Fellas who've worked on the Slam..

Okay fellas, this year I've got a pretty good Osceola hunt lined up for the first of the season. Any of you found an affordable way to finish it off and kill the rio and merriams on good public land? I'm really wanting to run and gun and kill atleast one or the other this season also.

Thanks
Luke

There are tons of public options for each. Figure out a place that has each bird that you can feasibly get to, and research their public hunting options. I have killed multiple turkeys of each subspecies on public land in multiple states.

Do some homework and get on the phone with biologists assigned to public properties.

Im not much help as ive been on guided hunts so far for the slam. Research is the key here. For some of the guided hunts, you won't really beat them. Look into what you will spend on a car, a place to stay, eats, gas, etc. You can sometimes find a reputable outfitter to tske care of you for the same money. I don't regret the route I went one bit. I met some great people and saw some beautiful country as well as a lot of turkeys.
I am interested in going for a few public land hunts now out west. That will be the direction of my next journey

I’ve shot slams both with and without outfittets (semi guided in that they just out you up and kinda scout some). We used to be able to hunt public in Kansas and Oklahoma for Rios and New Mexico for Merriams without issue. Last time we did public in Ok it was a zoo. Friends report same in Ks and NM. If you do your homework, you can get away from the crowds. That said, I started using semi guided or self guided options where outfittets have access to private land and put you up for around $600-900 for 3 days hunting. When you add in gas used to scout, hotels, and time, self guided with an outfitter has turned out to actually be less expensive unless we camp, but the time saved is invaluable. We don’t have to worry about someone being in our spot or coming in on a gobbler we are working either.

Getting a single season slam in an allotted time frame is harder with a total DIY just because of weather, scouting when you’re there, and ruined hunts by others.

Its all about how bad you want it both physically and $$$ if you go with an all public route. I have the slam but only half of them on public. Florida public land takes time mainly because not only do you have to scout birds, but you have to scout people more so than GA public ground. Plus Florida public land can only be hunted until lunch so it presses you on available time to hunt and bunches up the hunting pressure. Merriams public land is plentiful and if you will hike and hustle and stay above them you will kill birds in any of the states. Texas is by far the best Rio state, but there is skimpy public options, almost none in Rio country. Oklahoma is the best option for the "brush country" style on public ground, but Kansas has a lot of public options as well. Like a few people have noted sometimes the better $$$ option is guided if you figure in what all you will spend just trying to scout and find birds and whether or not it takes you multiple trips. I can do a Merriams trip with a friend and knock down 2 gobblers for about $750-$800, an outfitter is $2000 roughly. However in Florida it may take you 3 or 4 trips to figure out the birds/competition and put it all together, and by that time what have you put into gas, hotels, and personal time off usage. So paying a couple of grand to an outfitter may be the better option even though its not 3/4 the way across the country.