Grand Slam
Wisconsin hunter finishes the job in Florida
By Neal Hermann
Sometimes great things take time to build, no matter what you’re into. In this case it was chasing after a dream of killing another grand slam in the turkey world. The grand slam consists of the 4 sub-species of turkey in the US which include the Eastern, found here in Wisconsin and every state East of the Mississippi; Merriams, found west and south; Rio Grande, found in the southwest with Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas considered the main hot spot areas; and finally the Osceola, the bird with the least amount of hunting area. Osceolas are found exclusively in the southern two-thirds of Florida, making the bird a relatively rare, high-profit commodity for local land owners and outfitters. It also makes hunting public land one of the most difficult places to try to fill the tag.
In March, two years of planning and saving finally took six call makers and collectors on a trip that many hunters only dream of; 1500 miles from a cold Wisconsin winter with frozen ground to 75 degree temperatures, sun and sand, intent on tagging the Osceola. We wouldn’t be able to hunt wild turkey for a month in Wisconsin, and never the Osceola.
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With expectations high we were up earlier than needed and ready to hit the swamps of Florida. We would chase the long legged, black winged Osceola that kept us dreaming most of the night. That first morning found me looking down an intersection of a two -track winding road with pine plantation on one side and clear cut on the other. It was 41 degrees and clear when my first gobble split the morning at 7:18am some 300 yards away.
A landowner was with me mainly to keep the hunting on the right side of the fence. When that first gobble hit the landowner was already ready to move. I’ve learned the hard way through the year’s patience is the biggest key to turkey hunting. I told him to wait and before long another gobble 100 yards in front of us from the pines was our reward. But with that gobble came the unwanted yelps of a few hens. I knew I had my hands full trying to call to them with the hope that he’d be in tow following.
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As the morning progressed I could tell he was on the ground and moving to my right parallel with the sand road I was on. With a little information from the landowner, I knew where I needed to be. We headed down the trail to where another trail intersected and sat down to begin calling. Like many times in the past, by cutting off the boss hens’ yelping with my own I got under her skin her fired up. Just as the distance closed, I threw out a Jake yelp and that was all that gobbler needed to hear. Tom started gobbling and heading my direction With my DSD hen decoy out and the Hooks assassin glass with yellow heart striker really getting this hen all sorts of upset, I knew it’d be just a matter of time.
But as quickly as it got good, it turned south. Putting hens introduced some unseen danger and seconds later the Florida Fish & Game entered the scene. From being checked before I am familiar with the proper routine, I announced myself, slowly got up and handed him my gun hand on the top of the barrel pointed towards the sky. As disappointed as I was with his ill timing, I was happy to see the wardens aggressively protecting the wild turkeys in Florida. I learned from him that poaching and baiting turkeys is a huge problem in that area.
After a nice conversation, and hunting license checked and in order, Officer Gill was nice enough to give me his personal cell number. If I was had problems getting on birds, he said he did know a few landowners that I could contact. He seemed more upset that he had walked into my hunt than I was. I told him everyone has a job to do, that the interruption was not a big deal and that I would keep after the birds. It was only opening day and I had other land to hunt that also held birds.
After a trip back to camp, a bite to eat and a nap, the hunt resumed on another piece of land. This property would be easy to navigate since a fence ran the whole perimeter. After a little run down on the layout of the land, I struck out to see what I could call up. It was 4 pm eastern time, and prime time to mislead a lonely gobbler in the afternoon.
With my first ambush only bringing in four hens to investigate my DSD decoy set-up I decided to make a move. I adjusted 400-500 yards towards the back of the property and found a little area that had been worked up for a food plot. Fresh dirt told me there may be birds in the area and I settled in to hunt for the duration of the evening.
I set up my upright DSD decoy, crawled into a brush pile and began soft calling every 10 to 15 minutes, eventually bringing up the volume in hopes of enticing a distant gobbler. With the afternoon wearing on and one little move around the brush pile to stay out of the sun and in the shadows, I let loose a series of yelps and clucks, finally breaking into cutting and some aggressive calling. Like many hunts across this country, the Hooks assassin glass with my yellow heart striker was more than Tom could take. His distant gobble evoked more yelping from an aggressive hen, and when my own calling back to them brought nothing, I thought the dream of my opening day gobbler and my second Grand Slam would have to wait for day two.
With the afternoon wearing on to 6:10, I unleashed an aggressive series of yelps and clucks before dropping quiet. Basically, it was my own version of the Hail Mary pass, but like it had been scripted I heard the familiar “ppfffft” or “spit drum” response of the make turkey. With my eyes straining so hard each way trying not to move a muscle, I looked back out in front of me and like a 20 pound green emerald sticking out of the ground and with the sun shining on him…there he is.
At about 90 yards, never wanting to obstruct his view he would only come into a one-quarter strut. Not wanting to give his location away to every predator in Florida, he never gobbled. He slowly made his way out into the open, and when he locked his eyes on the DSD upright it was a love TKO. Within a few short minutes he was at the point of no return.
My Benelli Super Black Eagle that I’ve shot so many times at paper with multiple chokes and different shells I knew when he was now locked on Tom. At 50 yards I knew he would only take one side step every so often. It was the chance to shoulder my gun and center the red dot on his waddles.
BOOM!
Just like that a day filled with hundreds of emotions, ups and downs, two years of excitement and planning, and almost five years to the day of my first grand slam, the second was in the books. The excellent four year-old gobbler weighed in at 19.1 pounds with 1- ½ inch spurs and a 10 -¼” beard. With all those emotions running though me, I gathered my things, made my way out to the bird, took a few pictures, sent some texts, and then just laid on my back staring into the blue sky. I would remember all of the great hunts I’ve had, the misses and missed opportunities.
It always makes the birds that get carried out on your back so much more rewarding.
Notes: The hunt ended pretty well. With six guys in our group I was able to guide a great friend of mine to his first Grand Slam while two others hunters also completed their Grand Slams. We ended up 5 for 6 with the sixth having three chances at birds, including a 35 yard miss. The opportunities were there, as they usually are but just not always capitalized on. If you are interested in the decoys or the calls used during this hunt go to davesmithdecoys.com. If you are interested in the calls used check them out at hookscalls.com. I am the designer of the call strikers, and on the pro staff for Hooks Custom Calls.
Neal Herrman is an expert caller and turkey hunter who lives and hunts in Barron Wisconsin