WEBVTT - Ep. 98: Spring Turkey Stories 2023 (Part 1) 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.400 And so I called Papa. He goes, hey, I'm back 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:12.000 here with Mama. She's fixing the in surgery, and I said, 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:14.920 I need your help. I'm on a turkey. He's down 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.040 here in the road. I need to know what to do. 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:19.560 And I can hear Mama on the background. She's fitting, 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:21.120 you know, she's getting ready to their prepen her and 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:22.919 she goes, Steve, you need to help him with get 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:24.480 that turkey. You know, you need to help him get 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:28.400 that turkey. It's open Mike Night at the Bear Grease 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:30.920 Home Fire, and I'm giving the stage to some of 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.400 the best turkey hunters. I know. It's mid March. The 0:00:34.520 --> 0:00:37.680 days are getting longer, the sarvice berry blooms are popping, 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:42.320 and the stories are flowing like clear mountain streams. Turkey 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:46.159 tales aren't just for entertainment, but they export, in words 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:49.159 and spirit, a picture of the dedication of a unique 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.839 band of brothers, a tribe of people bonded together by 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:57.400 a ground nesting gobbling bird. These stories give a glimpse 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:02.080 into the joys, tribulations, and passions of the American turkey hunter. 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.199 It's an odd thing that a feathered beast would grip 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.399 a heart so tightly it really doesn't even make sense. 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:12.280 But a goblin spring turkey is as dynamic of a 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:17.320 combination of audio, sensation, challenging the hunt, and visual imagery 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.960 as there is in the natural world. A strutton gobbler 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.959 rivals in beauty and mystique of breaching humpback well in 0:01:25.000 --> 0:01:28.880 the North Atlantic, a big horn sheep on a mountain crag, 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.600 or even the great scenes of the African savannah teeming 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:37.039 with migrating herds of ungulates. A goblin turkey is the 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:41.080 real deal. Add in the backdrop of the spring woods 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:46.039 metamorphizing into brilliant hues of green, and it's almost unreal. 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:51.200 On this episode we're celebrating the wild turkey and the hunt. 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.720 We'll hear about a white turkey in Tennessee, a story 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.640 where a hunter caught on fire it's not a joke, 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:00.160 and a turkey that had the gobbles shout out out 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:03.320 of him, and will end with a story that might 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:07.440 bring a tear to your eye. I really doubt that 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:10.160 you're gonna want to miss this one and one more 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:12.760 thing before we get going. You can go to the 0:02:12.880 --> 0:02:16.360 meat Eater YouTube channel and check out three videos that 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:19.720 I made called the Bear Grease Road Show. There is 0:02:19.760 --> 0:02:22.440 a video that we did about Warner Glenn, who we 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.520 also did a podcast about. There's a video about the 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:28.959 Fulsome Archaeological site and a bear hunt that I did 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:31.720 with a folsome point. Also something we did on a 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:35.480 Bear Grease series. And lastly there's a video about plot 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.639 hounds and Appalachia. Go check all that out. Daddy got 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.560 his gun up and the turkey's right there, and all 0:02:42.560 --> 0:02:47.640 of a sudden he's he smells something smells warm, and 0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:51.000 then he looked down and he sees smoke coming up 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:53.320 out of his pocket. He said, you might be interested 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.280 to know that pockets not only burned to the outside, 0:02:56.280 --> 0:03:07.640 they burned to the inside too. My name is Clay Nukem, 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.160 and this is the Bear Grease Podcast, where we'll explore 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:15.880 things forgotten but relevant, search for insight and unlikely places, 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:19.720 and where we'll tell the story of Americans who live 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:24.840 their lives close to the land. Presented by f HF Gear, 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:30.040 American made purpose built hunting and fishing gear that's designed 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:32.799 to be as rugged as the place as we explore. 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:43.840 I love turkey stories and always have. The telling of 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.880 stories is an important part of the culture where I 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.040 grew up, and maybe it's the same where you came from. 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.840 A good story is like money in the bank. You 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.720 can withdraw it when you need it, and it draws 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:59.560 interest with time. It gets better the more that it's told. 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:04.760 Being a good storyteller, to me, isn't about flashy details 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:09.000 and oratory pizzas. It's about a payoff being delivered to 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:11.080 the listener, and it can come in a lot of 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:15.080 different ways. Some great stories I've heard come with a 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:20.000 monotone delivery and with minimal hand gestures, but the frequency 0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:23.440 omitted by the teller confronted the listener with the display 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.840 of moral character, the execution of wit, or the joy 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:31.080 trial and tragedy of the sliver of time described. Some 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:35.839 storytellers carry a contagious passion and their personal investment in 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:39.159 the story is sensed, and all the very best ones 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:42.200 have a high degree of that. We all want to 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.240 listen to folks that have a zeal and passion for life, 0:04:45.560 --> 0:04:48.480 someone who can describe with clarity what it feels like 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:52.159 to look through their eyes. We learn when we see 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:55.719 what someone else sees. We want to hear someone who's 0:04:55.760 --> 0:05:00.440 willing to tell the truth and authenticity Trump's pizzas. Every 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.720 time we learn how to communicate by listening to other 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:09.000 people's stories. Communication is everything in the successful execution of 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:11.279 being a human. If you are looking for a great 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.360 self help area to focus on in twenty twenty three 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:17.680 that would improve every area of your life, increasing your 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:21.640 communication skills would be hard to talk and it isn't 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:26.400 just a sequence of words. AI can produce words and sequence, 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:31.200 but the passion, energy, spirit, and intent behind words give 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:35.960 it life and meaning. You're about to hear eight different 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:39.400 stories from turkey chasers from the ages of nineteen to 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:43.760 eighty one, and before we get going, just be patient. 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.680 Here my brothers stories delivered different kinds of value. Sometimes 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.920 a turkey story describes a tactic, the behavior of turkeys, 0:05:52.160 --> 0:05:54.880 or introduces us to a new skill. The story is 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.360 really functional and it helps us. Sometimes we don't learn much, 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:01.800 but we're highly entertained. But one of my favorites is 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:05.480 when a story exposes the broader life of the teller. 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:09.359 It's usually a small window, but they'll show their cards 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.159 to you if you're paying attention enough for ambling, and 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:15.200 you boys know I love to do it. I want 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.120 to hear some turkey stories and we're coming in hot 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.760 with this first one with none other than a Bear 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:25.480 Grease favorite, Andy Brown of Western Arkansas. He's a masterful 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:29.200 woodsman and turkey hunter, and his passion shines through in 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:33.159 every story he tells. I know you're gonna enjoy this one. 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.600 You know, I have been fortunate. I have really been 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:40.240 fortunate in my life to be able to have hunted 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.400 with some really really good turkey hunters. Of course, had 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:45.480 a lot of fun. I mean, yeah, we were serious 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:48.240 about what we did, but I mean we kind of 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:50.400 like to gig each other and you know, have a 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:53.919 little fun with each other. But one story, Jim fight, 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.359 and he was a dear friend of mine. He always 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:00.200 called me Andrew. That's what he always at. Andrew wanted 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.800 to go turkey hid never been before in his life. 0:07:02.880 --> 0:07:04.960 That's back when I was I mean I was really 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:07.560 eat up with it. And of course where we lived 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:09.800 at that time was right in the heart and soul 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.200 of it. I mean I could stand on my deck 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:16.280 any morning from the tenth day of March till May 0:07:16.400 --> 0:07:19.840 one and hear turkey's gobbling from my deck. And what 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:22.480 was funny about that? I had all those turkeys out 0:07:22.480 --> 0:07:24.880 there and I'd drive twenty miles to go hunt. You know, 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:27.360 I've had this stupid stuff like that, But but I 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:29.240 had places I liked to hunt, and guys I'd like 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:30.880 to hunt with it. But anyway, Jim one to go, 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:34.000 and he'd never been and he did have some camouflage 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.200 and I think he barred a pair of gloves and 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:37.840 a face mask. Farm me and he come over one 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:40.520 morning and I can remember this just like it was yesterday. 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.400 He had he had a sweet sixteen browning shot down. 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:45.680 But he shows up and we go in there north 0:07:45.720 --> 0:07:47.920 of the house and pulled it on the side of 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:50.280 the main mountain on the north side, and got up 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:51.880 in there. And that back in those days, that's when 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:54.320 there wouldn't be a leaf on the side of that mountain. 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.720 It wasn't turned over by turkey scratching. I mean there 0:07:56.800 --> 0:07:59.560 was people would not believe it, that didn't know it, 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:03.920 that was slacking. We moved out there in eighty four, 0:08:04.600 --> 0:08:06.840 but that mountain it just like you took a tiber 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:09.880 in there and just till the leaves. But anyway, we 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:11.440 pulled it there on the mountain where I thought we 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.520 weren't going to be in the chips and of course naturally, 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.240 you know how that goes. You're trying to be the 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:18.520 big bad turkey hunter and you take somebody's never been 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:20.080 you get up there and that the turkey's ain't goble. 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:22.080 But no, there's just mornings that they're over the hump, 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:24.080 you know, you're on one side of the mountain and 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:25.680 they're on the other side of the mountain, or some 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:28.000 mornings they just don't want to gobble. But anyway, we 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.640 hadn't heard a thing, and I told Jim, of course 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:32.360 I had to go to work. It was before work 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:34.480 one morning, and I said to Jim, we'll just have 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:36.200 to done here for day. It's just not working out. 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:38.840 So we had back off this long leg and down 0:08:38.880 --> 0:08:40.360 at the end of it as an old whale down there. 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:41.800 And we got to the whale, I heard a turkey 0:08:41.800 --> 0:08:44.520 gobble down in the floor woods kind of northeast of 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:46.040 it's over, And I said, you hear that, and he said, 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:47.960 I thought it did. By the time he gobble again. 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:52.160 And man, is about probably eight thirty that dude putting 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:56.080 in over, I mean gobbling every breath. And I said, 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:57.839 come old, let's go. If I said, we're gonna kill 0:08:57.880 --> 0:08:59.559 that dude, I mean, he's just one of them. You 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.680 tell the way he's gobbling, you're gonna kill him. And 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:04.360 when we got down there where he was at, he 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:06.719 was an old road. There's a kind of a big 0:09:06.800 --> 0:09:08.320 ridge in there, and there's no old road come off 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:11.240 the south side of it there, and I got Old Jim. 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.320 We didn't. We didn't stay on the maid road. We 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:17.160 kind of got off the road. I didn't there wasn't 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:18.920 really a place you could get and shoot down the road. 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:20.880 But I knew that turkey's gonna come down that road. 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.160 And so right off the road there was a little 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.360 old kind of a dry branch there in the hump, 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:27.199 just a little old ridge there, and I got Jim 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:29.240 out there and he laid down on his belly. Of 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:31.200 course I put it on that turkey, and he just 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.920 gobbling every breath, and I mean I was, of course, 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:35.880 I showed down a little bit. I was hammering him, 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:38.679 you know, and he was Everything was just like you 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:43.320 wanted it just come just drumming and gobbling. And I 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.240 got behind a little old white oak probably wasn't ten 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:49.480 inches in diameter, and I knew I didn't have to hide. 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:52.840 You know, this is gonna be short and sweet. Anyway, 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.560 I look out there, here comes that turkey down the road. 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:57.480 He's all blowed up. He comes right in there, and 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.480 there's a trail that comes in and Jim's sitting there 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.240 or laying there on his belt, and he's guy's gun 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.920 on that on that turkey. And that turkey just kept 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:06.880 coming right too. Mean, he got delf done and that 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:10.280 that little old deal there, and I don't know, Jim 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:12.840 moved or something, and of course the turkey went to clucking, 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.160 and about the time he went to clucking, he went 0:10:15.200 --> 0:10:17.840 to flying. And I knew then that Jim wasn't going 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:20.040 to shoot. And so anyway, of course I cut drive 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.520 at him, never cut a feather on him. And uh, 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.200 I said, I has been out of shape, you know, 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:28.520 because I mean it's it was a sure enough deal. 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.040 I said, Jim, how come you didn't shoot that turkey? 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.000 He said, Andrew, He said, all I could see was 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:46.439 his head. I said, well, Jim, that's what she's supposed 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:50.040 to be shoot a but yeah, that's all I can 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:55.800 see was his head. Oh my goodness, all I could 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:58.760 see was his head. It's hard not to laugh with 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:02.920 Andy when he hits the punchline. Of his story. On 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:06.200 this next one, we're in for another treat because it's 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.840 being told by none other than Bear Grease Hall of 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:12.760 Famer Roy Clark of East Tennessee. Mister Roy is in 0:11:12.800 --> 0:11:15.800 his mid seventies and he's as good a hound breeder 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.000 and bear hunter as God ever made. As a matter 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.440 of fact, I just made a video about him and 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:23.839 his plot hounds that just came out on the Meat 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:26.800 Eater YouTube channel. You should check it out. What a 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.040 lot of people wouldn't know about mister Roy is that 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.120 he's a dang good turkey hunter. He doesn't talk about 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.800 it much, but a few years ago I asked if 0:11:34.800 --> 0:11:37.200 he'd had a good spring, and he told me he'd 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.400 killed five gobblers, three in Tennessee and a couple in 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:44.880 North Carolina. Here's mister Roy's story of the white turkey. 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:51.520 I'm just gonna tell about a East Tennessee turkey hunting 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:56.800 event above home. I heard about this white turkey to 0:11:57.080 --> 0:12:00.480 my brother, and I know the two boys that opposing 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:04.000 has seen the turkey, and they was out drinking and uh, 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:06.880 and I know both of them, but I know one 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:10.000 of them was pretty truthful. So I went and talked 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:12.960 to him about it, and he told me what they're 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:16.040 seeing and were they seen it? And so I told 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:20.319 my son in last got childress about it, and meant 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:22.920 him went up there to see if we could see 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:26.360 it or find it. And we went up our one morning, 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:30.080 poor daylight, and we heard it a goblin, and we 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.360 was close to it, but we worked our way before 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:35.760 daylight and got close enough to we could see the 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:39.199 tree is in, and when it got daylight we could 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:42.760 see it had a lot of white on him and 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:46.120 hit gobbling on the roost and stuff. And then when 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:48.920 it finally flew off the roosts, instead of flying down, 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:52.960 it flew out of there, flew out of sight, and 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.720 we never did cheer it no more. And we wound 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:59.720 up going back several times, and every time we'd go, 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.400 we'd locate it and we'd get close to it, but 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:06.720 it would sail out and leave, and then it wouldn't 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:09.400 gobble after he hit the ground, and we wouldn't never 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:13.320 know where it went to. We done this slate, and 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:17.200 we'd done the box, and we'd done mouth calls, we'd 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:21.400 done everything, and we hunted it for two weeks on 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.440 the etning and said after he'd come in from work, 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:29.040 and when he was off, we'd go over morning and eating. 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:34.080 And we went up our one Friday morning and Hit 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.880 was roosting on top of the mountain. We climb up 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:39.880 that mountain and got under the tree, but like I said, 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:42.560 every time, he'd just sail out and sail that you 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:45.679 couldn't see it. So we went back on Saturday morning 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:48.000 and it was a gobbling up our on top that 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:51.280 mountain again, and I told Scott, I said, I ain't 0:13:51.320 --> 0:13:54.480 going up our no more. I ain't climbing that mountain 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:56.920 for it. And he'd sailed an all our said you 0:13:57.040 --> 0:13:59.280 can if you want to, So he decided he isn't 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:02.840 going up our, and I just stayed down Therefore, well, 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.880 we'd parked at and I walked around the road until 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:09.200 I got straight down under where it's at, and went 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:12.080 up in the woods and got me a place where 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:16.080 I could still see the road, but right undry, and 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:19.200 the process of hit it get in daylight and hit 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:22.240 a goblin up hour. I heared his hend and she 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.240 was in a tree just twenty five or thirty foot 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:29.600 from me, so directly he that Tom sailed out ire 0:14:29.640 --> 0:14:31.920 and I'd tell you it was one hundred foot over 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:35.760 the top of the trees and over top of my head, 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:37.840 and it just sailed right on buy me and just 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.680 kept right on going to it went out of sight. Well, 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:44.560 I thought to myself, he's gone again. And I tried 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.360 to call Scott on the walkie talking to tell him 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.560 he's gone, but he didn't answer me. He didn't know 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.320 whether it flew down up what he'd done. He just 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:57.800 knowed it come out of the tree. And I decided 0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:00.800 I just sit there and wait till that hen see 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:04.600 what that hen done. So I sat there, and after 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.760 a while she just steezed off of the roofs and 0:15:07.880 --> 0:15:11.560 just barely sailed down toward the road and sailed around 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:14.920 the road, just like gliding, and ten foot of the 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:18.240 road and going around the road the way the road lay, 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:21.280 and went out of my side around the curve. And 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.840 when she did, I got up and got all my 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.840 stuff together and thought i'd might start making my way 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.200 back towards the vehicle. And I got down there, but 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:32.240 I was gonna watch see if I could see that 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:36.800 hen anymore. And I was a coming around the road, 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:38.800 and I walked around the curve and I looked, and 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.400 I seen that sucker strutting out there in the road, 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.640 and I got on a little bit closer there, stayed 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.680 to the side the curve where it couldn't see me, 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:52.360 and I got just a little bit closer, and I 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:55.320 could see that Hen was out there, squatted down out 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:57.920 there in the edge of the grace, and that tom 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.320 was a strutting around her. Well, I just stepped to 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:04.440 the side there and got all my stuff off and 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:07.680 got rid and i'd peep around ore where I could 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.040 see him. And when he turned his back, tom In 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:14.240 was strutting back away from me. I took two steps 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:16.480 out in the road and he strutted a rounding up 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:19.640 the side of that Hen, turned and strutted back down 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.080 and started back around towards me. And I let him 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:27.360 have it and folded him up right there in the road, 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.320 and I went out there, and he was a flopping. 0:16:30.400 --> 0:16:33.800 I didn't want to touch feathers up, and so I 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.040 got it by both back legs and held it up, 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:37.960 and Scott was a hollering at me on the radio. 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:40.240 Did I get it? Did I get it? And I 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.520 had to hold the turkey with both backed feed holding it, 0:16:44.200 --> 0:16:46.920 and hit finally quit our drink, and I called Scott 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.520 and told him I had it, and he'd come down there. 0:16:49.600 --> 0:16:54.400 And we've seen turkeys spangled up, and turkeys was white 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:57.160 on them and stuff all been hens, but this is 0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:01.320 the first time that we ever seen it was colored 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:06.000 up with white tips on its feathers and white spot 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:11.440 on both sides of its wings, and actually a purdy turkey. 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:15.600 And so I wanted to have it fixed because I 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:18.679 knowed that I never could get another one fixed. And 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:22.200 Mark duff rained up in mine, of buddy of mine. 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.199 He took it and fixed it, and and he mounted 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:27.760 a lot of stuff, and he actually said he was 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:30.240 a burdish one he ever seen. I think it was, 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:33.240 And that shorder end of my turkey hunting. I didn't 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:37.359 think I could ever tap at. So I disorder retarded 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:43.720 from turkey hunting. That white turkey put mister Roy into retirement. 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:46.080 I'm not sure how I feel about that, but the 0:17:46.080 --> 0:17:49.560 gobblers in East Tennessee are probably better off on account 0:17:49.560 --> 0:17:53.040 of it. Mister Roy is a national treasure. The dear 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.760 friend of mine, I gotta kick out of how he 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.480 said the boys that first saw that white turkey were 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.920 out drinking, but he knew one of them was pretty truthful. 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:13.920 That's good man. We got the story stacked in here deep. 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:18.840 Our next story is told by Mississippi native author, former 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:23.400 old MISSUS football player, and turkey hunter extraordinaire, mister Robert 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.800 hit Neil Junior. He's eighty one years young and this 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.800 is an old story about his dad. He calls the 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:39.240 Flaming turkey hunter on Woodstock Island. The hunt cabin that 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:41.680 we had over there, which had been a sharecropper's cabin, 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:45.400 is probably now a hundred years old, made out of Cyprus. 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:49.080 And I was standing on the poech of the cabin 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:52.919 because the weekend was about over. My brother and I 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:56.440 had killed turkeys, and I was sweeping the poech off 0:18:56.480 --> 0:19:00.719 and Bo was inside packing and cleaning up. And my daddy, 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.560 Big Robert. Big Robert didn't look like John Wayne. John 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.960 Wayne looked like Big Robert. He was about six two 0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:11.959 and a half, big, wide shouldered man, trim waste, you know. 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:15.880 He was that kind of guy. And he hadn't had 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:19.160 any luck the whole turkey season. This was the last 0:19:19.240 --> 0:19:22.679 weekend of the season. Bow and I, that's my brother. 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:26.919 Bow and I had killed seven turkeys between us, and 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.760 so the pressure was really on Daddy. He hadn't even 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:33.280 gotten a shot, so he was still in the woods hunting, 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:36.320 and I'm out on the porch sweeping it off. And 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:39.280 then I hear the jeep coming and he pulls up 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:43.040 into the yard and he sits there, cuts the chief 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:44.879 off and he just sits there and you see his 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.760 hands gripping the wheel. And so I put the broom 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.520 against the wall and went down the steps and walked 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:53.520 over to the jeep. I think he maybe wants me 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:55.920 to help carry his turkeys in or something like that, 0:19:56.000 --> 0:20:00.440 you know. And got there and no turkeys, and he's 0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:03.080 sitting there and his jaw just working, you know, that 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.880 muscle comes out the jaw bone, just working. And I said, 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.560 is anything wrong? He said, where's boat? I said, he's 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.400 inside sweeping the cabin. You want me to go get 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:17.880 And he says, now, this story is too good to keep, 0:20:17.960 --> 0:20:19.800 but I've been if i'll tell both of you at 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:23.480 the same time. And he told me that he'd been 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.000 out there in the woods about ten o'clock, hadn't heard 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.200 of a turkey or seeing a turkey. And Daddy smoke 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:33.600 about three packs cigarettes today, and he's sitting there on 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.639 a log and he gets his cigarette out and he 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:38.639 puts in his mouth, and then he puts a cigarette 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.080 package back in the pocket, and he gets the lighter 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:44.480 out and he lights it, and he's sticking the lighter 0:20:44.520 --> 0:20:47.320 back in his pocket when he looked up and a 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.840 gobbler standing about twenty yards away just stepped out from 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:55.680 behind a big supersymmetry. And turkeys are real weary birds. 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:58.440 He knew that you ought not to go breathing big 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:00.840 clouds of blue smoke at him when they were standing 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:05.080 there looking at you, And so he just froze right 0:21:05.119 --> 0:21:07.680 there with his hand in his pocket, put the lighter 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:11.920 back and didn't exhale until the turkey took another step 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:15.360 or two it got behind a tree, and then he 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:19.119 exhaled and tongue a cigarette out the corner of his 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:22.119 mouth and put his hand on his gun. But before 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:24.320 he could get it up, the turkey stepped out behind 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.120 the tree. And he's walking real slow now looking at him. 0:21:27.200 --> 0:21:31.520 He's been here and call. And when the turkey gets 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:35.360 behind the next tree, Dad, he got his gun up 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:39.360 and got ready, and the turkey's right there, and all 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:44.399 of a sudden, he's he smells something smells warm, and 0:21:44.440 --> 0:21:50.240 then the left side of his chest starts just horrible pain. 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:54.280 And he looked down and he sees smoke coming up 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:56.520 out of his pocket when he had tongued a cigarette 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:58.480 out to carn of his mouth and then went down 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:01.119 in his shirt pocket. He said, you might be interested 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:04.080 to know that pockets not only burned to the outside, 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:07.639 they burned the inside too. And his chest is brawling, 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:10.959