Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Whether it's deer or turkeys, it's not how far you can shoot, it's how close you can get. And I'm a firm believer in that.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: I think these turkeys just kind of start getting out of the mood when you get a ton of pressure. I mean, I'll drive by fields in July if there's turkeys strutting in.
[00:00:18] Speaker A: For Pennsylvania hunters and conservationists, our roots run deep. The episodes we bring to you on the Pennsylvania Game Commission's podcast, Call of the Outdoors. We take a deep dive into exposing the incredible work being done by agency staff and partners, including statewide habitat projects, the science behind wildlife management, and what drives agency decisions. The Pennsylvania Game Commission's mission is twofold. To manage and protect wildlife and their habitats for not only current, but future generations, and to promote hunting and trapping in the Keystone State.
Hello and welcome to Call of the Outdoors, the podcast of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. It's finally turkey season and a very special guest today, a good friend of mine, a multi time grand national world champion turkey caller from our own state of Pennsylvania, Mr. Hunter Wallace. And we're going to talk about everything from calling to tactics to early season, late season. We're going to hit it all. Hope everybody's having a great spring. And thanks for coming along with us on Call the Outdoors. Hey, Hunter, how are you, buddy?
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Oh, man, I'm doing great. How are you, Matt? Good to see you.
[00:01:21] Speaker A: It is great to see you. I'm just jealous because you've been turkey hunting all over the world and finally back home to Pennsylvania.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Man, it feels good to be back. It's obviously fun to start everywhere else, but there's no place like home. I think you know that pa's and turkeys and will always be my favorite, that's for sure.
[00:01:38] Speaker A: I was going to ask you what's your favorite place to hunt turkeys? Because you've got, at a pretty young age, you've got to experience a lot of places.
[00:01:45] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I've definitely been lucky to chase them in a bunch of different states, but by far, I would say New York and home are my 2 favorite. There's just something about hunting in the hills and, you know, just topography and turkeys and just May and May in Pennsylvania is hard to beat and, and.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: If you had, I mean, you live in a really great area. I mean, when you look at the two corners of Pennsylvania and you're fortunate to be from one of those in the northeast corner, but I mean, when you look at turkey hunting across the country, Pennsylvania, we in My opinion, we have the toughest turkeys there are, man.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: There's no doubt about it. They could definitely be tough. I think, like I said, one nice thing about our area is the hills and stuff. Makes it a little bit easier to move around on them and whatnot. I think that that helps us a lot. But, man, you know, some springs just deal with earlier springs at home. You never really know. You know, first day of season, you can be hunting snow, which you don't have to worry about that in Florida or anywhere, anywhere else like that. But it's. They could definitely be tough, man. There's no doubt about it. But I think we're very fortunate. The game commission guys have done a great job keeping turkeys around, at least in my area, for sure. It seemed to have stayed pretty stable, and it seems to be kind of back on the incline for turkey numbers anyway, which is fantastic.
[00:02:55] Speaker A: And we didn't even have to pay you to say that, did we?
[00:02:57] Speaker B: No, it didn't even have to pay. Every. Every. Every time I've been out this year, just looking around and, man, just listen to turkeys gobble. There's. There's. There's plenty, man. So it's. It's good.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: You know, we've had some. You know, anecdotally, we've had some great hatches the past two or three years in my area. There's more turkeys this year gobbling right now than I've. Than I've ever heard. And you, just by looking at social media the past couple days, looks like the season's off to a great start. But let's talk about you. There's a lot of guests out there that. That might not know who Hunter Wallace is, and people like myself that have been around the turkey side of things. I've known you since you were you. You couldn't even ride a bicycle. I think the first time I met you.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: Still can't. Still can't.
But, man, I just. Yeah, we. You know, we met at Zinc and had a great time there. Did a lot of hunting together. Was. Was blessed to learn a lot of stuff from you and Josh Grossenbacher. And now I've just stayed turkey calling. I'm still, you know, calling them the Grand Nationals and whatnot. And as a young guy, I was lucky to win a few grand national titles and some. Some world titles, and just staying at it, man. Now I'm doing my own thing on a. I got my YouTube show going. It's called Rogue Hunts, and that's been going really well. So Just, just sticking to Torgion, man. It's, it's, it's brought me a lot of cool places and I'm lucky to have to have met some really good guys and you know, they've pushed me and kind of started my career in this thing and it's, it's pretty awesome.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: It is awesome. And you know, you know, my background is a lot like yours. I started calling when I was six and it took me all over the country and now I'm, you know, working for our state agency to, you know, my goal is just to make sure that hunting and conservation is still here when I'm going for my kids and hopefully my grandkids someday. And I know you feel the same way. When you look at what we've got to experience because of a turkey and a turkey call, you know, it's pretty awesome. And you know, for you and I, you know, we did get to work together, but you know, when you look at Pennsylvania and turkey callers, we've got a rich history right here. We got a lot of grand national champions and people that just lit up the stage for a long time. And you're in the books as one of them hunter for sure.
[00:05:00] Speaker B: Well, I appreciate that, man. And there's no doubt pa, you know, it's kind of funny running through the south and hunting with all these guys in the South. They got, they all got big egos down there and they think they're the best turkey hunters and the best turkey callers in the country, man. You look into PA and the rich, you know, the rich history of PA and look at some of the guys that just are really pioneers in it, you being one of them. I mean, Denny Van Syce, so many great guys. It's, it's, it's pretty cool to see the, you know, there's, there's a real deep rooted tradition of turkey hunting and turkey calling in the south, but when you look at pa, I'd say it's just as deep at home, man. It's, it's pretty unbelievable to see what, you know, some guys right here in our home state have accomplished and have done for the sport of turkey calling and turkey hunting. It's, it's pretty amazing, really.
[00:05:41] Speaker A: And when you look at the, you know, and I spend some time in the south this year myself and you know, I agree with you 100%, but I was at the store the past couple weeks and I always like to go into the turkey section and just see the walls just empty, you know, because we also have, by A long shot. We have probably the most turkey hunters in. In any state in the country. When you look at way over 200,000 turkey hunters and, you know, our birds get pressured pretty hard. And that's something that I want to talk about as we're sitting here in the first week of turkey season. You know, a lot of folks kind of give up and things change. And, you know, I hear a lot about late season, and we're going to talk a little bit about that today because I know you're blessed to have a career in this sport that we all love so much. But you also hunt turkeys every day of the season.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. It.
It's, you know, very lucky to be able to chase them every day of the season, get to see the changes that go on, you know, week one, week two, etc, and, you know, kind of how you switch your tactics up as the season goes on. And, you know, man, there's a lot of stuff that I've just learned with. With years of experience, the stuff that, you know, even two, three years ago, I wouldn't have done that. I do now. So, you know, just reading turkeys and being lucky to. To see what they do day in and day out and as they get pressure and, you know, the ones that don't get as much pressure and, you know, seeing how they react to that is pretty neat.
[00:07:02] Speaker A: It is. And, you know, going back to your calling real quick, you know, this past year in Nashville at Grand Nationals, you were third, right? Second runner up. And I watched you call, and I was rooting for you because that was one of the best runs I've ever heard. And I really felt strong that you had a real good chance to win it. So that just puts a little drive in there for next year, right?
[00:07:23] Speaker B: No doubt about it, man. I'm gonna take a little bit more seriously over the winter. I'm stopped doing. Doing as much goose hunting and stuff in the wintertime and practice my. My turkey call a little bit more. But, yeah, I was. I was really lucky this year to have a great run.
You know, you're up against the best guys in the world right now. You know, I think you would agree that turkey calling's at its peak, and I think it's going to continue to just get better and better. You know, some of these guys up there just. It's unbelievable. The stuff that, you know, the sounds they could achieve and how real it is and, you know, the comp. The level of competition is just crazy. And just be up on that stage was. Was Pretty cool. I felt pretty blessed just to be up there. And I'm going to keep working on it, man. We'll see. See if I could pull a few more tricks on my sleeve next year, maybe. Maybe boost myself up a little bit higher.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Well, I've been listening to some of your clips. I don't think you're going to have a problem. Just stick to it. And you're always good to have goals. I mean, you know, you got Matt Van Cise, who's still competing, a Pennsylvania boy that we're all proud of, and he's tough to beat. And obviously the winner, you know, from Georgia, Dave. Ow. Some of the stuff that he's got going on is unbelievable. And like you said, Colin, when you look at today and the information that's out there, the videos, the social media, the hens that we have footage of that we can listen to that weren't there years and years ago, and the equipment that we're using, the mouth calls, the friction call, they all sound as good as it gets. Technology is pretty amazing.
[00:08:41] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely.
It's nice now that you've just got. You've got so many good guys building calls and, and, you know, just studying the language of the Wild Turkey now. We're just. We've got so much more knowledge on it and so much more available, you know, availability to practice. You pull up YouTube, you can watch 30 different examples that, you know, you know, I'm one of those guys that thinks, you know, in my opinion, everybody kind of blows a call a little bit differently, but with as much information that's out there, if you pull up YouTube and, you know, you Google output on a mouth call, out of Yelp on a mouth call, there's a hundred videos that pop up and one of those is definitely going to help you out. So it's cool to. If you're a new guy learning and trying to figure out how to call, it's definitely the time to. To be. To be learning because there's so much information out there and it's just that much. The equipment's that much better, just that much easier to figure out how to. How to make some pretty good sounds.
[00:09:31] Speaker A: So, you know, we talk about Colin and, you know, no matter what people think, and this is a strong statement, the more you sound like a hen, I think the more turkeys you call up, at least the more you talk to, and I'm sure you agree with me on that statement. And, you know, you talk to Denny or any of those, they're going to say, the same thing, because sometimes contest callers get a bad rap. But I'll sit in the woods in front of any good contest caller there is because they sound like a turkey.
[00:09:56] Speaker B: Dude, there's, there's no doubt about it. I mean, obviously you hear the age old statement of you don't have to be the best caller out there to kill turkeys. And there's absolutely no doubt about that. You know, woodsmanship kills as many turkeys as anything. But when you take your call to that next level and make it that much more realistic, especially on pressured turkeys. Now we just got done hunting some, some public ground in Kentucky that gets absolutely hammered. And first morning we went in there and called up turkey like he had never heard a call before. Now maybe we got lucky and he was just in the right frame of mind. And I'm not trying to say that I'm better than anybody in any way, shape or form, but when you really hone in on some supernatural sounds, and I think you'll agree with me, just super soft yelp and super soft clucks and purrs, just stuff that sounds like a hen feeding around that just convinces them in their mind that it's real is just absolutely killer in the woods, man. I just, I think when you've got them, you know, they hear something that's not totally natural, they might come in and give it a look. But when they're totally convinced that that's a real hen, you just know by the way that they're, they're working their way to that call that they're absolutely fooled. And I think it's, it'll definitely, you know, it helps you kill a lot more turkeys. There's, there's absolutely no doubt about it. Right.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: And like, like we talked about earlier in today's, where we're at today, like you can hit YouTube and you can, you have those things you can practice with and hens. You have a call with you, by the. By the way.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: I grabbed one. I did.
[00:11:10] Speaker A: All right. Hit some of that soft stuff. You're talking about it and it might take you a second to get it loose, but if not that real soft, you know, like, like you were just talking about like a hand that, that, that any of us want to sound like.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: Absolutely, yeah. I mean, something that I try to focus on once I got turkey goblin good and he knows where I'm at, then I basically just try to, you know, in my mind I'm trying to paint a picture is I'm a hen over here. I want you to know that I'm over here, but at the same time, I'm kind of just feeding around and I don't care about you that much. I need you to come over here and come to me. So I'll just try to tone it down. Just soft yelps, clucks and purrs, stuff like that. Or here's kind of what I'll do once I feel like I've got them pretty interested.
Just something like that, man. Just to like I said, tone it down a little bit. Just make it as natural as possible. Because you, I mean, you know as well as I know, when you're in the woods, listen to turkeys, Even in the fall, whatever time of year it is, when they're flocked up, when they're feeding around and stuff, hens, they're always making noise. Jake's hens, they're always making all kinds of noise. So, you know, you obviously hear, yeah, I say all the time about over calling. Over calling is definitely, you know, it happens out there. You could definitely overblow your call. But in the same sense, you know, when you're making sounds that are supernatural and just toned down, that's what turkeys are doing all the time. So if you want to really, you know, paint that picture, that gobbler's head, that there's a hen up there, you know, feeding around, throwing some Jake yelps, whatever, there's kind of a flock. I mean, that's always what I'm trying. I'm always trying to kind of paint a picture to that turkey and just convince them that, you know, that hen's over there and she's, you know, she wants me to come over, but at the same time, I'm not paying that much attention to them.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: You're, you're using what we have the ability, you know us as, we're at the top of the food chain. We're the tallest predator out on the food chain. We have the ability to reason and you're trying to think what that gobbler's doing. And like you hit the nail on the head, turkeys are always talking to each other, just like us, we're always having conversations. Turkeys are doing the same thing. When you get to over calling it, I think that statement can be true, especially if you're really aggressive with him. If you're over aggressively calling to him, constantly, making him gobble to know where he's at and he's out there hung up, waiting for you to come to him because he's so Fired up. But that soft little stuff like that can mean the world of difference. It kind of gave me goosebumps. Here, Hunter. When you hear good calling. When I hear good calling, it puts bumps on my arms and little hairs on the head, back of my neck stand up. That was pretty awesome stuff.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: But I've had you sitting behind me a couple of times and you've done the same thing to me. So you're no stranger to sounds like that, that's for sure.
[00:13:49] Speaker A: I've lost all that. I'm no good anymore. I had to have Josh send me a couple calls so I to sound halfway good anymore. I don't put the time in it. I used to trust me and you guys intimidate the hell out of me on stage. So I just, I call behind the scenes nowadays, but I still practice every day. And it's just something that you, you'll always do the same thing. I mean, you're always going to be running turkey call the rest of your life because it's in your blood. How old were you when you started calling in contests?
[00:14:17] Speaker B: Oh, man, I, you know, somebody asked me this question the other day. I think the first time I ever called in the contest, I was 6 or 7. And it was at the.
Was at the Green Dryer Sterling Fair they had. It was Earl Mickle Memorial Memorial calling Contest. And I called on a box call. Thought I remember thinking that I did awesome, but. But I got my tail kicked. I didn't even place. There was a bunch of kids ahead of me, push buttons and stuff that they, they blew me out of the water. So I not really gave it up, but just never had a contest to go to the next couple years. And then the first one that I actually won was the Harford Fair Turkey calling contest. I think I was 9 or 10 years old. And I got up there with a mouth call. I was mouth call at that point and I won that one. That kind of lit a fire in me, man. I started going to some bigger contests and always thought that, you know, the funny thing is when I was really young like that I always thought just because I was using a mouth call, I was going to get scored better than everybody else, you know. And I went to like the Bloomsburg contest and, and some of the contests out by Claysburg, Penn State and stuff and just continue to get my tail kicked. And it was like, man, you know, I couldn't figure it out. But then when you hear these younger guys on these box calls that could just rip them up, I mean, you know, I had no business with them. And that's when I really started practicing kind of honing in my skills a little bit better. That's when I met Josh Grossenbacher and he, you know, he taught me a lot, man, he really did and kind of worked with my, you know, just critiqued my, my sounds and kind of the way I was running everything together. And that's when I started getting lucky to win a couple and been at it ever since.
[00:15:40] Speaker A: Yeah. So you and Nate Hosey are the Harford county calling champions. Right?
[00:15:44] Speaker B: Right. I mean he helped me in the Harford one and that's, you know, we used to, we used to both, both run with Russ at top calls there.
[00:15:54] Speaker A: Right.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: And never forget the age old sutliff wing man, the batwing call. And I still blow batwing today. And that's no kidding, that's been the call that I've always blown. I don't blow anything but a batwing. Every contest turkey on everything is always been a batwing for me. And that kind of, you know, that came off the sutler wing. That's what Nate and I both started on. And you know, Nate used to work with me quite a bit and he, he helped me a lot too.
[00:16:16] Speaker A: Please tell me you don't wear face paint.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: I don't wear face paint.
[00:16:19] Speaker A: Okay, good. That's all I wanted.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: That low yet? I don't know.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: You could put some turkey tracks on your face or something.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. I'll come up with my own little thing.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: So if you, let's talk about, go back to calling a little bit. Like if you had one, go to, if you, if you had something, if you were a newer turkey hunt hunter out there and there's so much information. If you had one go to call that like let's say this spring it was your goal to perfect a call to get as good as you can. What would that call be for spring turkey hunting?
[00:16:53] Speaker B: Man, you know, just the meat and potatoes of turkey on the C open. Obviously, if you just go into it, whether it be with a box call, you know, slate call, mouth call, whatever. And you know, most guys obviously are trying to learn how to mouth call. Just learn how to get a basic yelp, you know. And I just, it's funny because I just did a calling tutorial video on this the other day. And you hear, you know, I've heard podcasters, you and Waddell and Denny talking about that, you know, the age old wheel and you hear that high end of the low end. You work on that and get Your yelping down, man. Then it's just all about volume. You know, you get a high yelp, and that can help you reach turkeys at a long way. And just like we did the soft stuff right there, you figure out, do some. Some soft yelp. And I mean, really, honestly, some of this cutting and stuff you add in the yelping does add real realism. Absolutely. Does it help you make a turkey gobble? Absolutely. But if you just yelp at a lot of them, especially the ones that are in the right frame of mind, it's enough to kill them right there for sure.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: Well, since you got your call there, show, show folks like just a hen that's out there yelping, just looking for something, and then put that inflection when she's really wanting to aggressive or wanting to, you know, get a gobbler's attention or something. You use as. As you use as a turkey hunter to get one fired up. Just start off like, just regular yelps and then kind of like a mating yelp just to show that inflection to folks that are tuned in.
[00:18:03] Speaker B: Absolutely. So this is something that I would do if I'm just trying to strike a turkey. I always. I always try to start soft just in case something's close by. I don't want to just blow it out of, you know, blow them out of the water by calling real loud, but then I'll build into it. So I'm just trying to. Trying to be a hen that's just, you know, kind of looking for company, and then I'm going to get more aggressive.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: That's awesome.
[00:18:58] Speaker B: Yeah. When you bring that. Bring that guttural tone into it, it's just that much more, you know, when a hen's really trying to get her point across and trying to talk to a hen on another hillside or a galvan on another hillside, it seems like they really bring in that deep, guttural, and that's when they get that. That super raspy, deep tone.
[00:19:13] Speaker A: And one thing that you're doing, and it was really a great example right there, when that hen's yelping, she's, you know, just like when she's out there, she's separating each note and she's listening in between, and you're doing the same thing because you're just. We're just attuned to it. As a turkey hunter, you put that separation there because you're listening every. Every note you make out there because you might hear a turkey gobble at 100 or 500 yards. Away.
[00:19:35] Speaker B: Absolutely. Yeah. You'll hear hands do the same exact thing, man. Especially when, you know, you can kind of tell when a hen's looking for company. Whether it be just a hen just to be with other turkeys or a gobbler. She does the same thing, man. She'll just get in there, yelp two or three times, listen, cut a couple times, and then, you know, she hears on their hen or gobbler, y'all back to her, she'll listen to it and then she starts answering them and that's when they, you know, basically start that conversation.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: Right? Absolutely. That's awesome. So take us, let's say, you know, we're past opening morning. Let's say it's opening morning. Let's say you've, you've got a turkey roosted. We get in there and get set up. You know, we can talk about setting up, you know, and we'll do that first. Like if you, if you know, you got a turkey rooster or you hear one goblin on the tree, like, what's your game plan before you, you know, just getting set up. What, what does Hunter Wallace do first thing in the morning, call wise?
[00:20:21] Speaker B: I mean, it just kind of, you know, obviously everything's very situational. I, I'd say if I'm on a field that I know the turkey is going to fly down into, you know, there's really no reason to call to him until he's on the ground. But by any means, if I'm in the woods and you know, I've slipped within maybe 100 yards of them, I'll always hit him with two or three trios, maybe one a little bit more aggressive just so he knows where I'm at before he pitches down. Now if I'm in super tight, I usually don't make, even if it's in the woods or you know, if I've slipped within say 50 yards of them are where I could see him on the limb every time I could see him on the limb. I don't usually ever call to him until they hit the ground. And like I said, in a field situation, I also, you know, I feel the same way. Unless you're using decoys or something over a field and you just want to get that, you know, as soon as he, you know, gobble usually flying on first, you just want to make them think that that hands out there and she's got another Jake with him or whatever. Sometimes I'll hit him. But nine times out of 10, I don't think that there's much reason to hit him on the limb unless, you know, he's got hands or something and you're in the woods with him where he can't really see you. Then I'll hit him a couple times just to let him know I'm, you know, kind of in the area and with hopes that he might pitch down in my direction. Just kind of looking.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: So when you're talking about getting close to him, I mean, I'm scared of it too. I always give myself a buffer because I've. I've bumped too many turkeys in my life. But you know, hauling video cameras and the things you're doing, you know, that's where woodsmanship comes into play. I mean, when you're trying to get that close to him and it. No doubt you can do it a lot, but you. That's when you got to be careful. You got to, you got to slip and slide and use the train your advantage. But let's say we got set up. Hit him with some of that soft stuff if you were going to call to him on the limb, that, that when a hen first wakes up, if.
[00:21:54] Speaker B: You would, I'll just hit him with some free calls. And then a lot of, a lot of times I'll hit him, especially in early season situation, like right now, I'll hit him with a couple of jake elves because you'll always hear, and obviously I know you've heard it a million times. When that gobbler gobbles a lot of times and he's in there roosting with the flock, those jakes will always answer him. So I'm always, you know, I always like to make it like I'm a hen, especially early season situation. Like I said, I'm a hand over here just waking up. And if he'll gobble to it, then I'll hit him back with a jkl.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Another thing real quick with the jkl, but Harold Knight taught me this a long time ago when I was young. And if you watch it, you watch a gobbler that's up there and he struts. And as soon as he does that, that Jayco, I mean, he answers that drum every time.
[00:22:35] Speaker B: Yeah, and that's something that just talk about adding realism, man. You know, gobblers are used to hearing that all the time. And I don't, you know, I haven't really figured out why they answer them, whether it's just that they're just letting them know that they're awake. And it's just, you know, that time of Day when they're excited. But yeah, I'll always start with just soft tree up. And then if I give him the gobble, hit him back real quick. Jake yelp. And it's kind of.
And if he answers me, I'll just quickly.
There's a couple notes, man, you don't have to throw much into there because a lot of times you'll hear those jakes, they just, they might do two notes. It's just a real quick, deep sound and it just. For me. Does it matter that much? I don't really know, but it's. It seemed as hell. It seems to help a lot of times. And I'll do that. And you know, if I feel like there's a gang of turkeys together, I'll. I'll do that a lot. I'll throw those JKPs in there a lot. And I think, I think they definitely have the success.
[00:23:30] Speaker A: No doubt. And that way you're, you're attracting that, that mating aspect with the hen stuff, and then you're pissing them off with that pecking order stuff. When you hit that, you see you're hitting them. It's just like decoys. When you have decoys out there, you got a jake and a hen. Nine and a half times out of 10, that gobbler is going to come to that jake decoy because he's worried about that mating stuff. Second.
[00:23:51] Speaker B: Yeah, no doubt about it. No doubt about it. Yeah, I've definitely, definitely played with the jake up in here the last couple of years, kind of. Not that I've necessarily. I've got nothing against my. At all, but I've been experimenting with just not using decoys as much just because I think it's a little bit more fun when you got a turkey just coming that, you know, we all grew up turkey on with no decoys. And it's fun to just go out there without a decoy, just grab your shotgun and try to yell pun up. So I've experimented with the jake elf and stuff a lot and I think it might definitely help in bringing a turkey in a little bit quicker. Just because he's, you know, you're like, you said you pissed him off. He's thinking there might be a hen there and then she's got a jake with him. You know, he don't, he don't. He definitely doesn't like that. So he's going to try to break in there a little bit quicker and come looking to fight.
[00:24:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. And you know, it's kind of, it's crazy. Where we go in life. You know, when. When decoys first came out when I was a kid, like, they weren't realistic and they worked, you know, two out of 20 times, you'd have one interact with a decoy most of the time, do a drive by. Then Callie Morse kind of marketed the. The mounted hen decoys. That was my first experience with something that worked like a magnet. And then obviously, when we went to work for Avian X and, you know, there's Dave Smith, there's. There's lots of great, realistic decoys out there that really make a difference.
You know, we all learned how to turkey hunt by calling them in and getting them to come find us. And when you. When you. However you want to go turkey hunting, it's fine. I won't. We want people in the woods. But, like, when you're having a conversation to one and you get him to 20 yards and he's looking for you, there's nothing like it in the world. I mean, when he's just looking for you and can't figure it out and you vocally have attracted him, it's pretty amazing.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: It really is, man. And it just makes you kind of. And again, man, I've got nothing against using decoys while I use them still. Absolutely. I've got, you know, I'll still use them whenever I feel the need to, but if I'm hunting in the woods, a lot of times I'll just put it up just because I enjoy the experience of just calling them up and, you know, kind of makes you have to hone your skills a little bit better. You got to make sure you don't move at all and your guns point in the right direction and just kind of brings it back to the old school, you know, the old school days of, you know, for me, when I was learning how to hunt and we didn't really have great decoys, we just had the feather flex and all that stuff, and, you know, we hardly ever used them. So it's definitely fun to just have a gobbler come look and do it, Just come to a call. But any way you want to do it, it's all fun. There's no doubt about that. Yeah.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: When you. When you got one standing at seven yards, just shaking the ground, it's. There's. I mean, you can't even explain it makes me want to get outside right now and see if I can make one gobble.
[00:26:11] Speaker B: But no doubt.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: It's just. That's the turkey hunter innocent. And that's. That's the cool Thing. I mean, you're. You. Like myself, I'm lucky enough to have a father. My dad's still here that loved turkey hunting. And, you know, I know you and your dad are pretty close, although you guys fight a lot, from what I understand.
[00:26:25] Speaker B: Nah, just a little bit.
We argue a little bit.
[00:26:29] Speaker A: I got you. I got you. Someday I'd like to be along when you guys get into one of them little scuffles about where to set up or. I've heard good stories about it, though. But that's part of it. I mean, that's part of turkey hunting. And you and your dad have a great relationship. Matter of fact, just there in youth season, you know, this is probably, what, five or six years for the event that you and your dad put together.
[00:26:48] Speaker B: Is that, I think, our fourth or fifth event? Yeah.
[00:26:51] Speaker A: Okay, just. Just talk about what y'all did there and what you do, and it's. It's. When you look at the R3 movement and trying to get kids involved, you guys are doing a great job doing your part up there in the Northeast. Just talk about Nancy's vision for a minute, if you would.
[00:27:05] Speaker B: Yeah, man. You know, a couple years ago, my mom had passed away pretty unexpectedly, and my dad and I talked about something that we wanted to do in her memory. And, you know, I kind of came up with the idea of just doing a youth turkey hunt. And we donate the proceeds to Catch a Dream and some other great foundations that help kids that are, you know, have terminal illnesses and, you know, just. Just help brighten their day. And it, man, it's blown up into something that we never even could have imagined. First year, I think we had 50 or 60 participants. It was absolutely amazing. Last couple of years, we've had well over 100, 130, 140.
It's just been unbelievable. We've been bringing in some really serious money to help kids and, you know, help kids with cancer. But, you know, just the event itself is unbelievable. And getting kids involved in hunting and it's meant at the end of the day, when those kids bring their turkeys in, they get their prizes. And seeing the smiles on those kids faces, man, it's. That's enough right there to bring a tear to your eyes. So it's all for good. And it's. It's been nothing but just unbelievable. All the people that have stepped up.
Words can't even describe how appreciative we are of everybody that's helped out and how unbelievable an event it's been.
It's pretty unbelievable. It really is. It's been a great thing. We're going to continue to do it as long as we can.
[00:28:17] Speaker A: And I was there a couple of years ago and I mean, all the turkeys hanging from the post and it's cool, and it's cool to see the youngsters just involved in how special it is and bringing that hunting community together for a bigger cause. And hats off to you and your dad for that. And, and you know, we're going to, you know, in the future, if we can ever help to make it bigger or, you know, we had some talks about looking at other places the state maybe to help you scale it out there a little bit, because you guys have started a great thing and it's, it's great for the future of hunting and conservation, for sure.
[00:28:49] Speaker B: Absolutely, man. And that's the nice thing about it. The sky is kind of the limit. So it's, we started it just thinking if we could raise, you know, 20 or 30 grand and get some, you know, put some smiles on some kids faces when they, when they came in and got a trophy for their turkey, that would be great. But it's just blown up into something we, we never thought it would, would blow up into. So it's been a real blessing to, to run it this long and have it just get better and grow every single year. So we're, we're pretty happy with it for sure.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: Awesome. So now talk about your little, your not little, your endeavor that you're into now and what you're doing every spring. And if people want to tune in to watch you turkey hunt and anywhere that you go from Florida and here in our home state of Pennsylvania, just, just if you will just give your, your thing a shout out, if you would.
[00:29:30] Speaker B: Yeah, man. Maybe two springs ago now, I started up a YouTube show called Rogue Hunts. And obviously we got all the social media, Facebook, Instagram, all of our shows are aired on YouTube as of right now. And it's just as rogue and raw turkey hunting as I can get it. It's just us hitting the woods, having a good time and calling up turkeys. From Florida to Pennsylvania and Maine and everywhere in between, man, it's just a good old turkey hunting show that I want to be as raw and real as possible. And yeah, we're posting most of our hunts between February and, and the middle of May every year. And I plan to plan to keep it going for a lot of years. Hopefully it'll. Hopefully I can stick with it and keep it going. We've definitely been racking up Some really good hunts this year, and it's. It's been a blast. I'm really enjoying.
[00:30:12] Speaker A: How many sunrises do you see turkey hunting as a rule in the spring?
[00:30:17] Speaker B: Oh, man, I don't even know. Usually starts somewhere around March 18, somewhere in there, and ended out. And ended it the last couple years, first week of June, up in Maine, they've got their season goes into June there, and there's very few days in between that we miss maybe two or three. So if you added them all up, 50, 60, somewhere in there, it's a long spring and it's a fun spring. And there's nothing else I'd rather be doing, I can tell you that for sure.
[00:30:47] Speaker A: Well, do it while you're young, because when you get older, you need a lot of naps.
[00:30:51] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. We still nap. Trust me, we still nap. But my dad goes in there. I think he naps less than us. He might nap 20, 30 minutes, we're out there, passed out for an hour, two hours, just. Just recuperating. But, man, it's a fun time.
[00:31:04] Speaker A: I did see a picture you caught this spring of your dad sleeping by a tree. I think it was in Florida. He was. Looked like he was sound asleep, if that was real or not. It looked real.
[00:31:12] Speaker B: No, it was real. Trust me.
[00:31:14] Speaker A: They're all real.
[00:31:14] Speaker B: We've been trying to get. I told. Stay the guy filming for me the other day, I said, man, we got to try to get a picture of him because it seems like every time we get a setup on a turkey that's more than about 15 minutes, usually look back there and he's passed out. So I said, man, we got to try to document a great picture of him sleeping. In every state we hunt in, you gotta.
[00:31:33] Speaker A: You have him spoiled if that's the case. We do.
[00:31:36] Speaker B: We do have him spoiled, man, he just sit back there. He sit back there and watch a bunch of turkeys die. And then when it's his turn, he gets to be in the driver's seat.
[00:31:42] Speaker A: But that's.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: That's his role, man. And he's earned it, that's for sure.
[00:31:45] Speaker A: That's right. So let's talk about our season real quick. And I don't want to hold you up too long. I'm probably invading nap time there.
You know, let's talk about. Do you, like. If you look out through the season, do you change the way you turkey hunt at all from the beginning of May till the end of May here in Pennsylvania?
[00:32:03] Speaker B: Yeah, Abs, absolutely. I think, you know, early on in the season, probably, for me, I'm a little bit more aggressive. You know, I'll do a lot more calling. I'll, you know, cover a lot more ground. Just trying to find a turkey that, you know, is by himself and wants to come to call, I'd say, later in the season. Another reason that I kind of tone back a little bit is, is because I know there's less turkeys out there that, you know, a lot of them have gotten shot at a certain point, and I kind of try to. Try to stick with one, and I'll tone back my. My moves. You know, I'll kind of sit back, and by then, hopefully, I've got one kind of figured out where he's going and stuff. You know, like I said earlier in the season, for me, a good rule of thumb is, you know, just do a lot of calling, you know, cover as much ground as possible until you find one that wants to do it. Because he probably hasn't heard a turkey call yet, and he's, you know, if he hears one, you got a good chance of bringing them to you later on in the season. Man, you. Seems like a lot of times you're dealing with more pressure turkeys, and sometimes older turkeys, those. Those, you know, sometimes the last week of the season is when you kill your big hooks for turkeys. So I always try to kind of just tone it down a little bit. Maybe. Maybe, you know, you know, not call as much tone down my calling and just kind of rely on my woodsmanship a little bit more later in the season.
[00:33:08] Speaker A: And seems to work a lot more patient. Probably later in the year, too.
[00:33:12] Speaker B: Absolutely. Try to. Try to be more patient later in the season. Just, you know, by that time, it seems like, like I said, a lot of the turkeys have heard of turkey call at that point, and they've had a few tricks try to be played on them. So you got to kind of. Kind of think a little more into your setups and make sure you have everything perfect before you. You pour into them.
[00:33:31] Speaker A: So we get this a lot, you know, here at the Game Commission.
You know, a lot of people think our season's way too late. And, you know, one of the reasons that our season is where it is, and if you. If you look at other states across the country, they're kind of following our model. You know, when the. A lot of states, the population, you know, we saw some numbers decline across the country in, you know, Alabama, Oklahoma. I can keep going, you know, I can keep going on and on about the states that have backed their season up a couple weeks, 10 days or, you know, 14 days, to try to let those. Make sure those hens are bred. So we have the best possible success rate of getting those hens in the nest. But when you look at our season, and as it gets later, a lot of. A lot of folks complain that it's too late and the turkeys are done and this and that. And, you know, you can't get any farther north in our state than where your home is. And I know you. You guys do great, even up to the last day in Pennsylvania. And it's.
[00:34:25] Speaker B: You could, you know, in my opinion, you could call a turkey up and have them come and screaming goblin, just like first day of season, 20th, if you wanted to. Now, maybe that's by me. And further south, it might not be the same way, but if they don't see that much pressure, man, for me, a lot of it. I think these turkeys just kind of start getting out of the mood when you, when you get a ton of pressure. I mean, you know, I'll drive by fields in July, there's turkeys strutting in. So I think Pennsylvania does an unbelievably great job at holding our season back. And for me, it opens at the perfect timing. I don't see any problem. I'd be fine if they opened at May 15th. There's, you know, I don't see any problem with that if it's going to help turkeys. And to me, I don't think it matters in the hunting aspect at all. I think, you know, as long as. As long as there's turkeys there, you're going to be able to work them, like I said, probably up until mid summer if they're still in the mood. Because a lot of times, pressure is what turns them off. So, you know, that, that Pennsylvania pushing the season back is huge. I think it helps population, and I don't think it hurts our hunting whatsoever.
[00:35:21] Speaker A: Right. I agree with you. And pressure is something that's hard to put your finger on. I mean, whether it's whitetails or turkeys or whatever. And you know, those animals that are out there, they're trying to survive every day. And, you know, the more that, that hunting pressure, it does make it tougher because if somebody was shot at me or something trying to get me every day because I'm out there screaming my head off, I'm going to stop screaming my head off so much. I mean, it's just common sense.
And I agree with you tenfold. You know, you Got to get out there and do your work and find those birds because they are still gobbling late in the year. You're not having. You might not hear as many as you do on opening day. You know, some of them are gone and obviously there's a lot. The whole woods goes through a change too, where we get to complete leaf out. You can't hear turkeys as far when it gets later in the season either.
[00:36:06] Speaker B: Yeah, and that's half the problem right there. I think a lot of guys don't realize, is there such a sound difference? I mean, later in the season we got all those leaves out, man. You could hear turkey. He's 100 yards. He sounds like he's 400. And a turkey at 500 yards or 400 yards that you could have heard on the next hillside. The first week of the season, you're not even going to hear him. So sometimes it just takes a little bit more hiking, a little bit more. You know, you just got to be persistent and you're definitely going to find turkeys are still going to work up until May 31st. It's like I've had some of my greatest, best days of hunting the last two, three days of the season.
[00:36:37] Speaker A: So.
[00:36:38] Speaker B: Right. It's Pennsylvania hits the nail on the head. It's perfect timing in my opinion. The first week of May is awesome, and the last week of May is awesome.
[00:36:45] Speaker A: And what about evenings? You hunt evenings at all at home here in P.A.
[00:36:48] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I've hunted the evenings. Not quite as much as. As the mornings, obviously. I think most turkey hunters hit the mornings a lot harder. It's just kind of in our nature. But the evenings could be great. Man, I've had some awesome hunts, you know, 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon, strike turkey up and call them up, you know, just. Just like it was, you know, 8:00 on the first day of season. So I enjoy the evening thing and I love the fact that they do half and half. I really do. I think it's awesome to give those hens a little bit of time where they're. Nobody's bothering them the first couple weeks there. In the last couple weeks, you know, if you had trouble filling your tag, you get, you know, you could slide into an area where you see him strutting in the afternoons. Whatever. It's fun to have the split, you know, half and half, I think is awesome.
[00:37:27] Speaker A: And one thing that your dad and you work as a team, and this is important. I mean, even as we're sitting here in Turkey Season. You guys never stop scouting. You're always out there looking around, watching, looking. And even preseason and, you know, obviously with your schedule, it's tougher and tougher. That's, you know, that's why your dad and you can make a great team there, too. But you always have an option. You always have, you know, nothing's happening here. You have some areas scouted. I mean, I assume that's what you do. I know you used to do it a lot.
[00:37:52] Speaker B: Absolutely, absolutely. Scouting is key, man. And it. It doesn't even have to be scouting as far as just seeing turkeys out. It's scouting, going in the woods, find where there's fresh scratch and, you know, you could hit some huge areas in game lands and just get out in the afternoon, taking a walk, see what you, you know, see where the fresh scratching's at. Listen, in the afternoon, scouting is key. Just honing in on where those turkeys are. And I mean, you know, I don't. I'm not one of these guys that's big on what, you know, what they're doing at this time of day. If they're in the area and you're persistent enough and you, you're going to, you know, call a bunch and see if you could strike a turkey up. You're going to find them somewhere. So just finding the right sign, obviously seeing turkeys is huge, but, you know, if you're dealing with woods turkeys and you're on a lot of woods, just getting out there, finding that scratch and find all kinds of sign and listening in the evenings and stuff is. It's key.
[00:38:38] Speaker A: Do you have one signature Hunter Wallace tip for our viewers out there? Something that, like, if you didn't get anything else out of this podcast that you could help some of our turkey hunters out there, myself included.
[00:38:50] Speaker B: Man, if you don't own a Hunter Wallace signature series mouth call. I think that's my one tip now.
[00:38:57] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:38:58] Speaker B: Something I've been thinking about the last. Just this year in turkey hunting, man, is, you know, we all hit different points in our. In our hunting, you know, our hunting careers, if you will.
I think something that's killed a lot more turkeys for me this year is knowing when to be patient and when not to be patient. And obviously that comes with time. But you know, you know just as well as I know that there's times that you could sit on a turkey and it might take two hours, but finally he'll. He'll break. And then there's times where, you know, you could sit in an area for two hours, and you should have moved after the first 10 minutes. And. And learning that is crucial, so crucial in hunting, man. And I think as I get older, I lean a little bit toward the patient side a little bit more. And this year, it's been unbelievable to see some of the stuff happen that I never thought would have happened. I've just sat there an extra 10 minutes, and sure enough, a turkey will drum close. And, you know, he comes in. Being patient's key and learning when to be patient and when not, when not to be patient is huge in your hunting success.
[00:39:55] Speaker A: So it's kind of funny because I'm kind of reliving.
How old are you now?
[00:40:01] Speaker B: I'm 27.
[00:40:02] Speaker A: 27. So about your age is when I discovered that I need to sit my butt by that tree a lot longer, because it used to be like, he'd stop. I want to go find another one somewhere else. And then, obviously, when filming for us, whether back in the HS days or AV next days, I learned how to be patient. And now I'm even more patient than most people that I go with. They're like, let's go. And I'm like, we still have a chance. And I can't believe, just like you said, that extra 30 minutes, the extra 40 minutes that I sat there and waited, what happened in the end? And I agree with that 100%. I tell folks all the time when you think it's time to go, most of the time, you should stay another 15 minutes, and you won't believe what it does.
[00:40:41] Speaker B: Absolutely. Like I said, this year alone, there's been a couple times where I've been sitting there thinking, man, we should have got our butts out of here 20 minutes ago. And then all of a sudden, turkey gobbles, and it's just like a whole different turkey. You know, he's just. Whether a hen left him or whatever. And that's something that's so key, too. I think when you sit on turkeys for a while, you'll see that there's stages that go on throughout the morning. You know, those turkeys will fly down. You know, you think they're gobbling their heads off the limb. They hit the ground, then they shut up. You think it's over with, man, you stick with those suckers and just keep your ears open. You don't have to call. Don't. Don't keep calling to them, because it's not going to make a difference whether you try to get out in front of them. That's huge. But if you can't, you just sit there, man. Wait until nine, ten o'clock. And once those hands leave that sucker, he's going to be just as fired up as he was on the limb. And that's a, that's a, that's huge right there. Especially got one or two spots, you know, don't push them. Just, just kind of sit there on him. And when the time gets right, he's going to come looking for you.
[00:41:31] Speaker A: Sometimes you take a nap and good stuff will happen 30 minutes later. So that's.
[00:41:35] Speaker B: Hey, and that's funny you said that about my dad. It seems to happen like that all the time. I can't tell you how many hun we'll shoot and then you'll hear them in the background say, man, I'm over here freaking sleeping. Here comes a turkey.
[00:41:48] Speaker A: I have this weird thing, especially deer. I think they have a sixth sense. I think deer like know when you're just staring them down. I just, I've always closed my eyes and want to act like I'm not out there trying to stick an arrow through them or a turkey the same way some I. This is something that always plays in my head because I feel like sometimes they can feel that predatory instinct. I don't know if that's true or not. That's just something that I do out there.
[00:42:11] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you know, it's kind of funny too. I feel like when, when you're moving on turkeys that are super hemmed up and it seems like, you know, you've moved here, moved here, moved here. And every single time you stop at a different point to call, which sometimes you gotta just to know where they are. I feel like in his head he kind of knows, like, you know, you've hit him here, then you moved all the way around here and hit him, he hasn't moved. And you move all the way around here and hit him, he hasn't moved. He kind of knows that that's not natural. So you know, if you're sitting on a turkey, like I said, just wait until he starts gobbling on his own again and then you start hitting him with some soft stuff. Start building it up and you'll be surprised how it works out.
[00:42:45] Speaker A: That's all right, well, since you got your call there, if you would just do us one more thing. Do kind of like the whole scenario of a hen and waking up and some jakes and cackle and hit the ground and do some of that stuff. And then I got a couple more questions and then we'll let you get your afternoon nap.
[00:42:59] Speaker B: All right. I'll do a little. I'll do a little. Little morning fly down Sequen.
[00:43:25] Speaker A: Sa.
You can tell you're in middle turkey season because you're not out of breath, and you do that every day. And do you feel like you feel you're called better during and after turkey, right after turkey season than you did all year?
[00:44:43] Speaker B: Absolutely. And that's why I tell myself I got to practice way more that call about two weeks beforehand, and I can't breathe. And at this point, I'm fine. I feel like I'm running my calls a lot better. So, yeah, when you start, when you're running them every day from at least daylight to lunchtime, from March to mid May, you. You figure it out a little bit better. And your air control is a little better, for sure.
[00:45:05] Speaker A: Absolutely. I got. I got two questions for you, Hunter. One, have you ever missed a turkey?
[00:45:10] Speaker B: I've missed a lot of turkeys. Lots and lots of turkeys, especially when I was a young kid, man, I've got. Actually, not at the time, they were not fond at all, but some of my fondest memories of turkey hunter, when I missed turkeys as a kid, that was. I think back on that stuff now and just how exciting it was. And just like everybody else says, man, you remember the ones that you missed or didn't get more than the ones you killed. And there's no doubt about that.
[00:45:31] Speaker A: Absolutely. And like, when you're doing television, everybody remembers the ones you missed. I promise you.
[00:45:35] Speaker B: Absolutely. Hey, I've been sitting behind you and seen you miss a couple of those suckers they didn't get. But I've seen you miss on the first shot.
[00:45:43] Speaker A: I was in Alabama earlier this year, and I actually killed the biggest turkey of my life.
And I'm at 15 yards, he's standing there looking at me, and I swear I missed him like there was nothing on earth. And he. He jumped up and got in the air, and then I, for dumb luck, I shot him in the head. And I mean, just. It was a great shot. And the guy was hunting with. He goes, you shoot that thing flying in the head. I'm like, yeah, that's what I was aiming for. And I wasn't aiming for the head. I just, I. It was just one of those lucky.
[00:46:09] Speaker B: Things, do that too many times. You're just giving them a chance. I think.
[00:46:12] Speaker A: No, no, it's called getting old.
And. Well, actually, I know what this was. I lifted my head off the stock. I mean, every time I Miss. I can pretty much tell you what I, what you do wrong. And that's, you know, even during turkey season, it doesn't hurt to go out there and get familiar with your shotgun. You don't have to shoot turkey loads. Go out there and shoot at some, you know, shoot at a stationary clay bird or something with a dove load just to remember what it's like, that muscle memory of squeezing the trigger. Because when that adrenaline's flowing, it's easy to lift your cheek off the gun. And there's lots of things that can go wrong.
[00:46:41] Speaker B: Totally different animal. I'll tell you one thing that's helped me a lot is I've switched to one of those red dots, man. I gotta tell you, they're pretty automatic. You put that dot on there, that's where that shot's going. That's helped me especially, you know, hunting turkeys in the woods and stuff. And they're bobbing their heads through the woods. It's so much easier to follow with that red dot. I loved it. If you never tried one, they're pretty awesome.
[00:46:59] Speaker A: Yeah, I've got one. The problem is it takes the excuses way out of the game. I like to have an excuse.
[00:47:04] Speaker B: If you miss them with the bead, at least you got an excuse you missed.
[00:47:07] Speaker A: Exactly, exactly. And you know the price of shells today. I don't like to shoot that many times anymore.
[00:47:13] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:47:14] Speaker A: And if you had an optimum range, though, where you like to take the slack out of the trigger, if you will, if you like. When you like to shoot, how, where do you like to shoot at a turkey. What's your, what's your favorite range, if you will?
[00:47:25] Speaker B: Oh, man. I'd say comfort wise.
Obviously you've got these chokes now. They're just so tight and these patterns are unbelievable. I'd say the most comfortable, most comfortable shot is, is about 30, 35 yards, especially with. I shoot 20 gauge now. I've been shooting four or five years with TSS and you know, it's wicked. But I've always kind of been one of those guys that does like to. I like to experiment with them and see how close I could actually get.
[00:47:48] Speaker A: Oh, I'm, I'm the same way sword.
[00:47:50] Speaker B: I love watching them and love seeing just how much I can fool them. So I always try to get them absolutely as close as I possibly can before I shoot them. But I'd say your most comfortable range at least, you know, as far as being, you know, dead sure that you're probably going to kill them about 30 yards. Is as good as it could get. But man, I like seeing if I can get them right to my boots, if I can.
[00:48:08] Speaker A: That's awesome. That's. I'm the same way. I enjoy fooling them to get them, you know, and I always go to that Fred Bear line because it's so true. Whether it's deer or turkeys, it's not how far you can shoot, it's how close you can get. And, and I'm a firm believer in that. And I got one other question. This is going to get a little deeper and we ask a lot of people this and you know, when you look at everybody, there's no right or wrong answer. But this is your opinion. And you know, being a 27 year old, by the way, a lot of folks don't know for you and I, especially in the turkey calling world, you and I share the same birthday, not years. So that's pretty cool. But you know, when you think of the word conservation, it's a big word. It means a lot of things to a lot of people. I don't think I'm going to spell it.
I'm not. Yeah, I'm with you on that. But what does it mean? What does it mean to you?
[00:48:54] Speaker B: For me, man, conservation is just, you know, obviously in the, in, in the word, conserving your resource. And I think that that's passing on kind of like what we're doing with our youth hunt. You know, that's conservation to me. And, and you look at stuff that the Game Commission is doing as far as restoring habitat and whatnot, anything that's giving back to the wildlife community is conservation in my eyes. And that could just be going to NWTF banquet and spending a couple extra bucks on buying a print because that money goes back into wild turkeys. So, you know, conservation, you could think of it in 30 different, you know, 30 different things, but anything that you can possibly do that at the end of the day gives back, whether it's the youths or, you know, the wild turkey itself, deer, whatever, you know, that's conservation to me.
[00:49:39] Speaker A: That's awesome. And that's. There's no right answer or wrong answer. It's just, you know, when we buy a hunt license, you know, those hunting license dollars are towards conservation one way or the other. And it is important, it's so important that we, you know, when you and I are going from this earth, that there's still wildlife out there and that it's thriving. And you know, not only do you do the youth hunt, I know you take probably 100 people every spring. And a lot of them you're introducing him to. Introducing them to turkey hunting maybe for the first time in their life. And anytime we can try to make another hunter or help somebody else get interested, we're doing our job here when it. You know, while we're here on Earth, and. And we thank you for what you do. One more time, hit. Hit up where they can catch you on YouTube and you're in your hunts. What. What is the show called again?
[00:50:26] Speaker B: It's. It's called Rogue Hunts, so you can look it up on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, follow us, man. I think you'll enjoy. There's some. Some pretty cool stuff on there. Yeah.
[00:50:34] Speaker A: Awesome. Well, Hunter, thank you for joining us today. Thank you for what you do, and good luck. We'll keep. Keep watching what you got going on. And everybody out there, that's turkey hunting. Wish you guys luck, too. And girls. And the biggest thing, I think, is everybody out there stay safe and enjoy every day. And, Hunter, you and I got to get together one of these days and chase one somewhere before you get too famous and too big.
[00:50:56] Speaker B: Hey, I'm ready, man. I still got a tag left. I think I need you to yelp me one up. That would really be fun, but I appreciate you guys having me on. I've really enjoyed talking. Anytime you get to talk to a turkey on Legend, it's fun. And just. Just talk turkeys and sit back and enjoy it. It's a good time. So I appreciate what you guys are doing. And everybody out there, have a. Have a great, safe spring.
[00:51:15] Speaker A: It's.
[00:51:15] Speaker B: Turkeys are gobbling. Stay after them. It's a. It's a good spring for sure.
[00:51:19] Speaker A: That's right, Hunter. Thanks. Thanks, buddy. You take care. Thanks, man.
