An Ohio man was arrested on Friday for allegedly hunting turkeys on private property without permission.
Brandon Tittle, 27, faces two felony charges: firing a gun in public or on residential property and trespassing by shooting across private land.
Authorities say Tittle fired a gun over a fenced property to shoot an Osceola turkey, then crossed the property line to retrieve it.
Tittle was booked into the DeSoto County Jail on Friday and released the same day after posting a $3,500 bond.
The charges stem from a March 3, 2024, investigation by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO).
An FWC officer and a DCSO deputy responded to a report about an Osceola turkey being shot on NW Pine Level Street in Arcadia.
A deputy stopped a nearby vehicle with two people inside, one of whom was Tittle.
According to the arrest report, Tittle admitted to shooting the turkey both before and after being read his Miranda rights.
He told officers he saw five turkeys on the side of the road, stopped his car, fired his gun over a fence, and then crossed onto private property to retrieve the bird. He later showed officers where he had hidden the bird in a nearby ditch.
The property owner confirmed that Tittle did not have permission to hunt or shoot on his land.
Charges were filed against Tittle last September. He is scheduled for arraignment on April 28.
Osceola turkeys are highly sought after by hunters nationwide because they are a subspecies native only to Florida.
The arrest comes after a similar case last year when four men were charged with misleading hunters by breeding domesticated turkeys to resemble wild Osceola turkeys.
They allegedly sold guided hunting trips and even offered taxidermy services for the fake birds.
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