Northeast Region
The northeast area is home primarily to Rio Grandes, with some easterns found along the counties bordering Arkansas and Missouri. This area known as “Green Country” is rich in history with beautiful forests of hardwoods. Turkey abundance varies by county; last season, hunters there took 2,022 birds, which was slightly less than the 2005 harvest with the total taken breaking down to 1,319 adult toms, 688 jakes, and 15 hens.

County flock estimates totaled 18,265 birds -- slightly up from last season, and can be broken down as follows: Adair, 1,350; Cherokee, 2,200; Craig, 2,300; Delaware, 225, Haskell, 2,400; Mayes, 410; McIntosh, 1,500; Muskogee, 1,850; Nowata, 2,000; Ottawa, 385; Rogers, 720; Sequoyah, 1,650; Tulsa, 200; Wagoner, 525; and Washington, 550.

Southeast Region
The mountainous, pine-studded scenery and vistas here are unlike those anywhere else in the state. One of my proudest accomplishments as a turkey hunter was tagging my first eastern longbeard near Daisy -- a 24-pound boss gobbler that sported an 11-inch thick beard.

If you’ve never matched wits with a long-bearded gobbler in Southeastern Oklahoma, you’re in for an experience -- more like an education, actually. These birds are wary, and respond differently than do their western counterparts. In fact, they can be downright tough.

Hunters harvested 2,937 turkeys last season --down from the harvest of 3,515 in 2005 -- with nearly 85 percent, or 2,451, being adult toms. There were 454 jakes and 32 hens.

Southeastern flock estimates combined for a tally of 6,129 turkeys -- up 1,109 birds from last season -- which breaks down as: Atoka, 1,455; Bryan, 53; Choctaw, 23; Coal, 192; Latimer, 173; LeFlore, 422; McCurtain, 1,130; Pittsburg, 1,883; and Pushmataha, 798.

PUBLIC LANDS

West
With the cost of leased lands getting higher every season, some hunters are more comfortable hunting public grounds. And no wonder! There are some exceptional public lands available, provided you heed the advice that follows.

The top spot in the state for tagging a tom is Black Kettle Wildlife Management Area, near Cheyenne. This WMA too is a national grassland, and the hunting pressure there is intense. Last year, I hunted near the Kettle during the first two days of season, and ran into several hunters, most from out of state.

Words to the wise: The turkey hunting usually gets better the week or two after opening day, and the hunting pressure lessens. If you hunt during the week, you generally won’t have to compete with as many hunters

Most turkeys at Black Kettle roost near water in the tallest trees available, and since much of Black Kettle is treeless, key in on the management units that have roost sites on them, or in proximity.

A public lands atlas, which includes this WMA and other public lands, is available for purchase by logging on to the Web site WildlifeDepartment.com.

Other public land recommendations are Canton WMA, Ellis County WMA, Fort Cobb WMA and Packsaddle WMA.

East
By far the best public hunting in the east is found at Three Rivers WMA and Honobia Creek WMA, which can be accessed for an annual fee of $16. These huge lands located in the southeast are privately owned by timber companies, but managed by the ODWC and have good densities of turkeys. That doesn’t guarantee that you’ll tag a wily eastern gobbler there because this timber-loving strain of turkeys can be exceptionally wary and difficult to hunt.