First Blood
My little girl and I had an invite from a good friend to hunt the youth opener in South Florida over the weekend. We set out Friday morning early and made the 8 hour drive down with a Bucees stop or two, and no real hang ups. We checked the zero on the red dots that evening, and got the plan straight for the next morning.
We were up early, as we would hope to be in sight of the roosted gobbler when he woke up the next morning. We snuck in and got sat down more than an hour before flydown and listened to the world wake up. Thermacells were no match and my daughter had to endure a whole bunch of mosquito bites before we could finally make out his outline in the tree.
The first bird to gobble was behind us and closer than the bird out front. I’d guess he was 100 yards or so, and with our not so great hide, I really worried about him coming up the road and busting us before the front bird could get to us. The front bird gobbled and pitched down at 6:42. The pine tree he had been in came alive with hens and they noisily pitched down to him. Some light calling that he answered about every time and he eased our direction. The hens were really fired up and it made for a great show. When he made it to 80 yards or so, he broke and came through the orange grove and eventually came in the road about 40 yards out.
My daughter was rock solid, but the fear in the back of my mind came true as I heard the bird from behind spit at no more than 10 yards. I could hear his wings dragging in the sand. The front bird didn’t care for his presence and came quicker where she finally shot him with the 28 gauge at 18 steps. At 6:50, she may be the first person to kill a legal turkey in the US in 2024. I’d certainly bet the first girl.
It was a great turkey with big spurs, a great beard and black wings. It was her first Osceola and the third leg of her grand slam. I doubt he needs the plug, but Mike Tussey at Osceola Adventures does it the right way. He has been after me to bring Anne Mac for several years, and you can tell he truly loves to see the kids enjoy the hunt. My great buddy Jason Hart was also there to share the weekend with us, which made it that
much more special.
We stayed in camp to celebrate, but left in time to make it back for the Daddy Daughter dance. She wasn’t happy about the mosquito bites on her face, but she sure looked beautiful.
ETA, that closest pine in the strutting picture in the top right corner was his roost tree.
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Originally Posted by walt4dun
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