Anyone hunted the black kettle grasslands in Oklahoma? Was reading on other forrum that it's loaded with turkey but can't find much info on the terrain besides its mostly grass lands. Is there any wood lots to hunt or do the birds stay in the grass mostly? Any and all info appreciated. Thanks a.c.
black kettle wma, Oklahoma
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
Joined
·
8,085 Posts
Well Andrew, I hunted at Black Kettle many times and LOVED it. I was stationed at Ft. Sill, and would make the trip a few times a year. It is indeed mostly grasslands, but you find a creek bottom, and you will find turkeys.....and hunters. However, I did kill my limits there, but I was able to take leave and camp out up there. Send your next question.
Going to try and take one out of state trip this year and was trying to get some options. Heard good things about it and was just wondering about terrain and the best time to go out there. Maybe there's a spot someone knows about that's loaded with turkey that's a little closer.
I have been to Mississippi twice and the birds haven't acted right both trips. It was spring break week and they would gobble in the tree then go silent on the ground. There seemed to be several birds just didn time it right. Might need to plan the trip later. We were at homichita. Anybody have them birds some what figured out as far as time wise?
Joined
·
696 Posts
I've been to MS the last two years about the same time. Week after it opened. Birds did about what your saying, gobbling 4-5 times on roost and then absolutley nothing after that with maybe one or two exceptions. Last year my buddy went back first week of April and they were going nuts. The locals we talked to said that is when they get cranked up. Hard as its gonna be I'm waiting till then this year.
Did he kill when he went back? I went to some private ground in Franklin tn last year and it was unreal the birds that were there. There is a few wma around that part of the state but I'm a rookie turkey hunter and am afraid I won't be able to have the same success on a wma.
It is big time grasslands, and a whole different kind of hunting. But a lot of fun.
Find trees and you have probably found a roost. But be warned, after those birds fly down they cover a lot of ground. Call LOUD and often.
Find a windmill, you find water, and birds will be close by.
I will be there and a few other WMA's north of there the first 5 days of the season. If you see an ugly bald guy in a green Land Rover with Arkansas tags and turkey stickers all over the back, stop and say howdy. That will be me. :thumb:
Find trees and you have probably found a roost. But be warned, after those birds fly down they cover a lot of ground. Call LOUD and often.
Find a windmill, you find water, and birds will be close by.
I will be there and a few other WMA's north of there the first 5 days of the season. If you see an ugly bald guy in a green Land Rover with Arkansas tags and turkey stickers all over the back, stop and say howdy. That will be me. :thumb:
Joined
·
696 Posts
He did kill a bird when he went back. I hunted in tn about 6 years straight. It was unreal how many birds they had at the time and we toted many a pound of turkey breast back to ar. Toward the end of our run up there it was less and less birds and more hunters. Haven't been back in bout 3 yrs. so things might have changed.
Joined
·
696 Posts
Headed there the first week of April god willing!
Joined
·
9,322 Posts
Turkey addict just curious where you were hunting in TN verses where you are hunting in MS and what made you switch. I know you mentioned declining numbers but I have family scattered all over Mississippi and I have hunted all over it and hunted TN a few times as well and I can't imagine anyone making the swap in that direction. The turkey hunting in TN has just been much better for me and the birds in Mississippi are notriously hard to work and uncooperative. Preston Pittman says they're the hardest birds to work in the country and I tend to agree. Don't know why, that's just been observations.The birds in TN are much easier to hunt IMO with a much more liberal limit. Just being curious, PM me if you dont want to discuss on the forumn.
Joined
·
696 Posts
Silentassassin, we hunted in Wayne co. just east of Savannah. Like I said before it was unreal how many turkeys were there and very killable. The first year we got to hunt around 1600 acres of private ground (got spoiled). That place got sold over the summer and we had to hunt WMA's but still with good success. 3 years ago I went to work for a company that had a 1100 acre hunting camp in MS and while they love to deer hunt they could care less about the turkey's. They let me go turkey hunt and that is where I've been going since. Also have a uncle that is in a lease in texas and was going there too. Just not enough vacation time to go all the places i would like. I agree the birds in tn are easier to work and last year was brutal in ms (and here in ar. for me). The camp in ms is about 20 miles south of starkville. Lots of birds down there but they are TOUGH! I hope to go back to tn before too long. I had some awesome hunts up there. What part of the state are u going to?
Joined
·
9,322 Posts
TA, I hate to hear about you loosing your private ground in TN, it will definitely spoil you! I hunted just south of Jackson last year and had good success but that lease fell through. But I took a guy duck hunting and got him on a couple of good hunts so he invited me come up close to Nashville where he lives to hunt. I have some other friends that hunt the area and they are brutal on them and almost always come home with 7 or 8 longbeards between the 2 of them in a 4 day hunt. Everyone I have spoken to says that area is covered up so I'm hoping he keeps his word. I have hunted that area of Mississippi as well. A lot of my family is from Kosciusko and I have cousins and other family members that live in about a 40 radius around that area. It sounds like a good setup you have down there, I just wish those turkeys would learn to read the script! There is plenty of birds but for whatever reason I've rarely called a bird in gobbling. I've killed several birds down there but most of them have come from setting up in strut zones and waiting or seeing birds and moving to get in front of them etc. It's still fun but I'm more of a run and gunner when it comes to turkey hunting. Deer hunting I'll set in a tree from daylight til dark day after day even when I'm not seeing deer without getting bored or frustrated but it's a lot harder for me to do it turkey hunting. I will do it if that's what I have to do to kill them but I'd much rather run and gun til I strike a hot bird. Good luck this year hopefully you'll hit them right and they'll cooperate for you!! I'm gonna give the Nebraska birds a try this year and hope they cooperate as well as Kansas birds 
I hope the deal works out with by Nashville. When I was in Franklin there was birds every where. As soon as we came into town there was a big Tom blowed up watching over some hens that were dusting underneath an over pass! I killed my first gobbler there and he was a big one. Double beard with long spurs! There were like seven more long beards with him plus a dozen hens. I will never forget them gobbling and drumming all around me.
Joined
·
9,322 Posts
Lol, sounds like you had a great hunt no wonder your hooked! I'm hoping to get over there and try it out as well. It would be nice to make it a yearly deal but I never seem to get that lucky. It seems like every year I wind up scrambling for a new place to hunt. It would be nice to get settled in to a spot like that with a lot of birds. Good luck to you this year also!
Joined
·
15,076 Posts
Andrew I'm going to Black Kettle the week of April 8th. I'm gonna leave after church on Easter Sunday and drive on out there,the weekenders should be gone and leave it for the stone cold turkey killers. I've never been out there so I'm definetly trying to soak up as much info as I can. I've also got a few leads on some private ground.So we'll see how it goes. Either way it's gonna be fun:up:
Joined
·
696 Posts
Some of my buddies drove out around Nashville to check out a WMA. I can't remember the name but they said it looked real good. We were gonna go give it a shot but was in turkey's where we were at so we didn't. Oh well, I'm getting pumped just talking about this stuff!!!
Joined
·
9,322 Posts
I just got through texting that guy asking him if he wanted to come back down duck hunting again:biggrin: I'm gonna spend as much time trying to get permission on additional spots as I do hunting if I get to go!
1 - 20 of 26 Posts
