Turkey Hunting Ocala, Florida

The elusive Florida Osceola Turkey

Ever since I moved to Florida and got into the sport of hunting in 2014, I had heard lots of stories about the elusive Osceola Turkey. I had heard not only about the challenge of getting one because of their stealth and great eyesight but also that they tasted absolutely amazing. With all that said, it was on, challenge accepted.

But where to start? After all, I knew how to hunt, but nothing about hunting turkeys. Do you just walk through the swamp and blast one? Obviously not. Where can I hunt? Whats legal and not legal? What about seasons? What kind of turkeys are here? Basically I wanted to know how to get a turkey without going to jail so I did what most people do: research.

As I came to learn, there are over 5 sub-species of turkeys in North America, and it is a lifetime achievement for dedicated turkey hunters to achieve a “Grand Slam",” meaning they’ve successfully hunted each one.

According to Meat Eater, each type of turkey is uniquely different and are found in different parts of North America.

• Eastern’s are the most abundant, and are found mostly east of the Mississippi river.

• Merriam’s are also abundant and are mostly found west of the Mississippi river.

• Rio Grande’s are fairly rare mostly found around the great plains and the west coast.

• Gould’s are pretty rare and are mostly found around Arizona deep into Mexico.

• Osceola’s are only found in Florida, and are highly concentrated in groups.

Living in Florida meant that I’d be going after the Osceola turkey. Further research showed that they were heavily abundant around the interior of central Florida, so I began scouting public land. I went out a few times but saw and heard nothing. Another time my neighbors invited me out on their hunting lease, telling me that they had seen tons of turkeys running around their property. Driving around in a humvee scouting, we saw some turkeys, but they all ended up being hens.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I decided it was time to call a guide to hunt some private land and increase my chances. So we went out to his land in Osceola County (which seemed like a good place to find an Osceola Turkey), and set up one early morning later in the week during Spring Turkey season. To summarize, it was pretty uneventful. All we saw were a few wondering hens which although was exciting and cool to see, wasn’t the end objective. I wanted to bag a turkey, and after several attempts, I was getting a bit frustrated.

A year had passed and with spring turkey season approaching for 2022, I began calling some people I had hunted with in the past and they were all busy. I called some guides to get access to some land with less hunting pressure, and it turns out they were almost all booked! Apparently turkey hunting is very popular sport and guides book up years in advance. Further adding to that popularity is the fact that in order for hunters to accomplish a Turkey Grand Slam, they HAVE to come to Florida at some point to do so. My degree in economics has taught me that with that increase in demand and limited supply, prices tend to go up. In the case of spring turkey season chasing an elusive bird that is only Florida, that means they go WAY up. To put it simply, I didn’t see a two day hunt anywhere online for less than $1,800. Again, everyone was booked up by the time I began making inquiries months ahead of the season, so the ones that were available were even worse then that.

So I made a call to an outfitter called West Shore Outfitters that I had hunted with in the past, practically begging them to fit me into their schedule. They couldn’t make any promises but said they would make some calls to try and make it happen. A few hours later, they said they had one guy who could take me out on his land on a 3-day hunt but it wasn’t going to be cheap. I’ll leave out the price out of respect for them, but also because I can’t bear to think about that number. I still cringe thinking about it but if I’m being honest, that was the worst part of the trip and this experience…almost.

After setting the date and making a deposit, I made all the arrangements with lodging and transportation, and soon found myself driving out to Ocala to check in to my hotel. After an early turn-in and great night sleep, I woke up to my alarm at 3am to go through my morning routine, double-check that I had all my gear, and head out to the designated meeting place for my guide and I.

First light of the first morning.

We introduced ourselves, loaded up the side by side, and headed out to a spot that he had see some turkeys roosted up the day before. Sitting there in the dead of darkness waiting for the turkeys to come down from their nighly roosting locations, I was stunned at the sheer beauty of the Ocala countryside. Beautiful oaks and pines, and nothing but the sound of birds and other animals waking up to search for their breakfast.

Despite the beauty and calming sound of the great outdoors, there was one sound that was noticeably absent: gobbles. We began making hen calls, hoping to draw in some strutting toms, but nothing was happening. We began looking around and shaking our heads. My guide Cameron, or Cam, was whispering to me that he had no idea what was going on because he had seen some turkeys there the night before. Nevermind, they weren’t there now so being around 9 now, we decided to begin packing up.

Our setup on Day 1.

But just as we were about to sit up, we heard a gobble. I don’t care how many times you’ve hunted, but when you get a sight of or hear of your target animal, your heart feels like its beating in your throat and time begins to stand still. We slowly sat back down and began throwing calls to see if we could get a response. Sure enough, the turkey gobbled again.

The anticipation was driving me nuts. Recall that turkeys have amazing eye sight so the slightest movement would spook them off and they are not coming back. For someone who is incredibly impatient and has trouble sitting still in general, I clearly picked the wrong sport to try.

After about 10 calls spaced out over about 20 minutes or so, we finally caught sight of the turkey. He was a beast alright, but he was in an open field on the opposite side of a barbed wire fence about 200 yards away. To get a clean shot, I’d have to get him inside 40 yards with a clean line of sight, which based on our setup was totally possible if we could get him in close enough.

Unfortunately it didn’t happen. About an hour had passed since we first heard the turkey and after watching him for another hour, this thing wasn’t moving. He had clearly been shot at before, and was all the wiser to how this played out. Chase down and approach a female decoy and then get shot at. He wanted nothing to do with it and wisely avoided our calls and decoys.

The rest of the day was uneventful, with no gobbles or sightings so by 3pm, we decided to call it a day.

The next morning we went out to a different spot. It was a relatively open field about the size of a football field with scattered immature oaks and bushes strewn about. We set up our hen decoys, set up our chairs underneath a tree to conceal our silhouettes, and waited for the sun to start coming up. Almost instantly at first light, we heard gobbles all around us. I’d say probably 5 turkeys no farther than 60-70 yards away. Instantly my heart went up into my throat and I got a full adrenaline dump. The turkeys were here, they were actively looking for a mate, and I was ready with my trusty Mossberg 500 shotgun loaded with Fiocchi 3” #5 shot turkey shells.

Our setup on day 2

When we heard one walking towards us, I immediately flicked on my Gopro strapped to my head to catch this experience on video so he wouldn’t see me turn it on as he got closer. About 20 minutes passed, and the turkey came into sight. He was a monster alright, probably had about a 12”+ beard, and was fully strutting right towards us. By now he was about 60 yards away, and I was holding dead still. My heart was beating heavier and slower than ever, as I waited for him to get closer for a clean shot. About 5 more minutes passed that seemed like 5 hours and he was now about 50 yards out. According to my range time testing my shotgun, loads, and observing patterns at different distances earlier in the week, he was within range, but I decided to stay patient and see if he would come in closer. I didn’t want to miss and risk wounding the bird.

Then, the worst possible thing that could have happened, did happen. My Gopro had been idle for too long and decided to power down itself with the loudest five “BEEPS” I’ve ever heard. Since I last used it spearfishing, I turned the volume up full so I could hear it underwater when it started and stopped recording, but never set the volume to silent for the hunt. I resisted the urge to jump up and take a hail mary shot but Cam did some quick thinking and threw out a call right next to me to try and mask the beeps from my Gopro as soon as it happened.

Luckily, Cam’s calls worked, and the turkey didn’t get scared and fly off. But the damage had all but been done to me. I completely lost my concentration and apparently my logic in the process. Worried that the opportunity was going to be lost, I rushed to make the shot. I put the bead sight of my shotgun right on the turkey’s head, aimed, flicked off my safety, put my finger on the trigger, and then slowly pulled. But just as I heard the loud BOOM from my shotgun firing, I saw the turkey start to take off. With all the adrenaline from the turkey’s presence and pressure from the Gopro noise, I shot right over his head and completely missed. As he began to take off and fly away, I jumped up and fired two more shots hoping to get a hail mary shot before he got away. But it was all in vain. He got away and I had missed probably the only shot I’d get.

With the adrenaline wearing off, complete disappointment and frustration overtook me. How could I be so stupid not to check the Gopro settings? How did I miss?! After all had patterned my gun and load, and I used to be a firearms instructor, so I should have some sort of good aim, right?

None of it mattered though. I missed and came to grips with that and had to tell myself over and over that is all part of hunting. Thankfully Cam was more than sympathetic to my miss and reassured me there were turkeys everywhere would probably be another shot opportunity. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t come until the third and final day of the hunt.

With that in mind, the pressure was on. It was now do or die, the latter being because if I get skunked and lose thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it, my wife would most certainly have my head on a wall. This all went from being a fun experience to being like a challenge from the Netflix series Squid Game. Succeed or die!

The last morning was very similar to the prior morning, with turkeys gobbling the second we saw the sun coming through the trees. Within 5 minutes, we had two turkeys coming right at us, a huge tom coming at us from the left and a decently sized one coming from the right. Both were about 50 yards out and closing quickly, so I gathered myself to sit still and calm down, waiting for the right shot.

Our concealment position was unique in that we were behind a smaller oak tree with three stumps around us, one right in front, one on the left, and one behind us. Me being right-handed, had my shotgun to the right of the one in front of us, because that was where we had the decoy set up. It looked like a great setup, and we were completely concealed surrounded by 3 large oaks.

Day 3 setup. Photo was taken between the two oak trees I was describing with the decoy off to the left.

The turkey, however, was either completely lucky or incredibly wise to this setup because the larger one went way to my left before inching toward the decoy. This meant that the only way for me to get a shot would for me to lift my shotgun completely vertical to pass behind the front oak stump, drop it between the middle stump and the stump on the left, line up a shot, and fire all within a second lest I spook him and ruin the shot (again).

I knew there was no way to pull that off and with the pressure on, I figured it would be better to wait for the right shot.

20 minutes had passed and now I began getting impatient. The turkeys hadn’t spooked or lost interest, so there was still a chance. The bigger one to the left was just inching closer, but clearly could sense something wasn’t right. He began to backtrack a little bit and now I was really beginning to think that I might have to make this trick shot or miss the opportunity altogether.

Just as I began to do just that, I heard some leaves to my right. Apparently, during this whole calculation on the larger bird, the other turkey had walked to about 30 yards out from us, which I couldn’t see because he was directly behind the oak stump in front of me. He then made a critical mistake with that loud step, which let me know that he was close, definitely within range, and had no idea I was there.

So I slowly peeked behind the oak tree, lined up my sights a little lower on his neck, flicked off the safety, and let the shot rip.

BOOM.

Once the smoke cleared, I saw the turkey’s wings flopping while he lay on the ground. I immediately jumped up and ran toward the turkey while chambering another shotgun shell, to put another shot on him in case he went to fly off. But as soon as I got up, Cam put his hand on my shoulder and calmly said, “No need man, you got him! Congratulations!”

An immediate calm came over me. I just sat back down, took a deep breath, and let out a sigh of relief. The pressure was off, thankfully, but then the excitement came on! My first turkey, and it was a beauty. I didn’t care if it wasn’t the biggest one or not. In fact, I couldn’t have cared less if it were a jake with a 3 inch beard or the midsize one it was with an 8” beard. It was my first turkey and it was special.

In following the tradition of my Native American ancestors, I walked over to the turkey, put my hand on it, thanked it for giving its life for me and my family to enjoy, and thanked the Creator for a successful hunt.

After the shot and giving thanks, It was time to go process the meat.

The ride back home from Ocala was only 3 or so hours, but unlike the 20 minutes waiting for a turkey to approach feeling like 20 hours, the three hours home felt like 3 minutes. I just couldn’t wait to come home and tell the story to my wife and kids.

That night, we grilled up the turkey breast and served it with a salad and I can say that it was certainly some of the best turkey I’ve ever had in my life.

Later in the week, I slow-cooked the leg in beef broth and spices and served it with a wild mushroom risotto topped with fresh shaved parmesan cheese and it was absolutely phenomenal.

So in the end, was it worth it? Absolutely. Am I going again next year? You bet. After all the types of hunting I’ve done, I think I enjoyed this one as much as deer hunting, purely because the challenge and eventually, the payoff (dinner) was so great.

Key Takeaways:

• Turkey’s have really damn good eyesight. If you can’t sit still, bette find different game to hunt. Hunting pigs in a swamp buggy may be more ideal.

• Know your shotgun pattern, effective range, and shooting ability. Don’t ever take the shot unless you know you can humanely harvest the turkey without wounding it.

• Patience is key, always wait for the right opportunity for shot. Rush it and you’ll have to wait hours or even days to reset and call in another bird.

• Focus is key, minimize distractions when pursuing your target.

• The shot from the weapon is more important than the shot from the camera. You can always tell stories or show photos of the successful hunt later if you hit your target but don’t get an action shot. But if getting the photo/video of the shot is the priority and you whiff, you won’t have the animal, action shot, or the success photo.