The Spring Legion Podcast

BONUS Episode: Untold Turkey Stories from Seasons Past

• Spring Legion Turkey Hunting • Season 5

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0:00 | 54:56

We stack booth 607 with spring bundles, then shift into pure story mode with Seals: a youth hunt that ends in laughter, all-day chess with a Kansas gobbler, a heavy Missouri bird, and quiet lessons from boss hens and foggy Florida mornings. The thread is simple—stay patient, hunt the bird in front of you, and let the woods set the pace.

• NWTF week setup at the Gaylord and booth 607
• $250 spring bundles and surprise giveaways for Spring Legion gear
• Youth hunt chaos and a strutter at the pines
• Kansas grind with a 4:01 a.m. sit and payoff
• Illinois hardwoods, Missouri double, and travel timing
• Shotcams, misses, and carrying the memory
• Ant-bed crawl and the discipline to stay silent
• Florida fog, drumming, and waiting 40 minutes post-shot
• One soft-spoken boss hen pulling a gobbler from the limb
• Counting down to March and planning new hunts

Come by the Spring Legion booth 607, talk turkey, and grab your $250 bundle while supplies last


LINK: Save 10% on your next North Mountain Gear Leafy Jacket with code LEGION26 at northmountaingear.com

LINK: SAVE 10% on the new 2026 Line of Turkey Hunting Gear at springlegion.com with code POD10

Follow us on Instagram:
@springlegion
@hunter.farrior
@chasefarrior

We'd like to thank the following sponsors for making this podcast possible:

Bonus Episode And Booth Deals

unknown

Three years ago.

Gear Bundles, Giveaways, And How To Find Us

Seals Returns And YouTube Hunt Tease

SPEAKER_03

Hi, what's happening, everybody? Welcome to a bonus episode of the Spring Podcast coming at you from the Gaylord Hotels up here in Nashville, Tennessee at the NWTF Convention 2026. My name is Hunter Ferrier, joining you with Chase Ferrier, and a very special guest that uh y'all might have heard from before. We're gonna get to him in a minute. Don't want to spoil nothing for you, but um, but yep, we're up here. We have just finished uh piling a bunch of stuff into booth 607. So if you're on the drive up here, be sure to stop by the Spring Legion booth, come hang out with us, come see us, and uh talk a little turkey and shop around and get some uh spring essentials while you're there. Uh encourage y'all to uh swing by before uh you walk through the whole place. That way you can get out of there with a little money left in your pocket because we are bringing the bundles up here and have configured a way to put those into the point of sale app to where we'll be able to honor some discounted prices on these uh new spring 2026 bundles. So you'll you'll pretty much be getting the whole get up for 250 bucks, and that being a shirt and pair of pants and gaiters and mask and gloves and hat all for 250. Swap that out with a jacket or like I said, a shirt, or you can get the run and gun bundle, which is uh one of the new turkey vests, plus a pair of gaiters, mask, gloves, and a hat all for 250. And uh we'll be doing that all week as long as we got the supply to do so, as well as uh swinging uh swinging, um slinging out some some free stuff to folks who are wearing spring legends, so be sure to wear your spring legend apparel shirts or hat or anything of that nature. I guess you can walk around in a turkey vest or a pair of gators, and uh that would suffice to get your free uh merch of some kind, whether it be a uh hat, and like we said last year, I think it was mask and gloves last year. We're gonna be doing some hats at some point in time. They're probably gonna be doing some shirts too. So it's a little bit more of a bounty there on the on the line, and it's gonna be at random, and you ain't gonna find out till you get there at the checkout, but there will be uh plenty of things to uh to give to those who do support us because we greatly appreciate it and look forward to seeing you. And um yeah, that's all I got is updates. I mean, y'all y'all gonna find out what the update is when you get here. And if you're not if you're not, everything should still be online. Limited should still be online. Some stuff like the youth clothes and whatnot, we had to take off because we're anticipating selling all of them here and all the the new casual hats and shirts we're gonna sell here, and then bring the rest back home for online folks to uh to have their grab app. But without further ado, it took a lot to get a hold of this guy. This one he I've been wanting to hear from for a long time. It's seals. Seals seals is back.

SPEAKER_00

I'm glad to be back. I missed it, I missed the whole event last year because we were I don't remember what we were doing, we were dancing or baseballing or something.

SPEAKER_03

So glad to be back. Yeah, so we were we were sitting up here, we've been up here for a day or two, now setting up and whatnot, and seals came, lended a hand, and we've been hanging out and I was like, well, we got the podcast rig here because we're gonna have a podcast room. We ain't got it yet, we haven't got the keys to it yet, but we got it up here in the hotel room, so I figured what the heck, we'll hop on and give uh give the listeners some some bonus episode content. This ain't gonna be on YouTube and whatnot, but if you are on YouTube, go check out the hunt we just posted. Easton did that. Yeah, it was a really fun one. It was the funnest one I went on last year. It's um very hard gobbling mountain gobbler. And uh he did it, he did an awesome job. Bet y'all didn't know I saw a bear that day if until you watched the video. No, I haven't. I forgot about that. Bear cross right in front of us. Um cannot believe my GoPro got it, but because it can't believe it got the turkey either. That's too much. They did get the turkey? Well, shot cam did. I told you I was gonna get one. Yeah. We'd actually have some YouTube videos of ever putting one on the end of my barrel.

SPEAKER_02

Now we both have one.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I think that's the only only actual turkey content I get on the on the video is is from the barrel, but uh it's paid off paid itself off in in the in the memory bank.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. How long does he's gonna get mad and set it down by a tree?

SPEAKER_02

It's bolted to his gun.

SPEAKER_00

He can't take him and never see it again.

SPEAKER_02

If if it had a quick clip on it, I bet you it'd already be in the wood somewhere lost.

SPEAKER_03

This stupid thing hanging one more briar off. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That joker's bolted on though.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and it is hard to get off too. So I have tried to I've had I've tried to throw the gun. Yeah. And I'm like, well, I need the gun spot. I need that. And I tried to get it off and put it on the 12 gauge, and I'm like, Nope. Now I can't figure it out, and then I can't get it back on there, so I don't know. I'll uh I'll I had to have I guess I'll blame on something else. Which I don't think uh uh I ain't even gonna say it. We're too we're too close to 2026 to be talking about missing turkeys and uh a hot streak on it.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I was about I've caught myself too. I I actually made it through all the last season without doing something that I normally tend to do at least once in a season. You're not talking about miss one, are you? Uh-huh. I'm not jinxing nothing. Uh-huh. But I finally made it through one.

SPEAKER_02

Hey. Proud of you, Seals. Yeah. Proud of you.

SPEAKER_03

Well earned. Hard earned. I don't know of another one where I've gone without missing one. Yeah. Off the top of my head.

Shotcams, Misses, And Hot Streaks

SPEAKER_00

I can't think of one that I did, but I know there's that there's not been a season that I haven't missed at least a turkey. I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Because two years ago was too hard on me. Mentally, physically, any other physical aspect you can come from. I it was rough.

SPEAKER_03

Physically and physically, and any other way of it. All the physical. You know what I'm trying to say. Everybody's gonna have a season like that.

SPEAKER_00

That was the rough happen to have a good or six in a row. Yeah. Nice. Those missing seasons, but got it figured out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But anyway, what you know good, so you got any stories to uh to tell us? This ain't gonna be no preaching on no woodsmanship stuff, unless you can pick up on it if if we accidentally drop one, but this is gonna be just some some a story type episode for folks who's sitting in the car on the way to Nashville.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I got one that could I was I was actually about to tell y'all earlier and you mentioned a podcast. I figured I'd save it because I don't think I thought you had heard it, Hunter. I knew Chase didn't, but I'm not sure that you heard it on the turkey casing shot last year. It was a uh it was wild from the get-go to the end. It's like to through the shot.

SPEAKER_03

Uh this this wasn't his first turkey because we told a story.

Road-Trip Story Mode Kicks Off

The Pants-Down Youth Gobbler

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we yeah, this was this was not his first turkey. This was a season after. So um we had hunt we had been on this turkey since daylight. And I could tell he was just kinda going back and forth, had some hands with him, and I I kept telling Kasen, like, just wait. He's gonna he's gonna finish up and he's gonna break loose in a second. And he Kasen had just turned six. So I mean a six-year-old, he didn't have the patience. And we sat there and it was about 8 45, and Kasen kept saying, I've got to I gotta pee. I gotta pee. Like, just sit still. He's as soon as you go to stand up, oh yeah, he's gonna come. So finally, I finally I gave in. I said, All right, stand up right there where you are and pee. I said, and if you hear that turkey gobble and he's closer, I said, You sit right back down where you are. So don't worry about pulling your pants up, your underwear will be up. Don't worry about pulling your pants up. So I'm telling you, as soon as he started peeing, a turkey gobbled. And when he gobbled, I looked out of the corner of my eye and I could see him. Oh gosh. And Case and did, he luckily listened, and he sat right back down. And I got a little monopod that I stick in the ground. I actually got it from you, which used to put the camera on. Not from you, but the idea from you. Right. So I had the luckily I had the monopod still in the ground beside me. He was to my left, and I had the gun was leaning up on it. So he's dropped down, and we knew where the turkey was at, so I had a little barrier, it was a little log that I kind of set him where the log would be hitting between him and the turkey. So he was able to sit down and kind of squiggle around on his gun. And um that turkey did when he when he broke and came from the time I saw him to when Kasen shot was like maybe 30 seconds. But the turkey came around. Well, I take that back. It was longer than that because he was in range within 30 seconds, but he stayed in strut. I'm not stood right there on the edge of the pines, just strutting in circles and just looking. And I said, Casey, as soon as he comes out of strut, I said, shoot him. So a little time went by. I heard the safety click, and I looked out of the corner of mine. He was getting down with the gun. I said, wait till he comes. And when I tell you, feathers went everywhere. Oh it was bad. I mean, he rolled the turkey, but the funniest part was as soon as he shot, he handed me the gun and he jumped up to run after run to the turkey. For getting the pants around the ankle. He made it about two steps to go forward.

SPEAKER_03

That's funny.

SPEAKER_00

Got up so excited, I guess, when I think got up again. I made it another step. Stop. Pull your pants everything out of turkey. It was I laughed for 20 minutes at him. Not just once, but twice.

SPEAKER_03

I don't know if that registered my head either.

SPEAKER_02

I know I've done the same thing when you're sitting there on one for a while and your leg goes complete. I've done it. I you know, and you're just doing everything you can to get out there and all of a sudden you crawl and just getting it and that pants around his ankles.

SPEAKER_00

That had to be a funny spite. Yeah, if I would have had a camera on him, we could make it and made it on make it as funny as some videos. But I'm and I'm not talking about like an easy fall, like when I'm talking about like he got his arms were scratched up before he caught himself. It wasn't just like he fell in the middle of an open field. I mean he had some scratches on him.

SPEAKER_02

I bet you he didn't feel it. It didn't seem to bother him too much. It never does. Never does. I remember when I was that age, I didn't mind shooting a 12 gauge every once in a while whenever I needed to, because I didn't mind it. Never felt it afterwards. No. You know, it's just when you get your adrenaline going up that that hot. Oh you feel it after the phase. You don't feel it at the time. You may can feel it afterwards, yeah. But yeah, I mean it didn't phase him, I'm sure. That that's funny though, man.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it was and he loves it. He he's uh he's figured out he made a he made a calendar in our class. And it's got um like it starts at March 5th and goes to March 7th. Because he this year he can hunt March 7th. Usually he opens and he's uh he's waiting to start X and off on March 5th. But he made him a calendar he can mark off the days and he's got 5th, 6th, and 7th. Nice. That's all that matters right now.

SPEAKER_02

But after that, it's all wind address. Yeah, as they say.

SPEAKER_03

Um what uh what else you've been uh you I mean I know you took a couple trips towards the end of the year, didn't you? Yeah, I'm trying to we uh I can't remember either.

Illinois Beauty And Missouri Giants

SPEAKER_00

Uh yeah, they're all running together. I know I know I went to Illinois and that was probably the top five most beautiful places I've ever hunted. It reminded me a lot of uh like where we were, it reminded me a lot of our Mississippi like river bottoms we have. Yeah. They call them hills, I'd call it mountains, but it's not it's bigger than what we have at home, but it's the same hardwood rolling and um went there and then um killed one in Tennessee was pretty hot. And I can't yeah, I mean I I went on several trips last year. I was trying to think of the one that the most fun when I had most fun was probably Kansas. And that that turkey it's one of those deals where I may could have gone and found one somewhere else, but he got he got by me the first morning. I drove in and I got there I mean drove through the night and I got there right at you know goblin time and I heard him and I tried to get around him and I couldn't. Daylight caught me and he got by me and it kind of became personal then, but I hunted that turkey all day. Literally all day, not stop. And he just kept whipping me and the next morning I just I got in there like I literally looked at my phone when I sat down and it was like 401. So I like so I could just so I could get in tight and I finally killed him. And um I say it was him. I actually don't think it was a turkey that I was hunting the first day, because the first day feel better. Yeah, yeah. The first turkey was the first day was a Rio. And the one I ended up killing looked way more like an Easter. But he had two Rio looking birds with him, so I mean it may have been the same group, but that one was fun just because I mean I literally struck out like five one evening. I had a draw and I was planning to go later on in the week and plans changed. So I loaded up at five o'clock that evening and left and just by myself. But that was probably I enjoyed that one just because it was that was my first time never hunting. Well no, I hunted Kansas a couple years before, but it was completely different terrain. It's it's it's variety up there.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's a big variety. Um I like Kansas though. It's it's a cool area to be in. Um I drew Illinois a couple years back and wasn't able to go. Um just because like I whatever however the draw process went, you have to choose by the county or something, if I remember right. And I I put two counties that I knew a guy would let me hunt in these two counties. My third option, I think, you know, my last pick, I just put a county close by, thinking, you know, maybe he's got a a section of land over there. Well that's the county I drew, and he didn't have any land there and didn't know a soul in that whole county. So I didn't have anywhere to go. Um and of course, there was public land in the county above it and under it, but not that county, period. So I was just yeah, just yeah, bad luck.

SPEAKER_03

Even if I've been up before just or got my tags in a unit, and there ain't but one little spot of public land in there, and everybody has to hunt that one spot. Man, if I'd have done a little research, I'd have that'd have been a lot, this would have been a lot more worth it.

SPEAKER_00

But it was I was expecting to run into a lot more people when I went to Illinois, but pretty smooth.

SPEAKER_03

If I'm in Illinois in this turkey season, I promise you it ain't turkey turkey season. Because I every time I try to go through there and stuff, because like them and where's the Kentucky and Missouri and all that, they all close earlier than a lot of the surrounding states. So I'm coming through, I'm like, yeah, I'll I'll piece together me a little swing here. And I'm like, I know that can't hunt there. Yeah. Keep driving all. I'll just and I don't look, I just go. And I'm like, and then I'll get here and then I'm like, I'll buy me a tag for 2028, I guess. I don't, you know, because they're all done. They're their their season closed two days ago, and it's always within the three days. Oh yeah. So I've never hunted any of those. Well, I hunt in Kentucky, and I hunted Missouri this year. Missouri was really weird.

Kansas Obsession And The 4:01 A.M. Setup

SPEAKER_00

Missouri I hunted the southern part of Missouri. Yeah, I forgot. I hunted the that was where that the probably the biggest turkey I've ever seen in with my eyes we killed in Missouri. Um I don't remember the measurements on it now, but it was one of those like the the spurs right at two inches. Wow. And I I actually I didn't remember a picture of seeing that now. Actually, I killed a turkey in Kansas that morning and buddy guy we went to state with was in Missouri and I had to pick my wife up in Kansas City. So I drove up to him, was just gonna stay with him that night and got there in time. We hunted that evening and called two birds in and killed them. And it was both of them were big. And about 99% sure the one that I sent that I sent you a picture of was the one I killed. I shot at the back one and he I think shot at the front one. But he's never turkey hunted a day in his life either. No, I didn't know that deer hunter. But that was a I guess that would be a good day because the Kansas trip getting that winning that beating that bird and then driving to Missouri and killing that, but yeah, it was a had a good season. Yeah, sounds like it. Excited about I'm excited about this one. We're gonna go we'll meet Jennings, we're gonna fly out and hunt like Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, out west. I've never turned it out there, so I'm excited about that. I've always wanted to go out that way.

SPEAKER_02

Never have. Um I d yeah. I didn't do a lot of traveling last year um myself, honestly.

SPEAKER_03

But I wanted to just hopped in on the last swing.

SPEAKER_02

Nice little swing, yeah. I just had too much going on to get on the road, you know, and and stay on the road. I finally squeaked out four or five days just to slide in with Hunter and that was it. Um which was Geor yeah, I went to Georgia and that was Oh yeah. You know, by myself.

SPEAKER_00

I d I don't really know where I end it all ended up. I don't think I started going until middle of April because I I killed a turkey in Mississippi opening day. Mm-hmm. And then I guess b the next three weeks was just rough. Yeah. Like goblin weather, everything else. That's when we like that tornado. So I killed it. On opening day we had that tornado or whatever that was come through that evening. I remember that, yeah. And then the weather was just crap, so I hated I hated to leave when I still had places I hate leaving Mississippi with birds left. So I Yeah. Illinois was the first trip I took last year, and it was like April 14th, I think is when it was.

SPEAKER_02

I think that was about half my hang up. I was I was personal with several birds last year in Mississippi. And it's still walking today, as far as I'm concerned, as I know. But they were some, you know, had my number or whatever they say, you know, and and they were whooping, they were kicking my teeth in every dang day. But I was going till I couldn't go anymore, hunt them birds just to try and get redemption. It almost felt like, you know. No unfolding. I yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I was about to say it doesn't fold a season, but can make the whole season at the same time. It'll run everything. Oh, yeah. You won't hunt another turkey with that one, but once you do kill it, it's like a I done have my field, man.

SPEAKER_03

About 83 times on one. I'm like, you know what? Next time, after three, yeah, yeah, but find some green.

SPEAKER_02

I had two that I was I was bouncing back and forth on thinking, well, one of them's gonna be the right day. And it would never wait.

SPEAKER_03

That's what they make you think.

SPEAKER_02

I know, but that dash one felt good, didn't it? Yeah. It does when you do finally get it done.

SPEAKER_03

I brought him to Steel's house.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, because you were home with your dad that day. Yeah. Y'all all chasing my dad and everybody was like, I gotta serve somebody that's turkey. Yeah, the 82 and one.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Yeah, because you we were we were me and dad were in Texas or something, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That was last year I went to Texas. And I didn't go for the sake of like I ain't leaving. I'm not leaving this turkey. Which is I wouldn't when we got back up, it would not be the season.

SPEAKER_02

It wouldn't have been the season, yeah. Which you know, that's the one thing I think that's the only day. That was the was that the same day that me, you, yeah, Breck, and Dad all killed a turkey? Well that was the like one good year we had in Texas out of like.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I didn't I didn't go out there in 15 years ago.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah. Yeah, we had had a real good day that day.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Uh a banner day, if there ever was. But no um because uh yeah, I remember Project Seals' house, you and your dad were hunting out, and then we're tracking on another one out there behind his house, and I don't know if we did or didn't. Um that was but I was around the time. Seals used to hunt all the time before school. And uh and before work a little bit. It was kinda in that that gray area of graduating and starting new jobs and stuff like that. Young professionals hardly, I guess.

SPEAKER_00

Kind of job that has to do with avians or yeah, yeah. Yeah, I don't know why we I don't know what caused us to choose that career path, but hey.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And say just be be here by 5 p.m. and we're like, hey, you know, we can make that work. Don't you have some family land down in New Hebron where a lot of these farms are? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Storaging is down there about$25 a month. Yeah, where you can throw your stuff in there, huh?

Mississippi Grinds And Redemption

SPEAKER_03

About all you need. Yep, the system to be worked, it's gonna get worked when it comes to uh March and April. But I was I was trying to think, have we ever uh is in Ballot of a Turkey Hunter also the story of the um the ant bed story. I don't know. Have we ever told that on here? Um it's probably episode number 13. You know, but we're in the 140s by now. It hurts thinking about that one though. Um I don't remember exactly where we were and kind of when I it was before school because we we didn't we didn't make it to class college. I think we're talking about, I'm pretty sure. Um that was like our freshman year of college. It had to have been. Yeah. I don't think we were in high school, I think we were in college by then. And we was hunting and and this was a this was a I can't remember the year, but it was a good year. People were killing turkeys a lot. You know, it was a good a good crop of two year olds around the area and and some very good weather, and just you know, kind of like last year on the no last year before last on the weather, it was just like man, it's just forty eight degrees. Every night and clear. You just didn't get any bad weather, no cold snaps that were unbearable, and it wasn't 90 degrees on March 28th and stuff. It was, you know, just a that's a good year. And um we were out there. It was a that was a place that we'd hunted before, I think. And um, I'm trying to think. I remember for whatever reason, knowing to be patient right here because of uh new cut over or something.

SPEAKER_00

You had hunted that bird a couple of times, a couple of days, or not a couple times, a couple days before, I believe.

SPEAKER_03

I think so. We're thinking way back in memory bank, so it's gonna be a little hazy, but I think there was there was something that caused me to say, hey, I think if we just hang out, like I might have left him and he and then wind up, he w he wound up there over an hour and a half, and I wish I would have stayed or something. We're gonna stay this time, and we're just gonna see what happens and stuff. And then I could tell, you know, his his gobble was kind of shifting a little bit. He's kind of gobbling at me more than he is, just courtesy gobbling with some hens or something. This this was a little later in the day. We had already determined that, you know, whatever class it was, Economics 101 was not as important as this because he was still interested at 1030, you know. And uh I did I don't think we we didn't start there. We started on some more do not know what happened with them, I ain't gonna lie to you. But I know we we walked, I remember walking down there and it was good daylight, like eight o'clock daylight.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah, we got on him late. I mean, I remember us telling ourselves like, hey, if he goes an hour without goblin, we'll go to class. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

We're making some ultimatums that were very broad. Yeah, and and and could be uh changed at our discretion pretty easily. We're like, man, we'll make it an hour and a half. Yeah. You know, um, and what do you know? We're not gonna make it even we left right now. But I'm I remember him coming in. I do remember that I don't remember there being hens with him, but I remember hearing hens and kind of calling out the hens, and I remember him strutting in through some woods, and we we had an opening behind us, and that was kind of the the catch there, was because the the strip of woods he was in, I think connected to a wide open cutover, and I knew if we went in there too much, we'd be flirting with kind of getting silhouetted a little bit, depending on where they would have been at. And because you could almost stand in that cutover and look through and see the the open area that was behind us. I was like, we got we can't get up in there, but we can get a little bit in there. And um I can't remember if you were by oh, I didn't remember now. I w I was on a tree not far, I mean probably 10 yards behind you. You were close to me, and then you were gonna go back and call. Yeah. We had made that decision.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I think what happened, if I can remember right, I think those hens were decent pieces in front of me, but kind of didn't come to us but kind of skirted in front of us. I think you're right. I'm not gonna I kind of remember that. I thought the gobbler was gonna follow straight behind them and it wouldn't he would have never gotten your range that way.

Ant Bed Ambush And Patience

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. But I I I remember the second you went to move back, I saw I either saw him or he gobbled again. I was like, well, you know, like we had sat here for an hour and a half and he ain't budged. And he answered every one every 15 minutes or so, I'd call and see if he'd moved and right there. I'm like, well, he ain't moved again. We ain't leaving. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna hold true. And then we're like, all right, we're gonna change it up a little bit. And and then and we talked about it because we could we could we were close enough to talk to each other. I remember at that time, and you were like, Well, I'll go back here and I'm gonna get down this because it was a big swag in the road. Right. So it it where I was at, you could you could kind of get in that opening and still be hidden from the turkey if he came from that direction, obviously. If he looped on us, we'd be in a bind, but you had a gun too. And you know, if he went down there, you'd had a shot. But uh, but it's and I mean he was still like Seals was still on, you know, just on his feet walking back there, easing back there, and I see his head, I'm like, you know, can't yell, no, they can't do nothing. I don't know if Seals knows about it or not. I think I wind up getting your attention somehow, and I'm like, you know, you gotta get down fast. Yeah. Because they he's strutting in here, or I hear him drum or something. And I and I just remember him taking a long time to get in there. I didn't call no more, obviously, or whatever. And he was I when I saw him, he was probably 90. And it was it was not the thickest wood, it was pretty turkey wood. Yeah. It was it was deep, it was probably late March. It was it was in I don't think it was April quite yet. But um, but he the he I let him get in about 25 the whole time. And then about about 60, I hear this. Um then I'm contemplating the seals not know the turkey's coming, because then I start hearing seals calling back there, but it ain't it ain't good calling at all. It's just kind of like I'm like, all right now. Like what what what you doing? You know, I'm like, because I'm in my mind, I'm thinking, you know, he might not know this turkey's right here, and he thinks he's doing a good thing, but he can call better than that. Yeah. So I don't know what what new trick this is. And I didn't know at the time that, you know, until after I shot him, it seems a hit the deck in an ant bed back there. He didn't know the turkey was coming, he just couldn't move because that turkey was coming, and that turkey took a long time too.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and that was one of those where I couldn't I couldn't even watch it because when I was I was crawling away and I just happened to look over and I saw you doing this, and then about the time I kind of glanced up and I could see just the white a white head. And so I laid like face down, facing away from Hunter. Oh Lord. And I remember my one of my knees was just black. Yeah, it was bad. Uh-huh. Like I was hurting.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I looked up. I didn't he didn't like say nothing. I like kind of look up and like first look at the turkey, like he's like he's dead, like you know, snow and cold and I'm kind of like trotting up there and look back and see, he was just like, you know, stripping going to town on his pants. I'm like, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02

At least he didn't pull a TK mic on you, you know. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I I don't know if I'd have been able to hold it that long. Uh-uh. Well, and I'm not trying to sound tough because they I didn't really I knew I was in something soft, like mud or something, but I never felt a bite until about 20 seconds before you shot. Right. And I was another one of those ultimatums that was like, you got 10 seconds to shoot this thing, and we're I'm about to mess it all up.

SPEAKER_03

Um because he's about to, he ain't coming thirty, he ain't coming twenty-nine. But um, but I was I was digging just recently, as you were saying that, the dang stinging, what did we call them?

SPEAKER_00

Stinging nettles? We called them stinging needles. Stinging needles.

SPEAKER_03

We called them some wrong and Logan Cook, who knew what they were, never corrected us, go on a podcast. He's like, you know, that's not stinging needles. Because somebody had said, I was like, dude, something has stung me like a like an ant bite, but it's not an ant bite. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know that it existed.

SPEAKER_02

And I remember looking sanspur looking things. I don't know what it is. It's like a plant.

SPEAKER_03

It's like a plant in Florida. We're in Florida.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, yeah, I know what you're talking about. And it it's like a burn and not just like for a day. No, it's like a burnt. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, I didn't I don't know what it looked. I still couldn't tell you what it is looking at it, but I remember you know taking these and and I remember asking them, like, hey, am I allergic to something? I didn't know. I was like, is anybody else's you know, knees breaking out real bad? And someone replied, stinging needles, they misspelled it on the text. So I'm on the copy podcast, like, yeah, I'm stinging needles down here, yada yada. But it's really stinging nettle. Yeah. Yeah. And uh we didn't learn that until after, but no, we we took a several knees in that on that. And I want to say, Chase and I talked about that dang hunt last early two days ago. Um I don't remember the point of it. That's how low my memory is this time of year. But we were talking about trailing that gobbler and him turning back around and and all that stuff. Oh, it was switching up to calls, that's what it was. That's what it was. When Logan started breaking out his calls, I'm like, that gum it freaking Logan.

SPEAKER_00

It I think did. He it was good at it. We chased him all day, and he would be interested, and then when he finally decided it can't come, that he can. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And I I remember, you know, wondering, I was like, what about that? What what did we do different? Because we we hunker down and was trying to leverage all these push piles and game ground and we could not get in front of them. And now I was like, the only thing I think of is the sun's now kind of on the other side and he can walk, you know, a little more comfortably this way.

SPEAKER_00

Well, you remember we we looked back because we we got on the turkey at daylight and we killed him at what noon? Yeah, sometime. We looked and we chased him all morning, that whole morning, same turkey, and we ended up only going like four-tenths of a mile because we were having to move so slow.

SPEAKER_03

I thought for sure we were five miles up in there. Like they and I remember morning, I was saying, like, no, that's you can see my truck, you know, at the top of that hill. And I'm like, there's no way because we had crisscross zigzagged and stuff. We just did it all in a duck crawl and a half squat the whole time. It exhausted you.

SPEAKER_02

No, it will.

Reading Hens And Resetting After A Shot

SPEAKER_03

And then the next morning, and um we was walking in, coming in, we not far from this area. If I'm not opposite side of the cutover from the cutover, but opposite side. Right. Well, we came in the another way and um and we're walking in, and it's pretty and we ain't even hootin', you know. And Zill says, I think I hear drumming. Um I was like, Zeal's you hear drumming a lot, and it's not drumming. But every time I've got to honor it because sometimes it is, and you know, that'll be the time it ain't. And then about two seconds, I'm like, uh, that's drumming enough to sit down, because I'm I'm not positive, but I do think that is drumming. Yeah, and we can, I mean, I could not, I'm like, I have no idea where the jugger would be because if that's drumming and it's coming from where it sounds like, that's about right there. Yeah. Sure enough, that jugger hit the ground too, and it was, I mean, it was a foggy. You remember that? Oh, yeah. It was foggy, and he he got the drumming behind some what are they? Palmetto, not palm meadows, like the palm-looking stuff. I don't know if it's palmetto or not down there, but the taller kind. Yeah. Um, and I remember it across my mind, like, I guess that was a turkey, because I mean it sounded like drumming and something came from that tree, and it sounds like the drummings over there, but it's still dark, too dark for me to tell that that was even a turkey, and sure enough, you know, it started getting lighter and lighter and lighter, and we just kind of happened to be at the right place, right time.

SPEAKER_00

I'm like, that just being where we were was luck, man.

SPEAKER_03

We were just kind of were we by a tree?

SPEAKER_00

Or did we just kind of get off the white sand road and get into some dark? No, we were we were literally set up with our back. We weren't leaning on anything. We backs were two. We only thing we had was good back cover. I mean, we had nothing in front of us.

Florida Fog, Drumming, And Sand Roads

SPEAKER_03

We just took two steps back and eased on down and and he and then he finally stood down the road and I could see a beard poking out and everything kind of just shot at the it just looked like a shadow um on that white background, it's so foggy it couldn't see 20 yards hardly. Um and then we s we sat there, and that was kind of I mean, I was thinking, I was kind of you know running theories through my head the whole time, like, how long because there was multiple turkeys gobbling around it, and then we this wasn't one of the one gobbling at all. Never heard this one gobble or anything. He never gobbled on the ground, nothing. And um a lot of hens around us. I do remember that. So after it was before we shot, I remember you know, some hens and stuff cutting up and flying down and stuff. Never saw them, which reminded me of another story to tell about hens flying. Remind me if I do forget that in just a second. Um But I was like, well, let's just sit here. I want to see how long it takes these turkeys to get vocal again. Because I mean, shooting 12 gauge. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

The ones that were gobbling, they didn't gobble no more for a while either. Well, about to say the ones we that were goblins, ones we were going to in that turkey, we stopped to figure out how much closer we can get, and that's when that turkey started drumming.

SPEAKER_03

And and then so I was like, well, if we and it's it's kind of daylight, and you just saw a turkey and it's you know, commotion there for a say. We we tried to be quiet, but there ain't no promises there. And I was like, let's just hang out, let's just sit by that tree right there. The hens like to be here, and we've hunted it two days now, and we we know that they're cool being around here. It's not like they're gonna hit the deck and go, you know, beeline a quarter mile away. And um, and sure enough, we gave it about it was about 40 minutes, and I didn't call at all until I was like, I'm we're gonna let another turkey make a sound of some kind. That that means they're comfortable again. So we're not gonna sound very odd if all of a sudden we shoot and well let's give it eight minutes and try to yup yop yup and see how natural that sounds. We just let them some hens start cutting back up. I'm like, all right, I think we're good, you know. Let's give it a go.

SPEAKER_00

And then it was we heard all them hens to the left start kiki and just going wild. No, you said that I do remember that. And that's when that's when you started gobbling.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, they're cool with it, I'm cool with it, and I guess these gobblers would be cool with it. And then you're in a good spot because the gobblers are on the right.

SPEAKER_00

Right, yeah, we were right between them.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. And he came, I mean he worked like nothing ever happened, you know.

SPEAKER_02

Um is that the one? I think did we have a video of that? Were y'all filming that at that point? We do. We have anywhere. The field of white sand and like those green bushes looking thing. It looks like he he comes down the road. I don't remember if it was down the road. It's like those little sand hills. Was that the year before I'm thinking of seals was like a road sign looking thing? Yes, that's like a mile marker looking sign. It's called Kimbo.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's the same exact place. It was the day before.

SPEAKER_03

It was a day before, yeah. I should have two trip. Yeah, yeah. Okay, that's the one I've seen.

SPEAKER_00

That was the first time we ever killed one. We killed two in each in two days. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Cause you kill Yeah, because you kill yours. That would have been two days before. That would that's right.

SPEAKER_00

We killed two and three. Yeah, so you killed one, then we killed I killed one, then we doubled.

SPEAKER_03

And then because Logan came through with that. Um Yep. That was that was fun. And I've only hunted in Florida once after that. And I love Florida. They should have said, Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Got dollars worth of March birthdays and well now maybe my my early season Florida's pretty much gone for the next nine years. Because you see our youth season opens up at the same time early season opens up there. So But yeah, that that was a that was a fun trip.

SPEAKER_03

Seemed like it. Then um but the other one I was thinking of was it's funny because how all this circles back around. Logan now owns this property. Years later, we were hunting one day, and Seals and I was, and I told Seals, like, figure out where they're roosting at, and you know, I ain't never set foot on it or nothing. I was like, we'll just get there and we'll, you know, we'll go. And my guy, Seals put us underneath them.

SPEAKER_00

Um I remember walking and going, I don't know if I ever told you this, but I didn't know where they were roosted. Yeah, never stepped foot on it. Just looking at the map, like, this is a good roosting spot.

SPEAKER_03

Um and I was like, as I'm walking them, I'm like, this is a real good roosting spot, and we're closing on in on it, you know. It's just like the highest point and everything. I'm like, we either walk by them or we're we're up under them right now. And I'm and no sooner as I thought that we I was like, let's stop. You know, just let's just hold on. I don't I don't we ain't heard a gobble yet, and I hope we ain't bumping them out left and right, and and I remember it being like a little cut-in, I don't know, from some type of equipment.

Early Filming Fumbles And Osceola Lessons

SPEAKER_00

It was like a power line is it was a place to park a four wheeler where they were to stand somewhere right down there, and that's kind of where they bush hogged in to hydro four wheeler. Yeah. Because the only reason I knew that's where we need to start is somebody that was at the property owner told me that's where we needed to go listen from. So I didn't really know where they roosted, I just was going off what they said.

SPEAKER_03

Right, yeah. I mean And he was right, spot on.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah. I wish he would have told us that you hang out.

SPEAKER_03

This is where you start a little further back. But um, but I'm sitting there and and so I am tying my shoe or something. And so I'm so imagine me facing this way, Seals is behind me, the open area is behind him, and this joker gobbles above my right shoulder. I mean, the the tree closest to me. I'm like, uh now what are we gonna do? My gun is about eight, nah, he it's probably five, five yards behind me. Seals is about ten yards behind me, and I'm on in the woods a little bit closer to the turkey, and I can see him, and I'm frozen, you know, in a squatting time machine. And I'm trying to like every time he gobble or strut or something, I try to like just inch back a little bit to try to grab the gun because Seals, I don't know, I have no idea where Seals is at. I just know he's behind me. I can hear him, you know, we're trying to whisper to each other and stuff very quietly. And then we started hearing hens, and we're surrounded by dergies pretty much just hens and that one gobbler, but I can't see his beard. And it's getting daylight, and you know, he got I mean, it's awesome. He got 40 times point blank range, and and it was it was really cool because your heart's about to jump out of your chest the whole time and everything. And and I'm I've made it about four yards or three yards. I'm like, I'm one good lunge away. So I'm like, am I at him? I'm gonna wait till him. He pitches down, and you know, the whole world's probably spinning in his eyes for that two seconds. I'm gonna lunge back there, grab the gun, and just keep this knee and see what happens. That joker, you know, he they just kind of like helicoptered down, you know, a lot of times. He's just just down there. And I remember I don't know if it was before he did or after he did. It was before he did. These hens take flight and they are flying everywhere. Yeah. I don't know if they're and I can't look back to see because I'm so scared I'm gonna bump him, but I remember just hearing it sounded like a dug hole back there. I was watching them. Yeah, but I say I remember you could see them, and I I have no idea what they were doing. I mean, were they just dive bombing in there?

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, but it was like they they didn't all there was one opening like right behind me, but none of them pitched down in it. They all just but remember they all came back to that opening. I do remember that. They just pitched down right behind it, but yeah, it was like uh that was cool to see. It was cool, it was like ducks, I don't know, not even ducks, just ducks are gives. Like they all went to their once their own personal spot and then met right back up.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. And then um, and then that is and so this I was like, all right, we got we got an opportunity here to see some real you know combo stuff going on with turkeys that don't know we exist, and we're up in amongst them. Because these these little banks are kind of on our right and our left. And so we're almost like, and I'm squatted down, I'm assuming Seals is somehow made. It lowered he ain't getting seen because they're not spooking and they're very uh you know.

SPEAKER_00

I was I was sitting down just okay. I'd sit down when you went to tie your shoe just to listen. So I mean I was already luckily in a hidden position.

SPEAKER_03

Um and this joker, when he when he when he dives down off that limb or whatever, I launched grab the gun, get back, and I'm like, hmm, pulled it off. You know, and all I could do is like firm this long beard and take the shot. You know, because he's I mean he's 20. Oh, yeah, he's close. And um, and that joker walked directly at me, and I could net he wouldn't I I'm telling you, he would not turn sideways to a degree, and I could not see if he had a long beard or if he was a Jake. And somehow or another he turned around the other way, and I'm like staring at his chest, like all he has to do is swing just enough for me to see something move a little bit, just a little bit of a bend or something, just to make sure, because um, because I think it is illegal to shoot Jake's in Mississippi, but yeah, but it wasn't. I wasn't shooting Jake.

SPEAKER_00

Right, but I don't think he never strutted once he hit the ground either, did he? No. That's what I'm saying. Well he had no way to tell him because I I could see him plain as day. Oh, yeah, I could see a turkey. I could have shot him a thousand times. Well, I'm just saying, I was sitting facing you were to my right, the open was to my left, so I could see the whole thing, and I couldn't I I still am not positive what he was, but I think he was a long bear the way he came out of acting.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. But but what I was saying was we were about to watch, see what happens, because these hens were vocal. They were, you know, they were yelping back and forth, cutting at each other, you know, flying from limb to limb and stuff. And I'm like, what's gonna make him fly down? And it was just one hen, and she was, I mean, she was the boss, and you could tell. And she wasn't loud, and she just she had a four-note yelp, just yelp, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. And she did that very consistent, almost like a broken record. Yeah. The whole way to his tree. And when she got there, he would pitch down and go with her immediately. Yeah. And she didn't she didn't stop for him, she didn't do nothing. No. She, you know, he he he met her, and they that's what I'm saying. He was just kind of he he walked a little bit towards her as she's coming towards it. And as soon as she passed by, he flipped and he was gone with her. Yeah. And I know we never saw him again. But that was cool to see, like, all right, what what is the the real one that talks him out of the tree, you know, kind of deal? What do they do? And she was cool, calm, delected, and she acted like I don't she acted like he's supposed to do this, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Like I like almost entitled, like I'm gonna walk by him and he better follow me.

Beach Roads, Spring Fever, And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_03

And if you don't, I ain't checking up. Right. You know, uh-huh. She was doing her thing, she wasn't begging for nothing, and the other ones were, you know, they were loud and they were at back and forth at each other and cutting at each other and stuff, and she just walked right and they just got out of her way, pretty much is all it was. That was that was a cool hunt, even though we didn't kill one, but you're talking about them flying around in um in Florida made me think of that. Um trying to think any more. They they would have maybe not been told. I'm sure we've told every every dague one of them over the years. If y'all hadn't I was supposed to say, I don't know if I want to suggest y'all go listen to some of the early ones because they're probably horrendous. But um, but yeah, those have been with us for a long time have have probably heard several that bring and it's funny because it at instances like this week folks will bring them up and I have forgotten about it. It makes me glad we do this. Yeah, right. Because I'm like, dang, I forgot all about that hunt, you know, or do the YouTube videos and stuff. I mean, like we've we ain't shy, we're not good at it, but it is cool to go back and watch. Like, I'm sure, I think somewhere on our YouTube channel that that hunt chased somebody from Florida. That was the first time we ever filmed anything, I'm sure. It might not be a video or something up there from there. Um I mean, first time we ever even tried it. I remember Seals was back there, like cranked that tripod up about nine feet in the air, was sitting in one of them holes and all that there, and there's just like a periscoped. I mean, a big camera just didn't appear.

SPEAKER_00

I I remember no, that was we were so new. We couldn't figure it out, we got it up. And that because you remember we got it up and we heard the turkey got. We were trying to figure it out. Yeah, then we couldn't figure out how to get it down. Yeah. So I was vi I mean, I was.

SPEAKER_03

I remember you like holding it holding like a big like flag looking like you know, trying to bounce it and stuff, instead of just like, you know, holding like a can't like the camera party's holding the base of it just kind of like drop up.

SPEAKER_00

Well it was on the if the feet kept hitting that heel, but I was videoing with the viewfinder turned all the way down so I could see it.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, you was looking up at the sky. Yeah. Because we had no no trees or nothing. We were sitting there's a bunch of palm stuff, and what kind it was like what do they have down there? They called it something.

SPEAKER_00

You're talking about the the bumps, yeah. So it's uh the hills. It's very similar, but I asked Kimbo about it what they do when they cut trees, they row it up to replant. Okay. So that those rows are just replants.

SPEAKER_03

You know, man-made something. I can't tell what it was.

SPEAKER_00

But yeah, it theoretic it looked just like a turn round.

SPEAKER_02

And it's goofy watching a turkey walk across them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

They just they look like dolphins.

SPEAKER_03

He he was on a road. This one was and he I mean it was we saw the turkey and and God love O'Kimbo. I don't I don't know what he's up to now, but he was just uh he was just the kind of the the hand, wasn't he? You know, he was the deer hunter that yeah, he didn't know what it he was like kind of just pointing at stuff and showing stuff there's a turkey out there. Yeah, I'm here to hunt that thing, Kimbo's like that's what I'm I'm trying to do. You know, he was telling me about that turkey, and he's like, I see that one every now and then. Like you turn this truck around, you know, before you drive down that road that we just saw him walk across. Um he did, and it took an hour and a half to get back there because we had you can't be mean to, you know, you're kind of like along for the ride, you're like, all right, let's go see these other places.

SPEAKER_00

I'm pretty sure we were still in like regular clothes from driving. I mean, we had just gotten there. I mean we had to go back and change and get our everything. It took us a long time to get back there. I'm like, Which is probably for the best.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Like maybe there's a chance you still get home. He he trotted out that row pretty pretty gingerly. Yeah. You know, he was he was like, I ain't hanging around for this. And um came back and I don't know if it was a first call or not, but we were sitting there and we didn't even think to look for trees. There wasn't no trees there that I wouldn't cut. And uh he answered it, and that was the first time I heard of Ossiola gobbling like, well, I can check that off. You know, that's pretty cool. Uh if we have to go home now, I can go home and having gained something and it'd be worth it. And and then he gobbled. He gobbled two or three more times, but he gobbled right there that one time and uh I was like, Did you hear that? Ossiola gobbling right there. And I I think I could have about seen him by then, and then he came down looking at the you know they it's like they got them big long necks down there, they're always hot and their neck hangs all the way halfway down their body half the time, it felt like. But that was really cool. And did he did I miss?

SPEAKER_00

Missed the first shot. I was about to say, I remember having to shoot it twice or something or stand up and shoot. Well you may not have missed him. I think you shot him and he kind of was flopping and fluttering around.

SPEAKER_03

He he he gained some footage, I remember. I forgot all about that. Yeah. I knew if there's a clean miss or if it was one of those like he started running right after with his wings out or something. I was laying down like it was a and he wasn't eight freaking steps, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, that's right. I thought you just killed him. I remember I jumped up right after you shot, but what had happened is when he ran when he started running, he hit one of those little dips, and I couldn't see it anymore, so I thought he was dead. I remember then you shot again. I was like, what are you shooting at?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you try shooting one run, is one thing to try shooting one that's playing like whack-a-mole weeds going up and down the whole time and like trying to time it right, and now the second time I remember right. I forgot all about having to shoot him twice. Um Yeah, that's all I can think of I remember. I remember driving to the night and changing out of dang gloves, truck stop.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we didn't.

SPEAKER_03

That was the first kind of little road trip we took kind of spontaneously, I feel like. You know what I'm saying? We we'd driven to you know, a delta area in Mississippi or something, something close like that, but we ain't never went out of our habitat comfort zone and just figured something out. That was that was fun.

SPEAKER_00

And it almost felt weird because like we were driving down there and I almost wanted to take the beach exit. Because that's all any the only time I've ever gone that way was like going to the beach. Stopping to get the usual beach supplies and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03

And because for folks down up north on, you know, I'm all vacations, people, you know, in this whole belt of the region. Uh every vacation is a beach trip in some kind or form or fashion. And um and everybody goes on the same usual weekends and stuff like that, and they all go to probably the same beaches. There's about three of them that everybody goes to. Um from the time you're eight years old until you're eighty. Um that's about it. I I can't think of nothing else that everything throwing in for a bonus episode, it ain't too bad. Throw some stories in there. Hope hope folks enjoy them. And if we think 'em more, we'll we'll uh we'll throw them in here the next month or so, and then we're gonna hopefully be having some of some new ones.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And if we um I ain't making them down to Florida this year, I know that.

SPEAKER_00

That's crazy. Less than a month. I'll be on the 31st.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Is it what is it? February 10th right now.

SPEAKER_03

10th or 11th, I don't remember. 10th today, it'll be 11th when this airs.

SPEAKER_00

March 7th. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And this is a 28-day month. Yeah. So even more. It is upon us. And um yep, we got a lot to lot to look forward to after this. I'm gonna take about one day to breathe once this joke is over with. And then it's uh it's time to get ready for turkey season. Yeah. So ready or not, here it comes. We uh we appreciate y'all listening and we will see a majority of y'all in the coming days. Safe travels. Thanks for listening to the Supreme Legion Podcast.

Head Shot

Hunter Farrior

Host