand, is that not everyone likes to do things the way they do. We have public land hunters only, those that will not consider going somewhere out of thier backyard without a guide, those that favor the full package (and can afford it) and those that just want to pay a tresspass fee and DIY, some that want free access because thats what they want or because they cannot afford to pay, some folks that are trying to get a slam, shoot a bird in every state before they die (my personal goal), and some that are just plain happy with hunting only in thier own state or a neighboring one.
Nevertheless its a turkey huntingADDICTION for me, and eventhough its only December 19th I'm getting AWFUL fired up about the spring already!
On that note - I am lining up a hunt in extreme north-eastern AL for March and was wondering if anyone out there knows of a good place I might try for a paid-to-hunt in Southern Tennessee? I know there are lots of good birds there but I'd like to find something in the lower Southeast so I wouldn't have to travel as far. Anybody have any ideas there?
One final suggestion - I know that there is a swap-hunt forum and an Outfitters forum on this site but would anyone else be interested in having a thread at the top of this forum for state jumpers that would consider sharing thier experiences about places they have been or leads they might have to help out others that are new to the sport or that are interested in stepping out of thier own state to chase turkeys? Let me know what you think (one way or the other
)
Good luck with whatever you choose but dropme aline if you wish,
Robert
You have already received some good advice for ways to achieve this but I will add that I have a contact in TX for Rio's, all inclusive (food & lodging & transportation to hunt but NO guide) that I can turn you on to, 550.00 for 4 days and you can take 2 birds.
Also a contact for aDIY (you are just paying a trepass fee of 500-750 bucks/ 4 days and would be responsible for lodging and meals) for Rio's in Southern OK.
Also a contact for what are likely Hybrids (Rio/Easterns) in Kansas 100 / day plus 100 for lodging (food not included but the lodging is right on the property (750 acres). You can do a 4 day hunt for 500 there and its a GREAT place with lots of turkeys.
Also a contact for Merriams in NE, again a trespass fee of 350 / 4 days of hunting, you are responsible for food and lodging here also.
I have found all of these contacts but just calling around, visiting these sites, and asking folks for leads or suggestions. The good thing about this site is that most folks are nice enough to let you talk to them about thier experience (good or bad) at a particular place and I have not been steered wrong yet. I will say that what one man finds is sufficient is certainly NOT sufficient to another, but thats just the way it goes sometimes, but its always good to talk to someone else about thier experience IF you can before you pay to hunt.
Then there is always public land, which is, of course the cheapest way to go but the most work and then least unreliable as far as who else might be there when you are there and such. Again, many many guys have great luck with these sort of hunts on this website. To get started here, one option is to call some wildlife officiers in the area you are interested in after you have explored things online with maps and such and find out what they have to say. I have had great luck with this in WY 2 years ago.
Finally, I have even gone so far as to call some outfitters and ask them about public land options or suggestions in thier areas. Now you have to obviously talk to the right kind of outfitter to get this sort of help but I was blessed to meet such a gentlemen last year that hooked me up with the names of several ranchers in SD that were just glad to have me visit thier place and hunt for Merriams - and the birds were there!
So, in the spirit of passing it on, drop me a PM or give me a call, 262 880 5012 and I'll be glad to tell you what I know if you are interested.
The one thing to remember that MOST folks on this site understand, is that not everyone likes to do things the way they do. We have public land hunters only, those that will not consider going somewhere out of thier backyard without a guide, those that favor the full package (and can afford it) and those that just want to pay a tresspass fee and DIY, some that want free access because thats what they want or because they cannot afford to pay, some folks that are trying to get a slam, shoot a bird in every state before they die (my personal goal), and some that are just plain happy with hunting only in thier own state or a neighboring one.
Nevertheless its a turkey huntingADDICTION for me, and eventhough its only December 19th I'm getting AWFUL fired up about the spring already!
On that note - I am lining up a hunt in extreme north-eastern AL for March and was wondering if anyone out there knows of a good place I might try for a paid-to-hunt in Southern Tennessee? I know there are lots of good birds there but I'd like to find something in the lower Southeast so I wouldn't have to travel as far. Anybody have any ideas there?
One final suggestion - I know that there is a swap-hunt forum and an Outfitters forum on this site but would anyone else be interested in having a thread at the top of this forum for state jumpers that would consider sharing thier experiences about places they have been or leads they might have to help out others that are new to the sport or that are interested in stepping out of thier own state to chase turkeys? Let me know what you think (one way or the other
)Good luck with whatever you choose but dropme aline if you wish,
Robert
12-19-2008, 09:22 PM
#13
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location:
Posts: 3,465
RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
ORIGINAL: hootnscoot
One final suggestion - I know that there is a swap-hunt forum and an Outfitters forum on this site but would anyone else be interested in having a thread at the top of this forum for state jumpers that would consider sharing thier experiences about places they have been or leads they might have to help out others that are new to the sport or that are interested in stepping out of thier own state to chase turkeys? Let me know what you think (one way or the other)
Good luck with whatever you choose but dropme aline if you wish,
Robert
One final suggestion - I know that there is a swap-hunt forum and an Outfitters forum on this site but would anyone else be interested in having a thread at the top of this forum for state jumpers that would consider sharing thier experiences about places they have been or leads they might have to help out others that are new to the sport or that are interested in stepping out of thier own state to chase turkeys? Let me know what you think (one way or the other
)Good luck with whatever you choose but dropme aline if you wish,
Robert
That post was a wealth of knowledge.
12-28-2008, 04:24 PM
#15
Join Date: May 2003
Location:
Posts: 98
RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
We have ranches in Montana and South Dakota that we can put you up in bunk houses and let you and your buddies have the run of the place. We have alfalfa, barley, oat, and corn fields as well as some food plots. We charge $350 per peron for 3 days. Food is on your own as this is a DIY but we have plenty of birds. The South Dakota ranch is 5500 acres and we have 4,000 acres in Montana.
