Question about Alabama

[woodsman87]

Tuskegee is in Macon. Lee county is good as well as lowndes and Montgomery. The closer you get to FL the less dense the population becomes. I can't speak for much on the west side of the state though. I forget what county Greenville/pineapple is in but there is decent hunting down there as well.

Macon county has always been pretty high up there in harvest numbers.

Yep Macon, could not remember. I have never hunted it, but I just know everytime I pass through there you see more turkeys than you do song birds. The only Counties I have hunted in that vicinty are Chambers and Randolph. Chambers being better than Randolph, but both are good. I have never hunted a place that I heard more different turkeys than my place in Chambers. They just quit gobbling after fly down and are dang hard to kill.

I only killed one last year and he didn't gobble a time on the ground. I was set on some other birds that were gobbling on the roost, heard one drumming, was able to get turned around and killed him. Had no idea where he came from.

 

[REN]

My family owns around 1000acres in Macon just south of Tuskegee in hwy29 (actually in Fort Davis). Lots if birds but man they are not easy to hunt.

 

[Vermin93]

You guys keep saying the birds are really hard to hunt in Alabama but more toms were killed in Alabama last year than any other State. Apparently there are a lot of people that are killing these Alabama birds!

 

[Andy S.]

...... but more toms were killed in Alabama last year than any other State. Apparently there are a lot of people that are killing these Alabama birds!

True, it could be a reflection of the number of hunters afield (e.g., hunting pressure), as well as their more liberal bag limit (5 birds) when compared with other states. In other words, total kill data alone does not tell the entire story in many instances.

 

[Orion6]

I've never hunted Alabama, but Tom Kelly (look him up if you don't know) has said before he doesn't think Bama has as many birds as they say. He does not dispute that the hunting is great and the numbers are better than ever, but he doesn't think they have as many birds as they say. He questions the methodology behind the "counts".

 

[Vermin93]

Well, regardless of how good Alabama is or isn't, it looks like Tennessee may be in or near the top 5 turkey hunting States, so that's pretty cool.

I was really surprised at Arkansas. The magazine said the estimated population was only 90,000. Seems like it should be a lot higher. Louisiana was even worse at 60,000.

 

[Andy S.]

I've never hunted Alabama either, but I gave it some serious thought last Spring. Enough thought that I contacted Alabama Dept of Conservation & Natural Resources and solicited any and all printed information they would send me pertaining to turkey hunting there as a non-resident. They were very helpful in my eyes, to the point they sent me their hunting guide, list and maps of WMAs as well as a pretty good book that detailed every aspect of turkey hunting in Alabama, as well as turkey biology and management. It's title is "The Wild Turkey in Alabama", and it's a good all around read that doesn't take long to finish. Some of the data in the book does not align with everything posted above, so I thought I'd share the link to the PDF so you can read it and do your own research. Check it out, I think you'll enjoy every page as well as learn something along the way just as I did.

http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/g ... 20Book.pdf

 

[Andy S.]

I was really surprised at Arkansas. The magazine said the estimated population was only 90,000. Seems like it should be a lot higher.

Arkansas has been down spiraling for the last 10 years, mainly due to very poor hatches and reproductive trends, unlike the great hatches of the mid to late 90s. Their wildlife agency has been forced to cut the number of days hunters can go afield in an effort to offset the hardships they face today. It sucks for AR hunters when you compare it to the glory years of 1999-2004.

 

[Spurhunter]

According to a recent article in Turkey & Turkey Hunting magazine Arkansas had one of the best turkey biologist in the country but the commisioner wouldn't listen to him so he retired. This new commisioner apparently is a piece of work.

 

[Spurhunter]

Tom Kelly (look him up if you don't know)

If you don't know who Tom Kelly is you should surrender your shotgun, vest and calls immediately!

 

[Andy S.]

Good article here detailing turkey hunting in Arkansas and how much the kills and hunter opportunity have declined over the last decade. http://www.gameandfishmag.com/2013/02/1 ... g-in-2013/

 

[Andy S.]

Similar article about Alabama. http://www.gameandfishmag.com/2013/02/1 ... g-in-2013/

 

[AT Hiker]

Regardless how the hunting in AL is or how many birds they have, I still think it is a great place for TN turkey hunters to go. Fairly priced tags, two week head start on our season, and plenty of public land...all within 3.5 hours South of Nashville. It also humbles you a lot!

Just to get out in the woods in mid March is a blessing.

With all that said, I can honestly say I did not see no more than 2 dozen or so turkeys the whole trip. That includes the drive from the AL/TN state line to Brent, AL on I-65. Once I crossed back in to TN, they seemed to be in every other pasture.

Could be like the TN deer herd, the central and west are loaded with them, but the east can seem void of any if you do not go in deep and look for them.

 

[BAMA BOW MERKER]

Nick Saban recruits for Alabamas DNR

 

[woodsman87]

Regardless how the hunting in AL is or how many birds they have, I still think it is a great place for TN turkey hunters to go. Fairly priced tags, two week head start on our season, and plenty of public land...all within 3.5 hours South of Nashville. It also humbles you a lot!

Just to get out in the woods in mid March is a blessing.

With all that said, I can honestly say I did not see no more than 2 dozen or so turkeys the whole trip. That includes the drive from the AL/TN state line to Brent, AL on I-65. Once I crossed back in to TN, they seemed to be in every other pasture.

Could be like the TN deer herd, the central and west are loaded with them, but the east can seem void of any if you do not go in deep and look for them.

Alabama is a great state to hunt for anything, I hunt TN/AL equally. I would rather hunt deer or turkeys at my spots in TN that my spots in AL, simply because the hunting seems to be more productive. There may be more game down there, but deer are nocturnal, even does and little ones, and turkeys hardly gobble at all.

you said you didn't see a single bird in I-65 north all the way to TN, well that is normal. There are hardly any turkeys right through the middle of the state north of Birmingham. Morgan County only has a 5 day season, and that is just in certain parts, other parts doesn't even have a turkey season, Cullman doesn't have a long season, and Limestone has a month long season, but that is only in the zone next to the TN border. When I moved to North AL, They didn't have a turkey season. Where I lived for many years opened their first turkey season in either 95' 96' or 97'. They had a 3 day season back then, and over the years it has gotten more, now opened from April 1st-30th.

For some reason, North Central AL has not had many turkeys. And that is odd to me, because the TN counties I hunt, Giles, Lincoln, Lawerence, and Wayne have seemed to be in the tops of the harvest numbers each year. It is like the turkeys know where the state line is and want cross it.

 

[AT Hiker]

Interesting and good to know woodsman87, I knew there had to be a reason.

 

[PalsPal]

If you don't have to check them in, then how do they know how many were killed?

Surely, they wouldn't over inflate numbers to get more out-of-state people to come to Bama to hunt and spend their $ !

 

[woodsman87]

AT Hiker, I have never hunted in the western and southwester parts, I have heard they are good, but in the eastern, central/eastern, southern/eastern area is very very good. From Jackson, Marshall, and Dekalb, the north easterly parts, all the way down the appalachian mountains is good turkey hunting. And below those counties, Clay, Cleburne, Calhoun, Randolph, Chambers, Tallapossa and farther south is all good. I am pretty familiar with some of these counties.

Try to find a WMA or something in these areas if you try it again next year or this year. Jackson county has Skyline WMA, never been but I know it has turkey hunting. Chocolloco WMA in Calhoun and Cleburne county. I have hunted here and it is pretty good for public land. It is also part of the Talledega National Forest, which has thousands of acres of turkey hunting land.

 

[woodsman87]

If you don't have to check them in, then how do they know how many were killed?

Surely, they wouldn't over inflate numbers to get more out-of-state people to come to Bama to hunt and spend their $ !

I have hunted in AL for many many years, and it puzzles me to know how they do this. I am a Tennessean now, and glad of it. When I was down there, I always asked myself, "why do are people do it like this?" There is not a tagging system for deer or turkey. All you do know is write the date of what you killed one on your license. I have no idea how they estimate these populations.

But there is more land down there than alot of people realize, which equals more animals. Huge blocks of land is the reason they still have dog deer hunting down there.

 

[AT Hiker]

I thought you had to call your kills in after you signed the tag? My tag said to call or do it online, we called ours in once we got back to camp.

I didnt know it was an option.