Obadiah,

I live in NW Montana, and have done a little bit of turkey hunting, but mostly just opportunistic stuff, not really sit down and actually HUNT them. A lot of turkeys in western Montana hang out on private land, and due to this, there’s not a lot of access because many owners are not from here and like to see the birds…they think of them as pets, basically. However, wherever there are large numbers of birds on private ground, they do stray onto neighboring public lands, too. It’s just a matter of being there when they do. If you want to ask more questions, I’ll do what I can to answer them, but I may not have all your answers. You may want to call Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Headquarters for whatever region(s) you’re wanting to hunt. They are a wealth of information, usually. Good luck.

Michael

I’ve lived here for decades, can see the site of the state’s first turkey release from my window and have killed my share, I guess. Feel free to get back to me with specific questions. Don

The closest good public land turkey hunting for you would be the Missouri River Breaks. There are probably more birds n the south side of the river. You can get good land access maps from the BLM office in Lewistown. Most of that country (but by no means all) is BLM or CMR Refuge. The farther east you go, the more birds you will find, with the very best area probably north of Jordan. Merriam turkeys probably aren’t quite as sharp as easterns, but you’re still going to have to do a lot of things right to kill lone with a bow. If you head to the breaks next spring, be sure to watch the weather report. If it rains on you down there, you may not get out for days. Don