wandering if anyone can give me some advice on where to go on the grasslands to find a turkey. My wife is 40 and has never been turkey hunting and is wanting to try it out and i want this to be a good experience for her, but i dont know alot about the grasslands would anyone be kind enough to give me some info on where to start at. I live about 2 1/2 hrs south of there and have only been turkey hunting once with no kill. Would greatly appreciate the help.

God bless Kenny and Stacey Owens

Unfortunately it will be a waste of your money, your gas and your time. I have hunted up there for 16 years and the turkeys for the most part are few and far between. Now if you believe some of the people on this forum {we won't mention any names} but they will tell you that they can call up to 20 birds a day on the grasslands! WE CALL TOTAL BS on that one! I as well as many others on this forum have called him out on that one and we still think he is stretching the truth. Due to the drought and poor hatches for the last 5 years there are maybe 1 in 7 mature toms on the grass lands. That is a direct quote from the NWTF biologist stationed in Decatur and from the TPWD biologist that lives up here. I hunted 20+ days up there last year and NEVER saw a mature tom. I heard birds every day BUT never saw them. There are over 100 parcels of land to hunt up here and I have walked, scouted and hunted at least 75% of them. The birds are SMART and retreat to private lands once they get pressure and they are VERY hard to call back across a fence line. NOTE! don't get caught trespassing OR shooting across a fence line the LEO'S will arrest you! You would be much better served using the 200-300 dollars in gas food and lodging you would spend for one weekend hunting the LBJ and paying for a hunt on a private ranch down near where you live. Oh and if you do decide to venture up here get ready to be disappointed as opening weekend is VERY crowed. I was on my roosted birds at 4am last year and 3 guys beat me to the same spot by an hour!

cool thanks for the info

Dang TDH...sounds like you need to take some of your own advise.!

It is very hard hunting up there. Smart Birds. Over educated I would say. I will hunt there this year just because I am super cheap and just do not want to pay $200 for a turkey. But I would say for a first time you would be better to find a lease or a guide who can get you on birds. I would agree if your a couple hours south you are better off heading the other direction and find a ranch that can help you. If you can arrange your own lodging and meals you can get a hunt pretty reasonable.

Another thing you have to think about up there is that if you hear a turkey, 20 other people did too.

Just just trying to help
Ray

Ed, I always get tickled when I read “Those birds were educated”….”Those birds were smart”. I’m very aware birds that are heavily pressured or (more importantly) ones that have been buggered by hunters one too many times when they respond to a call will drastically change the way they respond or react when they hear calling but it is after all….Turkey sounds that we are throwing out there. No question that every bird on LBJ has had run ins with hunters and although not there, I've been guilty of "Educating" more than a couple!!

In my warped Smiling Mallard mind I picture two gobblers strutting in a field….let’s call them bama and westex

”Yelp, Yelp, Yelp, cluck, cluck! HFS westex, that’s TX Deer Hunter on his favorite cedar Quaker Boy push pin call!! Let’s get the eff outta here!”

…….or…….

”Rolf, Rolf, Rolf, hic, burp, fart! You hear that? I don’t know bama but that sure sounded like Smiling Mallard dry heaving on a Screaming Green Pro Triple. I say we STFU and get our a$$ across the fence and onto private land. Besides, I hear the hens over there are into some really kinky chit”

One more week and I get to hit the field with the kids and quit entertaining myself with this forum! WhooHoo!!!

Pretty soon the joke will be on you

Cabbagehead Im me and I will tell you were you can hunt that is public.And I have no problem working and killing long beards every year

No sir..I've never had the problem you seem to keep running into. I drive up from Houston every year to hunt up there a few days and although I may not always kill a bird I can say I've at least seen a mature bird each time out although on private land half of the time. I just find it kind of funny that you seem so been the one doubting everyone elses claims because those ole birds are always giving you a run for your money.

I do however agree with you that the predator population is out of control and the number of mature birds may be down because of drought in 08 & 09, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from trying. It's going to be hard hunting but if he puts in the work and time he could still manage to bring home a bird. LA Strutter killed birds on his first time up. I've only hunted the grasslands 5 years and didn't kill a bird until my 2nd year hunting there, But my first year ever going I had 7 or 8 birds gobbling back at me. Last spring a guy from Alabama came up and killed 4 birds in two or three days, so it is possible.

I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to hunt 3 different ranches this season in south and central TX, but I still plan on making a trip up to the grasslands before the season closes....if gas isn't $5.00 a gallon by then. All i'm saying is just don't discourage anyone from trying.

i killed 2 in the last 2 years there hard hunting just got to get way back in the thick

thanks

"there are maybe 1 in 7 mature toms on the grass lands. That is a direct quote from the NWTF biologist stationed in Decatur and from the TPWD biologist that lives up here".... Well maybe me and him need to take a ride to a few of my hotspot's cause I scouted for less than an hour in the middle of the day last week and turned up 9 "mature Tom's"/ longbeard's, and only one jake and the video was posted when I got back and here is the link again incase you missed it bud! I have found a plethora of bird's out there this year and I have been in contact with both of the kid's I told would go on a free hunt to prove my point and we will be posting the result's saturday night or sunday morning after there youth weekend hunt this weekend! Here's the link for the vid from last week! I would call just about all of these except that one short bearded thing "shooter turkey's"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ahiBLvZ-ZA

Cabbagehead man honestly some mornin's you go you may not hear a dang songbird and that's just hunting. I personally have never been out there and not gotten on turkey's. Yes there have been several several several day's where I have worked over 15-20 tom's by lunch and just last week I went scouting for a youth hunt and caught 9 long beard's on video just out cruising some of the field's I glass from time to time. I didn't take the big walk into my main shebang but from what I saw at my other spot's I can't wait to see what's in my honey hole!!!!

Edit... Best advice I can give you man is to simply get off the beaten path. I have seen turkey's in some crazy crazy places up there and you just have to get out and find em'. I have hunted and killed turkey's for 12 year's there now and every year I find new places holding new bird's. I would suggest getting a map finding "turkey looking area's" and scout them. Once you find one flock of bird's hunt them. Then after your morning hunt spend the evening looking for new area's and leave your flock you have found to roost in the same place. I have learned that down there the bird's know what is safe and what isn't so try your best to keep your distance from their roost. If you bump them then it will most likely be back to the map's.

thanks keithtt hope you and the youngsters have a great weekend and they get them a bird

Yeah your right, not really smart or educated but they do seem to learn from past mistakes. Pressured is certainly the correct term. Add Trail Riders and hikers even saw a 10k race out there once. They have alot of opportunity to be in contact with people. I do think it is a place where you really have to hunt and one mistake will cost you. As opposed to shooting birds under a feeder. By the way I have nothing against feeder, food plots all of that but it is a different kind of hunting.

All I know is everytime I am out there I have fun and I aint killed a turkey out there yet!!

Yeah and if you hear a gun shot duck!! Just kidding. I do find the best time hunt is the middle of the week if that is possible. Also after week 3 there will not be many folks left. If you hunt the area around FS 904 you are going to have company. Get out in one of the other 70 or so areas on the Grasslands.

Well the youth hunt with Piper was fun. Heard about 4-6 different tom's and called and worked 3 of em' bumped two but all in all I had a blast I will let KYBLUEFAN tell the story from here! Had fun Kurt hope we can make it back out this season.

It seemed like 8 or more to me when you first blew that owl hoot. It sure was fun. Only been one other time that I heard a bunch of toms responding to my calls and that was in Kentucky. I think I figured out how to get back to that place. Googlemaps and the map from the LBJ website. That first tom got my girl hooked.

If your going during the week stop by and get a map or order one from the website. Much better than the online map. Just my advice.

x2 That little building there just outside of decatur on 287 has the best map for like $10 or somethin' and it show's all unit number's and property lines and RIVER'S. Then you can compare your sattelite images to the LBJ map and find hot lookin' area's. If you need help gettin' back in there just give me a call man. Keith

yeah if you get that Map it is pretty big because Caddo is on the flip side. I just cut out the LBJ side and it is easy to fold up in my pocket.

Hey I also want to add that I thought the personal critizim of KeithTT was uncalled for on the forum. It appears to me he stated his case, and proved it by a third party. Could be he just knows how to hunt LBJ better than the rest of us.

I think He know his stuff. I also think He has put a BIG RED X on LBJ. Glad I dont hunt there.

He may have proved all of us wrong but he is still breaking the LAW! it is illegal to guide hunters on public land in Texas. Even if all you did was buy his breakfast and pay for his gas. If you don't believe me just call the Wise County game warden Chris Dowdy and ask him......