ogilly
New Member
Evening y'all,
I'm a soldier who is stationed at Fort Benning for an Army school until the end of June. I'm an avid turkey hunter originally from the Midwest, and have over the past few years really began branching out from my home state to try to pursue the ever-elusive American Grand Slam. My current state total is 5, and I'm hoping to cross Alabama and Georgia off the list this year during the time that I have off from training. I have a couple questions for the group, hoping you fine people have some words of advice.
Knowing Alabama opening day is this weekend, I have spent the past few weekends scouting various public land spots for sign of any kind. I started in the Tuskegee National Forest, only to spend a whole weekend there not so much as cutting a track or hearing a gobble. I moved to the Barbour County WMA where I have been lucky enough to see quite a few hens in a concentrated area, but no longbeards on the public land as of yet. I was able to track down a very big gobble yesterday, but he was across a fence line on private. With the help of OnX and the internet, I was able to reach out to the landowner through LinkedIn (I can get into that further if anyone is curious), but have not received a response yet. I know that's a bit of a longshot, but it's better to try and fail than to not and never know. I have also scouted a few public spots in Georgia with helpful advice from a couple friends who live in the area, as well as buddies who have gone through the same course I am in now. I have had much more success finding sign on this side of the border, but with the spots I've checked being primarily quota hunts early on in the GA season, I am focusing on Alabama for the time being.
My questions- for someone who has travel restrictions off post (must be less than 250 miles from base as the crow flies), are there any better options in Alabama for me to check out that people have had success with? Or if you're willing to share, where about on the Barbour WMA are there higher concentrations of gobblers (East vs West side, North vs South, closer to private lands, in swamps or in the hills, something like that)? I'm not asking for somebody's surefire turkey killing spot, I want to respect the guys who live here and hope they'd respect me.
Then for anyone who has any info for hunting on post- how about those spots? I have had no shortage of hog sign and sightings, but nothing in the turkey realm. I think it would be pretty cool to kill a turkey on post, plus not having to travel super far would be a nice plus.
I appreciate anything anybody here is willing to give to a kid who's a little too excited to hunt in the south for the first time. Good luck to everyone this season, and I hope to be able to post an update with a success story attached sometime soon!
I'm a soldier who is stationed at Fort Benning for an Army school until the end of June. I'm an avid turkey hunter originally from the Midwest, and have over the past few years really began branching out from my home state to try to pursue the ever-elusive American Grand Slam. My current state total is 5, and I'm hoping to cross Alabama and Georgia off the list this year during the time that I have off from training. I have a couple questions for the group, hoping you fine people have some words of advice.
Knowing Alabama opening day is this weekend, I have spent the past few weekends scouting various public land spots for sign of any kind. I started in the Tuskegee National Forest, only to spend a whole weekend there not so much as cutting a track or hearing a gobble. I moved to the Barbour County WMA where I have been lucky enough to see quite a few hens in a concentrated area, but no longbeards on the public land as of yet. I was able to track down a very big gobble yesterday, but he was across a fence line on private. With the help of OnX and the internet, I was able to reach out to the landowner through LinkedIn (I can get into that further if anyone is curious), but have not received a response yet. I know that's a bit of a longshot, but it's better to try and fail than to not and never know. I have also scouted a few public spots in Georgia with helpful advice from a couple friends who live in the area, as well as buddies who have gone through the same course I am in now. I have had much more success finding sign on this side of the border, but with the spots I've checked being primarily quota hunts early on in the GA season, I am focusing on Alabama for the time being.
My questions- for someone who has travel restrictions off post (must be less than 250 miles from base as the crow flies), are there any better options in Alabama for me to check out that people have had success with? Or if you're willing to share, where about on the Barbour WMA are there higher concentrations of gobblers (East vs West side, North vs South, closer to private lands, in swamps or in the hills, something like that)? I'm not asking for somebody's surefire turkey killing spot, I want to respect the guys who live here and hope they'd respect me.
Then for anyone who has any info for hunting on post- how about those spots? I have had no shortage of hog sign and sightings, but nothing in the turkey realm. I think it would be pretty cool to kill a turkey on post, plus not having to travel super far would be a nice plus.
I appreciate anything anybody here is willing to give to a kid who's a little too excited to hunt in the south for the first time. Good luck to everyone this season, and I hope to be able to post an update with a success story attached sometime soon!
