BOWHUNT FOR THE FLORIDA OSCEOLA
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Day 4 - Right Out Of The Box

In the pre dawn I eased into the blind and waited and listened.  It was windy this morning and I got out a set of Pro Ears and put them on to listen for any far off gobbles. There were several distant gobbles which I would have missed without the hearing enhancement. Osceola gobblers are notorious for gobbling it up on the roost and shutting up when they hit the ground so when I could see around me in the growing light I yelped and purred on the Woodhaven aluminum slate, dropping a hint on what direction they should go when they flew down.

Gobble, came an answer, a long way off. I cut and yelped an answer and heard other gobbles from the same far off area. Things sounded good but what an Osceola does whey it flies down is anybody's guess.

Using my stop watch to gauge the time I called at them and kept silent for two minutes before calling again. I like the penetrating power of the Woodhaven aluminum slate for mornings like this when the turkeys are a long ways away and the wind is up. Something about the aluminum's sound waves penetrates the woods without being hugely loud.

Gobble! A little louder .. they were off the roost. More gobbles! From at least 3 different sounding gobblers, and getting louder -- coming in my direction. I talked back, getting excited on the call. They came fast and popped out of the ocean of trees and knobby cypress knees and slammed on the brakes. I raised my camera and zoomed in on 3 of them.

The gobblers took a few steps closer. One of the unique things about the Nikon 800 rangefinder is you can operate it with one hand, and I did. The display read 41 yards to the big longbeard in front of me. A second longbeard walked into the view to the right.

The first longbeard puffed up his body feathers and he and a gobbler took several steps closer ...  34 yards. I still needed them to step off another 12 -15 yards. A hen turkey started clucking to the right, it was close. 

The gobblers left one bird alone. I snapped a pic and grabbed my bow and looked to see what was going on.

A hen with two jakes behind her was 50 yards and closing. The longbeards cut her off and she broke into a run. So did they. And they ran by my blind on the right, about 30 yards away at the closest point.

In seconds the deck was cleared and it was just me sitting in the Florida wild turkey woods by myself, tuned in, 100% on alert and replaying it all in my head.

In a few minutes I heard what sounded like a wild turkey land in a tree right next to my blind. And another. And another.

Continued...

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In Florida 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.  David has thousands of acres available to hunt Florida Osceolas. He understands this unique species of wild turkey and knows his extensive area like the preverbal back of his hand. David is now part of the Woodhaven Sting Team and is hosting them on this hunt. To contact David about Osceola hunts, bow or shotgun, phone 1-863-990-9087.

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