Turkey Hunting Eleven Point

[Ozarkroots]

Hey guys, I typically hunt in Laclede county where I live, but want to experience a float/archery hunt for turkeys this spring. It seems like the Eleven Point would be a good place to do that. I talked to someone at the ranger station on the phone and she said that floating the stretch of Irish Wilderness would make it almost impossible to accidentally stumble onto private land. 

1. Is that the case in regards to it being almost completely public hunting land on the stretch of the Irish Wilderness?

2. Is the river in that area pretty fast or is it easy to float?

3. Is that stretch of the river big enough to be bothered by jet boaters?

Thanks so much for your help!

[MaxDrown]

1. Yes. Public land. Don't know what the hunting regs are.

2. It's pretty fast. But there are lots of stretches of slower water between the ripples. It's not very deep.

3. No. Jet boats can get all the way past Greer. That being, said, I doubt jet boats on that stretch will be much of an issue for you.

[Ozarkroots]

Thanks! Great info

[Gavin]

Have not seen many turkeys on the eleven point. See lots on the Current in the ONSR. Meramec in Woodson too.

 

[jdmidwest]

Irish Wilderness portion will have jet boat traffic, nut no worry. You have to worry more about flood water that time of year. 

Turkey flocks are fewer in that area, no crop land to support them. Just natural mast and bugs. Should be a good hunt.  

[Brian Sloss]

There are plenty of turkeys in the area, we have people come here every year from out of state to hunt this area.  I see turkeys regularly.  Hunting a forest is going to be more challenging than areas with open fields.  You could put in at Whitten and float just under a mile down to White's Creek Float Camp and set up base camp.  There is a trail that connects with the Irish Wilderness trail.  Basically the float camp connects you to over 16k acres of public land.  You can paddle out the creek to the river and fish in the afternoon.  You could start as far up as Cane Bluff and float all the way to Riverton (27.5 miles), stopping to hunt all the way down, but you need to get a good map and know how to use it.  The are a few pieces of private land with river frontage (that is marked well) and some areas where the private land gets closer to the river than you think.  Sometimes that land is not marked as well. 

[garrbear07]

How did this hunt go? I am looking into chasing a turkey this way.  Where did you find your maps, and what tips do you have going forward?

[Fish Bork]

Turkey season starts tomorrow