As 2024 Florida spring turkey season gets started, a tale of a sneaky one that got away
The 2024 Florida Spring Turkey Season is just underway and already a gobbler has embarrassed me.
My son drew a limited-entry permit for public land in South Florida for the Youth Season on Feb. 24-25. Though we heard plenty of gobbling throughout both days, the property was waterlogged, and we kept bumping into random human interference – more on that below.
But, persevered we did, and around 5 p.m. on Sunday, a barred owl hooted up a shock gobble from the pasture to our right. A few yelps and several agonizingly slow minutes later, the gobbler quietly slipped down a sandy berm path, hopped a ditch, and headed toward two decoys in the field.
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Unfortunately, he hung behind some brush, then abruptly switched directions toward a different decoy. While turning for the shot, my son’s shotgun barrel caught on a vine I failed to clip. The last I remember was the bird’s red head bobbing between palmettos while Harrison repeatedly muttered, “He’s not coming back, is he?”
Tough break, but that’s life in the turkey hunting game – little overlooked details often derail a whole hunt’s effort.
By now, the regular season south of State Road 70 is on its second weekend, and the youth season north of 70 is this weekend. Everyone else can start hunting March 16.
Before then, though, let’s share a few thoughts on the world of Florida turkey hunting.
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I hate to ring in this wonderful time of the year by airing grievances, but what possesses people to scout during youth hunts? Some guy was blowing crow calls (poorly) at birds I was hunting that Saturday morning. Discovered later he was scouting for the following weekend. Worse, my friend was hunting other public land with his son, had birds gobbling off the roost, and four guys wandered through his set-up and walked right at the gobblers. It's a tremendous effort getting these kids into the woods. Scout another time.
My son’s hunt was also disrupted by an FWC member and someone on an ATV, presumably there to spray exotic vegetation, but these are just risks on public land.
I wrote in October that FWC was exploring a rule change to prohibit the practice of reaping turkeys on Wildlife Management Areas. No changes were made for this season, and none were apparently adopted during FWC’s February Commission meeting for the 2024-25 year. Reaping gobblers is fun but can be dangerous. Be safe.
No other major rule changes went into effect for this season. Remember to report all turkey harvests at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com on your mobile device before removing the bird from the woods. This harvest reporting system helps maintain bag limit compliance and provides FWC another source of wild turkey harvest data.
If you missed out on a quota hunt or lack private land, FWC maintains a list of pubic lands that do not require limited-entry permits for at least a portion of the year. This can be found at myfwc.com/hunting/turkey/hunt-without-quota-permit in addition to other Florida turkey hunting information and dates.
Whether chasing the famed Osceola subspecies or Eastern gobblers in the Panhandle, Florida's turkey hunting is an adventure waiting to happen.
Best of luck this spring.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Things to know as Florida spring turkey season gets started | Nance
