WEBVTT - Ep. 309: This Country Life - Escaping the Bubble and Turkey Number One

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to This Country Life.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm your host, Brent Reeves from coon hunting to trot

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<v Speaker 2>lining and just general country living.

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to stay a.

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<v Speaker 2>While as I share my experiences in life lessons. This

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<v Speaker 2>Country Life is presented by Case Knives on Meat Eaters

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<v Speaker 2>Podcast Network, bringing you the best outdoor podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>The airwaves had off.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tail gate.

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<v Speaker 2>I've got some stories to share. Escaping the bubble and Turkey.

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<v Speaker 2>Number one Turkey season is upon us and I couldn't

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<v Speaker 2>be happier. It's the only hunting season I ever threatened

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<v Speaker 2>to quit a job over, and now it's part of

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<v Speaker 2>my job.

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<v Speaker 1>Sweet mother of Pearl, It's Turkey.

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<v Speaker 2>Week here at Meat Eater, and all week long, it's

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<v Speaker 2>been a virtual Turkey palooza. Steve's podcast and Cal's are

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<v Speaker 2>Turkey themed. I was a guest on a true crime

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<v Speaker 2>special episode hosted by our very.

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<v Speaker 1>Own Jordan Sellers.

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<v Speaker 2>Jordan put this unsolved, intriguing mystery together that I hope

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<v Speaker 2>you adults will listen to. Who knows you may know

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<v Speaker 2>something that could help bring this case to a close.

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<v Speaker 2>They're all on the meat Either podcast channels and not

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<v Speaker 2>hard to find. My friends Gary Stanton and Charlie Moncaster

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<v Speaker 2>of Muscadine Bloodline are talking turkeys over at God's Country.

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<v Speaker 2>Then you've got Spencer's Turkey Tribune, the Render, and yours

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<v Speaker 2>truly was on cutting the distance just yesterday with Dirk

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<v Speaker 2>Durham over at Phelps Game Calls. Turkeys in the morning,

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<v Speaker 2>turkeys in the evening, turkeys at supper time. We're off

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<v Speaker 2>and running. And now I'm gonna tell you a story.

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<v Speaker 2>For eight years in a row, from when he first

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<v Speaker 2>started turkey hunting, my brother Tim would get his limited

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<v Speaker 2>birds at Arkansas. Then you could kill two male turkeys,

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<v Speaker 2>only one of which had to be an adult. In

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<v Speaker 2>other words, you could kill a jake, a juvenile male

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<v Speaker 2>turkey that historically had been reserved for kids in first

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<v Speaker 2>time or inexperienced hunters. It was perfectly legal, but so

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<v Speaker 2>was shooting mallard hens. But just because you could do

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<v Speaker 2>something doesn't mean you should. It was frowned upon and

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<v Speaker 2>seen as not being as much of a challenge as older,

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<v Speaker 2>more weary turkeys. They tasted the same. I know this

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<v Speaker 2>because desperate times have called for desperate measures. And while

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<v Speaker 2>I wouldn't shoot one, now there were times about one

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<v Speaker 2>hundred turkeys or so ago, when I would throw punch

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<v Speaker 2>the occasional Jake towards the end of the season, when

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<v Speaker 2>I hadn't had any luck so far, and see old,

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<v Speaker 2>any port in a storm is good theory. I'm not

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<v Speaker 2>proud of it, but I ashamed of it either. I

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<v Speaker 2>only had two or three places to hunt within driving

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<v Speaker 2>distance of my house. My opportunities were very limited, and

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<v Speaker 2>I had to take advantage of him when I had

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<v Speaker 2>the chance. Tim was the same way when he started out,

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<v Speaker 2>but now he was slipping up on being a ten

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<v Speaker 2>year veteran. Jake's worn't on his hit list, but he

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<v Speaker 2>had a problem. The rest of us were smashing turkeys

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<v Speaker 2>with reckless abandon and he couldn't have hemmed one up

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<v Speaker 2>in a phone booth. It just wasn't working out for him.

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<v Speaker 2>Everything he did backfired on him. On top of that,

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<v Speaker 2>the rest of us could.

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<v Speaker 1>Do no wrong.

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<v Speaker 2>I was tagged out Joe Bryant, Tim's brother in law,

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<v Speaker 2>who I've talked about before on here as being an

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<v Speaker 2>additional brother to all of us. He tagged out Mister

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<v Speaker 2>Bryant chose father, Tim's father in law, and a turkey

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<v Speaker 2>hunting mentor like no other had tagged out, and there

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<v Speaker 2>little Timmy sat with a pocket full of turkey tags

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<v Speaker 2>when the rest of us had none. But did we

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<v Speaker 2>make fun of him or ridicule him? Did we question

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<v Speaker 2>his outdoor abilities and even that of him being a

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<v Speaker 2>real man?

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<v Speaker 1>Of course we did. That's what That's what families do.

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<v Speaker 2>We did it until mercifully, mister Brian had decided tim

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<v Speaker 2>and had enough and if we didn't do something to

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<v Speaker 2>help him, he was going to jump off of Celeine

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<v Speaker 2>River Bridge. Everyone usually gathered mid morning at the store

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<v Speaker 2>to grab a cup of coffee or cold drink, visiting

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<v Speaker 2>check the turkey check sheet. And back then there was

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<v Speaker 2>no online checking of turkeys because there was no on line.

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<v Speaker 2>You brought your turkey to a check station which was

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<v Speaker 2>set up in country stores and they took down your name,

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<v Speaker 2>measured the beard and the spurs, and waited and recorded

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<v Speaker 2>all the harvest data for the gaming fish to collect.

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<v Speaker 2>At the end of the season, tim was starting to

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<v Speaker 2>skip our mid morning rendezvous, either going straight home or

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<v Speaker 2>staying all day in the woods. Joe diagnosed his problem

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<v Speaker 2>and told him he was hunting under the bubble, meaning

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<v Speaker 2>he had to do something to break through or nothing

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<v Speaker 2>he would do would work, and he couldn't do it alone.

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<v Speaker 2>It was desperate times and it called for desperate measures.

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<v Speaker 1>He needed help.

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<v Speaker 2>Mister Brian told him one evening, after another fruitless day

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<v Speaker 2>of hunting that he would be taking Tim the next

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<v Speaker 2>morning and he was not to bring a call. He

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<v Speaker 2>would do everything he told him, and just like he

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<v Speaker 2>told him, no deviation, and Tim agreed. Another sleepless night

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<v Speaker 2>followed by meeting mister Brian at his house for the

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<v Speaker 2>short drive to a spot he had picked out for

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<v Speaker 2>Tim to bust through the bubble. He only had to

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<v Speaker 2>do one thing, follow mister Bryan's instructions to the letter

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<v Speaker 2>and shoot the first legal turkey that walked close enough

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<v Speaker 2>to shoot.

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<v Speaker 1>Tim agreed, even though he didn't want to.

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<v Speaker 2>He didn't like not being able to call that that

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<v Speaker 2>was the strongest part of the allure of turkey, to

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<v Speaker 2>begin with. Communicating with a wild animal and luring it

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<v Speaker 2>into range for a shot, which you folks should know,

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<v Speaker 2>if you didn't already, is not.

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<v Speaker 1>The order of how it works in nature.

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<v Speaker 2>Gobbler's gobble and hens come to them, not the other

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<v Speaker 2>way around. They arrived at the spot right on Q

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<v Speaker 2>and also right on Q, mister Bryant's morning coffee had

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<v Speaker 2>worked its cleansing magic and began to rumble around in

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<v Speaker 2>his belly. With the time for that morning richel were

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<v Speaker 2>already figured into the timeline. Off, he trotted for a

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<v Speaker 2>comfortable and private place to let gravity do the rest.

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<v Speaker 2>Tim waited in the pre dawned darkness for a turkey

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<v Speaker 2>to gobble and mister Bryant to return minus what the

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<v Speaker 2>coffee had been stirring up. Tim said upon his return

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<v Speaker 2>he looked happier and more energetic then what they'd been

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<v Speaker 2>waiting on, more than anything else, a turkey gobble. They

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<v Speaker 2>moved off the road and set up a little over

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<v Speaker 2>one hundred yards away from the roosted birds. The gobbles

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<v Speaker 2>were from more than one turkey, and Tim was fired up.

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<v Speaker 2>Mister Brian set him down and sat down a few

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<v Speaker 2>trees behind him. His last instructions before setting up to

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<v Speaker 2>call was don't you call one lick and shoot the

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<v Speaker 2>first legal turkey that walks in. Turkeys hit the ground

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<v Speaker 2>gobbling out in front of where they were set up,

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<v Speaker 2>and they hadn't seen or heard a hen. Mister Brian

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<v Speaker 2>started calling in short order a line of turkeys was

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<v Speaker 2>headed to where they waited.

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<v Speaker 1>Tim said, I knew it was Jake's.

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<v Speaker 2>When I saw him coming, but I was hoping against

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<v Speaker 2>hope that a big turkey was in the line somewhere.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't want to shoot a Jake, but Joe and

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<v Speaker 2>mister Brian both told me if I wanted to get

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<v Speaker 2>out from under this bubble, I had to take the

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<v Speaker 2>first opportunity. One by one, they passed in front of

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<v Speaker 2>him as if they were on a string, come to

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<v Speaker 2>mister Brian's call. The first opportunity was walking point for

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<v Speaker 2>a squad of juvenile delinquids twenty steps away.

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<v Speaker 1>Tim didn't shoot him. He said he was too little.

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<v Speaker 1>That wasn't what mister Bryan told him to do. Told

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<v Speaker 1>him to shoot.

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<v Speaker 2>The first legal turkey that gets close enough. And that

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<v Speaker 2>was the first one that just walked by. Although he

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<v Speaker 2>was only sporting a three inch beard, he was the

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<v Speaker 2>first one. The first three that passed were all carving

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<v Speaker 2>copies of each other. The fourth not much bigger, but

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<v Speaker 2>the fifth one, the fifth one in the conger line

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<v Speaker 2>of seven, had a beard about five inches long. Tim said,

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<v Speaker 2>I picked him out and let him have it right

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<v Speaker 2>in the kisser. Tim walked over and fetched his turkey,

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<v Speaker 2>and mister Brian congratulated him. Tim said, I know he

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<v Speaker 2>was aggravated at me for not she the first one,

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<v Speaker 2>but he didn't have the biggest beard. On the way

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<v Speaker 2>back to the truck, Tim talked about how now the

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<v Speaker 2>bubble should be broken and he ought to be free

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<v Speaker 2>of whatever powers that befell him in the first place,

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<v Speaker 2>that put him under that dismal umbrella of turculus hunts.

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<v Speaker 2>He said, even think our mentor his father in law,

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<v Speaker 2>was so sure it was done since he didn't do

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<v Speaker 2>exactly what he was told, but he never said that

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<v Speaker 2>it was just a feeling the guy. That feeling was

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<v Speaker 2>amplified as they approached the section of woods where they

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<v Speaker 2>had taken off through the woods after hearing the turkeys

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<v Speaker 2>gobble that morning, and Tim stepped in something that wasn't

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<v Speaker 2>meant to be stepped in. Mister brid looked back and laughed,

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<v Speaker 2>I guess, I guess he should have shot that first turkey.

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<v Speaker 1>But now there's a PostScript on this story.

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<v Speaker 2>After Tim washed his boot off in the creek, they

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<v Speaker 2>went to the store to check in his turkey. He

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<v Speaker 2>was glad to hopefully have this whole embarrassing and literal

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<v Speaker 2>mess behind him. Then the lady at the store measured

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<v Speaker 2>that stubby beard and laid his turkey on the scales

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<v Speaker 2>while she recorded his name and the measurement of his cigar.

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<v Speaker 1>Lengked beard.

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<v Speaker 2>Tim said he looked at the scale and saw it

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<v Speaker 2>said that turkey weighed eleven pounds, and he wanted to cry,

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<v Speaker 2>knowing everyone from then after would see that he killed

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<v Speaker 2>water mount into a big chicken. He said, I put

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<v Speaker 2>my I put my finger on that scale officer of

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<v Speaker 2>where she was standing, and got him up to thirteen

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<v Speaker 2>pounds before she took him off. And next week my

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<v Speaker 2>brother killed a big gobbler with one inch spurs, and

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<v Speaker 2>accord to my brother Tim.

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<v Speaker 1>That's just how that happened.

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<v Speaker 2>I get asked all the time what type of hunting

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<v Speaker 2>I like best, and it's always an inner struggle for

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<v Speaker 2>me to answer. Then, after arguing with myself and talking

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<v Speaker 2>about all the different kinds I like, I always wind

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<v Speaker 2>up saying turkey hunting every time. I don't know why

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<v Speaker 2>I can't just say it that way from the beginning.

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<v Speaker 1>It's like I'm throwing shade on duck hunting or squirrel hunting.

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<v Speaker 1>Or coon hunting, but they're all so different that it's

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<v Speaker 1>hard to compare. I'm thinking about it now and second

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<v Speaker 1>guessing myself while I'm saying this, and it's what I'd

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<v Speaker 1>plan to say when I sat down to record it.

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<v Speaker 1>There's so many things to say about coon hunting. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>never alone when I'm doing that, even if nobody's with me,

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<v Speaker 1>because I got my dog wailing. He's my coon hunting

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<v Speaker 1>partner every time I go, regardless of who else is there,

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<v Speaker 1>but turkey hunting man. There's just something about it that

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<v Speaker 1>supersedes any and everything else besides my family. From the

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<v Speaker 1>first time I've ever killed one, I've had an issue

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<v Speaker 1>with him. I talked about it with Derk Durham on

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<v Speaker 1>Phelps Cutting the Distance podcast that came out yesterday. We

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<v Speaker 1>had a good conversation. I'll slip over there and check

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<v Speaker 1>it out when you get a chance. But while we

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<v Speaker 1>were talking, he asked me if I remembered when I

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<v Speaker 1>killed my first turkey, and without hesitation, I said I

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<v Speaker 1>sure do, was April eighteenth, nineteen eighty five, and he

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<v Speaker 1>laughed at how quick my response was.

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<v Speaker 2>I told him a little bit about that hunt. More

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<v Speaker 2>or less the bullet points of how it all went down,

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<v Speaker 2>but I remember every detail of it.

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<v Speaker 1>The year before I.

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<v Speaker 2>Was still hunting for squirrels over there what we called

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<v Speaker 2>the woodlot, and that was a scope of woods on

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<v Speaker 2>the west side of our farm and just south of

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<v Speaker 2>my maternal great grandfather house. I found a turkey feather

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<v Speaker 2>while I was doing my best toend the squirrel population

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<v Speaker 2>and decided right then that there was a turkey hunter

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<v Speaker 2>hidding inside me that was begging to come out. Next spring,

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<v Speaker 2>I went to Carls one stop on the edge of

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<v Speaker 2>town and Warren, out past the Bradley Lumber Mill. It

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<v Speaker 2>was the mecca for all outdoorsmen in the area and

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<v Speaker 2>the only place I knew of that you could buy

0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:27.560
<v Speaker 2>turkey calls without having to order them through the mail.

0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:30.920
<v Speaker 2>I went in there for a box call and left

0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.880
<v Speaker 2>with the Lynchest world Champion call and a diaphragm mouth

0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:38.640
<v Speaker 2>call made by a new guy from Mississippi that was

0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:42.520
<v Speaker 2>getting in the call making business. They said his name

0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:46.000
<v Speaker 2>was Will Primos. I should have got mister Will to

0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:48.440
<v Speaker 2>come with him, because I had no idea how to

0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.040
<v Speaker 2>use it, and I just stuck with the box the

0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.440
<v Speaker 2>five or six times that I went hunting at the Woodlode,

0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:58.839
<v Speaker 2>never seeing or even hearing a turkey that spring. That

0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:02.040
<v Speaker 2>may have been what triggered me obsession, total and utter

0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:05.920
<v Speaker 2>failure from the start. Pretty sure Jesus was trying to

0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:08.560
<v Speaker 2>spare me from all the sleepless nights and weeks that

0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:11.360
<v Speaker 2>would follow by letting me see how most of by

0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:15.040
<v Speaker 2>hunts would wind up walking back to the truck with

0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:18.400
<v Speaker 2>exactly what I had taken in with me and nothing extra.

0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.600
<v Speaker 2>The next spring, I was what I liked to refer

0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:26.440
<v Speaker 2>to as being semi enrolled in college. I went when

0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.760
<v Speaker 2>it was convenient, like when the fish weren't biting, the

0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:34.080
<v Speaker 2>deer weren't moving, and the ducks weren't flying, and narrowed

0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.720
<v Speaker 2>down my attendance to a pretty slim portion of the calendar,

0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:40.840
<v Speaker 2>which coincidentally was in spring. And then I got invited

0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:45.960
<v Speaker 2>to go turkey hunting by a turkey hunter. Anyone who'd

0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:48.240
<v Speaker 2>killed at least one turkey by themselves was a turkey

0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:51.120
<v Speaker 2>hunter in my book, and this guy had killed several.

0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.560
<v Speaker 2>We drove thirty miles west from Warren right before daylight.

0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:57.720
<v Speaker 2>We were a quarter of a mile deep in the wood,

0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.920
<v Speaker 2>standing at the edge of a three year old clear cut.

0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:03.920
<v Speaker 2>The woods we were waiting on daylight inn were open

0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:08.040
<v Speaker 2>enough to see down through without any trouble. The clear

0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:11.200
<v Speaker 2>cut I was looking at was a different story. A

0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:13.040
<v Speaker 2>rabbit would have had to tote of the hatchet with

0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:16.840
<v Speaker 2>him to get through it. Turkey gobbled and the fellow

0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:18.680
<v Speaker 2>I was hunting with us said, get over there by

0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:21.800
<v Speaker 2>that tree. I'm going to sit back here and call.

0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.640
<v Speaker 1>I said, that ain't no turkey, that's someone shaking a box. Call.

0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:28.400
<v Speaker 2>He laughed, and he said, no, it ain't. Sit down

0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.600
<v Speaker 2>and be still. He's still on the roofst but he's not.

0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:33.480
<v Speaker 1>That far now.

0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:37.960
<v Speaker 2>It was my first lesson in not guiding the guide.

0:15:38.040 --> 0:15:41.000
<v Speaker 2>This guy had killed multiple turkeys, brought me to his

0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:44.160
<v Speaker 2>hunting spot during the first week of the season, and

0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.440
<v Speaker 2>I was telling him what he was hearing was not

0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.760
<v Speaker 2>what we were hearing, even though I had never heard

0:15:51.160 --> 0:15:58.280
<v Speaker 2>what we were both hearing. Don't guide the guide. He

0:15:58.400 --> 0:16:00.520
<v Speaker 2>called to him with a box, calling turke. He answered

0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:03.760
<v Speaker 2>him immediately. I looked back at him and he pointed

0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:06.480
<v Speaker 2>down at the ground. I looked down at the ground

0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.920
<v Speaker 2>I was laying on like a green plastic Army soldier.

0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.080
<v Speaker 2>The absolute worst position I could have taken to shoot

0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:16.160
<v Speaker 2>my first turkey, or any turkey for that matter. I

0:16:16.200 --> 0:16:18.480
<v Speaker 2>didn't know what that meant, but the turkey sounded different.

0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:19.280
<v Speaker 1>Now.

0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:21.320
<v Speaker 2>What he was trying to tell me was the turkey

0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.920
<v Speaker 2>was on the ground. That's why he sounded different. I

0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.160
<v Speaker 2>still couldn't believe he didn't know it was someone shaking

0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:31.480
<v Speaker 2>a box call at us. Did I mention the mosquitoes? Oh, yeah,

0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.880
<v Speaker 2>the mosquitoes. About the time he told me to get

0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:38.360
<v Speaker 2>over there by that tree and sat down, and I

0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:42.480
<v Speaker 2>chose to lay down like Sergeant York. The mosquitoes reached

0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:46.720
<v Speaker 2>their zenith. They were feasting on my prone person with impunity.

0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:49.520
<v Speaker 2>I was wiggling all over the place trying to get

0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:51.800
<v Speaker 2>them off of me, all while the guy behind me

0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:53.920
<v Speaker 2>with a box car whispering for me to be still,

0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:56.720
<v Speaker 2>and the guy shaking the box call out in front

0:16:56.760 --> 0:17:00.160
<v Speaker 2>of him kept getting closer. There's no way that, sir,

0:17:00.240 --> 0:17:03.400
<v Speaker 2>real turkey, and I'm getting to the literal life sucked

0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:06.600
<v Speaker 2>out of me by waiting on another turkey under to

0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:10.160
<v Speaker 2>walk up on us. He gobbled again, just out of sight,

0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:12.080
<v Speaker 2>and I turned back to look at my guide again,

0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:17.880
<v Speaker 2>mouthing the words that ain't no turkey. I can only

0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.240
<v Speaker 2>see about a third of his face, right around his

0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.880
<v Speaker 2>eyes that were exposed by his mask, but I knew

0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:26.640
<v Speaker 2>exactly what he meant when his eyes seemed to jump

0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:30.080
<v Speaker 2>out of his skull and then narrow it down to slits,

0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:35.160
<v Speaker 2>his eyebrows furring with fury. Whatever, dude, I turned back

0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:37.200
<v Speaker 2>around and shouldered my shotgun and.

0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:38.879
<v Speaker 1>Watch what would be In a few minutes.

0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:44.560
<v Speaker 2>Gobbler Numero Huno stepped out into the opening up the

0:17:44.560 --> 0:17:46.800
<v Speaker 2>little rise. I was arching my back as best I

0:17:46.840 --> 0:17:50.240
<v Speaker 2>could to aim at his head. He was close and

0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.600
<v Speaker 2>I was out of position. I was pointed at twelve

0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:57.439
<v Speaker 2>and he was standing at ten. The dude that had

0:17:57.440 --> 0:17:59.720
<v Speaker 2>been shaking a box called at us since before good

0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:05.000
<v Speaker 2>Day had just turned into a real turkey. Hut him

0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:09.879
<v Speaker 2>with what I heard him whispering several times over. Of

0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:11.919
<v Speaker 2>all the structures he had given me that morning, that

0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:16.240
<v Speaker 2>one seemed the most obvious. But I'd already decided to

0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:19.320
<v Speaker 2>do that. I just wasn't able to because I'd laid

0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.280
<v Speaker 2>down instead of sitting against a tree.

0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:21.960
<v Speaker 1>A lesson.

0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:26.359
<v Speaker 2>I learned that on day one, and would never ever

0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:30.919
<v Speaker 2>forget after what it like seen forever the turkey stepped

0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.159
<v Speaker 2>back towards the way he came, preparing to get out

0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:37.600
<v Speaker 2>of dodge, literally where my shotgun was pointing, and I

0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:43.040
<v Speaker 2>pulled the trigger. He went down like a one egg pudding,

0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:48.120
<v Speaker 2>and I had my first turkey. Thursday was six hours

0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:51.119
<v Speaker 2>and ten minutes old when I held in my hand

0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:56.240
<v Speaker 2>the first wild turkey I'd ever heard gobble. It would

0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:59.120
<v Speaker 2>be the start of something big for me, a seemingly

0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:03.120
<v Speaker 2>uncontroled urge each spring from that day forward to try

0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:06.520
<v Speaker 2>and out with a turkey, a wild animal with eyes

0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:08.280
<v Speaker 2>and here in so fine tuned.

0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.320
<v Speaker 1>It's been said they can hear you thinking and see

0:19:11.359 --> 0:19:12.399
<v Speaker 1>you change your mind.

0:19:13.560 --> 0:19:16.960
<v Speaker 2>For forty years, I have never missed a season, and

0:19:17.040 --> 0:19:17.800
<v Speaker 2>now I get.

0:19:17.600 --> 0:19:19.720
<v Speaker 1>To travel and do it as part of my job.

0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:22.800
<v Speaker 1>Who'd have ever thought my life would lead to this.

0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.040
<v Speaker 2>I could go turkey hunting just about anywhere there's turkeys

0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.359
<v Speaker 2>to be hunted. But now, when the first signs of

0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:33.879
<v Speaker 2>spring starts showing up, I get more excited about the

0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:36.679
<v Speaker 2>people I'm going to see than the turkeys. I'm hoping

0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:41.359
<v Speaker 2>to get from Mississippi to Alabama, Missouri and Arkansas and

0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:44.880
<v Speaker 2>who knows where else. It's the people and families I've

0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:48.200
<v Speaker 2>gotten to know over the last four decades, the ones

0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:52.040
<v Speaker 2>I haven't met yet that mean more than any turkey ever.

0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:56.120
<v Speaker 2>Could they say the quality of your life is measured

0:19:56.119 --> 0:20:00.560
<v Speaker 2>by the quality of your relationships. If that's true, and

0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:04.159
<v Speaker 2>I believe it is, Turkey season has filled my soul

0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:08.840
<v Speaker 2>far beyond it has my freezer. I hope y'all like

0:20:08.920 --> 0:20:11.720
<v Speaker 2>turkey tales, because I'm hoping to have some more stories

0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:14.760
<v Speaker 2>from this year's struggle in the next few weeks if

0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:18.639
<v Speaker 2>I can avoid the bubble. Good Luck to spring, and

0:20:18.760 --> 0:20:21.360
<v Speaker 2>watch where you step until next time.

0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:24.880
<v Speaker 1>This is Brent Reive sign it off. Y'all be careful.