How do I Kill North Florida Turkeys?

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Swifty Morgan

Swifty Morgan

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Turkey season just started in my part of Florida. I need help in a big way.

I have never hunted turkeys. I have no one to teach me. I have a blind and a Sweet Sixteen, plus some #6 shells. That's about it.

I have my own land. I have never seen a turkey here. I heard one the other day, but I think it was a neighbor using a turkey call. I have a big pasture and a big strip of hardwood forest. That's it.

I've seen a ton of articles aimed at people who already know how to get a turkey, but no one writes for total beginners. What do I do? What time of day should I hunt? Do they like pasture or forest? Will #6 do it?

I have about a month to figure this out. I'm not sure it's worth it. People have told me wild turkeys taste better than the real thing (inbred turkeys that magically appear in plastic bags, cleaned and injected with brine), but I'm seeing other people run them down. The only time I got near a cooked wild turkey was the time I went into a friend's house while his mom was trying to roast one. It smelled like someone was baking a bum.

Crap...I just found out I'm allowed to use a rifle. Screw the shotgun. Will a .17 HMR tear turkeys up too much? I have FMJ rounds that are supposed to be easy on the meat, but I'm afraid they won't bring a bird down fast. I also have the exploding plastic rounds.
 
I made the mistake of shooting a Rio grande turkey with my .257 Roberts AI one fall. I picked up mostly feathers. Use a non expanding bullet. I believe that .22 magnums are still legal for turkeys in FL.

Everyone wants to kill an Osceola turkey but I think that the Eastern subspecies is harder to hunt. They won't cross water or a downed fence or a ditch whereas Osceolas have to cross water every day.
Set up uphill of a low area where you have roosted birds the night before. Give one or 2 yelps and then shut up. Be patient and use a Thermacell.
 
I have never seen turkeys here, in 7 months. My neighbor says they have come through his yard, but he only mentioned 3. The Florida Wildlife turkey map suggests moderate turkey activity here. I don't know what roosting a turkey is, but I will try to get up to speed.

I drove over the property in a golf cart just now, and I am thinking I could put up a blind or a stand in the highest area of the pasture. It would give me a view of the pond and most of the pasture. But I don't know if anything other than coyotes and coons comes through there.
 
There are a lot of guys that can teach you how to call a turkey. You living where you do, you need to put forth a little effort and you should be able to find all kinds of folks willing to help, from FWC to local gun and hunt clubs.
 
If you live around Holmes County, you're in trouble. I believe they have the lowest turkey population in the state.

"I could put up a blind or a stand in the highest area of the pasture. It would give me a view of the pond and most of the pasture."

Turkeys fly up into trees to roost for the night. Get into a semi-open forested area about an hour before dark and listen for wingbeats as they fly up. Early the next morning set up on the uphill side of where you think they roosted close to the edge of the pasture. Use a crow call just after daybreak and listen for a gobble. Wait a few minutes and then give one or two hen yelps and shut up and wait. Sit with your back against a large tree with the gun propped on one knee ready to shoot. Don't move or make any noise. When the gobbler is within 35-40 yards, shoot him in the head/neck with a load of 12 ga. #4 shot.
Then invite me to a fried turkey breast dinner.
 
I am in Marion County, but not the best turkey area. The state's interactive map suggests I am in a small region where there should be a few turkeys, and that makes sense, because a neighbor and I have a lot of unimproved woods.

I would rather shoot here than in a public area, even if it's not optimal. I don't want some drunken idiot to fill me with lead.

The sun is down now, but I will try spotting turkeys tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the only 12 gauge I have is a Saiga. Not your typical turkey gun. There is no reason why I can't get something else, but the .17 HMR sounds like a lot of fun. I like the 16 gauge.
 
I have silenced a few of the yodelling chickens with a 16. 12 is easier just because of the better variety of good ammo, but in a 16 ga, high brass #4 lead pheasant loads do the trick for me. Federal I think, but those shells are older than me...I liberated them from my dad's ammo rack and replaced them with #7s since he uses that gun for close range vermin like raccoons in the cat food and possums on the dogs cable runner.
 
"I am in Marion County, but not the best turkey area."

Well, then you have Osceolas not Easterns so just go to trees around water. That's where Osceolas like to roost. If you are anywhere near the Oklawaha River, it's good turkey territory.
 
So would the Ocala Nat'l Forest be a good location. Lots of them heading east towards Dunnellon as well. The Marjorie Harris Carr Greenway is loaded, but I do not think hunting is allowed there.
 
Patocazador said:
"I am in Marion County, but not the best turkey area."

Well, then you have Osceolas not Easterns so just go to trees around water. That's where Osceolas like to roost. If you are anywhere near the Oklawaha River, it's good turkey territory.
Click to expand...
Good gator territory as well. Friends have pulled some monsters from that river
 
Sent you a PM, (here called a conversation)

Are you surrounded by horse farms? Another consideration to factor in
 
We do have some horse farms nearby, but confining my pellets and slugs to my own property is not difficult.
 
But confining the noise is; and while it shouldn'e be illegal, there is some consideration to consider
 
I researched the law before I came here, and I asked locals how things work. I'm clear to shoot. If the neighbors don't like it, they are free to buy me out at a profit, but they have no legal recourse.
 
Good way to make friends is to extort them by making your hunting activities about “a profit”? Which is how they would see it? I would rather talk like neighbors, and if you disagree, disagree and hunt anyway, but I certainly wouldn’t ask them to pay me a hundred bucks to not hunt on my land....
 
WestKentucky said:
I have silenced a few of the yodelling chickens with a 16. 12 is easier just because of the better variety of good ammo, but in a 16 ga, high brass #4 lead pheasant loads do the trick for me.
Click to expand...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This. Also, remember birds in general have insanely good eyesight. Think like, if you had eyes as good as your best binoculars, THAT is poor
sight, for a bird.
 
No matter what some hunters say, turkeys are not smart but they are extremely spooky. I once made one cluck at a turkey while on a deer stand and it stood there twisting its head for more than 20 minutes. Finally, it put its head and neck parallel to the ground and ran to the nearest cover.

I think they are paranoid.
 
stevehgraham said:
I researched the law before I came here, and I asked locals how things work. I'm clear to shoot. If the neighbors don't like it, they are free to buy me out at a profit, but they have no legal recourse.
Click to expand...
Didn't say you weren't c;eared to shoot. Minimum acreage in Marion County is 10 acres. You mentioned a .17hmr - best make sure there's something to stop it from going towards a neighbor's house.
And that type of attitude sure won't make you any friends with the folks around you - you know, the ones that MIGHT even let you hunt on their land?
 
I don't have an attitude problem. That's your imagination. I'm just exercising my rights. I'm not the one who yelled across a fence and bothered someone hunting on his own land.

I don't know what you mean by minimum acreage. There are many small lots here. The people to my south are on little 5-acre hobby farms.
 
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