Mid-Season Mid-Atlantic States Update...

For those who've checked by, I have literally laid down on my posting! Turkey Fever bit me so bad! Actually, I was in a state of panic in the weeks preceding our North Caroina season...We had reports from the NCWRC biologists that the last two spring hatches were bad, and our season might not be as those lately.

I had gone to our 1500ac. club every weekend listening for gobblers, but to myu dismay, did not hear anything. This was way off the norm. Could the state biologists be right? I was preparing to hit some public land if need be...You never can have too many places to turkey hunt!

Opening day April 12 could not have been a better moral booster for me! Our club took 4 gobblers that morning, with 8 members out and nearly all worked birds. I worked a bird and got him to 80yds.on a hillside, could see him strutting for one half hour through my Nikon binocs. Boy, was he pretty! He sent his jakes to search for me, and would not budge.

Eventually he left, and I gave up on him to go back to the clubhouse. My cousin was hunting nearby, and I believe killed him an hour later in the river bottom pasture. He had a gobbler, two jakes, and six hens come in to his decoy spread. He downed a nice 3yr. old., 21lbs., 1 1/4" spurs and 11in. beard. Congratulations to Marvin, I took pleaseure somewhat in the fact that I had gotten him "hooked" on turkey hunting and had mentored him just 2 yrs. and now he is a killing machine!

It's been 2 weeks in the season, we have had 12 turkeys harvested, 3 guys have limited out including myself. Most years this is our record, except last season I killed one in VA and made it 13 for the season. I look forward to 3-4 more gobblers anyways meeting their demise in the few weeks of North carolina season yet to come.

Good News For Bagging An Osceola!

As I was pointing out on my earlier post about Florida turkey hunting, a person who does not have a quota permit, and most non-residents will not, may still get a chance at an Osceola on Florida's WMA's. There are several in the state that will open up to anyone after the first 3-9 days of the season.

I found this on the Florida Wildlife Commission's website! I wished I'd known this before I went and paid for my guided hunt last year. Hmmm....I may be headed to Florida before Alabama this spring.

February 18, 2008
Contact: Tony Young, 850-488-7867
If you weren’t lucky enough to get drawn for a special-opportunity or spring turkey quota permit, don’t fret; there are numerous wildlife management areas (WMAs) that don’t require them. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) offers 35 public hunting areas statewide where hunters need only to “walk on” to hunt spring turkeys.
These hunts are made possible through the FWC’s partnerships with the state’s Division of Forestry, Florida’s water management districts, the U.S. Forest Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the National Park Service and Department of Defense, who participate in the state’s public-hunting system.
Hunters need only a hunting license ($17 for residents, $46.50 for nonresident 10-day license), management area permit ($26.50) and turkey permit ($5 for residents, $100 for nonresidents) to spring turkey hunt on the following areas. These licenses and permits can be purchased in Florida at county tax collectors’ offices and at most retail outlets that sell hunting and fishing supplies. They also can be bought with a credit card by calling 1-888-486-8356 or going online at http://www.wildlifelicense.com/.
The spring turkey season runs March 1 – April 6 in the South Hunting Zone and March 15 – April 20 in the Central and Northwest zones, unless otherwise noted below. Shooting hours during spring turkey season on WMAs are one-half hour before sunrise to 1 p.m.
Panhandle Florida (Eastern turkey’s range)
Apalachicola National Forest – 581,837 acres in Franklin, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties. Camping allowed.
Apalachicola River Wildlife and Environmental Area – 81,754 acres in Franklin and Gulf counties. Camping allowed. Management area permit not required.
Aucilla WMA – 47,532 acres in Jefferson and Taylor counties. Camping allowed.
Big Bend WMA:Hickory Mound Unit – 14,427 acres in Taylor County. A no-cost, daily use permit is required and available at the check station. Spring Creek Unit – 14,600 acres in Taylor County.Tide Swamp Unit – 19,538 acres in Taylor County. A no-cost, daily use permit is required and available at the check station.
Blackwater WMA – 191,148 acres in Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties. Camping allowed.
Eglin Air Force Base – 265,000 acres in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties. Hunting and camping allowed only by permit from Jackson Guard Natural Resource Office by calling 850-883-1152. Only shotguns, bows or muzzleloaders may be used.
Escambia River WMA – 34,476 acres in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Camping allowed.
Joe Budd WMA – 11,039 acres in Gadsden County. Saturdays and Sundays only. There are 20, no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on first-come, first-served basis. Only bows or muzzleloaders may be used. Camping allowed.
Lower Econfina River WMA – 2,837 acres in Taylor County. Season runs March 15-23.
Mallory Swamp WMA – 29,463 acres in Lafayette County. Season runs March 15-30.
Ochlockonee River WMA – 2,790 acres in Leon County. Saturdays and Sundays only. Only shotguns, bows or muzzleloaders may be used.
Osceola WMA – 266,270 acres in Baker and Columbia counties. Camping allowed.
Pine Log WMA – 6,911 acres in Bay and Washington counties. Season runs March 15-30. Camping allowed.
Point Washington WMA – 12,414 acres in Walton County.
Santa Fe Swamp Wildlife and Environmental Area – 5,627 acres in Bradford County. Only bows or muzzleloaders may be used.
Steinhatchee Springs WMA – 20,909 acres in Lafayette, Dixie and Taylor counties. Season runs March 15 – April 6. There are 40, no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on first-come, first-served basis to hunt the first nine days.
Talquin WMA – 3,053 acres in Leon County. Saturdays and Sundays only.
Twin Rivers WMA – 9,288 acres in Madison, Hamilton and Suwannee counties. Season runs March 21-23 and April 11-13. There are 12, no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on first-come, first-served basis.
Upper Chipola River WMA – 7,377 acres in Jackson County. Camping allowed only by permit from Northwest Florida Water Management District by calling 850-539-5999.
Peninsular Florida (Osceola turkey’s range)
Arbuckle WMA – 13,531 acres in Polk County. Season runs March 18-20 and April 1-3. There are 10, no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on first-come, first-served basis. Camping allowed only by permit from Division of Forestry by calling 863-635-7801.
Big Bend WMA-Jena Unit – 12,522 acres in Dixie County. A no-cost, daily use permit is required and available at the check station.
Big Cypress WMA – 565,848 acres in Collier, Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. Season runs March 1 – April 6. Camping allowed.
Bull Creek WMA – 23,646 acres in Osceola County. Camping allowed.
Devil’s Hammock WMA – 7,635 acres in Levy County. Season runs March 15-23. There are 15, no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on first-come, first-served basis.
Green Swamp WMA – 49,768 acres in Polk, Sumter and Lake counties. Hunters must have a quota permit to hunt the first weekend, but there are 200, no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on first-come, first-served basis for the remainder of season. Camping allowed.
J.W. Corbett WMA – 60,288 acres in Palm Beach County. Season runs March 1 – April 6, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays only. Camping allowed.
Jumper Creek WMA – 10,512 acres in Sumter County. Camping allowed.
Kissimmee River Public Use Area – 23,433 acres in Glades, Highlands, Okeechobee, Osceola and Polk counties. Area is split between Central and South hunting zones. When hunting the South Zone, the season runs March 1 – April 6. For camping information only, call the South Florida Water Management District at 800-250-4200, ext. 3019. Management area permit not required.
Lochloosa WMA – 11,149 acres in Alachua County. Camping allowed only by permit from St. Johns River Water Management District by calling 386-329-4404.
Richloam WMA – 58,146 acres in Hernando, Pasco, Sumter and Lake counties. Hunters must have a quota permit to hunt the first nine days, but those without may hunt the remainder of the season, beginning March 24 through April 20. Camping allowed only by permit from Division of Forestry by calling 352-754-6896.
Three Lakes WMA – 52,976 acres in Osceola County. Camping allowed.
Upper Hillsborough WMA – 5,178 acres in Polk and Pasco counties. Wednesdays and Thursdays only. There are 75, no-cost, daily quota permits available at the check station on first-come, first-served basis. Camping allowed.
Upper St. Johns River Marsh WMA – 119,419 acres in Brevard and Indian River counties. Camping allowed.

Gearing Up For Southern Spring Turkey

I promised I'd try to put some information together about hunting the wiley turkey out-of-state. If you didn't know, spring turkey seasons come in first in the most southern states, and Hawaii! The southernmost part of Florida normally begins around the first week of March. The remainder of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia come in typically March 15th each year. The low-country of South Carolina likewise comes in on that date.

You must consider that as a rule, this early spring time of the year has very fickle weather. Many times I've traveled south from North Carolina and had my dreams of harvesting an early gobbler be literally washed out or blown away by rainy, windy, fronts... This seems to be more the norm that the exception. However, turkeys can be killed in less-than-perfect weather. They must feed and walk about everyday!

The above mentioned states all have good turkey populations and public lands to hunt them. Florida is probably the worst state to hunt public land as the Osceola subspecies is so sought after for those wanting to complete their Grand Slams. Last spring I journeyed to Florida and harvested my Osceola. I didnot hunt public land, but stayed and hunted with people who were camping and hunting WMA's.

In the last two years or so, Florida has changed their permit process for hunting WMA's. Used to anyone could transfer drawn tags, but that is not the case at most public spots now. The state really limits the number of nonresident permits for each WMA, so much so that I felt like it wasn't worth the time and effort to wait year-after-year drawing unsuccessfully. My guided hunt was a success on my first trip to Florida, and cost me more than $1500.00, the average rate for private hunts today.

One hot tip I can give you that I found out while there was that just because a WMA is a "draw" WMA, it's often only "draw" for the first few days! Remember this....If you find out which WMA's allow anyone after the "draw period", most times you can hunt uncrowded and unmolested after the first week! When I go back, you can bet I'll not pay $1500.00 for another hunt.

Stay tuned as I plan to talk more about Osceola turkey public spots. I learned alot last spring I wished I'd known earlier....I met some friendly and somewhat famous turkey hunters there who taught me much about the Osceola experience.

Remembering Warmer Days...

This farm and turkeys will always stay close in my mind. I pursued these two gobblers for over 2 years, being outsmarted everytime. They were different in the fact that they never did the same thing twice, contrary to some turkeys. Yes, there was no patterning them.

At the end of the 4 week season, I again gave up on chasing them. But I did clue my friend in on their whereabouts. Never before harvesting an adult gobbler, he took my advice and with 2 hours left in the season, harvested the bird strutting in the picture below! I was ecstatic with joy when he called me to tell me the news. What an accomplishment for him to take a 4 year old bird so late in the season! I took satisfaction in knowing I played a small part in revealing his location to my dear friend..

Wintertime Here In North Carolina

I had big plans to go up to the hunt club this weekend. Unfortunately the weater forecasters were wrong as usual. Beginning as sleet, 4-5 inches of snow was forecast. I didn't want to risk traveling 86 miles one way just to go take down stands and put out my cameras, so I stayed home. While 4-5 inches is not much to northerners, here in the south, it paralyzes most! People here can't drive....

Instead I stayed home on the internet researching do-it-yourself turkey hunts. My guide last year to my Osceola bird has harvested a bird in 39 states, most all on public land. So, as I near my successful Grand Slam, I felt like this was what I wanted to do. How neat would it be to take turkeys in every state in the US, including Hawaii! So stay tuned, hopefully I can come up with some useful information to share.

First Post On New Blog...

I never really thought I'd ever have a website or blog til recently. Heck, "What is a blog"? I read them alot but never actually knew why they existed....Most were linked in several hunting forums I frequent and in photography review boards.

Then one day I figured I needed one to express, to vent, and maybe advertise some things that interested me an perhaps others who had similar interests. I have basically just begun making my "presense" here on the internet, and do have much to learn about web designing, graphics, etc. Please bear with me, as I am just a newbie, and here's "MY SPACE"!