Stalking the Florida Turkey: Osceola: Osceola Spring Gobbler Hunting in Florida

What a hunt! What a hunt! We arrived at Range 17 Farm at Watermelon Pond Plantation between Archer and Bronson, Florida on the afternoon of April 1. Our hostess, Kate Boulos was very gracious and accommodating. We would sincerely like to thank Kate for letting us hunt again this year.
My hunting buddy, Josh Thrash from Brandon, Mississippi
roosted a large Osceola gobbler on Wednesday (April 1) evening just before dark in the field to the north of the cabin. We had sandwiches for dinner and tried to go to bed early. The cabin was neat and clean and the fridge was well stocked with goodies. The beds were very comfortable and the fan and AC cooled us off nicely. We were so excited with the expectations of the morning hunt, we did not fall asleep easily.
April 2: We set up under a big Longleaf Pine in the field north of the cabin with the decoys and listened to an Osceola gobbler gobble about 250 times between 7:00 and 11:00 am. He would not come into the field, so we relocated a little closer and tried for a better setup, which turned out to be great. He saw the decoys at 11:15 am and came walking in, impressively fanned out and Josh shot him at a distance of about 30 yards. He had a 10 ¼” inch beard and 1 3/8” spurs. He was a beautiful specimen of a Florida Osceola turkey.
We headed back to cabin and cleaned the bird. We then ate a quick sandwich before driving over to the east side of the property by the old milk truck. We set up on the road under a gorgeous and picturesque Live Oak tree and took turns taking 30 minute naps. At 4:30 pm a hen stepped into the food plot followed by a gobbler. The big Osceola gobbler never came within 80 yards so we did not shoot. We headed back to camp to cook turkey (marinated in Dale’s seasoning), a marinated deer tenderloin, and deer sausage. Oh, I wish you could have been there for that awesome feast!
April 3: We set up in the small field just west of the old milk truck. The mixture of elegant grand daddy Live Oaks with their profusion of Spanish moss swaying in the breeze and Long Leaf pine give one the feeling of being back in “Old Florida”, far removed from strip malls, traffic and tourist towns. It is truly a beautiful spot!
The wild turkey gobbler was roosted about 100 yards south of us. We set up two decoys, yelped a few times and he came to us like clockwork. Josh put him down at 7:30 am. He sported a 12 ¼” beard and a 7/8” sharp spur (one was broken off from fighting). I think he was an old bird starting to go down hill. The coloration of his feathers was an amazing mixture of iridescent greens and gold. We headed back to camp, had a REAL turkey sandwich, cleaned up, and then drove up to Lake City for some more good action on Eastern wild turkeys. Our Florida turkey hunting experience was one we will always remember