A buddy and me are looking around southern IL trying to find some state ground with some turkeys. We already have our permits for our home county, but we would like to go for one more. We looked in pike county, also down at balwin lake. Does anyone have any experience with these spots? We are also open to suggestions.

Good Luck
RBBH

Ok president, maybe you need to make a public ground section.......lol......
RBBH, go up to search and type in public ,public ground, turkey's or whatever you wanna search for and see what you get.....:D

Kaskaskia River FWA covers portions of St. Clair and Randolph counties and has alot of turkeys but is limited to mostly boat access. As far as I know there are only 2 public areas in Pike county...Ray Norbut (only 1200 acres) and the Mississippi River Islands which are pretty much boat access only.

My recommendation would be head down to the Shawnee NF. Tons of public ground, perfect turkey habitat, lots of birds, and all the ground is wide open to turkey hunting. Also, Shawnee NF covers more counties. There is Shawnee NF ground in Pope, Hardin, Gallatin, Saline, Johnson, Jackson, Union, Alexander, and a little in Massac. There is great fishing in the area down there. Makes for a great hunting/fishing/camping excursion. Oh yeah, you can camp just about anywhere down there too. Check out the link I posted above for Shawnee. I will warn you that the birds are pretty wary down there in the later seasons...but that is pretty much anywhere on public ground. A rule of thumb...try to get off the beaten path for less pressured Toms.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/shawnee/

Sorry- Put the link in the wrong place :)

i have seen a ton of turkeys while bowhunting at crab orchard,but i am not sure what parts are open to spring season-i have also hunted Ray Norbut in pike and seen a few up there also,but not like crab

i hunt private ground in pike currently and we see alot but my dad and uncle uncle to hunt private ground up there a few years ago and did realy good

What co tag did you apply for??

DHoyt- How was the bowhunting up at Norbut? Crowded?

not too bad,we usually go the last week in october-missed a really nice one 4 years ago and have seen a few more. You just have to go in a long ways

We haven't applied yet. We are still researching. We have it narrowed down to randolph county and the ten mile creek area.

As soon as I posted this ? I looked and seen all the other threads. I guess I should pay attention.

Thanks for all the replies. There is a lot of info/experiance on this board. We went to shawnee a couple years ago. It is very tuff hunting down there. The birds were wary, but not wary enough.:D We camped at kincaid lake. Beautifull lake. Caught some nice crappie.

Good Luck
Thanks again
RBBH

There ain't no turkeys on public here... cougars ate em all..NOT!!!

http://www.siloutdoors.com/imagehosting/147a1d1ca2a7cd.jpg

That looks like it is in Jackson County near Cedar Creek, but I doubt you traveled that far.

That looks like it is in Jackson County near Cedar Creek, but I doubt you traveled that far.

I'll never tell...:cool:

I'm thinking I've seen that row of highlines before...LOL One of these days I suspect there will be more and more cameras that will automatically record the GPS locations in the EXIF data...then instead of preserving the dats ..we'll all be ripping it before we post LOL as it is now..I can add it in mine..but haven't ever taken then time to do it...

http://luxuryresorttravel.suite101.com/article.cfm/ricoh_500se_digital_camera_review

I know exactly where that is. I'll never tell either!

I hunt on my dads farm in Pike county. There is a ton of turkeys up there. There is a large public area near where we are. I will get some info on it if you want.

Jacob- Is the public ground by your dad's farm Ray Norbut Stat Fish and Wildlife Area?

Yea. That's it. If you get a tag there my dad may let you stay at our house up there. I would go over and video if I get my turkey early if you want too.

Thats a great offer on the info, but we ended putting in for a wildlife area down south. Its a limited draw and I hope we both get a tag.

Good LUck
RBBH

That's cool man. Good luck. If you are ever heading that way, let me know. We are right outside of Pittsfield right on 72.

We couldn't decide which direction to head, west or south. We just happen to be friends with the biologist for the southern areas and he was able to point us in the right direction. If we were headed your way we would be more than happy to let ya go with us.

Good Luck
RBBH