Wanted to leave another comment about public.

I harvested another bird on Sunday, my last turkey hunt of the year. I have to say there was no other hunter there, so I thought I'd get in on a few gobbling and try to call them in. No dice! I figured they'd be unresponsive, especially late in the season. These birds were all conditioned. So I switched back to my typical decoy method. Just set up in a heavily used area and wait, calling infrequently........every 1/2 hour. I'd recommend this to any of you guys that hunt public land, especially late eason when toms are cruising and hens are on nests. I have best luck mid-morning 9-11 AM. The hens must nest around 8-9 AM.

Anyway you need to be very patient and plan to hunt til noon or 11. Even the whole day if you can do it. I think the other good idea is to spend some money and get some realistic decoys. Better safe than sorry. I went with Zink Avians, had a total of 4 toms see them through 3 weeks of hunting, and all 4 came in. The last 3 actually left a lone hen to come to my 2 decoys from 200 yards away!

So far I cannot complain about my Avians. Had several hens walk up and get acquainted beak to beak. One was sure she made buddies and hung out by them for 3+ hours.

Bottom line, I suggest not to bother running and gunning too much on public unless you have a 1st season tag. Tom sightings are not too frequent. Make the best of them with good decoy setups, especially late seasons like I hunt.

My two late season public toms from this year, fooled by decoys:

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd500/kenzimny/DSCN0170.jpg

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd500/kenzimny/Avon%202012%20Turkey/DSCN0781.jpg

Zim,

What were your results after getting some of the Hevi13 shells
from HeviShot? Did you get a chance to pattern your shotgun
using them? If time permits, let me know your findings.

Good morning, wingseek. No I was planning on trying them next season. I have to mention my Zink Avian decoys brought all the toms in so close it didn't matter. I'm not sure how much long range effectiveness will help me. The only time it would have made a difference last few years was for stalking toms on windy days. But I will try the Hevi13 next March.

Public land presure...Colorado

All I hunt is public land....
I have an area I can go to almost any day during the season and see lots of hunters but 99% don't go far enough or high enough to get a bird, in all the years Ive hunted it I've never seen a hunter with a bird, shots? a few. So most go home or look for a new place never knowing just a little farther! So just because there may be lots of hunters in an area doesn't mean they find that sweet spot, and most will be gone by lunch lol.

[QUOTE=fdh54turkeyshooter;3937995]I am backed up to over 300,000 acres of public land in Northern Florida, but every year spring turkey hunting pressure is getting higher. This year there were days the roads were buzzing with trucks just after first light. I wish they would learn to find a tom & stay put until at least 10 am. I believe many of them just can't stay put long enough to harvest a bird!

Sounds like my world

MLB, Ya I have hunted public land for 15 years and guys running around at all hours is always a contention. Had guys set up close to me too. One newbie actually stalked my decoys commando style on all 4's thru the grass once. I learned quickly it's best to set up early and in the most highly visible places so other hunters see my dekes from a long distance. I also use my blind more often than I used to, because the birds don't care, and hunters see it and move on quicker.

Lashan ......what is your nationality?

who cares about proper grammar. Turkeys don't understand English anyway !

I don't think lashon is going to be replying any time soon, considering he has only posted 3 times on HN, all 8 months ago!

Yea the blind is definitely goin with me too!! I never use to use one but last spring me and a friend doubled upin one and those birds never payed any mind to us... One of them walked right by it within 3 feet...

Now this was on a private club that the birds don't get much pressure... But I'm sure the birds on public land won't pay any attention to it either...

I have been a life long public land hunter. In Alabama, no less. The pressure is unreal at times. I have hunted on WMA the last few years where you can get a good distance off the road before daylight. Every year there are guys that will ride the roads at daybreak owl hooting trying to get a bird to answer. It's annoying to say the least. Usually I am closer to the bird than they are because I am already sitting in the woods. If they haven't passed my parked truck yet they often want to go after the bird so I give them a couple good hoots or crow calls to let them know.