Turkey Slam

Chase_D

FNG
Joined
Dec 5, 2018
Messages
40
Location
North Carolina
Good evening everyone, first off I do not expect a handout. It has been a dream of mine for roughly the last ten years to try to complete a Royal Turkey Slam in one season. I already have an Ocellated & Goulds turkey hunt scheduled for 2023 and an Eastern shouldn’t be a problem. I’m more of a DIY’er and don’t want a guide, but would be willing to pay a landowner for a few days of hunting an Osceola, Merriam’s & Rio. Any help is greatly appreciated!
 

bozeman

WKR
Joined
Dec 5, 2016
Messages
2,639
Location
Alabama
I have killed numerous Rio's, Merriam's and Eastern's....the Osceola continues to evade me. I have a hunt in 2023, so hopefully will get it completed.

There is PLENTY of public land in SD, NE, KS, OK (Rio) and in WY, CO, NM (Merriam). I have hunted in most of these states. Just gotta put your time in. It's well worth the effort!!
 
Joined
Aug 10, 2015
Messages
2,245
It probably depends on how picky you are. A lot of the Nebraska/South Dakota birds are hybrids.

The Platte river in eastern Colorado is a good bet for a Rio. Public land takes a few preference points but I believe private is OTC.

The Black Hills in South Dakota/Wyoming are good for true Merriams, as is the Pine Ridge area of Nebraska.

I don't have any specifics for you but I've seen hunts in eastern Colorado or southwest Nebraska at $3-400/bird. I think they're a little more proud of them around Pine Ridge.
 

FLS

WKR
Joined
May 11, 2019
Messages
734
I shot two Florida turkeys this year. One a hundred miles south of the imaginary Osceola line, and one a couple of miles from the GA line. They looked identical. Both had broken wing bars, but otherwise looked like a skinny eastern. I’m not ready sure there are any true Osceolas any more. Maybe south of Okeechobee, and be prepared to pay. I hunted private, semi guided in south central Florida. Landowner showed us the lay of the land and turned us loose. I was the only one of 4 to kill a bird. Weather sucked and the birds were quiet till the last morning. The north Florida hunt was a friends farm. The good public hunting in Florida is mostly draw, and the rest gets a lot of pressure now. Nobody cared about turkeys back in the 80s when I lived there.
I killed 3 Rios last year in TX. Really fun and inexpensive hunt. Deer are expensive, but they don’t care much about turkeys in south TX. You can find a very reasonable hunt.
 
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JMasson

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 9, 2020
Messages
251
is public that terrible in FL?
I'm from Osceola country and have killed a fair few throughout my life. Used to be able to walk out the back gate and hunt the state forest behind my folks' farm...now it is a draw. All of the good public land in Florida is on a draw now, especially south of HWY 50. There's turkeys all over the state but there's also a lot of hunters. Luckily I have a good connection and an open invitation to a big chunk of property in the heart of Osceola territory. Unfortunately, I haven't seen or heard a turkey near my parents place in several years. You either need to apply for the draws or have your checkbook ready. You can find some people willing to do trespass fees and semi-guided hunts but even those can be pretty pricey.
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2018
Messages
1,670
Location
VA
I'm from Osceola country and have killed a fair few throughout my life. Used to be able to walk out the back gate and hunt the state forest behind my folks' farm...now it is a draw. All of the good public land in Florida is on a draw now, especially south of HWY 50. There's turkeys all over the state but there's also a lot of hunters. Luckily I have a good connection and an open invitation to a big chunk of property in the heart of Osceola territory. Unfortunately, I haven't seen or heard a turkey near my parents place in several years. You either need to apply for the draws or have your checkbook ready. You can find some people willing to do trespass fees and semi-guided hunts but even those can be pretty pricey.

Do you think this has something to do with high racoon population and invasives like iguana and pythons??
 

JMasson

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 9, 2020
Messages
251
Do you think this has something to do with high racoon population and invasives like iguana and pythons??
It's certainly possible but my folks are a little too far north for the invasive reptiles or at least I can say we've ever seen any invasive reptiles. They do seem to be pushing further north every couple years. It still gets a little too cold for them to do well in Central Florida. There is a large raccoon population where my folks live and I do my best to exterminate with extreme prejudice when I visit. They killed all my dad's laying hens a few years ago and we declared war after that.
 

FLS

WKR
Joined
May 11, 2019
Messages
734
Loss of habitat. Too many people. Places I hunted growing up are housing developements now.
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2018
Messages
1,670
Location
VA
It's certainly possible but my folks are a little too far north for the invasive reptiles or at least I can say we've ever seen any invasive reptiles. They do seem to be pushing further north every couple years. It still gets a little too cold for them to do well in Central Florida. There is a large raccoon population where my folks live and I do my best to exterminate with extreme prejudice when I visit. They killed all my dad's laying hens a few years ago and we declared war after that.

Easy problem to fix with some dog proof traps

Canned tuna fish is a great attractant

Or if you have a bunch of land to run around on, you could invite me down there next winter and we'll run coons and set coon traps for a few days and nock down their population down
 

JMasson

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 9, 2020
Messages
251
Easy problem to fix with some dog proof traps

Canned tuna fish is a great attractant

Or if you have a bunch of land to run around on, you could invite me down there next winter and we'll run coons and set coon traps for a few days and nock down their population down
Yeah my dad traps them. I prefer to sit on the porch with a 17 hmr and handle business. We got rid of them for a while but they came back this year. I saw the first one in a year when I visited in March and quickly dispatched it. I haven't asked if they've seen anymore recently. I know the traps got reset though.
 

Rich M

WKR
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
5,107
Location
Orlando
is public that terrible in FL?
Mostly public turkey is drawing limited quota hunts. I don;t turkey hunt but we get 3-5 day deer permits, so I'd expect similar for turkeys. We don't differentiate between NR and Res for getting permits that I know of.

Some public open to hunt but, or course you got the locals to deal with who want to hunt them too.
 
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