# Tips for WMA Turkey Hunting



## kl01721 (Feb 25, 2015)

I've hunted deer, turkeys, ducks, etc. all my life, but never on public land. I've since moved to within driving distance of a WMA and thought I'd try my luck this year. Any tips out there for a guy thats never hunted a WMA before?


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## Timber1 (Feb 25, 2015)

Hunt the lines.


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## kmckinnie (Feb 25, 2015)

Hunt all day from what I have heard. It gets better they tell me after the opening rush is over. Expect for a hunt to get ruint. Make new friends there with the diehards.


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## sman (Feb 25, 2015)

Skip opening day. Go during the week.  Walk as far as you can.  If you find one close to a rd, expect company.


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## hambone76 (Feb 25, 2015)

Avoid walking the interior roads and locating from them. 
Weekdays, afternoons and late season can be good times to be there.


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## M Sharpe (Feb 25, 2015)

This should get real good


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## Toddmann (Feb 25, 2015)

Prepare to be frustrated.  Hunting WMA'S will help you decide if you really like to turkey hunt. It will also make u save money in your savings account so when a good private land opportunity comes available you will be ready to commit. Good luck this season.


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## Offroadtek (Feb 25, 2015)

Walk, Walk, Walk.


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## Bucky T (Feb 25, 2015)

Scout it like you would a new hunting club.


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## shirttail (Feb 25, 2015)

Learn to use glow sticks....... lol........


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## Bucky T (Feb 25, 2015)

Here are some simple ethics to follow. 

1.  If you find a spot with birds, guess what?  You're probably not the only one who knows about the area.  If you drive up to your parking area and you see somebody is already there, go somewhere else!!

2.)  Repeat #1! It is always good to have scouted multiple areas when the scenario above happens.  Trust me, it will happen!!  If you have back up areas, the sting of getting beat to a spot isn't too bad.

3.)  If you happen to bump paths with another hunter, go chat with him, introduce yourself, find out how he got to your section of the woods, work things out, etc...  Turkey hunters travel.  You may get to the parking spot first, but another guy may come into your area from over a mile away running and gunning.  It happens, no need to get CensoredCensoredCensoredCensoredCensoredCensored about it..  Unless he came in behind you at your parking spot...........................  If you come up on somebody already working a bird you've been busting your hump to get to, back out and leave.

4.)  Did I mention scout, scout, scout.  Yeah..  Do that all the time.  Most WMA's are huge.  You'll never walk them entirely in your lifetime.  I scout new areas every year.  Just got finished investigating some new dirt on a WMA I've been hunting since the early 90's.  Can't have too many spots in the old playbook.

Good Luck


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## Esau (Feb 25, 2015)

Bucky T said:


> Here are some simple ethics to follow.
> 
> 1.  If you find a spot with birds, guess what?  You're probably not the only one who knows about the area.  If you drive up to your parking area and you see somebody is already there, go somewhere else!!
> 
> ...



This type of information is the reason I signed up for this forum. Great post.


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## AliBubba (Feb 25, 2015)

Look at a WMA map, draw about a half-mile line on either side of roads and/or dirt roads and access roads. Avoid being inside the half-mile lines.


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## miarob (Feb 25, 2015)

This was more of what I was looking for as far as info on Dilane WMA. Unfortunately, my post was a joke to a few. I understand that I may have made it sound as if I was looking for specific location of birds but, I really wasn't. This post does have useful info though.


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## mauser64 (Feb 25, 2015)

Weekdays would be my tip. You can have the run of most places then, relatively speaking that is. My avatars is a bf grant weekday bird.


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## Beagler282 (Feb 25, 2015)

sman said:


> Skip opening day. Go during the week.  Walk as far as you can.  If you find one close to a rd, expect company.



This,this and this. I live across the street from a WMA and hunted it in the early 90's and nobody was around.My how quickly that changed.My best memory turkey hunting was opening morning when I pulled into my favorite spot 2hrs before daylight.Nobody in sight.YES! Then they start pulling up and parking next to me.7 guys standing there waiting on daylight. Three guys looked at me and asked which side of this road you hunting on? My response, Whichever side he gobbles on.Sitting there setup on a bird hunters were slipping around me setting up also..lol..That cured me of hunting there anymore.So many folks there it went Quota.

Best advice is hunt during the week.Alot less traffic!


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## Jody Hawk (Feb 25, 2015)

sman said:


> Walk as far as you can.  If you find one close to a rd, expect company.



Really?  I find that right the opposite at times. In one of my favorite spots from a few years back, everyone would drive right on past me on the main road to get to the hot spots on the river while I had all those birds up by the road to myself. I would smile as they drove by.


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## kl01721 (Feb 25, 2015)

AliBubba said:


> Look at a WMA map, draw about a half-mile line on either side of roads and/or dirt roads and access roads. Avoid being inside the half-mile lines.



Thats why I didnt name the WMA I will be hunting. People get real sensitive on here if you think you're asking for exact places to hunt, which I am not. 

You guys still bring your decoys to WMA's? Or is it more "hunting with your feet" and not even bother with the decoys?


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## mauser64 (Feb 25, 2015)

Jody Hawk said:


> Really?  I find that right the opposite at times. In one of my favorite spots from a few years back, everyone would drive right on past me on the main road to get to the hot spots on the river while I had all those birds up by the road to myself. I would smile as they drove by.



I'm with you on this ^^  I've started hiding in plain sight so to speak. At one of my best spots I can watch folks sign in at the check station.


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## six (Feb 25, 2015)

Hunt close to the road.  Everyone else walks miles and miles to the same spot.


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## Efrank09 (Feb 25, 2015)

Be willing to hunt on into the day. WMAs ive hunted most people seem to leave early in the day like 10:30 and even earlier if they don't get on any. Just keep after the birds. I killed one last year at about 10:00am and there were boot tracks about 1/2 way up on the trail I walked in on I went about 200 hundred yards further than that before I struck em off. Whole thing took about 45mins. Good luck this season!


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## Riverrat84 (Feb 25, 2015)

Go huntin


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## Riverrat84 (Feb 25, 2015)

if you a hunter you got it whipped,  but be respectful because there are a few good people on wmas. Also some of the most disrespectful plugs you ever had the privilege to hunt around


Good luck


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## chefrific (Feb 25, 2015)

Don't you know that there are no birds on WMA's.  After the quota hunts, Turkeys migrate from WMA's to privately owned land.  I recommend taking up a hobby like fishing instead.


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## M Sharpe (Feb 26, 2015)

And when you kill one....well that's like the super bowl, world series, hiezman trophy and golden gloves all rolled into one!!!! I am surprised that the NWTF doesn't give a plaque or something (like they do when you complete a slam) for it!!!   To some, these birds are unKILLABLE!!!! Not like those "pet" private land birds!!


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## sman (Feb 26, 2015)

Jody Hawk said:


> Really?  I find that right the opposite at times. In one of my favorite spots from a few years back, everyone would drive right on past me on the main road to get to the hot spots on the river while I had all those birds up by the road to myself. I would smile as they drove by.



You find a bird on Cedar Creek or the Chick by the rd and you will have company.  I didn't say don't hunt him. Me personally I ain't hunting him.

I found one on a WMA right by the rd.  Got there an hour before light and just knew that bird would pitch and go away from the rd. As daylight came he sounded off.  I was set up about 70 from him.  Que every hunter within range.  I had 2 come down the hill to the left. I waved and they kept coming. If I could see em so could the bird. A guy came from the right and one from in front and behind.  The bird hushed.

I get to the truck and I swear there is a guy set up 20 yards or less from the hood of my truck.  There was a truck beside mine , one across the rd, and one 100 yards away.  There wasn't a truck around till he started gobbling. 

Maybe different WMAS have e more pleasant people. But the ones I hunt have a lot of rd hunters...especially the first few weeks.  They go to a spot and listen.  Don't hear anything ride further and listen.  Now, which bird is he going to hear...the one far off or the one right beside the rd?


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## Jody Hawk (Feb 26, 2015)

six said:


> Hunt close to the road.  Everyone else walks miles and miles to the same spot.



Yep. Sometimes folks are so busy trying to get away from other people that they get away from the turkeys too!


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## sman (Feb 26, 2015)

Here is one more thing I do.

If I'm at a gate and there's a lot of land behind the gate.  I get out early and walk till I can barely see my truck.  I stay there as long as I can to see if anyone shows.  If they do I go to where the rd splits or a couple yards before where I want to hunt and wait.  If the other hunter shows, I tell him where I'm going.  If you wait at the truck, some guys will pull up and jump out and run down the rd and not say a word.  Never had one not stop and ask while I'm in the rd.


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## pnome (Feb 26, 2015)

Lots of good advice for you in this thread.   

Not sure if anyone mentioned this yet but my advice is to call sparingly and don't bother with the locator calls.  Unless you are trying to signal to another hunter.  Just get up on a ridge and listen.   

When you start calling to a bird, no need to get fancy, I've found just a cluck or two will work.  It's been my experience that public land birds are not as vocal.  Even the hens.  I've never heard a yelp on public land that wasn't from another hunter. 

And then, there are times when you will just plain luck into a hot gobbler and you can almost do no wrong.


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## AliBubba (Feb 26, 2015)

I like to hunt with a buddy on WMAs. I actually have come across other hunters, asked if they wanted to hunt together, and had success. WMA toms are very wary so the caller/gunner strategy and alternate calling approach has worked well for me and/or my buddy.


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## GaHitman (Feb 28, 2015)

miarob said:


> This was more of what I was looking for as far as info on Dilane WMA. Unfortunately, my post was a joke to a few. I understand that I may have made it sound as if I was looking for specific location of birds but, I really wasn't. This post does have useful info though.



Dilane used to be good until GON posted all those wma's rankings. Now it's a circus! People everywhere, especially on weekends! Just go to the fair...ride a few rides and call it a day! I bet there will be less people there! People on are right! You can be working a bird, after he gobbles a few times it's like ringing a dinner bell.....here comes the disrespectful hunters!!!


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## bowboy1989 (Mar 2, 2015)

GaHitman said:


> Dilane used to be good until GON posted all those wma's rankings. Now it's a circus! People everywhere, especially on weekends! Just go to the fair...ride a few rides and call it a day! I bet there will be less people there! People on are right! You can be working a bird, after he gobbles a few times it's like ringing a dinner bell.....here comes the disrespectful hunters!!!



dilane used to be awesome i could care less about goin there now


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## robert carter (Mar 2, 2015)

Less calling...more walking...stay later..and know a whole lotta spots.
 even on private land I kill most of my birds after 10:00. On public land I usually roll in after daylight. If one of your spots does not have a truck if you are there later it probably wont have anyone else show up. I bow hunt only and have killed several setting up on secluded food plots in the afternoon....with no calling. RC


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