God bless ya,
Ron
When's Jimmy's pic coming?
Now go wack some hogs while you wait...
Give us a shout when you feel like it. Here's a pic of the old guy's Osceola.
Osceola Spring Turkey Hunt:
Sat., April, 9, 2016: Awoke to a skiff of snow and upper 20’s. Left home at 8 a.m. to pick up Bill Morton and head for St. Cloud, FL, to hunt Ocseola Turkey’s. Frank Boggess will be leaving ahead of us and we plan to meet in Kingsland, GA, to spend the night. Snow was heavy on top of Flat Top, but once we hit the Virginia line the roads cleared and we had a nice drive to Georgia—73 degrees when we arrived at 6:30 p.m.
This trip began in May of 2015, when my wife and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. Our children arranged a surprise get-together with some of our closest friends and family and at the end, J.W. our oldest son, presented me with a gift of this hunt with Hoppy Kempfer of Osceloa Outfitters in St. Cloud, FL. This would be the first trip J.W. and I have taken together since he was 16.
Sun., April 10, 2016: Awoke at 5 a.m. and will be leaving soon to head to airport in Melbourne to pick up J.W. He went to Steubenville, OH, to attend the funeral service and visitation for Gary Dahlem. His plane developed engine trouble and was delayed and he arrived a bit later. We enjoyed a nice day… sunny and mid-70’s, talked fishing and turkey hunting. J.W. and Bill went fishing. Tomorrow we start.
Mon., April 11, 2016: Beautiful morning. We got in the blind a half hour before light. Never heard a gobble but had five hens and seven jakes walk by the blind and decoys before 9:30 a.m. Saw another hen that never came to the decoys. Saw two long-beards along a fencerow. We set up on them, but they didn’t come in.
J.W. got a nice one with his bow just after first light. Bill killed nice one with his shotgun. Frank didn’t have any in but heard several. We’re in now for breakfast and will head out again soon.
We had two hens walk by the blind in the evening but never heard or saw any Tom’s.
J.W. got a hog in the evening.
Tue., April 12, 2016: Another beautiful morning. We heard some distant gobbles. We had a hen walk by the blind early. Got a text from Hoppy that Frank had taken a nice bird with his shotgun. Later in the morning we watched a gobbler strut for a half hour about 100 yards on the edge of a field. A hen came our way and the gobbler followed her to about 50 yards from our blind. He just turned and walked away.
In the afternoon we moved the blind close to where we saw the bird strutting earlier. We set out three decoys, got in the blind and made some calls. It wasn’t long before a hen showed in the field about 100 yards out, then a longbeard moved into the field. We made some aggressive calls to let him know we were there. After about a half hour he started our way—gobbling, drumming and strutting all while slowly getting closer. It took him about 45 minutes to close the 100 yards. I didn’t know a turkey could get me fired up like this. I was a wreck. He came along the edge, then turned and headed for the decoys. At ten yards I drew and sent the Bear Razorhead in his direction. Caught him at the top of drumsticks. He got his wings, flew about 100 yards and crashed. He made his way into some palmetto, where we caught up to him and finished the task. He’s a very nice bird with an 11” beard.
Wed. April 12, 2016: We had a leisurely day, packed and got ready to head home Thursday morning--a day early. We spent the evening on the swamp buggy. It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed soaking up the sights and sounds of rural Florida. Just before dark the dogs bayed a real nice sow and Bill finished our trip with a well-placed arrow from his Tomahawk longbow.
WHAT A HUNT!
