A Memorable Story from "The Truth About Turkey Hunting"

EDITOR'S NOTE: Longtime, avid turkey hunter, Ronnie "Cuz" Strickland of West Point, Mississippi, vice president of Mossy Oak's TV and video production, talks this week about his new turkey-hunting book, "The Truth About Turkey Hunting."

Question: Ronnie tell me about another of your memorable turkey hunts that you've recorded in your new book, "The Truth About Turkey Hunting."
Answer: Well, I guess the most memorable one would be my daughter Lauren's first turkey. She'd been exposed to this turkey-hunting stuff forever and already loved to deer hunt. Finally she decided she was ready to try turkey hunting. When she told me that, it was the last week of the season. I decided to take her over to Bent Creek Lodge in Jachin, Alabama, -- one of my favorite places. The whole time driving over there I told her how she would have to sit still and breath through her eyeballs. I told her all the negatives. I said we might not hear a turkey or see one; they'd been hunted for four weeks. Our guide, Bob Walker of Livingston, Alabama, was telling her the same thing. So she got kind of discouraged. We told her that if she saw a turkey track, it would be like a moral victory.

The next morning we went out, the wind was howling. The first place we stopped, Bob left us at the truck and said, "I'm going to go down here and listen to see if there are any lulls in the wind." He came trotting back up the road, motioning us to come on. Sure enough, he'd heard a turkey gobble. We went and sat down, and he sat Lauren right by him. I got the camera running. Bob was scratching leaves and yelped a little. Then I heard this turkey gobble. In five minutes, that bird was standing in front of us strutting. Lauren shot the turkey one time and immediately thought this turkey hunting was the easiest thing she's ever done. So turkey hunting doesn't always work out by the book, but when it does, it's fun.

To order Ronnie Strickland's book, "The Truth About Turkey Hunting," which Mossy Oak has published, call (888) MOSSY OAK. To learn more about turkey hunting, go to Night Hawk Publications' home page, and click on books. You'll find information about three of John E. Phillips' turkey books -- "The Masters' Secrets of Turkey Hunting," "Outdoor Life's Complete Turkey Book" and "Turkey Tactics." These books explore the minds of some of the nation's top turkey hunters.