Nebraska Spring Turkey

I'm looking for any tips on hunting turkeys in North Central Nebraska. I've driven through the area before on the way to Colorado for a Mule Deer Hunt but haven't spent much time there. Really I haven't seen a single turkey in this area before. I'm not looking for your honey hole, I'm just looking to verify that they are there and where should I be looking (habitat, etc.). Ideas on pressure... I'd be looking to archery hunt the later half of the archery only season right before firearm season opens in the spring. I'd also be hunting strictly on public land that is either private but open to hunting or actually owned by the state, feds, etc. Anything would be helpful! Thanks! :hump:

One summer I had to take a class in North Platte, and I camped out at Mahoney (?) State Park. A guy who belongs to the same denomination I do took me around a bit to explore and go fishing, and there were turkeys everywhere. I think the hardest part is finding access in that area. I never hunted turkeys when I lived in Lincoln, but there were a lot of them around. If you wanted to stay farther east there are quite a few WMA's around Lincoln that have good populations of turkeys. The Twin Lakes WMA about 12 miles west of Lincoln was supposed to be pretty good, and you can camp there for free.

It's Maloney.

There are populations of turkeys all over Nebraska. Anywhere along the rivers and creeks and sometimes other places will have turkeys. You just need to talk to people in the area and try to find where you can hunt. Finding a place in Nebraska to hunt and have a good chance at success, can be pretty difficult at times.

I've hunted in the Niobrara River area east of Valentine 3 times on private land. In 2000 and 2001 with my late Dad when I was first starting to hunt turkeys and again by myself in 2015. We killed gobblers each trip. A lot of that area burned in the big fires of 2012. Still seemed to be a good population turkeys but not what we experienced in the earlier hunts. Because of the fires it appeared a lot more wide open than before. Its easier to spot turkeys, but some times tougher to hide from them when you're trying to call one in too.

I also tried a couple of public parcels in the area in 2015, but did not have any luck. Heard one gobbler and saw some hens on adjacent private land. Because of bad weather I didn't have time explore all the public areas like I wanted.

Here's my gobbler from 2015.

The NW corner of Nebraska tends to have larger tracts of public land. Elsewhere, the public areas tend to get more hunting pressure. Most drainages with trees will have turkeys in Nebraska. A lot of large ranches have leased their properties to outfitters and it's getting tougher and tougher to get access to private land.

I've been going to NE for 5 years now and we've gotten birds every year. The last 2 years we've all filled our tag. Nebraska does offer up to 3 spring birds per person, but we usually run out of time before that happens.

Like everyone has said, nearly all the river and creek bottoms have birds if they are wooded, especially if its a major river with long stretches of wooded river bottom. Our group started in the NE corner of the state and did well on public, but we've since moved to private land a little more north-central.

Nebraska during bow season is still a little too early in my opinion, but there are plenty of birds. We've hunted bow opener in the snow and below freezing temps and I've got in mid-May and had temps near 80. Just know you can have any of those temps at any point in April. Check out the walk in land provided by the state atlas. Do some google earth searching as many of those lands are grain fields and are wide open without a tree for miles. Private land can be had for turkeys, but the tracts can be pretty big and finding the right owner can be tough.