Monster Osceola Down!

[Longshot]

I got an invite to hunt with a very good friend on a small parcel of private land surrounded by hunt clubs on Saturday. The birds have been hunted pretty hard and haven't been very vocal here lately. 3 Gobblers have been caught on a trail cam using the food plot between 9:30 and 4:30, so we knew to wait it out even though we only had a single hen answer us once. At 12:40, a lone longbeard stepped into the field 110 yards away and began to slowly feed his way towards us. I left the calls alone and thought that the decoys would finish him. When he got to about 75 yards, he turned and left the field. He wasn't spooked, but he didn't want anything to do with the decoys. After waiting 10 minutes to see if he was going to come back, I figured I had nothing to lose so I called to him. I started with a purr and a couple of clucks...nothing. Soft yelps...nothing. Louder yelps...still nothing. Very loud, sharp yelps on my slate...BINGO! He rattled off about 150 yards away. I gave him about 30 seconds and hit him with another loud yelp and he cut me off on the second note and had closed some distance. Within a few minutes, I had another bird answering and closing in as well. I was hoping that we would get the chance to double on this deal, but the second bird never stepped out of the woodline. Between the two birds, we listened to about 20 gobbles before he reappeared right where he had left the field. He began feeding again and still wasn't coming to the decoys. I threw everything I had at him and he refused to come to them. He also never gobbled or struted once he was in the field. He worked his way around our set and made the mistake of trying to sneak past at 40 yards. At 1:30, 3-1/2 inches of Fed Turkey Thug 6's found their mark. The landowner told us that this bird was shot at and missed last season over decoys. The same guy has been in there hunting again this season and took a jake out off the property a couple of weeks ago. He also said that this is the best bird to ever come off of his family's land. I love being in the right place at the right time. This is my second Osceola to make the Florida Registry and first bird in 6 years. It was worth the dry spell to get my best bird ever. 23lbs, 11" beard and a pair of 1-7/16" daggers! Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.

[longbeard11]

Great bird!!! congrats!!

[darn2ten]

Congrats, nothing like good Osceola spurs!

[boomer]

Congrats on a awesome bird!!

[ctwny1]

Wow...Congratulations on a GREAT gobbler!

[Gooserbat]

Congrats!!!

I want one just like it.

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

Awesome bird.  Congrats

[Longshot]

Thank you all for the kind words.

[Tommy Strutsalot]

That's a great bird, well done.

[troutfisher13111]

Congrats!!

[alloutdoors]

Great bird, love those hooks!

[Muzzy61]

WOW !  Birdzilla.  Congrats

[DirtNap647]

great turkey congrats

[JALA Strut]

That's a sweet looking tom...Congrats!

[slamman]

darn nice bird congrats.