“We noticed that hunters were reluctant to restrict themselves to only those zones with the special licenses, and we weren’t getting enough hunters into those areas,” said Gosselink. “Everybody assumed that hunters would flood into them last year, but we really didn’t see that much extra hunting pressure.

Perhaps the primary reason for the lower-than-expected turnout is that most turkey hunters prefer to hunt close to home, where private hunting property owned by family members or friends is often more accessible, said Gosselink.

He explained that while many landowners are protective of deer or pheasants on their property, preferring to “save” those deer and pheasants for friends or relatives, the same is not always true during turkey season. Gosselink says he has noticed a more relaxed attitude among landowners toward hunters who request permission to target turkeys.

“In many cases, if you ask politely, people will let you on their land to hunt turkeys,” said Gosselink. “There are still a few farmers who are convinced that turkeys damage their crops, which actually happens infrequently. If you find those farmers, they may be very happy to have you hunt turkeys on their property.”

Nonetheless, turkey hunters who prefer to hunt public areas have plenty of opportunities across Iowa. In northeast Iowa, Chafa points to two different types of public properties.

“Bloody Run, in Clayton County, is for guys willing to work for their turkeys,” he said. “It’s a big area with limited access. If you’re willing to walk a mile or so, you’re probably going to have a lot of turkeys all to yourself.

“Sny Magill (Wildlife Management Area), also in Clayton County, is the other extreme. The road runs through it, and you probably don’t have to walk more than a quarter to a half mile to get to any part of that area. It’s going to be less work, but you may have more competition from other hunters.

“Both areas have strong populations of turkeys and are great places to hunt,” said Chafa. “It just depends on how much you want to work for a turkey, and how willing you are to cross paths with another hunter.”

Chafa admits that he targets smaller areas when he hunts for turkeys.

“The Buffalo Creek area in Delaware County is 800 acres,” he said. “Most of it isn’t timbered, but I’ve taken a turkey out of there and saw two other guys carrying turkeys out the same day.”

Another public area in northeast Iowa that produces turkeys is the Volga River State Recreation Area, near West Union in Fayette County. Mark Creery, who lives in Fayette County, is an avid turkey hunter and regional director for the National Wild Turkey Federation.

“Everybody I talk to assumes that the Volga (recreation area) is over-hunted, and the areas close to parking lots and roads do see a lot of pressure,” said Creery. “But it’s my experience that if a hunter gets more than a mile back into any public area in Iowa, he’s probably going to be working turkeys that haven’t seen much hunting pressure.”

The Loess Hills of western Iowa are a prime example of an area that offers large expanses of hard-to-access timber. Pioneer State Forest, Loess Hills State Forest and the Loess Hills WMA encompass more than 10,000 acres of hardwood timbers interspersed with isolated crop fields nestled between the gnarly knobs of the hills. Hunters willing to walk a mile or more in that challenging terrain will hunt turkeys that may have never seen a human.

South-central Iowa has several significant turkey-friendly public areas. Of the 2,000 Decatur County acres west of Leon covered by Little River WMA, some 1,300 consist of upland and timber. Also in Decatur County, 3,450-acre Sand Creek WMA, north of Grand River, is 75 percent timbered habitat attractive to turkeys.