Image: osceola_nation

Photo by Chase D'animulls.

Want to kill an Osceola spring gobbler? Florida is your only option. The Osceola is the most narrowly distributed of the turkey subspecies, but much sought after. After all, you need one for your Grand Slam.

The so-called intergrade line in northern Florida is widely discussed as the border of demarcation for the Osceola. Conventional thinking through the years, along with biological data, has put Easterns in the Panhandle and Osceolas to the south. All are wild turkeys, of course. They haunt swamps full of Spanish moss. They roost in piney woods. They favor cattle pastures and go shut-mouthed on feeling pressure. They go where gators lurk. Poisonous snakes. Florida hunts are livelier because of it. Highway 70 is the timeworn line of demarcation for Osceola turkey hunters, as Florida annually establishes seasons based on it, with the "south of State Road 70" dates starting two weeks before those in the north. Special youth hunt weekends follow the same spacing.

The overall turkey population here remains strong. During Spring 2024, Florida hunters shot 14,513 birds.