Rio Grande Wild Turkey Hunts in California

To put it mildly – we love our turkey hunting. Turkeys in California are expanding their range every year, opening up new opportunities. In the areas we hunt it’s typically considered the Rio Grande subspecies of wild turkey. We offer spring California wild turkey hunts where you can experience your heart pound as a longbeard struts into view. We can also put you on an autumn turkey which requires a different approach but can easily be combined with several other hunting opportunities. We offer hunts on exclusive private ranches in the beautiful oak woodlands of California and also on public forestland where you can match wits with a truly wild mountain turkey. The choice is yours. Spring California Wild Turkey Hunts: Usually in February the male turkeys begin to gobble and that’s when we start hitting the hills listening and looking for strutting zones and roost trees. A day in the spring turkey woods is like magic. It starts early in the morning where we will set up near a roost tree long before first light. When the songbirds begin to sing their spring rituals is right about when the ring of gobbles echo from atop the roost trees. We will begin some light calling sequences to let the birds know there is a hen nearby. After the turkeys fly down it won’t be long before we will know if the plan worked out. Getting turkeys soon after they land on the ground from the roost is an excellent tactic. Some folks end the hunt after the morning thunder turns silent. We don’t stop there. If everyone in the group hasn’t got their bird we will hunt all day. In our experience hunting gets better as the late morning turns to afternoon. If you can get a gobble out of a turkey at 2 pm, that’s a bird that wants to play. Legal shoot time for spring turkey ends at 5 pm. On multi-day hunts the group is welcome to go and relax for the afternoon or join the guide to try and roost some birds in the evening for the next morning hunt. Fall California Wild Turkey Hunts: Fall turkey hunting takes a different approach. A common method is to break up the flocks of young-of-the-year turkeys that are still with the hen and use an assembly call to bring them back in. This technique doesn’t work so well for big Tom turkeys because they aren’t in the flocks with the young birds. The big turkeys are either alone or in bachelor groups. To kill a longbeard in autumn requires pre-season scouting to understand where they are loafing, feeding, and roosting. Our guides spend countless hours in the fall turkey woods observing sign and marking fall territories. When the season arrives it’s all about being in a strategic location to intercept the turkeys as they move about. Glassing openings and sneaking into shooting range also can be an effective method. The great thing about a fall turkey hunt is that there are so many other species that can be hunted at the same time, that live in the same region – including, mountain quail, valley quail, dove, squirrel, rabbit, gray fox, coyote, raccoon, bear, or even fishing. There is never any downtime in November and early December. Hunt can be extended for additional cost.

Bitterwater Outfitters features several thousand acres of private turkey ground in San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Fresno counties in California. We hunt on some of the most beautiful ranches in the area where the Rio Grande turkeys are plentiful. We offer a fully guided California turkey hunt using calling and spot and stalk methods. The rolling terrain with oak canopies and creek bottoms make for prime turkey habitat. The increase in rainfall has resulted in a strong population this year. In 2022-2023 we had a 100% success rate, all high quality birds. Due to the large numbers of birds we saw last season, we expect our 2023-2024 season to be one for the books. Our expert guides will get you on the bird you've been waiting for. Book your hunt today! Lodging options include a cabin, an RV rental, camp sites, or local hotels.

To put it mildly – we love our turkey hunting. Turkeys in California are expanding their range every year, opening up new opportunities. In the areas we hunt it’s typically considered the Rio Grande subspecies of wild turkey. We offer spring California wild turkey hunts where you can experience your heart pound as a longbeard struts into view. We can also put you on an autumn turkey which requires a different approach but can easily be combined with several other hunting opportunities. We offer hunts on exclusive private ranches in the beautiful oak woodlands of California and also on public forestland where you can match wits with a truly wild mountain turkey. The choice is yours. Spring California Wild Turkey Hunts: Usually in February the male turkeys begin to gobble and that’s when we start hitting the hills listening and looking for strutting zones and roost trees. A day in the spring turkey woods is like magic. It starts early in the morning where we will set up near a roost tree long before first light. When the songbirds begin to sing their spring rituals is right about when the ring of gobbles echo from atop the roost trees. We will begin some light calling sequences to let the birds know there is a hen nearby. After the turkeys fly down it won’t be long before we will know if the plan worked out. Getting turkeys soon after they land on the ground from the roost is an excellent tactic. Some folks end the hunt after the morning thunder turns silent. We don’t stop there. If everyone in the group hasn’t got their bird we will hunt all day. In our experience hunting gets better as the late morning turns to afternoon. If you can get a gobble out of a turkey at 2 pm, that’s a bird that wants to play. Legal shoot time for spring turkey ends at 5 pm. On multi-day hunts the group is welcome to go and relax for the afternoon or join the guide to try and roost some birds in the evening for the next morning hunt. Fall California Wild Turkey Hunts: Fall turkey hunting takes a different approach. A common method is to break up the flocks of young-of-the-year turkeys that are still with the hen and use an assembly call to bring them back in. This technique doesn’t work so well for big Tom turkeys because they aren’t in the flocks with the young birds. The big turkeys are either alone or in bachelor groups. To kill a longbeard in autumn requires pre-season scouting to understand where they are loafing, feeding, and roosting. Our guides spend countless hours in the fall turkey woods observing sign and marking fall territories. When the season arrives it’s all about being in a strategic location to intercept the turkeys as they move about. Glassing openings and sneaking into shooting range also can be an effective method. The great thing about a fall turkey hunt is that there are so many other species that can be hunted at the same time, that live in the same region – including, mountain quail, valley quail, dove, squirrel, rabbit, gray fox, coyote, raccoon, bear, or even fishing. There is never any downtime in November and early December. Hunt can be extended for additional cost.