Osecola Turkeys

This spring I have the oppurtunity to hunt on one of my dad's clients land in Jacksonville, Florida. It's about a thousand acres and has a fair amount of turkeys. I have never hunted Osceola turkeys before so I have a few questions about them. Are they much different than Easterns in their patterns? What are some strategies for hunting them? Are they smarter or more weary than Easterns? For those of you who hunt down there your advice is welcome.

I have only hunted Easterns and Osceolas in my hunting career but I don't really employ different tactics for them? They can all be aggravating at times but they are still turkeys. What works today might not work tomorrow and vice versa. Depending on the terrain all of the water down here can make it difficult if you don't know the lay of the land really well. My biggest problem with the Osceolas is the fact that they love to get out in fields and just strut and gobble with their hens and not pay much attention to your calling although Easterns do the same thing in areas with a lot of pastures. I think if you just employ your normal turkey hunting strategies you will be fine. Good luck!

The first thing I see is that around Jacksonville they are more than likely not Osceolas but of the Eastern strain. Generally alot of folks claim the cut off is from Palatka south but I think that is being generous. To me it is from around Orlando south.

Osceolas are not the most vocal of turkeys and at times will gobble once or twice on the roost and that is it. They are also adept at travelling thru water most other strains would bypass. It is a fact of life in the pine/palmetto flatwoods that a few times of the year it will be in 1-6" of water and the Osceolas have adapted to that. Also I have seen Osceolas roosting in cypress trees only 8-10 foot above the ground or water out in grass ponds.

I agree with Swamprat. Generally speaking Osceolas are found South of Gainesville,FL and pure Osceolas are found South of Orlando.........

No matter, go and enjoy a hunt in some great country.

agarr said:

I agree with Swamprat. Generally speaking Osceolas are found South of Gainesville,FL and pure Osceolas are found South of Orlando.........

No matter, go and enjoy a hunt in some great country.

Click to expand...

If you go to NWTF web page, you can see the "official" line for Osceolas for consideration of a Grand Slam.

The official NWTF Osceola line mentioned above was move further north this year. I'm not sure why this changed occured except maybe people in the expanded areas wanted to be able to charge more $$$.
I believe most long time Osceola hunters will still view the old border as the true Osceola range.

I live in Lake Butler and have hunted here my entire life. We were the first county south of the Osceola line last year and I would guess if it was moved further north that we are "more" into Osceola country now? I have killed quite a few and have been in on many, many more kills. Our birds vary in appearance quite a bit, some will look like the southern Florida Osceolas and others will appear more like a hybrid of sorts? Very few of our birds have the true Eastern look to the barring on their wings. And NO I don't sell hunts so I could care less what they are! I have a fellow Quaker Boy pro staffer that hunts in the southern zone but always makes a pilgrimage up here for the last weekend. He has taken birds down there and up here. The ones that don't have the hybrid look to them according to him look no different than the birds they take down south? My personal opinion is that if you have a place to hunt in Florida and it is below the official line AND you take a bird you have taken an Osceola. Otherwise you would have to take the bird to some reviewing board to have it certified no matter what part of Florida you take it in. Just my opinion, not trying to be argumentative.

I've also heard on another board that the "official" osceola line was moved further north this year.

I just checked the line out of curiosity, and its in the same place it was at least as early as 2001, when I first looked in to getting an osceola.

Here's the "official" line which matches up exactly to the line I drew on my map in the fall of 2001:

http://www.wildflorida.org/critters/turkeys.asp

Hal

Here's a couple more maps showing the "official" dividing line.

http://www.chufa.com/wildturk.doc

http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkeys/

I don't know if they are true Oseceolas or not. The guy swears that they are Osceolas and there are also a fair amount of them. If I get to go I'll kill one, take a picture, post it, and ya'll can see if it's a true Osceola or not.

You'll need to take pics of the primary wing feathers( the long ones on the end) as this is one of the only ways I know of telling them apart.

If I get to go and shoot one, will do.