Florida turkey hunting...specifically central and southern Florida is living on borrowed time folks , I say this with the deepest regret , as I type this .....there is a total for the ETIRE state not just the Osceola turkey in the central and southern regions , a total of only about 700 gobblers harvested on public wma's , that's public , but in the south and central most of the suitable property that holds turkeys is in public holding , cause the rest has been developed - you read that correctly ...700 turkeys in total for the whole state on public wma areas
those numbers are not lies , those are the check station numbers most of those harvested are in the hybrid and eastern zones
the majority of south zone hunting in south Florida is mainly comprised of not private land but of public property that is severely mismanaged - there are exactly 2 wma's in the south zone that don't require a permit to hunt , the year before yours truly. .., I think 3 were checked out in one of them , some of those were ones I called up -- I won't ever return to either one of these wma's even though I've killed dozens of Osceolas in them over a 30 year period , it's sad how low the population has dropped and sad the heathen hoards of tv brainwashed deer hunter turned turkey hunters swarm the area for a few gobblers - the state has mismanaged the program in there , partially due to the obsession with creating one as a "wilderness area" and not doing any prescribed burns and mostly the sacred cow .....the Florida panther ...though shalt not endanger the panther population
The central zone ....Orlando south to Okeechobee area ....the area is rapidly being developed, yes there is some holdings on private ranches and larger wma's but that won't last forever , houses and neighborhoods are popping up , with that comes the advent of the walk in hunter with the .22 -- right now there are approximately 250 turkeys harvested on wma's in this area , the private holdings are far larger and hold thousands of birds , but in due time the private holdings will succumb to development and progress - thw state is grabbing up property , some prime habitat is to be converted into storm water treatment eras , or into park like areas that are missmanaged too --and like southern florida all that will be left is public wma's , in 20 years time they will be far less Osceolas , today I estimate , and my estimate is way more accurate than that of the state's , I estimate that there is less than 20,000 Osceola turkeys Orlando area and south ,in 20 years time there will be about 5,000 - speaking of Orlando .....anyone been there lately it's the next sprawling Miami waiting to happen --
The population of Florida (people) stands at 19 million, the STATE estimates that in 2035 the population will be 42 million - turkey hunting will be a thing of the past , at least how we know it --there will be turkey hunting on a few large ranches and the price tag will resemble that of a Dall Ram hunt ---
The quota hunt program in fl. 25 years ago was a mail in system where you would get drawn 75% of the time , today it takes about 4 years worth of preference points to get a good permit , 20 years from now , you may need a permit to hunt any wma , and the good areas will be next to impossible to get , similar to the big game permits out west for pronghorn etc..where it takes 10 years to get one
The board of directors for the Florida nwtf in thier infinite stupidity have done possibly two of the very worst things possible ....despite some strong objections from wiser bod past and present, they swayed the state into 2 rule changes , all day turkey hunting.... (roost shooting problem) and making it legal to shoot 2 gobblers in the same day -- there will be a increased harvest , followed by a substantial drop in population , a population drop similar to Pintail ducks in North America - we are seeing some creative turkey hunting trickery like a sudden intrest in people bringing youth hunters , even bringing kids that are not even thiers to sit with them while they pop off a early season Osceola , also having scores of family members apply for them on quotas and then being guested in by thier sister or the likes , loopholes abound
There is a very , very good possibility that the Osceola could be placed on the Federally threatened or endangered list in our lifetime, as a example I think there are 1,500 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the state , shoot one of those and see how many years you get in the slammer
The state needs to fo the following actions immediately,especially in the central and southern zones and especially on wma's some of these rules are going to be unpopular
1) 12 o'clock hunting , withdraw the all day hunting
2) 1 bird per day , perhaps 1 per season , if the populations don't correct themselves -
3) rule change-- you may not physically touch a harvested gobbler until you write on the back of your hunting permit , the date and time of the harvest in permanent ink-- $5,000 dollar fine for being caught , revenue from that goes directly to the turkey program
4) 6 inch beard rule , it's in place in Mississippi and few other states , it needs to be deployed here, no more sexually immature male Osceolas
5)no more guests with the quota hunting permits , at least ones with a gun sharing the permit -
6) roll the special op permits into the regular permit hunts and stop the prostitution of the system
7) increase the turkey stamp to $50 for residents and hire some more turkey biologists , game wardens and equipment to due more prescribed burns - and give the wardens and biologists serving all ready a good rais of pay
$20 permit application fee for ALL quota hunts, funds go to aquiring more property
9) end the loopholes with the youth season , sorry folks I know there was some good intentions with this , but we all know what's going on , the legal guardian , grandparent, parent of the child shall accompany the child while hunting , if it's your buddies or sisters child , bring them too the three of you can share the moment , people are actively recruiting any child they can locate and putting them down on a application - on opening day of the regular season it's totally amazing the sudden drop in enthusiasm with folks bringing thier new found apprentice hunters , all the kiddies have disappeared on the real opener -- when I was a kid I hunted with my dad every single day of the season , not just some loophole day the weekend before , I like the youth season but it is being played out and gamed out
with any luck our next generation of turkey hunters will have a huntable population of these amazing birds ,
Remember there is only ONE PLACE IN THIS WORLD YOU CAN FIND A TRUE OSCEOLA , and it is smack dab in the middle of the most rapidly developed area in the country . This isn't about who gets to kill what , this is about extinction of a subspecies , many of the old timer florida turkey hunters down here feel exactly like I do
Shannon
