Turkey hunting in Kansas.. help.

RUT JUNKEY

RUT JUNKEY

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Well my best friend and I decided Saturday that we had a free weekend coming up and decided we would drive to Kansas and turkey hunt for a few days. We are wanting to stay as close to Eastern Kansas as possible. I have been pouring over the public places to hunt and found what looks to be some good areas. I'm thinking Jewell county and east of there. I haven't called out there to talk to anyone yet, I wanted to see what some of you were thinking first. Just wondering if anyone has done any hunting in Wasington,Marshall,Nemara, counties? Or have any recomendations for us. We have been hunting turkeys for 30 yrs, but, haven't hunted them in Kansas. . .any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, RJ
 
I hunted further west of there for the first time last year. They have a great google maps link for their public land wia's on the Kansas game and fish site. If you have not checked that out you should. I am not a kansas expert by any means but from what I do know look for areas that have creek beds. I have heard that early in the year public land gets hit pretty hard. Good luck and have fun.
 
Rut Junkey.....couple of thoughts for you.

NR hunters of all ages must show proof of Hunter Safety course before purchasing license.

KDWP has online ( http://kdwpt.state.ks.us/news/KDWPT...g-Fishing-Maps-by-County/Spring-Hunting-Atlas ) as well and printed maps of WIHA areas, which are at any sporting goods stores or places to buy licenses.

Turkey permit and tag are not good the day of purchase.

I think that sounds tend to travel further than folks used to hunting hilly woods would believe. I hunt big farm fields with narrow woods/ creek bottoms and am generally underestimating the location of a gobbling bird (I generally could have moved in closer without bumping the birds)

I took a bird off a Marshall County Special Hunt area last year. Silent as a church mouse, came in to about 5 yards from where my daughter and I were sitting, then went out into the cut corn field to say "hello" to my B-Mobile tom decoy. Just before the fisticuffs started, I finished it :)!

My public land flocks in south central KS are still in big flocks.....over 20 hens/toms/jakes. Expect to see fewer hens over the next couple of days/weeks as the laying will be over and the sitting started.

The ticks are out there. Spraying Premethrin on outer clothing has been a great help as there have been no tick bites over that last two years on myself or kids.

I have taken more birds in mid day than I have on the "classic early morning fly down to the decoys" approach.

Good luck to you boys. (Just don't shoot MY turkey)
 
Kansasdad, thanks for the info. I called out there a little bit ago and talked to a guy from Region 2. I'm glad you and he both mentioned the buying the tags early thing. . that would have been a bummer. . .we are going to arrive early Sat morning (we hope) and then would have had to wait till Sunday to hunt. We have both had our Hunter Ed cards since 1987, so, we are covered there. We do a lot of out of state hunting so we have came to expect that hunter ed thing. We have been going out in the mornings here the last couple of weekends and the birds are getting fired up, it wont be long. We have found a few ticks here as well. . .thanks for the tip on those nasty little beggars too. It won't matter too much if we don't get a few killed, its just something else we haven't done and haven't ever hunted Kansas. We will try to leave a few for you and your daughter. LOL. Again, thanks for the info. RJ
 
Ticks are out and Kansasdad is right these birds are not in small groups yet but they are out and about.
 
Rut Junkey: I know in times past I have panicked to realize I was going hunting tomorrow and hadn't yet purchased the tag. As a resident I was able to purchase online. I think that NR's would also be able to purchase on line to avoid a day's waiting.

You will be in prime morel territory in those northern tier counties. Keep your eyes open!!
 
Kansasdad, I'm going to try and get online today or tomorrow and get our tags. I will avoid telling my buddy about the mushroom thing as he would rather hunt them than turkeys a lot of the time. If he knows the mushrooms are up and he isnt hearing any gobbling . . .he gets real impatient by 9:30am . . .here in Indiana I call for him and his wife the first few days and then we sit in oppisite ends of the woods in case he gets up to hunt shrooms. I'm not sure how much they will be worth this year, but normally they are like gold around here! Hope you do well and I will be sure to check back in on Tuesday or Wednesday and let you know how we did. RJ
 
Rut Junkey: check out the weather and pack accordingly. Cold front with freezing/near freezing lows and highs in mid 40's with howling north winds over the next several days......welcome to spring in Kansas.
 
Kansasdad, how does the cold weather affect the turkeys movement and breeding? I'm leaving Denver in the morning for NorthCentral KS. It's always been in the 70's on my other KS turkey hunts. Thanks
 
kd, I see that the weather is turning bad out that way. Im guessing it will affect the turkeys to some extent. . .oh well. . .we are almost 100% in at this point. .buying tags in the am. Trust me when I say I can relate to the changing weather . . .Indiana spring is crazy too. I'm still in, but, I will talk with my buddy after work and see what his thoughts are. . .it may be our only chance to make it out there this spring. I just hope I won't need the snow camo!! Lol
 
Summitthunting: I have helped my son get early season (youth, disabled and archery) birds while crawling into position in the snow. They just acted like turkeys act in the spring.....lovesick and/or looking to prove dominance over someone. Getting out of the wind seems to be a factor in choosing strutting zones, and right now finding a gathering place for turkeys is easier than pulling a big flock of twenty turkeys 250 yards across a cut corn field.

The public land birds I chase are never in view of a road for any length of time at all, maybe a little different for private land. And getting away from view of the road in Kansas is sometime quite a chore as there is a county road EVERY mile both north/south and east/west with very few exceptions. Creek bottoms and woodlots to start out the day, into the field to dry off/warm up, then off to feed. My birds seem to almost always fly down to the west, and land where the trees they have just left will not shade them (warm up faster?). The later into the season I go (our season lasts all the way to May 31st), the fewer calls I make and so I have to rely on patterning, and stealthiness to get it done. I swear that the birds at one state wildlife area if frequent make a pact with each other....."no one makes any noise after flydown, that way we know that any turkey-ish noises in the woods are shotgun/bow carrying hunters"

One last thought......some of the WIHA are bounded on each side by a road. Others have extensions/lack of public land areas that let you get back away from traffic. Find one of those babies, and compare Google earth satellite images for verifying timber/creek bottoms and you have a good starting point.
 
Took my own advice this afternoon and it worked out just fine. Snuck in to where they were going to want to be in about 45 minutes and waited. They showed up in the field on cue. I waited to call until they were leaving the far field edge and already headed my way. A tasty free range turkey got a ride home first in my pack and then the van
 
kansasdad has it right on for anyone wanting to come kill a turkey in kansas. I find the best time of the year to work birds with calls well is end of April and begining of May. I helped a guy kill one with a bow this year from the ground using nothing but a tail fan to distract him. I know of some old timers that would do nothing more then sit in a area a throw up a fan every so ofter making it look like it was strutting and put it down and would kill there turkeys no problem every year.
 
Ready for the ride home. Public Wildlife area, first weekend day of the "regular" season. No other hunters seen the entire afternoon.
 

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Here is a picture of my son, (kansason here on HuntTalk) with the first of two birds taken of a Public Wildlife Area in south central Kansas. The birds were tight lipped, not calling at all after flydown, and were extremely alert to human presence. The lake is 6 feet low due to the drought conditions and we spotted this bird and three of his buddies in what two years ago would have been a 3-4 foot deep lake flat. We were able to take this bird with a stealthy spot, repostion and stalk approach that had us crawling the last 40 yards to get into position.
 

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nice bird. what public land do you hunt on, i hunt out by fall river. and i also have about 50 acers of land i also hunt on out by greenwiich rd. seen the turkeys out there but just cant get them across the road,
 
Good luck RJ! It should be a good primer for getting after them here at the end of the month. I still can see the logic in Indiana's season starting so late...
 
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