thanks for the info. if FL is gonna make it illegal on wma's why not just do it for the whole state, and make things a little less confusing. I certainly have no problem as the shotgun would be my 1st choice for turkey hunting, but there have been a few occasions when sitting in a stand waiting for hogs with a 22 mag I'd see turkey and was tempted, but didn't want to blow my cover. I've never shot one with anything other than a 12 ga and wouldn't want to use anything larger than a 22 mag anyway.my exp is with easterns and it seems these southern birds are a lot more reluctant to come into the open than the easterns were. a bird in the brush with the body covered by brush and the head sticking up like a telescope bobbing and weaving would make a more difficult target with a rifle than shotgun anyway (if strictly going for the head shot only). and yes talking back and forth with a tom or several is quite an experience. one time I lured a giant tom, a few smaller jakes and a couple of hens from one side of a valley to the other, (crossing a stream, 2 fences and a road) by belly crawling for a couple hundred yards holding a decoy on a stake out in front of me (quite a sight for someone my size, must have looked incredibly funny, but it worked). I'm looking forward to my 1st Osceola and ending my benelli curse. ( I usually always got one with the m-berg mdl 500 with 6's, but nothing since switching to a 3 1/2" benelli, rolled one at app 40 yds, it got up and lit on a limb, I knocked it off the limb with the second shot and it still managed to run away. and yes I would never shoot at a roosted bird, but it was already hit once. sorry for the long/rambling post. and good luck this season.
Personally, most of the upper part of the state is pot luck on what you're going to get.
This bird was killed approximately 5 miles from Lanark Village this year. You can't tell me he's not an Osceola...
Osceola from Orange county on the left and an Eastern from Hamilton county on the right. Definitely a difference in these two.
