John O'Dell - Spring 2009 Update

Well it’s been a busy spring so far. Dave and I were lucky enough to be invited to go down to sunny South Florida in late March to hunt Osceola turkeys with our good friend Scott Crippen who owns White’s Tackle in Fort Pierce FL. Having hunted with Scott in the past I knew that Dave and I were going to have a fun time in FL and we were in for a great hunt! Well the hunt was very successful with Dave and I both harvesting great turkeys and capturing some good video along with some great memories. My Osceola was actually my best one so far. We are already planning to head back down south next spring for some more Osceola hunting with Scott. For more details on the hunt check out the March section of the journal page.

Following our turkey hunt in South FL I took the family on our annual pilgrimage to the Sunshine State for spring break in Mid April. We were headed to beautiful Fort Myers Beach. We really look forward to this trip every year as Suzy, the kids, and I get to spend lots of time together looking for shells, swimming in the ocean/pool by the ocean, and fishing off the beach. This year was one to remember for great fishing as Madison caught her first ever slot snook at 28.5” and Jacob caught his first snook ever which we released right after this photo was taken. We caught 14 snook total as well as many other species of fish including a giant sting ray. We saw lots of dolphins and just had a great time relaxing and hanging out together on the beach.

May has finally arrived and Dave have just returned from a trip to hunt with our good friend James Coppedge of Pack-n-horns Outfitters in New Mexico. He and Curt Richey had a great turkey hunt with James and most importantly they saw and filmed lots of mule deer and elk. They also found some nice sheds. Dave and I both have NM tags for mule deer and elk this year to hunt with James so to say that we are pumped for this fall is a huge understatement!

On May 2nd I was finally able to do some more turkey hunting and Dave had done his homework. He took me to one of our favorite farms and long story shot even though the toms were pretty henned up I was able to harvest a giant gobbler that was just less than 28 lbs and had 1.5” spurs. The giant gobbler was a true movie star and made for a very memorable hunt. I have been extremely fortunate this year in that I have only turkey hunted two mornings and I have been able to take two turkeys with 1.5” or better spurs!
In two weeks we are headed to Central FL for a hunt to spot and stalk wild hogs with our PSE’s for an upcoming episode of Bow Madness. Rick Malik, Dave Reisner, and I will be hunting with our good friend Bobby Mathews. The ranch that we will be hunting is truly incredible and we are all looking forward to the hunt.

Until next time safe hunting and take care!

John