Skip to main content

Types of Turkey in Florida: How To Identify Eastern & Osceola Turkeys

Florida's unique mixing of wild turkey subspecies can keep you guessing.

Types of Turkey in Florida: How To Identify Eastern & Osceola Turkeys

Wild turkeys (Osceola gobbler) have incredible eyesight. Photo Credit: Heather Paul, Flickr.

Florida hunters are fortunate to be able to hunt two subspecies of turkeys without leaving the state. Both eastern and Osceola turkeys—also called Florida wild turkeys—are found here. Biologists have drawn a somewhat arbitrary line that separates the eastern from the Osceola subspecies. The line starts in Nassau County on the east coast, along the Nassau County-Duval County line, follows the county line of Duval County and passes through Bradford County. Then it generally follows the northern county lines of Union, Alachua, Gilchrist, and Dixie counties. If you draw that line, everything south of it is considered an Osceola turkey; north of it, they're easterns.

Where to Find Eastern & Osceola Turkeys

eastern and osceola turkey range map of florida
Turkeys in central and south Florida look different enough from birds in the northern part of the state that early taxonomists designated them as a different subspecies. Use the Spring Turkey Hunt Guide, linked here, to locate areas where you can usually find each subspecies.

However, biology is never that clean-cut, and you shouldn't assume that just because a turkey is on one side or the other of that line that it's really any different from its cousin on the other side of the line. The division between subspecies of any animal is somewhat arbitrary, and is pretty much based on physical appearance. Turkeys in central and south Florida look different enough from birds in the northern part of the state that early taxonomists designated them as a different subspecies. As you move north and west in the state, the appearance of the birds you see changes as you go. Turkeys in the middle of the state have an appearance that's somewhere in between that of the turkeys in south Florida and turkeys in north Florida and south Georgia. Humans have designated this dividing line for trophy purposes, but it's really the geographic location of a particular turkey that determines whether that bird is an eastern turkey or an Osceola turkey.

How to Tell Apart Florida Turkey Subspecies: Eastern vs Osceola

osceola turkey standing on sand
On Osceola 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.

Sometimes the hunters can't tell the difference, either. If you put a hundred Osceolas in one pen and a hundred easterns in another one, many biologists can glance at them and tell you which pen is which. But if you have one bird, you—or the biologist—may or may not be able to tell which pen it came out of.

Not only is there a lot of variation in appearance between turkeys in the state, in northeast Florida there's a zone called the intergrade where birds with the two sets of characteristics overlap.

In general, Osceola turkeys— named for the famous Seminole leader Osceola—are smaller and a bit darker than eastern turkeys, and have less white barring on the flight feathers of their wings. Because there's so much black on their wings, when they have their wings folded, the white triangle that's formed is less visible on the Osceola than on the eastern. If you see one walking around, the wing patch will look pretty white on an eastern, whereas on an Osceola it's darker.

The other thing is that the Osceola is racier in appearance, more streamlined. It tends to be skinny; down on the Big Cypress, adult gobblers only weigh 12 to 15 pounds.

SPRING TURKEY SEASONS AND LIMITS

boys lined up with turkeys in front of trucks after a turkey hunt
Osceola turkeys taken during a youth hunt at Tippen Bay in DeSoto County. Photo courtesy FWC via Flickr.

South of State Road 70 (southern Florida peninsula): March 4 – April 9

North of State Road 70: March 18 – April 23

Daily bag limit: 2 per day. On WMAs, hunters may take only one bird per day.




Season/possession limit: 2 per person all spring seasons.

SOME OTHER NOTES:

Approved weapons for spring turkey hunting on private lands include shotguns, rifles, pre-charged pneumatic air guns, pistols, muzzleloaders, crossbows and bows. Consult Wildlife Management Area (WMA) brochures for certain restrictions on public lands.

Hours for hunting: One half hour before sunrise to sunset, has long been—and remains—the approved period for spring turkey hunting on private lands. Most WMAs would limit hunting after 1 p.m., but recent changes have authorized hunting until sunset on many of these areas.

Recommended


For licenses and other questions, see MyFWC.com. To read more about wild turkeys, click here. FS

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Videos

Kayak Fishing Fun 2023 Product Showcase

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Store

Refurbished 1987 Alumacraft Jon Boat | One Man's Dreamboat

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Learn

New Berkley Finisher: The All-Around Live Sonar Lure

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Gear

New Berkley Power Switch: Powerhouse Lure Designed for Foward-Facing Sonar

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Gear

New Berkley Krej: A Reversed Lip Jerkbait?

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Store

How to Install New Fuel Tanks in an Old Boat

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Videos

Testing Out the Latest from Old Town in the Marquesas

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Store

How to Powder Coat: Benefits of Powder Coating Metal Fuel Tanks

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Gear

Father & Son Customize a 20' Center Console | One Man's Dreamboat

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Gear

Best Features of the Shallow Sport X3

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Learn

How to Fix an Outboard Motor that was Submerged in Saltwater

The crew at Marine Customs Unlimited takes on restoring a 31' Contender that has seen Better Dayz.
Store

Analyzing a Hurricane Damaged Boat for Restoration

Florida Sportsman Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

Preview This Month's Issue

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Buy Single Digital Issue on the Florida Sportsman App

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Get the top Florida Sportsman stories delivered right to your inbox.

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All Florida Sportsman subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now