Other favorites in McCutcheon's view are Martin-Skyline WMA in Jackson County and Little River in DeKalb. Be warned that Skyline gets almost as much pressure as the most heavily hunted turkey WMA in the state.

In the northwestern corner of the state, where Ron Eakes is the biologist, there are plenty of choices for the public land turkey hunter. This district encompasses Colbert, Cullman, Fayette, Franklin, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Morgan, Walker and Winston counties.

The turkey population is still expanding in this portion of Bama, and a big chunk of this area has a shorter season than other parts of the state, generally not opening until April 1.

Black Warrior WMA is a good producer, but Eakes said it can be difficult to hunt. The terrain is rugged and the birds can be hush-mouthed at times.

"Don't expect to do a lot of running and gunning," Eakes said. "A lot of calling turns these turkeys off. We've never stocked turkeys on Black Warrior. It had turkeys back in the bad old days when no one else did. The turkeys we have today are descended from some real survivors."

He added that a lot of hunters head to the woods and call in turkeys in the pre-season.

"It's one of the worst things you can do," the biologist pointed out. "All you're doing is making him that much harder to hunt the next time. It's a natural tendency to want to make him gobble one more time when you're out scouting. It's the worst thing you can do. It might help another hunter to find that bird."

Another good choice in this district for public land hunters is Sam R. Murphy WMA in Lamar and Marion counties. It gets heavy pressure, but it also produces birds.

Central
Turkeys continue to thrive in the central part of the state, which includes the fabled Black Belt and its fertile soil.

Rick Claybrook is the biologist in charge of east-central Alabama and the counties of Autauga, Bullock, Chambers, Coosa, Elmore, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Montgomery, Russell and Tallapoosa.

Autauga Community Hunting Area in this region was the top public land in the state last year for man-days per bird killed. That's how many days on average hunters had to be in the woods to harvest a gobbler. The figure here jumps off the chart when you study WMA harvest totals.

"It's a small area, but it has been a good one for turkey hunting," Claybrook assured.

The future of the WMA is uncertain, however, due to a change in the ownership of the land.

"We have it on the schedule for now, but that is subject to change," Claybrook cautioned. "Since it's such a small area, it's easier to run into other hunters on it too.