If you're going to whitney or aquilla be aware that went to archery only out there and unless I'm mistaken, that includes spring turkey season as well. No shotguns. Again I might be wrong but better be safe and check. I saw some birds out there 5 or 6 years ago but haven't been back.

there are plenty of birds there. good luck. they are all over

you can use shotgun for turkey season, just nothing bigger than #2 shot

Gotta agree I live right by there, and am out and about the woods most weekends during the fall and winter, and am on one of the two lakes fishing just about every weekend during the spring. I've not seen a turkey either place the last 4 seasons, the rio population has been in decline on both the A and W lakes since the mid 90's, really not worth your time IMO but you can try.

im mainly a duck hunter never hunt turkeys but there is public land near san angelo that is loaded with them never been out there and havent seen a group of turkeys twinn buttes res. no permit req. and the aph land out there at the sate park has alot of turkeys also

Is that all we get?? Nice pics of the Turkeys.

I would not call LBJ Dead but it will be hard work and you need to scout your range of areas. Need to get out of the areas around Black Creek or Cottonwood. Lots of hunters there but I see turkeys almost everytime I am out there.

Wow, some of you guys are so negative about the public land. Turkeys are hard to figure out. Just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they are not there. My buddy has property around the pan handel, periodically we have seen 50-100 birds in a weekend and then we will not see any for 6 months, then we will see them again. I don't know where they go, but there still around the area somewhere, they are just elusive.

LBJ is great turkey hunting, I'm a novice and I got some birds gobbling back at me on my first hunt out there. If your like me and can't afford a lease (1 year old and 5 year old "gobble" up all my money) then you can't beat it because its free, big and beautiful land.

BTW, I would trust KeithTT, he is on this forum alot and the little advice he gave me last year was spot on. The man knows his turkey hunting. I have never met him, but he is always helping guys out on this forum.

Here's several answers and comments after reading all of the above.

1. I would definitely check that ten acres out, maybe have someone throw son corn or scratch out regularly to keep those hens coming through there.

2. I know folks that hunt caddo and LBJ- there are birds at both places, you just have to be willing to scout and deal with the heavy pressure.-I might thinkin bout hunting from 10am-2pm. (prime time for lonely toms whose hens have gone to nest.

4. Get in the web and search Chamber of Commerce in the counties you are interested in hunting, sometimes ranchers will post day leases for very reasonable amounts.

Good Luck!

thanks for the input bocephus

sorry for the late post I just re-read the thread and saw this...

From KeithTT "For someone looking for great public land to hunt it is not uncommon at all to work 15-20 gobbler's in a single morning at LBJ"

SERIOUSLY DUDE YOUR SMOKIN' CRACK! I call total BS on that quote! I am calling your bluff! take me with you I will pay for your gas and your lunch I want to see you work 15 "Different" toms in one morning on the LBJ! what do you say are you up for it? and since I am a professional photographer I will video tape the hunt and post in on the web to prove your telling the truth. I watched your videos and they are all 2 years old, and there is nothing in the video that proves they were shot on the LBJ.

Oh and just to clarify, YES you do need a special permit to hunt the LBJ, it is called a public hunting lands permit and it costs 48 dollars, don't get caught without one.....

And if you hunt the LBJ so much why would you tell every one that you work 15-20 birds all the time, are you trying to have the grasslands over run by hunters? geez.....

Actually, you do not need a public lands permit to hunt The LBJ Grasslands. You do need one for the caddo grasslands but not the LBJ. At least that is how it was last year, they may have changed it but I don't think so.

Tx Deer Hunter, you sound like a very exprienced and knowledegable hunter. I'm not trying to cause conflict, but I know that LBJ didn't require the permit last year. If they changed it, please let me know because the last thing I need is a federal game warden ticket.

You DO NOT need the APH license to hunt LBJ. Just a regular hunting license. You used to have to draw a doe permit out there but they even did away with that and went with 4 doe days at thanksgiving.

Thanks for all the tips guys....As of right now Im going to Aquilla this spring, should be interesting. Ive never been a big fan of public ground especially during spring turkey season. Head that way in a couple months for some scouting, hopefully by then I get a place closer too.

No permit required on LBJ just on the other side Caddo

If you have ever been to LBJ then you would know that those green fence post's in the back ground of some of those pic's are NF marking's! The reason I work 15-20 gobbler's a mornin' is cause I don't tell people where I hunt so why would I tell you or show you. The grassland's are thousand's and thousand's of acres just cause you go out there and see some sometimes and sometimes nothin' doesn't mean I don't have some prime roosting spot's layed out and do all of my homework to ensure success. I'm not here to prove anything to anybody and yes those video's posted are two year's old. I didn't film every hunt last year and actually didn't guide many hunt's last season. I guess as they say though Money talk's I'm sorry gas and lunch ain't gonna cut it for my honey hole. Check craigslist they have plenty of guides on there asking a $1000+ per bird and you can't go back cause they are on private land. If I were to show you my place it would prolly be a little more than that cause you would be able to go back and kill em' for year's. If you wanna talk seriously about goin' PM me and for the right price I would show you several area's down there with 5-10 plus gobbler's per mornin'. Meaning I will take you to a public spot and it will have several gobbler's and we will work them. Whether they are ready to run in or not is up to them that's turkey huntin'. The reason I would wanna charge you so much isn't just cause it's unlimited access to area's that I have worked super hard to find but if I charged alot then I atleast know that you wouldn't show anyone cause if you did then your investment would be shot and it will be over hunted.

AND ADDED I HAVE BEEN HUNTING THERE FOR OVER TEN YEAR'S.... NO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE ANY PERMIT'S JUST A TEXAS HUNTING LICENSE. NO HUNTER ORANGE IS NOT REQUIRED DURING SPRING TURKEY SEASON.

In my short experience with LBJ, the few birds I saw or worked were on or heading to surrounding private land. I did manage to kill two very nice longbeards last year there, but it was more of an ambush to cut them off before they got to private land than it was a traditional type of hunt, and a lttle luck to go along with it. I tried to call a couple off of private land, but of course they didn't budge, especially since they were with hens. I think the later the season, which was the times I went, the less hunting pressure there is, but most of the birds are still going to be on private land. I do plan on hunting LBJ a couple times this Spring. I want to scout a few new areas that look good on the satellite map. I don't know if there are areas where you can work 10 to 15 gobblers a day, but if there were, I certainly wouldn't reveal my secret spots.

I agree...always had better luck going later in the season. Don't know about 10 to 15 gobbler either but I wouldn't doubt it. Last spring we had 5 of them talking back to us, and a few years back I had about 7 or 8 birds gobbling back a
me.
My buddy that scouts for us up there had about 3 long beards and 2 jakes come in last year. the long beards would allow him a good shot but he took the jake. You just have to put in the time and effort to scout and get far away from everyone else...which means you have to walk some. I used to hunt the smaller areas that did get as much pressure and caught them passing through as they were leaving and heading towards surrounding private land.
It seems that more people have gotten hipped to the game and last year I found a lot more people had beat me to the punch when I went back to some of those spots that i had previously hunted alone or with a buddy in past times. But hey that's public land hunting...

I normally wouldn't hunt public anything, but my season in LA. ends on April 17, but I'm usually finished before then, and I just have to keep turkey hunting somewhere. I usually go on one pay hunt in Texas also, but that is earlier in the season. Plus it is a pretty big challenge to hunt pressured late season public birds, and LBJ is the closest Texas public land with Rios. I can now hunt into May if I like.

I hunted the LBJ grass lands the last couple of years and I have not shot a bird yet but have heard several. You are right there are thousands of acres of land and you will have to do allot of scouting to find the birds. If you just head out and try and get lucky you will be hunting with the other 100 lazy hunters fighting over the same spot.

And to add to the hunting license question, the only license you need is a hunting license. The Forestry service has a map of all compartments and I would suggest picking one up. The map will also list any compartments that are closed to hunting. They do not require you to wear hunters orange but I would STRONGLY suggest that you have some on when walking from spot to spot. Don’t forget this is public land and most of the public does not know good hunting safety. You don’t want to be mistaken for a turkey walking through the woods at day break by a group of guys that have been hammering beers back all night long.