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Fall PA Turkey 2024

3.9K views 43 replies 17 participants last post by  Bowhunter 1188  
#1 ·
Originally was planning on going up to White Mountains, NH for a fall turkey trip in October. However, considering that i have still not yet purchased my NH license, im starting to think that its a waste as their license year is Jan-Dec and id be paying full price to only have 3 months to enjoy it, and missing out on their Spring turkey season. So thinking that i may save NH trips for 2025 and buy the license in time for Spring season also.

Since i already have my PA license for a December deer trip, thinking i might as well also use it for a fall turkey trip instead of NH.

I can use a little guideance on best counties to entertain for turkey population. Anyone friendly enough to share some suggestions, or at least areas not worth visiting?

thank you
 
#11 ·
Interesting you say that. I had heard from an acquaintance that Michigan may well be the very best state in the nation to hunt turkeys. A very good friend of mine (and great turkey hunter) went there this spring at the very end of the season (June), and he came home almost unable to speak, lol. He said the amount of turkeys was beyond his wildest imagination, and he has been nearly everywhere. Said he saw 60 gobblers in one day!!!
 
#12 ·
Originally was planning on going up to White Mountains, NH for a fall turkey trip in October. However, considering that i have still not yet purchased my NH license, im starting to think that its a waste as their license year is Jan-Dec and id be paying full price to only have 3 months to enjoy it, and missing out on their Spring turkey season. So thinking that i may save NH trips for 2025 and buy the license in time for Spring season also.

Since i already have my PA license for a December deer trip, thinking i might as well also use it for a fall turkey trip instead of NH.

I can use a little guideance on best counties to entertain for turkey population. Anyone friendly enough to share some suggestions, or at least areas not worth visiting?

thank you
Head west on I-80 and don't stop until you hit Clearfield County.
 
#18 ·
If you want to get a good handle on what part of the state has the best turkey populations a good place to start would be by looking at the Game Commission's turkey sighting report website.

Look at both the total numbers of turkeys sighted but also at the units with highest poult per hen counts. Where you have the higher poult per hen counts was where they had the best poult hatches and survival rates this year. Those are typically going to be the areas with the best fall turkey hunting.

Turkey Sighting Survey Summer (pa.gov)

Dick Bodenhorn
 
#19 ·
If you wanna know the best areas to hunt Fall Turkeys, you should always first look at what WMU's have the highest harvest numbers. The WMU's starting with a 2 have the highest harvest numbers.
If you only look at the Turkey Sightings/Poults per Hen you might make the wrong assumption that WMU 5B is a good place to hunt. Afterall, there were over 2,000 turkey sightings in 5B with 2.21 poults per Hen. But when you look at the paltry Fall harvest of 92 birds...well let's just say you don't wanna hunt 5B.
I used the year of 2022 because that's the last year the PGC has posted for Fall Harvests.


Summer Sighting Totals
2022
Wildlife Management UnitsTotal TurkeysMalesHensPoultsUnknown Age/SexPoults per All Hens (Reproductive Index)
State Total31243290975161865021682.48
WMU 1A1441145457763761.67
WMU 1B1024113244578892.37
WMU 2A1366154318803912.53
WMU 2B304635182516452251.99
WMU 2C16332053419811062.88
WMU 2D1401150375781952.08
WMU 2E90663185604543.26
WMU 2F133195297879602.96
WMU 2G22491324691602463.42
WMU 2H68723158466402.95
WMU 3A108868208783293.76
WMU 3B181111838911761283.02
WMU 3C17082134051000902.47
WMU 3D18131765181036832
WMU 4A549113104269632.59
WMU 4B1021662405411742.25
WMU 4C1150702966811032.3
WMU 4D17471223181213943.81
WMU 4E92138197602843.06
WMU 5A9221042304641242.02
WMU 5B205218452611621802.21
WMU 5C11601823535161091.46
WMU 5D2172463105251.67
WMU Unknown




Image
 
#23 ·
Took a drive tonight to get pizza for dinner, turkey and broods all over. Scrub oak crop looks good, plenty of food for the winter.

As for Pa, i see a fair amount driving SGL & SF dirt roads.
 
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#30 ·
Ive settled on venturing out to Clearfield County for my Fall Turkey hunt, will be in the field on 11/4 and 11/5. Been looking into areas to go within the county, and would prefer to stay in the northeastern portion of the county due to commute. Ive been reading a bit on SGL 78 and Moshannon State Forest. However, i cannot locate on a map anything for SGL 78. Anyone here have any experience or feedback in regard to those 2 areas mentioned? or, any other suggestions in the northeastern portion of the county? Any help is greatly appreciated. As previously mentioned, this is not only my first time hunting but i am also going solo. While i understand that that my chances of success this way may be very limited, i am fully accepting of that. This is about the experience for me, and learning.
 
#32 ·
Right, that i saw. However, i was trying to locate it on a larger map of the county as a whole to determine its exact location, and SGL 78 was not populating.

So this appears to be directly west of Graham and directly south of Moshannon SF? Is Moshannon in 78 as well?
 
#35 ·
If you're good at finding them, and have a few days, you will find them.

If you need a little more luck to run into them, or feel you need to be into birds every single day, I would definitely look away from the big woods areas into the areas with mixed woods and agriculture. Just more consistent. There are birds to be found in the big woods, but they might be here today, two miles away tomorrow.
 
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