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2005
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FLORIDA CENTRAL ZONE
Southern
Zone Hunt |
Grand
Slam 6-pack
 We
are hunting with David Mills of Zolfo Springs, Florida in Central
Florida's Osceola wild turkey country. David is an immediately likable
guy and makes you feel at home from the get go. He has thousands of acres
available to hunt Osceolas.
To contact David about Osceola
hunts, bow or shotgun, phone 1-863-990-9087. |
NEW
- Day 6 (Mar 26) - Mike Bailey's Day
Afternoon Hunt
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Day 5 (Mar 25) - Mike Leonard's Deep
Swamp Hunt
Afternoon Hunt
 Mike
Leonard, returned to the cypress swamp with David Mills. They set up a
Double Bull blind and a decoy at the edge of the swamp, not far from an
orange grove. This was the first time MIke had used the blind.
David
began calling, he used a new Woodhaven aluminum slate call. He called every
30 minutes.
Right
at 5:00 Mike saw a gobbler duck under the fence to his right, 15 yards
away ... and strut. It moved toward the blind, stopped, and walked away.
Mike
elbowed David and but didn't get his attention. The gobbler turned back
towards the decoy and stopped 4 yards from the blind and spit and drummed,
facing the jake decoy and turned his back and took a few steps away. Mike
aimed and shot the longbeard (shotgun).
This
is Mike's first Osceola. We took his picture and then he packed for the
drive home and the opening day of the Georgia wild turkey season.
Morning Hunt
 Mike
Leonard, owner of Outdoor Traditions in Dawsonville, Georgia is hunting
with us. He and David Mills went to a Cypress swamp. A Tom gobble several
times in the dark. After daylight broke David did 2 fly down cackles and
used a turkey wing to simulate the fly down sound.
The
Tom got fired up and gobbled repeatedly. David called intermittently, keeping
him fired up. They heard 3 birds fly down and the gobbling came closer,
to within 100 yards.
They
waited as the Tom continued to gobble.
After
an hour the gobbles stopped. They waited another hour and decided to go
into the swamp. They waded through water. David saw yellow flowers and
went to them. It was dry land. Once there they heard a gobble. They moved
toward it, stopping every few yards. Gobbles continued.
The
area became very thick and they had to crawl. Soon the gobbles got louder,
they were getting closer. They came to uprooted oak trees and had to stop.
The bird was within 20 yards.
Mike
slowly stood up. The gobbles were very close right in front of him. MIke
could not see through the limbs of the tree but had his eye on two places
where he could shoot. He stopped gobbling.
Minutes
ticked by and the Tom gobbled 75 yards away. They attempted to circle and
catch up but the gobbles were over.
Day 4 (March 24)
    
A
view from the blind, my decoy, a crane, a fox and a breathtaking sunset
on the way back to camp.
tHE
Hunt:
We hunted in an orange grove today. Turkeys in Central Florida go to them
and eat bugs and plants. A variety of game was in the grove but we saw
nor heard any turkeys. No one else had any action either, it was a quiet
turkey day. But a great sunset day!
Day 3 (March 23)
  
Morning
Hunt: Doug Crabtree broke the silence of the pre dawn woods with
an owl hoot. RaaaaaOuuuuuu, an owl answered. Suddenly Doug and an owl barely
missed him.
Three
owls landed on limbs, we could make them out against the morning sky. I
got my camera and clicked on the flash and took a picture of one
looking at us. Another was closer and in a different position, I took
its picture. And here it is close
up. It was definitely a cool thing. (Woodhaven Owl Hooter for anyone
wanting to know what call was used.)
A gobble
sounded very -- far away. At daylight we drove 3/4 mile and stopped. Doug
put on the Pro Ears and listened
for another gobble. He heard it and we walked half a mile and set up on
the edge of the woods. We hunted until 11:00 but no turkey encounters took
place.
 
Rain clouds rolled in and
it started to rain. When we finished eating the rain was over.
Afternoon
Hunt: David Mills took Fred and I to an orange grove and we set
up in a corner so we could watch two roads. We saw a turkey immediately,
way off. Then 3 more. And a bomber longbeard.
Our view from the Double
Bull Matrix blind.
The
action picked up today and tomorrow we go to a new area that has not been
hunted.
Day 2 (March 22)
Morning
Hunt: We were there. The turkeys weren't. We are moving to a new area
this afternoon.
Afternoon
Hunt: We duplicated the morning hunt. But we are pumped for tomorrow.
Day 1 (March 21) - Osceola Hunt, Florida's
Central Zone
Morning
Hunt: Fred is hunting but I needed to get Monday's web work out of
the way so I can be ready to update today's hunt.
Fred
met David Mills at 5:00 this morning. They hunted 50 yards into the woods
off a cow pasture and David gave an owl hoot. A gobble came from behind
them. The backed up and set up the Double Bull blind in an opening inside
a palmetto patch. At daylight they made hen calls. Fred saw a Tom fly down
and there were no more gobbles. They called loud, off and on, for an hour.
They
heard a hen making light yelps and a distant gobble behind the hen. In
front of the blind, on a clear trail leading into the palmettos, without
a sound, a big longbeard stepped out. He watched the hen decoy briefly
and walked away.
An
hour passed and the Tom showed up again on the trail in the same spot.
He watched the hen and walked away.
Half
an hour later Fred and David called together. The longbeard returned right
away, watched, and left for the 3rd time. David
When
they were ready to leave Fred walked to where the bird had stood to see
if anything was wrong. He could not see into the blind at all, which is
a good thing. David said there is a larger gobbler in the area and this
bird probably was afraid it would show up and although he was not spooky
he was reluctant to come to the hen decoy.
Knock,
knock. I opened the motel door and Fred and David told me what happened.
We drove to the Pioneer restaurant and ate lunch. There, I visited with
Ken Mayes of Florida Wildlife Unlimited (where we
hunted last year). Ken's hunters are having a good season
With
lunch out of the way we drove to a big orange grove and set up near an
edge with large roost trees and a creek.
  
And
that's were we are right now.
(4:17
pm) A longbeard entered our orange grove row and hurried toward our
decoys. Fred got ready with the bow and I had the camera at ready. It was
limping and hung up briefly at 60 yards and went somewhere else.
(6:20
pm) A barred owl buzzed our decoys and landed on a fence post 40 yards
away. David and I focused him in the binoculars. Woops, a gobbler walked
through my view, 100 plus yards behind the owl. Two more followed, longbeards
all. They went to the roost trees and flew up. We waited until dark and
slipped out, leaving the blinds and our gear there.
Tomorrow,
tomorrow, yea David, it's gonna be good.
DAY 3 - First
Osceola & More
  Turkeys!
In the palmettos. Doug popped up the Double Bull on the edge, set the decoys,
and called. Without a peep the birds entered the field and then ran to
the blind -- 14 Toms. To Hunt...
DAY 2 - Grand
Slam Quest
At first light a gobbler
sounded off in the distance. Doug Crabtree called aggressively for several
minutes and the tom gobbled constantly. GO...
DAY 1 - South
Florida Opener
 
Doug Crabtree and 3 other
hunters squeezed into the Double Bull Matrix blind and waited for daylight
to break. An owl hooted in the hammock and several gobblers sounded off
100 yards behind the blind.
Ten minutes later Doug made
soft tree yelps. Gobblers came from all sides. "We were surrounded," Doug
told me., "just like the indians circling the wagons of the cowboys." To
Hunt...
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