headed to Florida on sunday afternoon to get some public land experince for a change. Hunted with a few buddies from high school (im from Destin) out on Eglin and Blackwater WMA. Eglin may be one the prettiest places I have hunted turkey wise minus TN hardwood bottoms and out west. Eglin is GIGANTIC as well, I mean its hard to put into scope the shear size of it (like bigger then Wilson County lol). Granted sections are obviously closed and some are weekend only and others are closed one day then open the next etc etc. Lots of really well managed pines, burns, swamp bottoms and creek bottoms. Surprisingly we didnt really see many hunters at all the entire 3 days we hunted down size is you can only hunt Eglin till 1pm so we would jump from there to blackwater WMA.
I leaned a valuable lesson though (ill make a different post about this later) and that is if you havent hunted with a buddy in 25 years they may be overstating their experience or skill level when it comes to turkey hunting and for SURE dont go in it with the expectation they hunt the way you do. They are fantastic men but man they for sure overstated their hunting style and skill level hahah.
Anyways. First morning we got to an area they had been hearing some the past few days and sure enough we had 3 fire off but unfortunately they were 100yds in the closed area but at that point its all we had heard so we kept moving and setting up to see if we could get them to come across. Around 8am they finally quit gobbling and then we didnt hear another bird the rest of the day. My buddies are more in the truck hunting (drive, stop and call, if nothing keep driving) which is NOT the type of hunting I prefer.
Next morning we hit a different area and heard 3 birds but all a good ways away so we just kept trying to get in front of them or be where they wanted to go but same as the day before, after 8am they stopped being vocal and we just lost track of them
Last morning I decided to change it up and not go with them and do my own thing. My brother decided to go with me instead (he has never turkey hunted in his life) but we figured it would be fun just to hang out if nothing else for a bit before I headed back home. SO I parked at a walk in area and we hiked as far back as we could to get off the road and pressure and sure enough found a bird willing to work. Ended up having to adjust out set up 2x but finally got in a spot he was wiliing to come to and at 30yds my brother missed him clear as day hahah. My brother is not a hunter and prob has shot a shotgun 15x in his life, he is more of a surfer and scuba diver. I wasnt even upset about the miss we just laughed about it and now I have something he will never live down.
best part is, after you hike and turkey hunt all morning you can just go and relax :)
I leaned a valuable lesson though (ill make a different post about this later) and that is if you havent hunted with a buddy in 25 years they may be overstating their experience or skill level when it comes to turkey hunting and for SURE dont go in it with the expectation they hunt the way you do. They are fantastic men but man they for sure overstated their hunting style and skill level hahah.
Anyways. First morning we got to an area they had been hearing some the past few days and sure enough we had 3 fire off but unfortunately they were 100yds in the closed area but at that point its all we had heard so we kept moving and setting up to see if we could get them to come across. Around 8am they finally quit gobbling and then we didnt hear another bird the rest of the day. My buddies are more in the truck hunting (drive, stop and call, if nothing keep driving) which is NOT the type of hunting I prefer.
Next morning we hit a different area and heard 3 birds but all a good ways away so we just kept trying to get in front of them or be where they wanted to go but same as the day before, after 8am they stopped being vocal and we just lost track of them
Last morning I decided to change it up and not go with them and do my own thing. My brother decided to go with me instead (he has never turkey hunted in his life) but we figured it would be fun just to hang out if nothing else for a bit before I headed back home. SO I parked at a walk in area and we hiked as far back as we could to get off the road and pressure and sure enough found a bird willing to work. Ended up having to adjust out set up 2x but finally got in a spot he was wiliing to come to and at 30yds my brother missed him clear as day hahah. My brother is not a hunter and prob has shot a shotgun 15x in his life, he is more of a surfer and scuba diver. I wasnt even upset about the miss we just laughed about it and now I have something he will never live down.
best part is, after you hike and turkey hunt all morning you can just go and relax :)
