10 days, 3200 miles, 1 public land Osceola (long and pic heavy)

[JLH]

 excellent read..and the photos are great as well...

congrats on a well earned bird!

[tomstopper]

excellent read..and the photos are great as well...

congrats on a well earned bird!

Couldn't have said it any better. Congrats......

[Phire Phite]

Really cool.  Congrats on not giving up.  And someone likes photography...love the depth in the last one.

[woody328]

Awesome post. I think people wanting to take an Osceola are really doing themselves a disservice not taking advantage of the WMAs in FL. I put in every year and have since I turned sixteen when I no longer qualified for an automatic permit. I'm actually hunting one I've never tried before on Friday, Guana River WMA.

I always make it a point to contact the biologist for a new WMA. They are usually more than happy to help get you on the birds.

[cuppednlocked]

Excellent story.  Congratulations on your Osceola!

[alloutdoors]

That's a lot of money and trouble to gamble on such low odds and Im glad it worked out for ya.

It wasn't that bad. I only had to put in for two years to get drawn, and I would have been heading to GA anyway. It was really only the extra five hours of driving past Savannah, the cost of a license, and a place to stay. I really thought this year would just be a learning experience, and that I would probably strike out in FL and make up for it in GA. It worked out the exact opposite, and I'm fine with that. 

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

Great write up and beautiful pics.  Thanks!

[Brian811]

Congrats on your bird. Great story and excellent pics.

[alloutdoors]

I can't believe someone would wait in line that long for a one day permit and not come back the next day. Crazy

As far as I know all 5 walk on permits did get used each day, it was just the contrast between the first day where they waited in line for over 21 hours, and the second and third days when someone could have shown up five minutes before the check station opened and grabbed a spot. The last two days I saw some of the same guys show up for the walk on permits, some of them were probably there the first day too.

[Rio Fan]

Great story and pics.  Congrats on getting an Osceola! 

[Ross R]

Awesome! Thanks for taking time to do the writeup! Glad you got your bird. It's downright nutty what we do to duck hunt down here in some of the impoundments.

[GobbleNut]

Very enjoyable story and pictures.  Thanks for taking the time and effort,...and congrats on your success.  My son and I are flying into Orlando tomorrow afternoon ourselves. 

[kevin2]

Great photos. I couldn't make it threw the entire short novel! Thanks for sharing...

[porcupine]

 

[bammerslammer 50]

Congratulations on the bird. That was a great read and awesome photography thanks for posting.