Turkey hunting. Which state?

[Ringbill27]

Good morning all,

I live in northern Minnesota and have recently gotten into turkey hunting and finally seem to be figuring it out. MN is limited to one bird a season.

I’d like to travel to a different state and attempt to hunt there. Since I’d be driving I’d like to stay with in the Midwest.

Which Midwest state (other then MN) is your favorite to travel to hunt turkeys?

 

[Trr15]

Lots of birds in Nebraska. I hunt them there every spring as a non resident.

 

[dtrkyman]

Nebraska tags are sold out already. I won't name a state but you are close to some good ones!

 

[Chaser96]

Honestly in your area I don’t think it matters about which is “best” hop the border in any direction and go hunting. That area has birds.


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[Fullfan]

Tennessee is what Missouri was 20 years ago..

 

[Fridaythe13th]

Wisconsin is good, black hills SD if you want a different species.

 

[Forestryguy]

Iowa

 

[StrutbusterMS]

As mentioned, the Black Hills and add Devil’s Tower region of Wyoming for a unique experience. Also, the Sioux reservations in SD are loaded with birds.

 

[JBrew]

Tennessee is what Missouri was 20 years ago..

Only in a few remaining places. We've had a massive decline in TN

 

[SirChooCH]

MI just lowered NR turkey tags to be the same as resident, while raising the resident to $25 I think. Unless that's still up for final vote. That would be on top of the base license though. Would go lower MI and not UP.

 

[Kurts86]

At this point I feel like you almost have to approach turkey hunting like deer hunting. The property you have access matters more than the state you are in to a point. Having low pressure private ground with good habitat matters a lot.

In the recent past you could drive out to the Great Plains or western states and have public turkey hunts that rivaled or beat Midwestern/Southeastern private land turkey hunts. The locals didn’t care about turkey hunting and populations were increasing. That has changed now as the turkey numbers have gone down in the Great Plains and nonresident harvest got into the 40% range in of statewide harvest trigger nonresident tag draws/limits. Lots of states used to sell 2-3 OTC turkey tags all season to nonresidents that are now 1 tag draw or sold out in January.

Traveling to hunt turkeys in different places is a lot of fun but it requires more planning and different expectations than it used to.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

MO has a 2 bird limit and OTC.

 

[Fullfan]

MO has a 2 bird limit and OTC.

The bird numbers have declined in the past 14-16 years. I have been hunting SE Mo for the past 33 years. More and more guys every year. Until 7-8 years ago, I never saw another hunter in the 2 weeks that I spend there. Now there are camps everywhere.

 

[Ringbill27]

The bird numbers have declined in the past 14-16 years. I have been hunting SE Mo for the past 33 years. More and more guys every year. Until 7-8 years ago, I never saw another hunter in the 2 weeks that I spend there. Now there are camps everywhere.

Good to know!

 

[Kurts86]

Missouri hit its peak turkey numbers in the early 2000’s and today the harvest statewide is around 60% of the peak. This isn’t particularly unusual and the decline has been on the whole more gradual than some other states bordering it like Arkansas and Kansas. I’m not sure there is a state where turkeys are doing better in 2025 than in 2005 so it’s all relative.

I do fear going forward Missouri will see more pressure as it is still OTC tags without caps and most neighboring states limit NR tags (KS, IA, NE, IL).

Missouri is still a top tier turkey state by any account and their later season start and long running conservative bag limit have held them up better than most. MDC is well funded and research driven as a state game agency so I think they will make changes if necessary.

 

[Fullfan]

Missouri hit its peak turkey numbers in the early 2000’s and today the harvest statewide is around 60% of the peak. This isn’t particularly unusual and the decline has been on the whole more gradual than some other states bordering it like Arkansas and Kansas. I’m not sure there is a state where turkeys are doing better in 2025 than in 2005 so it’s all relative.

I do fear going forward Missouri will see more pressure as it is still OTC tags without caps and most neighboring states limit NR tags (KS, IA, NE, IL).

Missouri is still a top tier turkey state by any account and their later season start and long running conservative bag limit have held them up better than most. MDC is well funded and research driven as a state game agency so I think they will make changes if necessary.

Correct back 20 years ago, it was nothing to hear 18-20 birds gobbling from the roost every morning. Very exciting time and place to be a turkey hunter. Wet and damp spring every year for 9-10 years is what took the toal on the bird numbers. Lots of changes in the 33 years I have hunted there. License were 40.00 and now are 230.00ish. Armadillos and hogs have appeared in the last 5 years. Last year they permitted all day hunting on private property. I still enjoy and look forward to going back. The fishing and mushroom hunting is always good. And the network of locals that are more like family then friends. Just the turkey hunting is not the same.