Going Turkey hunting for first time ever

[Sgt.Murtaugh]

I'm going on an Osceola Turkey hunt in Florida in a few weeks and I have never been Turkey Hunting and I have no clue what I need to bring for this.

Any recommendations for a noob on what kind of gear, guns, other items I need to bring? Please consider that this will be in Florida, if that makes any difference.

 

[rcmodel]

Head to toe cammo clothes, including a head net & gloves.
Turkeys can see you blink at 100 yards.

A full choke shotgun and #5 or #6 turkey loads.
2 3/4" mags are all the power or recoil I can stand myself.

I also carry a pair of pruning clippers for clearing brush & limbs out of the way, & blind building.

Something waterproof to set on if you use a ground blind.

Bug spray if they got ticks & skeeters..

Florida in the spring might be snake boot time too?

rc

 

[Blue Line]

what kind of call are you going to use or is someone else calling? There are any number of kinds out there, box, diaphram, slate etc. I would go to a store and try a few out and maybe hook up with an experienced turkey hunter.

 

[oneounceload]

Current daytime temps here in central Florida are about 65 for a low and about 85 for the high, so make your clothing somewhat lightweight. Bugs aren't too bad yet, BUT that can change on a daily basis, especially depending on what part of Florida you'll be in

 

[herkyguy]

i started hunting Osceolas as well a few years back.

they are smart birds, arguably smarter than others in the US.

keep your clothing lightweight. try to hunt somewhere with little pressure. i've had two shots at an Osceola and didn't take either of them. 1st was with a bow and the bird was just a bit too far out of my comfortable range. i still regret not sending that arrow anyways.

second one was a group of three jakes i'd seen multiple times. they were sitting underneath some trees right on the perimeter of a primitive campsite where hunting was not allowed within 200 yards of. so i crawled up close and watched them for some time. they weren't moving. it killed me. eventually one of them spotted me trying to move and they took off.

in doing my homework on them, i often read that they are not as vocal as other types of turkeys. call less than you think you should and you're probably where you need to be.

plan accordingly for the mosquitoes. watch out for gators. try to get deep off the beaten trail.

and good luck!

 

[mnhntr]

Florida Turkey hunting essentials are a shotgun, tick repelant, a thermacell, more tick repelant, shotgun shells, a decoy, a call or two, more tick repelant.

 

[bogon48]

Most of the stuff I used to take has been covered above by RCModel. I have a Mossberg 835 (12 GA) and used 3.5" turkey loads and full choke.

Before you go, you will want to get a paper turkey target and pattern your gun at different ranges with your hunting loads and chokes. It would be a shame to wound one of these fellas.

For me learning to call was more than half the fun. I had better success with mouth style diaphragms, but used cedar boxes and glass. I'd recommend against gobbler calls. They can stir up a gobbler who's looking for a fight, but also stir up idiots who shoot into bushes. I had to break cover once and start yelling when a guy started running at my position with his shotgun at the ready. That was the last time I used a gobbler box during gobbler season. There are probably DVDs and videos out there demonstrating various hen calls.

Have fun; be safe.