1
00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:09,240
Speaker 1: Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Rieves

2
00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,720
Speaker 1: from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

3
00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:15,120
Speaker 2: I want you to stay a.

4
00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,799
Speaker 1: While as I share my stories and the country skills

5
00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,880
Speaker 1: that will help you beat the system. This Country Life

6
00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,600
Speaker 1: is proudly presented as part of Meat Eaters Podcast Network,

7
00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,520
Speaker 1: bringing you the best outdoor podcast.

8
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:28,480
Speaker 2: The airways have to offer.

9
00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:31,920
Speaker 1: All right, friends, pull you up a chair or drop

10
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,199
Speaker 1: that tailgate. I think I got a thing or two

11
00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:42,080
Speaker 1: and teach you Turkey season therapy. Turkey season is almost here,

12
00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,320
Speaker 1: and I can't wait. Sitting in the woods in the

13
00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,800
Speaker 1: springtime is good therapy after a cold, gray winter.

14
00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:50,199
Speaker 2: It's time to.

15
00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,720
Speaker 1: Reboot and get a fresh start. New beginnings and revisiting

16
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,080
Speaker 1: some old one sport and a fresh coat of paint

17
00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:00,520
Speaker 1: is good for your soul. That's what we're talking about today.

18
00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:10,679
Speaker 1: But first, I'm going to tell you a story. The

19
00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,920
Speaker 1: story I'm telling you today I wrote eighteen years ago

20
00:01:14,040 --> 00:01:18,800
Speaker 1: this spring, long before I had any idea anyone outside

21
00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,520
Speaker 1: of my friends and family would ever hear it or

22
00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,720
Speaker 1: even want to. It was during the middle of my

23
00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,639
Speaker 1: law enforcement career, and unbeknownst to me, I was putting

24
00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:33,480
Speaker 1: myself through therapy by writing. It was an outlet and

25
00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,240
Speaker 1: a place I could go back to. As I recounted

26
00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:40,200
Speaker 1: in great detail whatever I was writing about, which was

27
00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:44,760
Speaker 1: always outdoor related adventures. It allowed me to escape what

28
00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:46,880
Speaker 1: I was dealing with at worked for a little while

29
00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,000
Speaker 1: and focus on happier places and memories that were far

30
00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:56,360
Speaker 1: removed from the stress and sadness of my work. My

31
00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,240
Speaker 1: inspiration for writing these stories came after I read a

32
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,280
Speaker 1: book called The Flaming Turkey by mister Robert hit Neil.

33
00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,160
Speaker 1: I read it in nineteen eighty nine for the first

34
00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,960
Speaker 1: time and have read it about every year, just prior

35
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,320
Speaker 1: to Turkey season ever since. I more or less copied

36
00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,520
Speaker 1: his style of writing because it was so descriptive and

37
00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,840
Speaker 1: easy to read. It played like a little movie in

38
00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,679
Speaker 1: my head, and I put myself in his stories as

39
00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,080
Speaker 1: a witness to the events he's describing and instead of

40
00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,480
Speaker 1: being a reader after the fact. For about the last

41
00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:32,959
Speaker 1: thirty five years, I've read that book so many times

42
00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,880
Speaker 1: that I feel like they're my stories too. Uncle Bob,

43
00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:39,800
Speaker 1: as mister Robert likes to be called, has helped me

44
00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,399
Speaker 1: get through a lot of struggles over the last three

45
00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,920
Speaker 1: and a half decades and he doesn't even know it.

46
00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,959
Speaker 1: He's written fourteen books and is still living a good

47
00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:53,200
Speaker 1: life down in Mississippi in his early eighties. Clay even

48
00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,480
Speaker 1: had him on The Bargery's podcast last year telling a story.

49
00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:56,960
Speaker 2: Now.

50
00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,119
Speaker 1: I remember Clay asking me if I had ever heard

51
00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:01,040
Speaker 1: of him, and I about fell out of my chair

52
00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,640
Speaker 1: heard of him. That guy's been one of my greatest inspirations.

53
00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,320
Speaker 1: Clay said, oh, do you know him? No, I've never

54
00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,639
Speaker 1: met him, but we exchanged about five emails in two

55
00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:14,840
Speaker 1: thousand and eight. When I sent him a collection of

56
00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,440
Speaker 1: stories i'd written. He told me he liked them and

57
00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,840
Speaker 1: that others would like to read him too. He would

58
00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:23,320
Speaker 1: help me get them published if i'd get someone to

59
00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,520
Speaker 1: edit them. That was the last correspondence I had with him.

60
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,880
Speaker 1: Life and my job got in the way, and that

61
00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:35,000
Speaker 1: was that I buried those stories in a box and

62
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,360
Speaker 1: dug them up. After I tricked the folks of me

63
00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,320
Speaker 1: Eater into letting me go to work for them. I

64
00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,600
Speaker 1: wasn't writing them to publish a book. I was writing

65
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:47,280
Speaker 1: them to keep from going berserko. And it didn't cure me, obviously,

66
00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:51,920
Speaker 1: but it helped so without further ado here It is

67
00:03:52,960 --> 00:04:01,920
Speaker 1: just like I wrote it twenty years ago. Each spring

68
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,480
Speaker 1: for the past few years, I had been fortunate enough

69
00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,560
Speaker 1: to travel to Missouri, a beautiful state blessed with an

70
00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,880
Speaker 1: abundance of turkeys. My Dad and I stayed with some

71
00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,160
Speaker 1: friends who allowed me to hunt their land. And those

72
00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,279
Speaker 1: are the neighbors who were equally willing to grant my

73
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,320
Speaker 1: passage on their property for one of my greatest passions,

74
00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,200
Speaker 1: chasing turkeys. Now, last spring, my eight year old son

75
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:29,120
Speaker 1: Hunter joined Dad and me. The long trip to Toby

76
00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,120
Speaker 1: and Mary's home was filled with anticipation of repeating my

77
00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:36,360
Speaker 1: previous year's successful hunts, and I hoped that Hunter would

78
00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:40,200
Speaker 1: be able to take his first Missouri gobbler. Now, he'd

79
00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,160
Speaker 1: been allowed to miss a few days of school for

80
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,360
Speaker 1: this adventure with Dad and me. And I'm a strong

81
00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,000
Speaker 1: supporter of education, and I rarely let the little guy

82
00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,000
Speaker 1: miss school, but this was an opportunity for him to

83
00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,440
Speaker 1: spend some time with his grandpa and me in somewhat

84
00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,080
Speaker 1: of an educational setting. Now I learned something on nearly

85
00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,919
Speaker 1: every turkey hunt I go on. Normally, the turkey gives

86
00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:05,279
Speaker 1: me the lessons, and I have been astute in these lessons,

87
00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,480
Speaker 1: learning what I shouldn't have done and realizing too late

88
00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:13,479
Speaker 1: what I should have won, too many calls, or moving

89
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,120
Speaker 1: when I should have stayed where I was, or just

90
00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,000
Speaker 1: generally screwing up my chance and taking home with Gobbler

91
00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,799
Speaker 1: through my lack of patience. The Hunter has turkey hunted

92
00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,520
Speaker 1: with me for the past couple of years, and was

93
00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:28,520
Speaker 1: with me last year when I shot one, and he

94
00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,359
Speaker 1: even took a shot this year and missed his first

95
00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,320
Speaker 1: one by just the narror was the Margins. He had

96
00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,160
Speaker 1: a score to settle with a turkey, and I was

97
00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:38,760
Speaker 1: going to do my best to give him.

98
00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:39,920
Speaker 2: The opportunity to do it.

99
00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:44,240
Speaker 1: The first morning, we dressed as quiet as we could

100
00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:46,600
Speaker 1: and I wanted to wake our hosts, and made our

101
00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:55,200
Speaker 1: way to the Turkey woods. The Hunter was full of

102
00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:57,480
Speaker 1: questions as we left the truck and walked to where

103
00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,440
Speaker 1: we were going to listen from dad. Are we gonna

104
00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,360
Speaker 1: kill a turkey? Can I call to him? How many

105
00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,840
Speaker 1: will we hear? How old were you when you killed

106
00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:08,159
Speaker 1: your first turkey? Who do you think would win in

107
00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:09,839
Speaker 1: a fight between Superman and the Hulk?

108
00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,560
Speaker 2: Well? I answered them.

109
00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:16,159
Speaker 1: As best I could, but I really had to argue

110
00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,279
Speaker 1: with him the fact that Superman can whip anybody. That's

111
00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,880
Speaker 1: why they called him Superman. Yes, Sir, I know he Superman.

112
00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:24,680
Speaker 1: But what if the Hulk picked up an army tank

113
00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,719
Speaker 1: and hit him in the back of the head with it. Well,

114
00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,120
Speaker 1: the Hunk the Hulk wouldn't do that. So they're both

115
00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,839
Speaker 1: good guys, and good guys don't fight each other. Yes, sir,

116
00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:35,960
Speaker 1: I know they're both good guys. But what if Superman

117
00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,960
Speaker 1: drank the last dr Pepper and the Hulk was really thirsty?

118
00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,600
Speaker 1: Superman wouldn't drink the last dr Pepper Hunter without asking

119
00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:45,640
Speaker 1: the rest of the super Friends if they wanted it.

120
00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:46,839
Speaker 2: Yes, Sir, I know.

121
00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:48,960
Speaker 1: But what if the Hulk was in the bathroom and

122
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,800
Speaker 1: he asked everybody else and he didn't hear him. Well,

123
00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,760
Speaker 1: he had me there and I was thinking about my

124
00:06:55,839 --> 00:07:02,559
Speaker 1: answer when thankfully a turkey gobble. Did you hear him? Yes, sir,

125
00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,320
Speaker 1: all right, we gotta be quiet. He's about two hundred

126
00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:11,440
Speaker 1: yards away, so let's get going. We slipped quietly through

127
00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,000
Speaker 1: the woods, me picking and choosing my steps as if

128
00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,560
Speaker 1: I was a lion approaching the herd of Zebras, and

129
00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:21,080
Speaker 1: Hunter breaking every limb he came to, and remembering along

130
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,880
Speaker 1: the way that he had recently learned how to whistle,

131
00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:28,240
Speaker 1: and demonstrating this to all the living creatures with an earshot. Hunter,

132
00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,600
Speaker 1: don't whistle. I'm being a bird daddy, so the turkey

133
00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:34,880
Speaker 1: won't know where after him. Okay, that's a good idea,

134
00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:38,080
Speaker 1: but let's just try sneaking up on him, because birds

135
00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:42,040
Speaker 1: don't whistle jingle bells. We got to the edge of

136
00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,960
Speaker 1: a pasture and a small creek bed lined with oak

137
00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,240
Speaker 1: trees that the gobbler was roosted in. I whispered the hunter.

138
00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,760
Speaker 1: I said, okay, buddy, we're about one hundred yards from him.

139
00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,320
Speaker 1: We got across this fence and set up near that

140
00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,120
Speaker 1: big old tree right there in front of us. I

141
00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,720
Speaker 1: picked him up and I placed him gingerly across that fence,

142
00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,640
Speaker 1: and I was halfway across myself when Hunter said, in

143
00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:12,000
Speaker 1: a not so whispering voice, Dad, look. I froze, terrified

144
00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:14,239
Speaker 1: that the goblin had flown down early in collars before

145
00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,800
Speaker 1: we could set up for him. Where is he, Hunter,

146
00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:21,000
Speaker 1: I whispered, he's right there. I looked where my little

147
00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,480
Speaker 1: buddy was pointing, but I couldn't see anything. Where is he, son,

148
00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,960
Speaker 1: He's right there, he said that. Like I had gone blind.

149
00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,640
Speaker 1: I strained to look in the direction he was pointing,

150
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:32,959
Speaker 1: like I feel. My retiness was about to tear out

151
00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,960
Speaker 1: of my head, and I finally saw a big box

152
00:08:36,040 --> 00:08:38,960
Speaker 1: turtle making his way across that open we had just

153
00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:42,160
Speaker 1: stepped into. Don't do that, hunter, I thought you were

154
00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:46,199
Speaker 1: looking at the turkey. No, sir, ain't that a big turtle? Though, yeah,

155
00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,160
Speaker 1: he is a big turtle. I'd be quiet. We're close

156
00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:54,720
Speaker 1: to the turkey. Turkey began gobbling at nearly every breath,

157
00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,240
Speaker 1: and we set up in a good spot to call

158
00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,440
Speaker 1: to him. The goblet eventually flew down away from where

159
00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,079
Speaker 1: we sat and stopped at the crest of a hill

160
00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,720
Speaker 1: near an old barn, and we slipped as best we

161
00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,240
Speaker 1: could out into the pasture, keeping the crest of the

162
00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,240
Speaker 1: hill between the turkey and us, and Duck walked our

163
00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:14,959
Speaker 1: way to a large wallnut tree, where we sat down,

164
00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:17,920
Speaker 1: hunting in my lap and gun and calls it there ready,

165
00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,920
Speaker 1: I called, and the turkey answered immediately. After a few minutes,

166
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:27,960
Speaker 1: the turkey gobbled again, this time. Morderar left then a

167
00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,599
Speaker 1: few minutes later, back where he had answered me.

168
00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:32,400
Speaker 2: We couldn't see him. He was just out of.

169
00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,960
Speaker 1: Sight, but he was in his strutting zone and was

170
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,080
Speaker 1: waiting for us to come to him. We crawled several

171
00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,560
Speaker 1: different trees, but the turkey never got within sixty yards

172
00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:45,480
Speaker 1: of us. I slipt up behind a tree that we

173
00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:47,880
Speaker 1: were sitting at, and I could see him out there,

174
00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,720
Speaker 1: strutting and putting on a heck of a show. So

175
00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:53,120
Speaker 1: I let hunters stand up behind that tree and look

176
00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,679
Speaker 1: at him. Dad, I see him. He's beautiful. I could

177
00:09:57,720 --> 00:09:59,920
Speaker 1: feel his little heart beating fast as I held him,

178
00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:05,120
Speaker 1: so he could see that turkey. We waited a few minutes,

179
00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:07,800
Speaker 1: and the turkey gobbled again, and this time going down

180
00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:10,240
Speaker 1: the hill toward the little creek where he had come

181
00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:13,680
Speaker 1: from when he roosted. We watched him as he strutted

182
00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:17,040
Speaker 1: into view, just out of Hunter's shooting range and stopping

183
00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,200
Speaker 1: near a big, old, blown down oak tree in the

184
00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:23,160
Speaker 1: middle of that field. A turkey strutted on past the

185
00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,240
Speaker 1: fallen tree and made his way to the creek bed,

186
00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,840
Speaker 1: where he continued to strut and gobble in full view

187
00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:29,480
Speaker 1: of men.

188
00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:29,840
Speaker 2: Hunter.

189
00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:35,520
Speaker 1: Hunter, do you see that blown down tree? Yes, sir, okay,

190
00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:37,800
Speaker 1: do you think you can crawl on your hands and

191
00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,960
Speaker 1: knees behind me to the base of that tree. Yes, sir.

192
00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,240
Speaker 1: I took off my hunting vest, leaving at where we sat,

193
00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,080
Speaker 1: trying to make a small at signature as I could.

194
00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,960
Speaker 1: I got Hunter's twenty gage and we made our way

195
00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,600
Speaker 1: to the base of that clay root, with Hunter in tow,

196
00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,720
Speaker 1: with my heels keeping the tree between the turkey and us.

197
00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:04,360
Speaker 1: Finally we arrived. I placed Hunter right beside me where

198
00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:06,960
Speaker 1: he could see that turkey and propped the shot gunn

199
00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,800
Speaker 1: up on an exposed root, where all he had to

200
00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:13,000
Speaker 1: do was lay across that take steady, aim, and shoot.

201
00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:16,920
Speaker 2: When that turkey got close enough, all we needed him to.

202
00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:21,400
Speaker 1: Do was to come twenty yards closer twenty yards and

203
00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,920
Speaker 1: Hunter would be close enough to take him. We watched

204
00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,920
Speaker 1: him for twenty or thirty minutes and gobbled and strutted

205
00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:30,520
Speaker 1: and strutted and gobbled and answered me every time I

206
00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:32,959
Speaker 1: called to him, but came no closer.

207
00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:35,400
Speaker 2: Dad, He's beautiful.

208
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:37,680
Speaker 1: That's the biggest turkey I ever seen.

209
00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:39,480
Speaker 2: He was right.

210
00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:42,040
Speaker 1: He may be in the biggest turkey I'd ever seen.

211
00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,200
Speaker 1: His beard was thick and long, and I could see

212
00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:47,160
Speaker 1: the huge spurs he was sporting from sixty yards away.

213
00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,200
Speaker 1: I was lost on what to do. I couldn't figure

214
00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:53,480
Speaker 1: out how to get this turkey to close that last

215
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:55,800
Speaker 1: twenty yards for Hunter to get a shot. And I

216
00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:00,559
Speaker 1: tried everything short of letting Hunter whistle jingle bells at him.

217
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,160
Speaker 1: I let him call to him using my old box call,

218
00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:07,000
Speaker 1: and we both grinned and giggled. When that gobbler answered him,

219
00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:09,920
Speaker 1: he was so proud. How come he ain't coming?

220
00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:10,319
Speaker 2: Dad?

221
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:13,000
Speaker 1: Well, I told him, he wants to see the hen

222
00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,840
Speaker 1: that's making all these calls. Dad, We need to stick

223
00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,200
Speaker 1: up one of our decoys. Now, why hadn't I thought

224
00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:23,720
Speaker 1: of that? I took Hunter's shotgun, I unloaded it, and

225
00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:25,560
Speaker 1: I placed it on the ground away from where he

226
00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:28,600
Speaker 1: was laying watching the turkey. I said, okay, Son, I

227
00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,520
Speaker 1: got a crawl back to where I left my vest

228
00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:33,240
Speaker 1: and get the decoy. Can you wait here and keep

229
00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:35,720
Speaker 1: an eye on that turkey? Yes, sir, you want me

230
00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,640
Speaker 1: to call at him or whistle to him. I was like, no, No,

231
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:43,200
Speaker 1: don't do that, just be still and watch him.

232
00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:43,520
Speaker 2: Well.

233
00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:46,040
Speaker 1: I crawled back up that hill, not unlike the turtle

234
00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:50,520
Speaker 1: we had seen earlier, and about the same speed. Carefully

235
00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:53,760
Speaker 1: I found every sharp rock that I had somehow missed

236
00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,040
Speaker 1: on our way down the hill, but grabbing the vest,

237
00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:00,679
Speaker 1: I slowly inched around on my belly to make my

238
00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,920
Speaker 1: way back to where Hunter was. And that's when I

239
00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,199
Speaker 1: saw a sight that will forever be burned in my memory.

240
00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:09,520
Speaker 1: I was three quarters of the way up that hill

241
00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:12,520
Speaker 1: from the turkey that I could plainly sing down below,

242
00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:15,320
Speaker 1: a strutting as he had been all morning. Beside that

243
00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:20,960
Speaker 1: small flowing creek. The blowdown tree lay pointing away from me,

244
00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,880
Speaker 1: and there lay my son at the base, dressed in

245
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:29,320
Speaker 1: full camouflage, peeking from around the mount of dirt and roots,

246
00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:32,360
Speaker 1: and watching that turkey as I did from thirty yards

247
00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:36,400
Speaker 1: above him. And the morning sun was bright, and the

248
00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:38,840
Speaker 1: green of spring was everywhere, and it was the first

249
00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,360
Speaker 1: time I had heard all the birds that were singing

250
00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:46,400
Speaker 1: that morning. I smelled the yellow jasmine as it wafted

251
00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:50,120
Speaker 1: across the hillside, and a cool breeze was moving the leaves,

252
00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,040
Speaker 1: and I longed for a camera to capture the moment

253
00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:57,880
Speaker 1: that no artist would ever duplicate. I wanted so badly

254
00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,760
Speaker 1: for everyone I knew to see what I was seeing.

255
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:06,440
Speaker 1: A beautiful day, a majestic creature, and my son, who

256
00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,760
Speaker 1: was now experiencing the sights and sounds, the smells and

257
00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,000
Speaker 1: the feelings that I could never explain to anyone that

258
00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:14,959
Speaker 1: has never experienced on firsthand.

259
00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:17,080
Speaker 2: I didn't want to move.

260
00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:19,880
Speaker 1: I wanted to stay right there and watch the whole

261
00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,960
Speaker 1: thing unfold in front of Hunter and try to interpret

262
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,000
Speaker 1: what he was thinking and feeling as he stared so

263
00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:30,200
Speaker 1: intently at that turkey. Hunter glanced back at me and

264
00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:32,480
Speaker 1: gave me a big smile and the thumbs up.

265
00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:34,479
Speaker 2: I returned.

266
00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:36,800
Speaker 1: I returned the signal, and I fought the tears that

267
00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,640
Speaker 1: were welling up in my eyes, and I paused a

268
00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:41,359
Speaker 1: moment to thank the Good Lord.

269
00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:43,080
Speaker 2: For all he had given me that morning.

270
00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:46,880
Speaker 1: I made my way back to Hunter's location, and with

271
00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:48,600
Speaker 1: that decoy in the hand, and we sat it up

272
00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,840
Speaker 1: and called and Gobble responded as he had all morning.

273
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,040
Speaker 1: But eventually he walked away with a hen that had

274
00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:59,160
Speaker 1: come to him from across that little creek. After he left,

275
00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,240
Speaker 1: we said up against that old tree, and we talked

276
00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,680
Speaker 1: about what we had seen that morning. Wasn't he pretty daddy?

277
00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:07,200
Speaker 1: Did you see him?

278
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:08,560
Speaker 2: Gobble? When I called to him?

279
00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:12,520
Speaker 1: We did our secret handshake that only he and I

280
00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,040
Speaker 1: know about. That not only makes us both look really cool,

281
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:18,760
Speaker 1: but so we could identify each other should we ever

282
00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:22,720
Speaker 1: be confronted with an imposture of ourselves. He held my

283
00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,440
Speaker 1: hand as we walked off that heeling and made our

284
00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,680
Speaker 1: way back to the truck. I remember that like it

285
00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,240
Speaker 1: was this morning. He's twenty five now, and I'd hold

286
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,560
Speaker 1: his hand right now if he'd let me. I wonder

287
00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,840
Speaker 1: where that turtle wind? He said, Dad? Do turkeys eat grass?

288
00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,240
Speaker 1: I wonder what Miss Harris is reading in my class today.

289
00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:45,880
Speaker 1: This is fun, ain't it. Who do you think would

290
00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,880
Speaker 1: win if Batman Spider Man got in a fight?

291
00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,960
Speaker 2: Well, I don't. I don't know who'd win that us so.

292
00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:57,000
Speaker 1: But I do know that that's just how that happened.

293
00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:10,720
Speaker 1: Turkey season is here for some of us, and will

294
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,720
Speaker 1: be for more of us as we finally start easing

295
00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,320
Speaker 1: into spring. My fall and winter are my favorite times

296
00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:20,040
Speaker 1: of year. With the majority of hunting seasons in swing,

297
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,560
Speaker 1: I look forward to this time of year as much

298
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:27,680
Speaker 1: as anything. Unfortunately, it doesn't last long down here. Just

299
00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,440
Speaker 1: in the last couple of weeks, I've run the heat

300
00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,080
Speaker 1: and the air conditioning in the same day of alternated

301
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,560
Speaker 1: coon hunting to night and t shirts and heavy coats.

302
00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,000
Speaker 1: Crazy weather comes this time of year too, and when

303
00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,520
Speaker 1: you grow up dodging springtime tornadoes, you make a habit

304
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:47,040
Speaker 1: out of keeping an eye on the weather. But every

305
00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:50,240
Speaker 1: year I make a pilgrimage to central Missouri and hunt

306
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,880
Speaker 1: on land that I've been making tracks on for more

307
00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:56,560
Speaker 1: than a score of years. My friends Toby married Jean

308
00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:59,800
Speaker 1: and Jolie and Jason have been more than kind to

309
00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,280
Speaker 1: an Arkie that fell in love with that whole family

310
00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:06,680
Speaker 1: from the moment I met him. Toby and my dad

311
00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:09,280
Speaker 1: were great friends and bought and sold running dogs and

312
00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,120
Speaker 1: cold honted together. They invited me to come up when

313
00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:17,240
Speaker 1: they're now grown girls were just in elementary school. It

314
00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:19,639
Speaker 1: was like for a week each April, I was the

315
00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,480
Speaker 1: crazy uncle that moved in, and they seemed to look

316
00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:25,040
Speaker 1: forward to it as much as I did and still do,

317
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,959
Speaker 1: although I seriously doubt it. But I started going up

318
00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,600
Speaker 1: there with my dad, who liked to travel and go

319
00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,679
Speaker 1: places and see things and then see how fast he

320
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,959
Speaker 1: could get back home. Now they used to drive me nuts.

321
00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,000
Speaker 1: When I go somewhere I want to take it all in,

322
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:43,320
Speaker 1: see all I can see, and hunt till I limit

323
00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,560
Speaker 1: out or the season closes. But Dad wasn't a turkey

324
00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,720
Speaker 1: under He was just hanging out with Toby and knocking around,

325
00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,520
Speaker 1: fishing and messing around, hoping I'd hurry up and kill

326
00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,280
Speaker 1: the turkey so we could go home. He was with

327
00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:57,520
Speaker 1: me and Hunter on that trip I talked about in

328
00:17:57,560 --> 00:18:01,240
Speaker 1: the opening story. I missed him not being with me

329
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,000
Speaker 1: on the last eleven trips I've made up there, and

330
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:08,000
Speaker 1: I missed him cooking fish. And every year someone brings

331
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:09,960
Speaker 1: up the story when he put too much salt in

332
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,160
Speaker 1: the corn mill and we were frying fish one time.

333
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,360
Speaker 1: Then when we started eating Marying, Toby and I took

334
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:17,840
Speaker 1: a bite and felt like we'd all found Jimmy Buffet's

335
00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:22,639
Speaker 1: lost shaker assault. We'd laugh at all those things and

336
00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:25,359
Speaker 1: talk about how much we miss him and the others

337
00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,399
Speaker 1: who've gone on too, like mister Max. Mister Max was

338
00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,080
Speaker 1: ninety when he left us three years ago, and he

339
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,760
Speaker 1: was a turkey killing machine well up into his eighties.

340
00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:38,480
Speaker 1: I got to hunt with him several times, and he

341
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:43,120
Speaker 1: was something special, to say the least, and I miss him.

342
00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:47,320
Speaker 1: Peyton and Emily Toby's and Mary's little girls who are

343
00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,720
Speaker 1: now grown. I watched them grow up from giggling little

344
00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:54,720
Speaker 1: kids to being grown. One of my favorite memories is

345
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,399
Speaker 1: sitting on the front porch in the afternoon waiting on

346
00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:00,199
Speaker 1: the girls to get off the bus. I'd hunt it

347
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,720
Speaker 1: all morning, right up to quitting time at noon, and

348
00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:05,879
Speaker 1: hadn't been back to the house long one they were

349
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,520
Speaker 1: due to get home. Toby and I watched as those

350
00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:12,080
Speaker 1: little gals ran up the driveway with their backpacks, giggling

351
00:19:12,080 --> 00:19:15,840
Speaker 1: and laughing all the way until almost to the porch. Emily,

352
00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:18,760
Speaker 1: who couldn't have been more than six or seven, skinny

353
00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,200
Speaker 1: as a reiling, pretty as a picture and her little dress,

354
00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:23,960
Speaker 1: walked over to that fenced in lot that held a

355
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:28,200
Speaker 1: milk cow named Tea Bone. Sweetly, she called that cow

356
00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,639
Speaker 1: to come over to where she stood next to the

357
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,760
Speaker 1: barb wire fence, and in my mind I thought how

358
00:19:33,800 --> 00:19:37,080
Speaker 1: sweet it was that this little angel had missed her

359
00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,440
Speaker 1: pet cow while being at school all day and wanted

360
00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:42,639
Speaker 1: to say hello and tell her that she was back home.

361
00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,400
Speaker 1: A giant of a cow that towered over Emily slowly

362
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:50,119
Speaker 1: walked over to her. I swear it looked like a

363
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,320
Speaker 1: scene out of a Hallmark movie in until that sweet

364
00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,360
Speaker 1: little angel reared back with the rock she had hid

365
00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,840
Speaker 1: in her hand and drilled that bovine in the top

366
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:03,680
Speaker 1: of the head with a smile confastball that didn't cause

367
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:07,679
Speaker 1: that cow to blank, much less breakstride. Then she skipped

368
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,400
Speaker 1: the rest of the way up the drive and smiled

369
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,040
Speaker 1: at me as she walked in the house. We still

370
00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:17,000
Speaker 1: laugh about that. I brought a lot of turkeys home

371
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,840
Speaker 1: from up there. But the best thing I've taken away

372
00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,960
Speaker 1: from the show me stayed is the memories and relationships

373
00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:26,080
Speaker 1: with those I look forward to seeing every turkey season,

374
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,040
Speaker 1: and who I stay in contact with all year long.

375
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,520
Speaker 1: It's never been about the turkey hunting, even when I

376
00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:37,200
Speaker 1: thought it was. It was my therapy and it gave

377
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,000
Speaker 1: me the stories and experiences that eventually led me to

378
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:45,280
Speaker 1: sharing them with Robert Neil and others by writing them down,

379
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,840
Speaker 1: which in turn through the most crooked pathway ever conceived

380
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:53,919
Speaker 1: as me sitting here now sharing them with you. It

381
00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:57,679
Speaker 1: started out as a turkey hunting and morphed into something bigger,

382
00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,320
Speaker 1: and it took years for me to see exactly what

383
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,840
Speaker 1: it was. I've taken others with me over the years

384
00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,400
Speaker 1: up there, and even from the Bear Greece road show

385
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:11,359
Speaker 1: Installmuth that'll be dropping soon on our YouTube channel. The

386
00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,240
Speaker 1: point of this whole episode is to encourage you to

387
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,280
Speaker 1: find your turkey season therapy.

388
00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:19,159
Speaker 2: Spoiler alert.

389
00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,199
Speaker 1: It doesn't have to be turkey hunting or limited to

390
00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:28,000
Speaker 1: one thing. Just find yourself some good folks and spend

391
00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,879
Speaker 1: time with them, regardless of the activity. I'm forever indebted

392
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,320
Speaker 1: to that family up there, and that has done more

393
00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,560
Speaker 1: for me than they'll ever know, just by being hospitable

394
00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,679
Speaker 1: and allowing me to have a place to gather with

395
00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:44,840
Speaker 1: them and enjoy each other's company and celebrate both of

396
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:47,600
Speaker 1: our families as one, both past and present.

397
00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:49,879
Speaker 2: That's good stuff.

398
00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:03,640
Speaker 1: Tomorrow, March ninth, is the Black Bear Bonanza in Bentonville, Arkansas,

399
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,800
Speaker 1: where I'll be gathered with Clay bow in a multitude

400
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 1: of our closest friends, some of which we hadn't even

401
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:14,480
Speaker 1: met yet. I hope to see you there until next week.

402
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,920
Speaker 1: This is Britt Reeves signing off.

403
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:18,800
Speaker 2: Y'all be careful