Jimmy said he’d been to world fairs and he had never seen any-thing
like that.
But the harvest of these two turkeys brought with it a problem,
because you can’t kill two turkeys on the same day. I’m an honest man
and I decided to turn myself into the local game authorities. Even
though they both were big, fat and beautiful, I was about to lose one
of these turkeys to the Florida Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Suddenly Jimmy says, “Oh my gosh, only God in you could pull this
off.” He’d looked it up on the phone and found out that Florida is one
of the few places you can kill two turkeys in the same day, legally.
So, we laughed and gathered my birds, and drove off into the
sunset. To only think: a movie star, a handsome driver and King
Osceola had all played a part in fulfilling my world slam with two
beautiful Osceolas.
The Osceola Wild Turkey is only found on the Florida peninsula. It is smaller and darker in color than the Eastern Wild
Turkey and was named after the famous Seminole Chief in 1890. A turkey World Slam is when you have completed the har-vest
of every turkey species in the world. A set consists of an Eastern that we have here in North Carolina, a Merriam in the
Midwest, a Rio Grande in the Texas area, the Ocellated in Mexico and Central America, the Gould in Mexico and Arizona
and the Osceola in Florida.
ALLISON POTTER COURTESY OF RICK STOKER
92
WBM october 2019
COURTESY OF RICK STOKER
In his spare time, First
Fruit Ministry’s founder
and CEO Rick Stoker is
also a licensed turkey
guide and the owner
of Hook and Barrell
Outfitters. Stoker with
Steve Morris and a
Merriam turkey, Stoker
with a Merriam, Stoker
with a Gould turkey
and grilling turkey in
his backyard outdoor
kitchen.
COURTESY OF RICK STOKER
COURTESY OF RICK STOKER