For many hunters, spring means turkey season. Some hunters strive to achieve a turkey grand slam by bagging at least one of the four wild turkey subspecies living in the United States: eastern, Rio Grande, Merriam’s and Osceola.
To achieve a grand slam, hunters must visit Florida. Two subspecies live in the Sunshine State: eastern and Osceola. The Osceola turkey is named after the Seminole war chief.
Eastern wild turkeys are found anywhere from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from New England to Eastern Texas, including all of the Florida Panhandle. However, Osceola turkeys only live in the Florida Peninsula and nowhere else in the world.
“Any wild turkey harvested within or south of the counties of Alachua, Bradford, Clay, Dixie, Duval, Gilchrist and Union would be an Osceola subspecies,” says Juliana Ofalt, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Wild Turkey and Furbearer Management Program coordinator. “North of the peninsula and across the panhandle, Osceola wild turkeys interbreed with the eastern subspecies.”
Both subspecies look similar, with only subtle differences in appearance. Generally, location determines an eastern from an Osceola.
“An Osceola wild turkey is best distinguished from the eastern subspecies, which it closely resembles, by the white barring on its wing feathers,” Juliana says. “On Osceola wild turkeys, the white bars on the primary wing feathers are narrower than the black bars and are irregular or broken, which tends to give the wing an overall darker appearance compared to eastern wild turkeys. Osceola wild turkeys tend to be smaller-bodied than most eastern wild turkeys, and are often found to have longer legs and spurs.”
Both subspecies love forests. They can live in swamps, hardwood bottomlands or pine forests, and they like edges, fields and openings. Wild turkeys regularly roost in oak, cypress or other trees along waterways to keep safe from predators, such as bobcats. In southern Florida, turkeys may encounter Florida panthers.
During the 2023 spring turkey season, hunters bagged 11,382 birds of both subspecies. People hunt thousands of acres on public lands throughout Florida, but for Osceolas they stay south.
“The top 10 wildlife management areas in the Osceola range with the highest number of reported harvested birds during the 2023 spring turkey season included Three Lakes, Kissimmee Chain of Lakes Area and Richloam,” Juliana says. “The top 10 WMAs with the least number of hunter days per turkey harvested during the 2023 spring season included Guana River, Spirit of the Wild and Okaloacoochee Slough.”
The FWC, in cooperation with the Northwest Florida Water Management District, offers hunting opportunities at a new Water Management Area, Garcon Point, which will include spring turkey opportunities during the 2024 season.
Regulations might differ from private lands and public lands. Therefore, before hunting anywhere, check the regulations for that area.
For turkey hunting zones, season dates and other regulations, visit myfwc.com/hunting/season-dates.