Each spring hunters from across the country head to south Florida with hopes of punching their Osceola turkey tag. Some of these hunters are looking for an Osceola to complete their Grand Slam (Eastern, Merriam’s, Osceola, Rio Grande), and others simply want to experience the earliest turkey opener in the continental United States.

I’ve had the opportunity to pursue Osceolas twice, and both hunts were outstanding. From what I’ve learned about wild turkeys in south Florida, your chances of success skyrocket if you book with a reputable outfitter. 

As someone who much prefers hunting on his own vs. using an outfitter, I’ve learned that there are places in North America where you can have outstanding DIY hunts. Many states have enormous amounts of public land with high-quality turkey (and deer) hunting. In my opinion, this isn’t the case in south Florida.

This spring I’ll be watching closely as the hosts of my favorite YouTube channel, The Hunting Public, pursue wild turkeys in Florida. These guys are experienced turkey hunters, and they have great success throughout the country on public land, so it’ll be interesting to see how they do in Florida. My prediction is it’ll be tough.

Travis Daniels’ March 6, 2021, post on his Cypress Roost Outfitters Facebook page: We couldn’t have asked for a better opening morning in south Florida. For the first time in many years, I got to share the turkey woods with my dad. Called in four gobblers, hens and jakes. This gobbler finally broke and ran to the decoys where he met his match.

Going Guided

The video teased in this article title and shown below is from Travis Daniels of Cypress Roost Outfitters. Daniels’ YouTube channel has only 155 subscribers (compare that to the 357,000 subscribers of The Hunting Public) but that doesn’t mean Daniels isn’t dialed in when it comes to south Florida turkeys.

Daniels conducts his Osceola hunts on 3,000 acres of prime habitat in the Florida Everglades. He’s headquartered in LaBelle, Florida, which is about 30 miles east of Fort Meyers. “All of our hunting is done on private land, and the majority is done on working cattle ranches,” he said. “The cattle ranch is a family business that has been passed down for several generations, and it’s still active today.” 

Daniels was born and raised in south Florida and has hunted there his entire life. “I have been taking people turkey hunting for as long as I can remember,” he said. “I officially started guiding turkey hunts five years ago as a side business, and have been very blessed over the years to host some great clients and made some wonderful friends. Turkey hunting is my passion, and I figured, what better way to share my passion than to help other folks with completing their Grand Slam or harvesting their first turkey.”

In the video below, Travis is guiding his father. “Since I started guiding, I haven't had as much time to hunt with my dad, so I made the decision to set aside opening day to hunt with him this year.”

As you watch the video, pay attention to the various sounds of the morning. I love the rooster crowing in the distance. And after the shot, you’ll hear other toms fire up pretty good, too. 

Crank up the volume enough and you’ll hear a great father/son interaction right after the tom steps into the decoys. I love it when the dad says about the tom, “It’s little.” And Travis quickly corrects him, “No he’s not!”

FYI: Travis Daniels doesn’t have any turkey hunting openings for spring 2021, and he’ll begin booking for spring 2022 sometime this early fall. You can reach out to him via email at: cypressroostoutfitters@gmail.com