WEBVTT - Ep. 99: Bear Grease [Render] - Turkey Poachers, Devil Horses, and Nerf Footballs 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.200 My name is Clay Nukeleman. This is a production of 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.400 the Bear Grease podcast called the Bear Grease Render, where 0:00:21.400 --> 0:00:25.680 we render down, dive deeper, and look behind the scenes 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:31.280 of the actual Bear Grease podcast, presented by f HF Gear, 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:36.480 American Maid, purpose built hunting and fishing gear that's designed 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:45.000 to be as rugged as the place. As we explore. Well, 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.800 we've got an eclectic group of turkey hunters here from 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:54.520 my hometown of Mina, Arkansas. And did anybody think it 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:59.040 was funny when koy House, a storyteller on our Last 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:03.520 Story Turkey Story podcast, said Steve my grandpa. Everybody knows Steve. 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:13.000 Steve Phillips is here. Coy House is Grandpa. Everybody knows Steve. 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:17.680 Everybody knows everybody in the world. Steve Phillips is here. 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.320 Koy House to my left, coy you did a good job, man, 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:27.160 Thank you. Didn't y'all think he did a good job? Man? 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:31.360 I think you're the youngest feature guest on the Bear 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.080 Grease podcast because you're a feature guest. If you're if 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:38.080 you're on the actual bear Grease pot you know. So 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.479 this is the render for people who maybe have not 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:44.479 listened to Bear Grease before Bear Grease podcast is documentary 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:49.040 style podcast where we do these kind of in depth stories. 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.200 The last one that we're gonna talk about today, it 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:54.919 was a was a stories podcast. We had eight different 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:58.760 storytellers and Coi was one of them. Nineteen years old. Man, Yes, sir, 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.279 you did good. Thank you, you did good. That man's 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:05.040 taught me just about everything right there. Yep, I guess 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:09.040 I better give him credit for it. Yeah. Yeah. So 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:13.000 to Cooy's left is a longtime friend of mine, Joe Lyles, 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:18.680 who is now a retired for service law enforcement agent. 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:20.840 That's great. The only reason you're here is because you're retired. 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:25.040 I am. I'm retired now and retired from United States 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:28.400 for Service as a full time law enforcement officer. We're 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:31.560 gonna come back to you. He introduced. Everybody sounds good, 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:36.720 Joe Lyles, Steve Phillips, and then my dad, Gary Believer Nukam. 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.080 Good to have you, Dad, Good to be here. Dad's 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.640 got a story on the next podcast. So we're gonna 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:48.040 we're doing two stories podcasts. Two Dad's left is Andy Brown. 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:50.840 Andy always good to have you, good to be here 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.079 man for real, and he's a hero on the Beargreas podcast. 0:02:55.800 --> 0:02:58.919 Everybody I talked to, I mean people not from Arkansas, 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:03.400 people from wherever. Ronnella, Steve Ronella, He's like Andy brown 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.800 Man from the from the Louis Delle Edwards stuff, to 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:10.720 all the stories. So it's always good, always good to 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:16.359 have Andy. But um, Joe, you're you're How long were 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:20.320 you in law enforcement for the for Service with the 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:24.400 Forest Service? I started in September of two thousand and 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:26.640 I retired at the end of this year, so I 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:28.840 had just a little bit over twenty two years. And 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:31.360 you were a Arkansas Game and Fish game warden for 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:33.040 a period of time. I was for three and a 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.560 half years. And before that, I started under Sheriff Mike 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:40.000 Ogglesby in nineteen ninety two reserve part time, worked a 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:43.240 little bit with the CDPD, and then went to the 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.160 Arkansas Game and Fish and from there I went to 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.520 the US for Service. But the other career before that, 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.760 I was as an aircraft mechanic for several years, Okay, 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:53.480 but I always knew that I wanted to be in 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.440 law enforcement, so that's where I went from there and 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.760 a lifelong turkey hunter since nineteen eighty three. That's when 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:05.560 I killed my first Turkey in the very early eighties. Yeah. Yeah, Now, 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.920 if I recall on the Louis Delle and Charlie Edwards podcast, 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.600 your name came up because you were involved. You didn't 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:16.120 I think I said that you were the one who 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.560 gave the ticket to Louisdale for not having a license, 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:23.000 But I was wrong. I was there at that time, yes, 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:25.919 and very much. I was right there by them, and 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.040 Terry Luxford was actually the one who was very lud 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:32.279 who was at the time you were gaming fish. I 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:34.200 was with the Arkansas Game of Fish at the time. 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:37.640 So tell that story real quick or just kind of 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:39.920 just a short version of what happened, because that's where 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.039 your name came up on Bargharas before. Joe Lyles. You know, 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.160 we were over east to their camp and we pulled 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:49.360 up just talking to them, and then we got through 0:04:49.560 --> 0:04:51.080 talking a little bit and said, well, we've got to 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:55.640 see license, and Louisdale just you know, he came out 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.040 and he didn't have it, and then he got to 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:01.920 blame him Bertha. He said that didn't buy his license, 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:07.960 so that's what it was. His wife. Yeah, he got 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:11.279 the blaming his wife, and so Terry Terry ended up 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.279 righting the ticket. But that's that's the story in it said, yeah, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.520 it was just it started off as a casual contact 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:19.760 and then Bertha got blamed for it. One of one 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:22.760 of the few tickets that Louis Delle Edwards ever got. 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.160 How many tickets have you given? Steve Phillips, Oh well, 0:05:26.480 --> 0:05:28.279 I'm sure I'll be called out on a lot of 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:32.680 stuff here zero. Joe and I go way back, and 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.000 he's kind of like, what's what's happened in Vegas stays 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:39.599 in Vegas. So that's that's that's our you know, how 0:05:39.600 --> 0:05:42.000 we are? You know? I mean Joe? One time during 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:46.440 deer season, I was over in my side beside and 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.360 I had been over there deer hunting, coming back over 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.839 from Twomle. I met Joe. Here he was and he 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.120 pulled over and he wrote his window down. He said, 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:58.000 what are you doing? I said, I've been hunting weird. 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:00.800 He said, is that gun loaded? And I said, well, hey, 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:03.760 expect me to kill an ain't it in in the story? 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:11.400 I knew you, just don't Joe. I met you one 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:14.560 time in the field. I remember that. No, I remember 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:17.480 you telling me that. But you know, unless something really 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:21.120 stands there I mean, you're doing every day. You meet 0:06:21.200 --> 0:06:24.080 so many people that you know, unless even people that 0:06:24.160 --> 0:06:27.119 you've you know, written violation notices too. If something doesn't 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:29.320 stand out, you just don't remember, you know, you write 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:31.120 so many of them. But yeah, you know, go on 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.599 with your story. Well there's there. It's not a great story. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.280 I was out. I was out, I don't want to 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:38.880 say where. It was in National Forest and i'd been 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:42.800 baiting bears and it was in August probably it was 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.240 early on in baiting bears, and y'all had a roadblock. 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.840 Came around the corner and they were just a big 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:52.760 four service roadblock, and you know, two or three trucks 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:55.200 and kind of a truck across the road, it felt like. 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:58.200 And I pulled up and uh, and you were the 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:00.479 guy that checked me. And he just said, you know, 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.440 you recognize me. Then you're like, what are you doing 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:05.000 well bating bears? And he checked my I think you 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.960 checked my registration and stuff. It wasn't he wasn't hutting season. 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.720 I didn't have any guns. But anyway, yep, I have 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.720 a Joe story. Yeah, oh great, here we go another one. 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:16.080 And I know for one day he called me at 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:17.760 the office, and he said, any I've got a picture 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.600 I want to show you, and I said, okay, bring 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:22.320 it to the office. So him and Jimmy Martin Shaw 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:25.360 up at our office and he's got a who's that 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.680 another game warden? Huh, he's gonna date but ten picture 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:33.280 and he said, they come into my office and he said, 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:35.200 shows it to me. And he says, who's that who's 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:40.200 that gun? That picture right there? I said, and what 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:43.560 we've got. We've got a guy walking in front. We've 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:48.680 got a guy carrying a gun behind him. And uh, 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:50.880 I said, I have no idea. I said, he ain't 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:54.040 very big. And he said look at him and I said, 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.600 I said, I really don't know. He said look at 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:08.720 his hand and he finger missing. But he said, but 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:10.760 that's not you, and I said, no, that's not me. 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:14.680 He said, we know who it is, we know the story. 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.080 But anyway, they brought that to my office and showed 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:19.160 me that. Yeah. I've never kicked him around about that, 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:23.160 but I can't hear on live this podcast they thought 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:28.080 it might have been me. Really, so somebody trespassed people 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:30.360 don't have one of those? Yes, and he's missing? Is 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:38.960 I think is actually an um no? Not No, let's 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:47.320 move we'll talk about that one. That's that's a good one. 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:52.600 That that is a good one. Um well, uh, I 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.200 went on the reason I'm dressed the way I am. 0:08:55.440 --> 0:08:58.360 I went on a nine mile mule ride today in 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:03.840 National Forest and didn't see a liquid turkey sign, found 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:09.480 a shed horn. But I'm hoping we'll have a good, 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:12.680 you know, a decent turkey season for Arkansas. You know, 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:15.440 they say we've lost sixty percent of our birds from 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:19.000 our peak, which probably would have been in the nineties, 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.400 early two thousands maybe, but maybe more than that in 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:26.720 some places. I think probably these guys could all attests 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:30.160 to the fact talking about looking for turkey sign. Guys, 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.000 I can remember whenever leafing in the woods was turned 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:37.679 over back in the eighties, you know, and even up 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:42.000 into the nineties. But I mean the woods turkeys made 0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.040 a lot of sign and you know, you didn't have 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:45.640 to hear turkey used to go turkey hunting and you 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:47.320 just went and found side. That's what I looked for, 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:49.920 was just scratching. I believe, like you said, it looked 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.000 like a garden tiller. Took a tiller and just want 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:57.960 to just roll the leaves and one time I was 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.400 with my uncle. He is actually during muzzleloading season. Anyway, 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:06.200 we was in there north of in the in Loss. 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:08.800 Was in there to what we call Short's Place, and 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:12.520 Uncle Larry got in in the first low notch and 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.720 I went on the top of the mountain and walked 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:17.720 east out the top of the mountain. And I can 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:19.560 remember getting out on the east end of that thing. 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:21.360 It's real briary and on top. But I got over 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:23.200 the north side and I walked over to the north side. 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:27.720 I'm telling you, as far as you could see, there 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:31.800 was turkeys eating devil horses. They was the devil horses. 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:34.920 The ground was just working alive with them. Now, what's 0:10:34.960 --> 0:10:41.600 a walking stovil horse? Okay? Anyway, they would just walk 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.680 up and just pick those things off the bushes on them. Lolope. 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:48.040 But the whole mountain, I have no doubt there was 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:50.120 one hundred turkeys right there that I was looking at. 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:51.760 I mean, for one hundred and fifty yards, it wasn't 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:53.720 nothing but solid turkeys from the top of the mountain 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:57.720 to the bottom of the mountain. Unbelievable. What year was that. 0:10:57.720 --> 0:11:01.400 That would have been about eighty eighty one. Somewhere in there. 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:04.240 I think you and Mitch win and there one time 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.600 with didn't you take Bill Norman and Bill Norman Bill 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.080 Norman Luers And because Mitch and I were in there, 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:17.400 that would have been nineteen ninety March of nineteen nine. 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:20.679 I think we heard eighteen gobblers. That's still to this 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.360 day the most I've ever heard one day. I want 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:25.280 to say his eighteen, which still talks about that. It 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:29.920 was they were everywhere. Yeah, and you know from years 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:33.600 of patrol and they're not there. You know, I would 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:38.800 go months and not see one. You know, they're not here. Yeah, 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.320 they're just not here. You know, when they say sixty 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:47.240 percent have disappeared, I think that's I think that is light. 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.480 I mean, you know, as many as we had and 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.839 you lose sixty percent, still Corty would still be really 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:56.880 good hunting. I would say, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:02.560 a state, that's a statewide you know, which different places 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:05.760 would would be different. You know, there's still counties in 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:09.320 the central Ozarks that have pretty decent turkey hunting. I 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:11.719 mean you can go up there and those guys they 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.040 hear us talking and they're kind of like, what's a 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:19.040 big deal? But here, Yeah, you're right, it's probably way 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:22.840 more than that, but it really is. You know a 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:25.320 lot of people have heard me talk about my grandfather, 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.160 Gary's dad, Lewin, who was a bird hunter, a quail hunter. 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:31.200 You know, the last twenty five years of his life, 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.040 all I heard him do was lament that we didn't 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:36.360 have a quail anymore. And it's it really is a 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:41.720 bummer because turkey hunting really kind of builds a culture 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:43.400 in an area, especially if it's a good turkey hunting. 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:45.160 I mean, everybody's a turkey hunter and their kids are 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:47.760 turkey hunters, and it's it's it's fun to go and 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:50.880 and boy, when they're not here, people aren't turkey hunters. 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:54.800 I mean, you just people just kind of I mean, 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.160 I'm talking about myself. It's like it's hard to get 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.000 up to h It's it's hard to get fired up 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:02.360 to go when they're just not there, you know. And 0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:07.960 it and like my kids have not had the exposure 0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:11.120 to turkey hunting that I had because we just didn't 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:14.280 we just didn't have turkeys, you know. But anyway, that's 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.680 that's not it's a it's a bummer to have to 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:20.640 talk about that here. But it's kind of the reality 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:24.600 of where we're at. But we're gonna talk about the good, 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:27.680 the good side of turkey hunting, which is it's a 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.199 lot of fun. Steve. Dad was telling me that you 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:33.160 told him about his story. So you listened to Did 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:37.600 you listen? It was awesome? Yeah? Which which story was 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:41.400 your favorite? It's what I told Gary what related to me, 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:43.360 And I don't know that there were several of them. 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.640 That was my favorite, but the one about where the 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.640 guy flicked the cigarette in his pocket and caught him 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.280 on fire. Yeah, and burned him. You know, I don't smoke, 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.160 so that didn't happen, but I can tell you Andy 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.439 Brown and I we decided to go hunt and when 0:13:58.559 --> 0:14:01.600 we'd heard some turkeys a couple of days before, so 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:04.800 we got up bright and early and we went in 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:06.960 and parked and we had to pull up this I'm 0:14:06.960 --> 0:14:09.160 telling you, it takes you forty five minutes to get 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:12.079 up it. I mean it's straight up. So we got 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:14.560 there double early that morning and we got out and 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.880 had a little flashlight and a little hat lights on. 0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:20.200 And I always, if I had a dollar forever mile 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.440 that I followed him in the woods. Over the years. 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.560 You know, I'd be a rich man. And so we 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:28.880 started up that hill and we're, well, you know, we're 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:32.320 both in really good shape and we're going up that 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:34.480 thing and it'll get your breath. And all of a 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:37.680 sudden or andy, he gets up there and he takes 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:40.120 a step and he slides back about two steps, and 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.080 I thought, what in the world happened? And he said, 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.560 what was that? He turned his hat light on. We 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:47.360 didn't have a hat light on at the time. We 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.040 were just kind of going by the moon. He turned 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:51.560 that light on and looked and there was the biggest 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:54.400 pile of bear scat that was smoking. It was fresh. 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:57.400 I mean, he stepped in it and slid back down 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:02.440 the mountain early. And so he said, he's right here somewhere. Anyway, 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.560 we're both buggered up, you know, going up this saying, look, 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:14.600 we didn't check it up to there. And we get 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.640 set in and we set up and we give a call. 0:15:17.920 --> 0:15:21.360 Old Turkey answers us down in the bottom. I said, boy, 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.880 we're in the chips right here. So we put in 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.960 on them and they were gobbling their heads off, just 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.280 gobbling and governing. Well, they came and as they came 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:33.240 to us, instead of coming up that leg to us. 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.760 They turned and they went around us to our left, 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.040 and him and I are sitting side by side, and 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.080 we have to just watch those turkeys. There's two big gobblers. 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.040 They just go buy us right up over the top 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:48.280 and off down and they go, well, we let them 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.120 get out there, and we walk right up on top 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.760 and we give a little bit and we call and 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.200 they gobble off down in the bottom. And I told Andy, 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.240 I said, come on, let's go. He said, steep, we 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:02.960 can't eat them. Turkeys are way down there. Well, he'll 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.520 tell you used to when I first started tury hunting. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:08.240 If I could hear one, there wasn't a turkey too 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:10.840 far to go to. If he was two miles, I 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:13.720 was going to him. And I said, well, I'm going 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:15.480 to him. He said, I'm gonna step up here on top. 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:18.320 I'm not gonna go to him. So I headed off 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:20.680 down the mountain. It took me about teacher lets the 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:24.000 young grasshoppers go out on his own. Yeah, So off 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.760 down through there I go, and I get down. Finally 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.280 I catch up to that turkey and both of them. 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.720 I catch up to them, and I set up on him. 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:33.800 I call them and when I do they just cut 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:37.120 me off. And what I didn't realize is when I 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:39.800 had set down, I sat down in a big old 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:44.440 ant pile and those big black ants, and here I'm 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.640 looking about sixty five seventy yards down there, and here 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:51.520 comes these two turkeys and full struck coming goblin. I've 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.120 got my gun up on my knee. I'm sitting in 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.160 an ant pile. All of a sudden, I start feeling 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.760 ants in my pants. I feel ants come up my shirt, 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:04.760 answer coming out through my top of my shirt and 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:07.280 my head net. They're running all over my head and 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.560 my face, and I'm locked in on that turkey. When 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.040 he gets up there close enough that I think I 0:17:13.080 --> 0:17:16.600 can kill him, I shoot him, and I do kill him, 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.840 but I immediately he goes to flopping. I dropped down 0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:22.879 and strip all of my clothes off because I'm trying 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:25.200 to get rid of the answer. And to this day, 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:27.399 that's probably the biggest turry. He had eleven and a 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:30.600 half inch beard and weighed twenty two pounds. M I 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:34.600 walk out, light, are you Andy? Tail? That was the 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:38.600 biggest turry, and the other one flew and flew right 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:42.920 in there towards Andy, which he didn't get on him, 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:45.680 you know. But I had that turkey on my shoulder 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:48.000 and I'm coming up through there and he alls me 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:49.919 up there and I looked. He said, you get him. 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.560 I said no, He said, you're lying. You did to you? So, yeah, 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:56.040 but that was my biggest thing. Had to strip down 0:17:56.160 --> 0:17:58.639 right there on the side. Yeah. Yeah, boy, have you 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:02.720 heard that story before? Heard? I think I've We've almost 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:05.159 covered every single turkey that he's killed. Why don't you 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:09.760 tell me the second story that you told me about 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:13.840 taking your little brother? Will you tell me that story? Okay, yeah, 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:17.960 of course. Yeah. So my little brother Rider, Um, he's 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.040 on my dad's side. He he wanted to go. It 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.600 was youth opening one of the youth season. He wanted 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:27.840 to go turkey hunting. And we have this private spot 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:29.800 that we had picked out and we had went and 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:34.000 roosted one the evening before gobbled his head off. I said, 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:36.600 this will be chip shot. He's up here on this ridge. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:40.120 We'll get up here and we'll kill us turkey. Well, 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.640 long story short, we got up there and I set 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.720 him up. Turkey Gobble was good. We got up there 0:18:46.800 --> 0:18:48.520 just right on the break of that ridge. He was 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:52.239 just on the other side and now, how is your 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.000 little brother. At the time, he would have been I'm 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:59.720 wanting to say eleven eleven, at the time eleven twelve, 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.880 he's he's fourteen now, so it'd have been two or three, 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:07.000 two or three years ago. Um and a turkey gobbled, 0:19:07.240 --> 0:19:09.680 he gobbled. I didn't call him. I said, just get ready. 0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:11.840 It's he's gonna fly down. He's probably gonna land about 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:14.000 right here on top of this ridge. I said, just 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:17.200 get ready about that time, and turkey's quick go on. 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:21.040 He wouldn't go, wouldn't say a pete, wouldn't say a word. Well, 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:23.680 I mean nothing. We sat there for another hour, nothing 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:25.960 I heard him. I seen him actually fly down and 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:30.840 pitch off into the field. But once that happened, he, 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:33.200 I mean he left. He had had some hens with him. 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:35.520 So I said, let's let's go up to another spot. 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:39.879 This spot national forest around it. There's a private I 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:43.000 have permission to hunt, but national forts wraps around it. 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.919 And mean him been hunted for two years for some reason. 0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:48.320 That was a hot spot. And there how mean we 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:52.920 here eight nine ten and just a little hundred yards 0:19:52.960 --> 0:19:55.960 Oh yeah, I mean, I mean it was a little pocket. 0:19:56.040 --> 0:19:58.879 It was awesome so anyway, so we went in there 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:01.120 and drove back international for US and I said, by 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.480 the time is ten thirty, And I said, writer, I said, 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:07.520 if we getn't one to gobble, I said, we got him, son, 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:09.919 I said, and by this time he's the hens have 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:12.920 done left him. I said, we've got him. I get 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:15.280 out of the truck and I grabbed the old slate 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:19.359 call and I just out. He just cussed me off 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:22.800 right there, and I said, let's go. Look I get excited. 0:20:22.840 --> 0:20:24.800 I mean, he can tell you. If Paula can tell you, 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:29.440 there's just something I don't if I ever lose the excitement, 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:31.920 I better quit hunting, because it's just something that east 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:34.480 me up. So we could drive on down and we 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:37.000 get out of the truck and we walk down the road. 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:40.720 We get in there and I called nothing, and I 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:43.879 called nothing. I said, we're gonna dig in. We're just 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:46.280 gonna dig in. We didn't have nothing else to do 0:20:46.359 --> 0:20:48.720 that day. I said, we're gonna wait him out. So 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:51.879 we dug in. We sat there for I mean, it 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:54.840 felt like half a century, and we're just kind of 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:57.719 talking back and forth, kind of goofing around, you know, 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:01.520 and and all of a sudden that turkey gobbles. I 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:04.000 mean we're sitting just off on a on a little break, 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:05.639 there's a little road. It kind of goes like, yes, 0:21:05.760 --> 0:21:09.000 they're gonna makes humps a little like that, just off 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:11.959 the break at Turkey gobbles. I mean, you're not when 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:15.240 you're least expecting it like that. It about scares the 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:18.800 pe wad out of you. So I said, get my lap, 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:23.440 getting my lap, So he gets in my labor. Look 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:27.560 that up. So he gets in my lap and I 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:31.240 just turned my head and I just real soft, and 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:33.199 he just cuts me off right there. Let me hear 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:36.800 your gobble again. He's got a good goble. I say, 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:38.880 get I said, get ready. I said, he's gonna come 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:41.119 right down your gun barrel. And I said, when I 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:44.600 say shoot, you shoot him. Let turkey come and hit 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:47.040 at sucker. Put on a show. I mean he out there, 0:21:47.080 --> 0:21:51.199 he danced around, he drum, he spit, and he gobble 0:21:51.280 --> 0:21:53.879 right at us. And then he drum and he he 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:57.080 crossed underneath a deadlog and come up. And I told writers, 0:21:57.040 --> 0:21:59.960 as soon as he passes his tree, I said, shoot him. Well, 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:04.080 little did I know. I guess I was shaking a 0:22:04.080 --> 0:22:06.080 lot more than he was, and he was in my lap. 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:08.600 So I was doing the whole number of shaking. You 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:10.800 were shaking him, Oh, I was shaking him. I guess 0:22:10.840 --> 0:22:13.760 something terrible. And he shot that bird and I knew 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.600 he shot him low because that bird flopped. And then 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:18.280 he started to kind of get up, and I threw 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:20.520