We talk with Dr. Kelly O’Neill from the UF Game Lab about what turkey research in Florida actually looks like and why solid data matters before anyone changes regulations. We get into captive poult studies, habitat management, and the Florida specific challenges that can make or break Osceola and Eastern turkey survival.
• UF Game Lab’s statewide turkey research on survival, nesting success, and reproduction
• Building a captive turkey population from abandoned and depredated nests
• How hunting funding and conservation dollars shape research and policy
• Development, habitat fragmentation, and the Florida Wildlife Corridor
• Why poults are so fragile and why early growth is everything
• Poult mortality ranges, limited tracking data, and why consistent methods matter
• Osceola and Eastern differences that look physical more than behavioral
• Vegetation structure trials that test how habitat affects foraging and growth
• Poult diet basics with insects driving early protein needs
• Prescribed burning timing and why one to two years post burn matters
• Turkeys as predator prey and a possible seed dispersal species
• Landowner habitat principles including nesting cover, brood areas, roost sites, and not mowing nests
• Why turkey habitat often helps many other species too
DM One Hell of Life podcast on Instagram or TikTok to enter the monthly listener drawing
Call or text 850-251-8650 or visit www.floridaducks.com to book your trip, Williamson Outfitters
Use code ONEHELLOFALIFEOUTDOORS for 15 percent off your order @ www.froggtoggs.com
Dirty Duck Coffee: use code onehellofalife15 for 15% off
Want to Duck Hunt in Arkansas? Call Kade at Delta Thunder Outfitters at 870-926-7944
Follow us on instagram! https://www.instagram.com/onehellofalifepodcast/?hl=en