Fist Full of Dirt

FFOD317 : The Secret Sauce : Bo Prestidge

• Mossy Oak • Season 1 • Episode 317

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We’re wrapping up the Secret Sauce series with a man I’ve known a long time and respected even longer, Bo Prestidge.

Bo is a longtime friend, a Mossy Oak brother, a farmer, outfitter and a true student of the land. From his early days in Tyronza, Arkansas, to building a farming operation in Mississippi and growing Wildlife, Inc. into one of the most respected hunting destinations in the country, Bo has spent a lifetime learning what the land, the birds and the seasons have to teach. As with every episode in this series, I asked Bo the same 20 questions I’ve asked some of the best turkey hunters around.  Bo brings a perspective that is deeply rooted in a love of the outdoor life.

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SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Fistful of Dirt, the official podcast of Maxio Properties. Whether you own a small farm, leased land, or just love hanging in your backyard. We're all about the outdoor lifestyle and how to get the most from your time in God's great outdoors. Now here's your host, Ronnie Cut Strickland.

SPEAKER_05

From the Camel K. I'm not honest. We're gonna do our last installment of the secret stall. So that means I'll have to wait however many 48 weeks to hear that song again.

SPEAKER_08

Oh stop. You know, we had some nice comments. People actually want like the full version, and I'm like, we did this like a year ago. We got help with a yeah. Like it I thought it was kind of silly but fun, but there's some folks that loved it.

SPEAKER_05

It's unique to us.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And if you think that song's silly, shame on you.

SPEAKER_08

We're just having fun.

SPEAKER_05

We're just having fun.

SPEAKER_08

Just having a good time.

SPEAKER_05

And uh guess what? We're gonna do it again next year.

SPEAKER_08

I'm gonna wear it out.

SPEAKER_05

Wear it out. I'm gonna record, I'm just gonna screen grab it so I'll have it on my phone so I can listen to it when I'm turkey hunters.

SPEAKER_08

Oh, that's funny.

SPEAKER_05

But the secret sauce has been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_08

I've loved it this year.

SPEAKER_05

You know, and we had a couple of well-known turkey hunters on there, Dean Redbeard, Munhenky, and Ernie Candre, but you know, we had Fred Law who was priceless.

SPEAKER_08

That may be no offense to all the Secret Sauce participants, but I think Fred Law's was my favorite.

SPEAKER_05

Well, we got another one for you today, and I've been knowing this man for decades. Bo Prestige, he had a duck hunting operation over in the Delta. He was a farmer called, and his duck hunting deal was Wildlife Inc, and we made so much TV over it was crazy.

SPEAKER_08

Right.

SPEAKER_05

Because he Bo could just manufacture a show. It don't matter if it was, you know, perfect conditions, you know, cold, wind, whatever. I mean, or if it was 80 degrees, he could find the ducks. And the guys, the people that guided for him were just man, they were good.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

But what always fascinated me about going over to Bo's place is he had uh a really nice lodge over there. And uh there was this cabinet with a glass door as soon as you walk in, it was just full of turkey beers. And I was I didn't know he was a turkey hunter at the time, but I started talking to him back, and look, when you ask him a turkey hunting question, his eyes light up. And through the decades, I mean, he was like, to me, the first guy I know was going all over the place, way out west in Texas and Kansas and Florida. He was going to Florida before it was cool.

SPEAKER_08

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05

And I'm like, what a good one to ask.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

The same 20 questions to and see how he answers them. And uh I I feel like there's a gonna be a lot of gold nuggets in this one. I really do.

SPEAKER_08

He said there was something that he used to always talk about. He just like tasting feathers.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. One of Lauren's favorite shows, we did a waterfowl show with him and his buddy old Billy, and and boy, it was like boom, boom, and the duck fell, and somebody and and somebody was calling on a duck claimer. Duck claimer, duck claimer. I had so much fun. I don't know where it's in. Because Bo, and yeah, he had a commercial deal taking duck hunters and all, but he was always so much fun. He he gets it. Yeah, he gets it. It's it ain't so much about getting a limit every time, it's about who you with and telling stories and all that stuff. And golly, we're lucky.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

To be able to bring that to you guys. So without any more wait, let's go talk and finish our last secret installment with a bow prestige over in the Mississippi Delta.

SPEAKER_02

This is he. How you doing, my brother? Fine, fine, doing great.

SPEAKER_05

Man, I appreciate you taking some time and answering a few turkey questions. I talked in the opening there about you were one of them quiet guys running farming, doing the duck hunting and guiding and stuff, and people would not look at you and know that you were a turkey thug, but I feel like that's your number one thing. Is that true?

SPEAKER_02

That you know, that is true. That's kind of a been a hidden secret for, gosh, not quite 60 years, almost, almost in the high 50s. I've been uh actually hunting turkeys hard since 78.

SPEAKER_05

One of the most popular posts I ever made, I do a lot of posts on Instagram and Facebook and all that. And I was over at your lodge one day and I snapped a picture of that your turkey beard collection out there and just, you know, threw it up and people was like, oh my goodness, like, yeah, y'all just think this guy's a duck, a duck guide. You know what always fascinated me with you is how you found time with such a large-scale farming operation to do that in the spring, because that's gotta be busy time for them for you farming too.

SPEAKER_02

You know it is, and um I tell you what I found out when I was young. At the start of turkey season, and I used to start it out in Florida a lot of times hunting real far south before the Osceolas became as big of a hunt. And uh I hate to say it, but I kept that shotgun under that back seat for the last day of turkey season in Kansas, which would have been around the fifteenth.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And it was very common for me. I knew so many people over a period of years that if it rained back in the old days, you could have that relationship where you could call that guy and say, Hey, do you have one? Today it's not like that, which is kind of sad because of the uh inconvenience of you've got to really book that hunt sometimes a couple years out. Back in the old days we didn't do it, so I was able to travel a lot. And you know, when you're young, you don't think anything about getting in the truck at four o'clock afternoon and driving 10 hours and being sitting at the guy's door the next morning at daylight ready to hunt.

SPEAKER_05

When you get bit by the turkey bug, you just bit. And I I got fascinated and looking at your turkey beards and all that, and I was always wondering how he finds time to do that, because he's a big time farmer. But people love to hear from people who, and trust me, I I know what I'm talking about, who are really, really good at it, have a passion for it, and they may not know who it is, and and I'm not trying to drop a pen on none of your honey holes or anything, but I appreciate you coming on and answering a few questions because I've always admired you know how hard you went at it. Now, we all getting a little older. I ain't saying we're aging out, but uh those to me are the best people to ask questions for. So I'm gonna just pick your brain for a little while if you're cool with that. Oh, I'm cool with that. Perfect. I'm gonna go down the same questions I've asked Dean Redbeard, Mundinky, and Fred Law and Ernie Calumrelli. I'm gonna ask you the same questions, and you just gonna spit me some truth. So and these these don't always apply because we do things different and we're seasoned and all that kind of stuff. But question number one, do you still scout any preseason or you pretty much got your places down pat where you don't really have to do that anymore?

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know, I I'm older and I'm fortunate and I have some places that are hunted forever, and uh, but I think it's just the nature of the beast. If it's in your blood, I think you'll at least get out there and listen. Now, uh I tend to back off because I do not want to take a chance on anything of spooking these animals, spooking these birds out of my area or disturbing any game that might run through them and bust them and scare them. But yes, I do like to listen. I do like to pre-scout and and and kinda know the setup of where my turkeys are, where they're headed, and I I I still believe that and and now I back off. Leave them alone, but that's what I do.

SPEAKER_05

Just listen, kinda see which way they went.

SPEAKER_02

Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_05

Let me ask you this, Bo, you've been doing it as long as I have, and we're just kinda we can be talking about the Delta, but you've been everywhere on opening day. Do you think turkeys kinda start gobbling about the same time, or do you think it's a weather thing or a uh a temperature thing, or you think they start about the same time every year?

SPEAKER_02

You know, I think they start about the same time every year. It's just God's natural trigger in 'em. And different areas are gonna start at different times. Some days are gonna be better than others according to the weather. If it's wet and cold and not gonna be as good, but if it's a beautiful day, I think they're gonna crank it off a little more. As the year goes on, uh, you and I both know that uh the goblin and the seriousness of when he's really talking back to you means a lot more than when he's just trying to figure out what you're doing and getting himself tuned up early spring and knowing what's going on.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, I believe the same thing. And you know you hear about man, they ain't as many turkeys. To me it's a fluid thing. I think we've had a good hatch and maybe had a good hatch last year and possibly the year before that, but when you're out there pre-season scouting and you say you're just listening to do you ever even blow a crow call or owl call or you just let nature go?

SPEAKER_02

You know, I tend to let nature go because I don't even want them to know that I'm presence because presence is pressure. And if I accidentally make a mistake or do something uh early and and and you know the foliage is so open, uh it could mess you up a little bit. And I try to just let them do their own thing and I just listen to them because they're gonna tell me what's going on.

SPEAKER_05

You a ghost. You in and out.

SPEAKER_02

Uh absolute ghost. I'm a little bitty short ghost, and I love to get in and I love to get out.

SPEAKER_05

All right, let's go. I'm gonna ask you some hardcore hunting questions now. And this one, this is my favorite question to ask because everybody's different and everybody's successful. The people I talk to, I'm I mean, they just they may have their own style, but man, they're good at it. Now, do you ever, now the hunting season's open. It could be the opening day, it could be the opening week, or the end of the season, do you ever call to a gobbler while he's still on the roost up in the tree?

SPEAKER_02

You know, of course I got taught old school. Yep. So I started back in the old days when you built the old hog pens. A lot of people don't know what that is, but it's a uh you got in that hog pen, you knew the area he was at, and they put you, you know, those old timers would set you in there, and they threatened you if you came out of there. They were gonna beat you to death with a belt. We were a kid and we were learning how to turkey hunt. And uh, people need to look those old stories up. Love to share them with people. But I call very little on the roof, unless he's killing me to call a lot later in the year. But I usually try to let the turkey kill me with it. He's talking to you. All you gotta do is bring the knowledge and listen to me. And uh I call very little on the roof. Very soft. And a lot of times if he's gobbling, I'll live in gobble till I almost like watching.

SPEAKER_04

Being patient, being careful.

SPEAKER_02

Patience will feel more than anything I can think of. Would you be patience? Know where you are, know your surroundings, know the area that he's wanting to go, and be patient. If he gobbles at you one time, he knows within six inches of where you are for the rest of the day if you hadn't moved.

SPEAKER_05

Man, that's some good advice. I can't think of a better person to ask this to, because I've been hunting with you a lot, filming, making TV. You were helping us make TV when we didn't even know if it was gonna air.

SPEAKER_02

That's how long we've been knowing you, but y'all made it work. Y'all knew how to do it.

SPEAKER_05

Yep. Is uh I want you talk a little bit about setting up on one early in the season. Y'all got some flat ground over there, and again, y'all know you've hunted from, you know, Texas to Tennessee and Maine to Mississippi, but give us a a few little tips on setting up on one on opening day when there ain't no foliage, and you making him see one for a mile.

SPEAKER_02

I would tell you this. You better lay off that sucker. Because when he's in that tree, you think, well, he can't see me, he's 250 yards. Man, you can walk through one little bitty gap three inches wide, he just saw you. And you just messed it up. I back way off early season. Even if I unless even if I get in there early, because if you get in there so early that you're looking at him after the tree, you can't call. You call, he's looking at you. You gotta get in his mind. He's gotta search for you. You you gotta be in his mind. If you get early, I'm I'm here, I'm headful. You're not there. If you if you got some recoils up and stuff like that, that would help. But even if you're that close, you're making noise. I like to back off a little bit. I'm an old school guy. I like to back off, I like to get his mind, I like to make him go crazy. I won't have to wonder what's over there, I wouldn't have to come searching for me. I want to make sure I got every advantage. If it's the sun, if it's rain, I want to make sure that I got every advantage to my availability. Where he can't get me out where he has to search and get in there. That's how he's gonna that's the only time he's gonna get in a coach. He's gonna find that spot if he's not comfortable, he's walking off.

SPEAKER_05

Man, that's words to live by right there. And you know, you so many hunts get messed up right out of the gate, and and you know, when when turkeys ain't like they were in the eighties, and you mess one up, your whole day could be s you know, just ruined because you did something wrong in the first five minutes being a little too aggressive.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely you can't, and you can you think here's one thing that messes with these lot of younger people. Messing on up, it can't be ruined forever. It's like he's born and raised right there. And his brain's like you don't forget everything, but let it calm down. Give him a few days, go back in there, don't make those mistakes again. You keep making those mistakes, you educate him more and more and more and more. He's smart. He might have a little bit of brain, but he's smart, and it makes it harder to to get to where you need it. And um to make it harder. And tell people, just leave it alone, let him calm down. If you think you make sure, just back out. That's what I do. I calm down, I let the turkey calm down, I get I let him do the things that he needs to do, to uh just get out of the way. If I don't have time for food in the day, leave him alone for a day or two. He'll calm down. He'll come down, he's born and raised there. And he's looking for girlfriends. He's looking for as many as he can get. He might have six, he might have ten, he might have three in uh his flock, but he's still always looking for extra girlfriends. And you're the extra girlfriend if you play it right.

SPEAKER_05

And you're up in his bedroom and he knows where everything's at. Let me ask you this. You and I are both are what I call seasoned turkey hunters, you know. Uh might have a knee ache, might have a b- I know you've had your issues and all that. Have you changed right now, starting, you know, it's gonna open here in a couple of weeks. Have you changed any of the way your tactics with age, or do you still kind of hunt the same way you always have?

SPEAKER_02

You know, age will make you change your tactics.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

It it do it you can say that it doesn't, but I'm not as young, not as tough, at 67 years old, you uh you slow down, but you still have that heart. If it's beat, you still have that desire to be there. And you have that want to be there, you just have to choose your battle smart for what your physical conditions can do. You don't have to stop the level that sport. You don't have to stop it. We got so many things now that they offer out there. You know, of course, um gosh, uh religiously 100% been wearing lost your channels since 1986. Nothing but never will. And then you got the blinds that people can get in. You can get in stools, you can get closer. You might have to set your blinds up further away from the the uh heart to make it happen. But you still get to get in there. Man, it's all about experience, it's about getting in there. Don't let the moment crush you because, well, I'm not 40 years old anymore. I can't do like I used to. I can't move around, I can't do I used to just gonna kill more turkeys than anything. If you got it, if you know if he knows where you're at, and you're comfortable, and you're in that chair, and you're in his room, and you're in the area that he wants to be, and you should know that two weeks into the hunt, you should, if you've leased him on three or four hunts, you should already have that sucker figured out 90% of the time. You know, you just gotta be patient. Don't be ashamed to use a stool. Don't be ashamed to use a blind. Don't be ashamed to use the new technology that people got. I can remember what I do. After they finally let me get out of O'Heaves, okay. Uh I can walk home a little bit, locate, uh, set up my tree, you know. I've had them one foot from me. You know, and I'll tell some stories later. That's unreal. And uh, so take advantage of those things. Don't don't don't don't be ashamed you can't do what you did in a younger age. Be glad that God's let you go and be in this environment and be in the outdoors and enjoying the things that He created, and that we have the companies that develop the technology for us to use to make these moments still happen. Don't ever give up. Gosh, I wouldn't care if my last breath was taken in the in the in the turkey woods at a hundred years old with a turkey laying in my lap.

SPEAKER_05

Hey, that's uh that's incredible right there. Don't let the old man in. And I believe, and I'm glad you answered that question like that, because I got, you know, hearing apparatuses now, and I got a turkey chair that's made me a better hunter, and it keeps me out there. I tell you, deep down, some of these young people they want to hear that kind of stuff. Because uh that success don't it don't come from you know what other people say. It comes from years and years of getting your nose bloodied and whipped and beat up and all that kind of stuff. So, man, what a great answer that was. I'm glad you're not an anti-technology guy.

SPEAKER_02

No, sir. I think I think I think technology was created, cuz, for the older guys more than the younger guys.

SPEAKER_05

I'm right with you, man. I got all kinds of technology now, and I use every bit of it. Old timer's more than just a knife, it's a timeless tool meant to be passed down. The USA made generational series of knives are crafted to last generations, so they become memories made, lessons learned, and values tall. Old timer knives built for generations. Here's the gift of a gobbler this spring. There's been a few times I can recall I've been on a burn there and didn't get him, couldn't go back the next day or maybe even that next week, but I got a buddy, maybe it's called Bubba. I can send him a waypoint on on it. Or the gobbler was, maybe where he was gobblin' or where he went. Something you can hold. What's the first thing Bo usually grabs if he's gonna make that first call in the morning? Slate glass box mouth call.

SPEAKER_02

I started throwing mouth calls back when Ben Lee was there.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

But let me tell you a story.

SPEAKER_03

Okay.

SPEAKER_02

I ran an old Lynch foolproof box forever. Forever. So I am a fiction caller with a box call. So I'm kind of a dying art, you know. But if you're in my vest right now, you're gonna have at least two different box calls in my vest. Now, the lynch I had to get away from. Not by choice, but another manufacturers came up I guess since the day they started building them, maybe 2000. Uh I've been using Primos's coal. Uh the box coal, the that that's all I've used. And I I've warm out. And uh I I say I've warm out, I hadn't warm out, I'm still using the exact same coal. It's got a lot of years and a lot of stain on it. But I'm still using that Primos coal, the box coal, same one that they make. And uh so when that turkey, when it starts getting daylight, and I feel like I'm kinda in his game and I feel like I've got the edge on him now. I don't hear any more hens. I don't hear any more hens, I hear nothing. I'm far enough away from him, either the coverage from the foliage or the coverage from distance is where I know he can't see me. I might do a little light fly down. Either with my hat or with a wing I keep in the back. I'm gonna scratch in the leaves. If he's really fired up, he's gonna gobble at it. I'm gonna undercall him all the time because I learned a long time ago, patience is everything. Now, a lot of people are overcalling. Sometimes when I think I got competition and he's on the ground and I really gotta get into his head, I'll overcall him. But when he's coming out of that tree, till he hits the ground, and I know he's on the ground and he and I are on the same playing level then. That's the only time I change my tactics. I'm soft, cluck a few times, might purr. Wait a while, wait a while. I might let him gobble three, four, or five times in between. Me call him. Cluck a couple more times, scratching the leaves, just let him know I'm present. Let him know I'm down there.

SPEAKER_05

That's how you kill him right there. People get too caught up in the calling part. And I love it. I go to them Grand Nationals and listen to them guys going, holy cow, I wished I could. One breath I'm saying, I wish I could call like that. Another one I'm saying, thank you, Jesus. I don't have to call like Dave always to kill a turkey. Don't you think it's overrated the calling part? Just a little bit.

SPEAKER_02

This is what I think. 100%. Concealment. I learned a long time ago, concealment is is a very, very big part because his eyes is his number one deal. He can hear, but he can see better than he can hear, I believe.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And you gotta beat those eyes. And concealment, and the more you get into his head, and that's patience, the crazier it drives him, and the crazier he gets, the better your chances are. Those things are very important. Very important. I just uh feel like that because I don't always use a tent. Now I always have a little chair that I like to carry with me or a cushion according to where I'm going to hunt, because I just can't sit down on that ground anymore. I can't flop down. I gotta have something to let me hold tight. But you've got to be patient and you gotta get in his head. You get in his head, then the game starts.

SPEAKER_05

You said you use a chair. Could you tell me a little bit more about setting up? Because I know when you get ready to set up on one, you're making some decisions because you're planning on being there a while. What else can somebody do when they all right? This isn't my spot. What am I gonna do to set up? Do you try to pick a tree? Do you put cover in front or behind? Do you what do you do when you set up on one?

SPEAKER_02

If I can do both, I want cover in front and behind.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

Because I want him to have to search. You know, to me, the turkey hunt doesn't start till 40 yards and end. That's the old guy. That that's where I want to beat him at. I d I don't want him to hang up at 75 yards and get away. That that that's not the hunt. I want to beat him, I want to beat him. I want to beat him at his game. I want him to come in there so tight looking for me that I've drove him crazy. So I like to have little footage spots in front of me with gaps, if possible, where I can make the if he gets in there real tight and he comes out from behind a brushtop or something that he can't quite see through and it makes him look. And then I love to have something behind me always. Even with all the good camouflage, with all the good things that you can have, and the technology and the seat and all that, and you get up. Always like to get a tree any way at all possible. I want a tree broader than my shoulders. If it's possible. If it has to be smaller than my shoulders, I sure want to make sure there's a lot of cover right behind between me and him. So that he can't silhouette me. You do not want that sucker to silhouette you. He if you do, you're in trouble. You're in big, wide open woods, you better make sure that tree is bigger than you. Or as big as you. Because that's a very important thing. Uh, you want to blend in with that tree, you want to be a part of that tree. You don't want to have be a little oldity tree and you're on both sides of it. He catches you moving left or right. Uh, he's gonna catch you too if you do it, if you're not careful. And that's to me the most important thing. Cover behind you, something in front of you, to where he has to search for you. Don't let it get out there where he can just make it 75-yard circle in the wide open and then walk off with three ends instead of driving those hens in there on you. Yep. And make him drive them in there and look at you and get close enough to where you can harvest it.

SPEAKER_05

That back cover is a big deal. And that's a that's an art form you gotta kind of work on, but you know, you uh ideally you want him where he can't see way past where you at because he's gonna be looking for hens. So sometimes people forget about that back cover stuff. That's important. He's just got hands with him. You know, he's just doing his thing, he's over now, and it's getting on up there. Whatever it's nine, nine thirty, and you ain't gotta run supervised, start farming and all that. When and how do you decide you're gonna move? I'm gonna get up and move on this turkey, do end around. Is there something you look for or listen for when you say, okay, now it's time to get up?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know, he's gonna go into that moment. He's gonna go into that quietness a lot of times. He's gonna quit gobbling as much. He's got his hands on the ground. You and I know he's strutting the whole time, and he's driving them around. That's where it pays to scout and know your terrain and back off. He hadn't come into you in the woods, but there's a food plot over there 200 yards, 250. And you've seen pictures of him, or you've seen him in that food plot at 1130 to 1230 or 2 o'clock with his ends. But you didn't get in the right spot, he missed you 60 or 70 yards out there, and he's headed that way, circle way around where there's not even a chance of him ever getting into you, and just try to get back in front of where you think he's driving that clock again. If you want to stay with him. If you don't have the time to stay with him, get up and walk off and leave him. Because then he's even still in his head. He remembers that hen that he heard that he didn't get to look at. He remembers what's going on. I've had to leave him, go back in there that afternoon, 2 30. Way off from where I heard, I start walking and calling a little bit. I might owl hoot or crow call to see if he'll answer. If he doesn't do that, I might walk another 75 yards and call again a series. And just stand still. I always stop. Always, if you're on a login road, you look at that situation. Don't get caught 50 yards from any tree. You make sure every time you stop, you're at a tree you can set up by. Because he might gobble at 75 yards. You have to run 50 yards, you just got saw. You just they just saw you. So you make sure you stop every time where you can set up within three steps. Because if you don't, you just made a mistake that'll cost you turkeys a lot of times. You think about your setup if he catches you right then in a gobble immediately before you ever call. Always think. Always think. I've seen so many people stop out in a long road, be 50 yards from any tree cobble. Turkey gobble 75 yards, they run to a tree, they try to run backwards, it doesn't matter. He saw him.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

He'll see you so many times, and he'll never say another word. You'll go, Well, I wonder what happened. I'm sitting back. You don't need to wonder, buddy. I'm gonna tell you what happened when it's hunting. I'm gonna show you what you did wrong.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You didn't think about your setup before you ever called.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. I've been with people that'll stop and pop their paddle box out in the middle of a plow field, and I'm thinking, what are you thinking? It's a hundred yards. Kaylee said it's a mistake you made on the turkey. You made it half an hour ago, and now it's too late to do anything about it. That's too good to five. That's good. That's good stuff right there. So do you believe that there's a lull? Because you've hunted them in every state. You've been all over the place. And I always ask people this question. It's not so much a hunting question, but do you think there's a constant lull every morning if things are normal?

SPEAKER_02

I really think it can be early in the season because more than likely they've got all their hands and they've got everything and they've got their whole setup that they want. They know where they're going to pitch down, they know where their hands are to stand, they just stay together and move around, and they just don't get away from them. And I I know without a shadow of a doubt, I really think that there's a lull early. And I think that that's the reason you have to see a lot of people switch tactics and move to the food plots late or do things like that if they didn't get between or get by them and get able to get between them and the hands or getting at that what I call their territory, and you have to be careful and swing around and get way out and do that. I think you're gonna run in at every time because he's sitting there looking at them. I mean, he's got ten hens, he's got five hens, they're all right there with him. But at some point, he's gonna get through servicing them and he's gonna be looking. It might be 10 o'clock that morning, it might be 11, 12, 1, 2 o'clock afternoon. But don't give up on him if you've got that time to be there on the hunt, because that's his house. He's not going anywhere. You just don't need to walk in there and disturb him and run him out of there, or booger him up. You're not gonna run him out, but booger him up where he can't uh come to you. You scared him. Just just just just be patient and and and the best thing with a law is just back off, back off. Be a good woodsman. Being a good woodsman is the most important part of any hunting. Woodsmanship is everything. And you have to understand where he might be, where he might be going, what he's doing, and you have to then figure out how am I gonna get in front of this situation? How am I gonna get close enough that when he's through, he's there. I don't want to be a half a mile from him. I want to be 150 yards or less from him. And if he ever decides to break, he does. If he doesn't, back out, leave him alone, go somewhere, come back in another day.

SPEAKER_05

Yep. You like Toxie Hayes, you don't you don't trust him. Toxie says that all the time. I just don't trust him.

SPEAKER_02

No, I don't trust them. They're there, you know, the only thing they they have to do in life is survive. That's it. They don't have an electrical bill, they don't have a car payment, they don't have nothing. All they have is their life. And their enjoyment of breeding hens. So they got to make that's the only things that they have to protect, and they're good at it. And the only thing that you're trying to do is beat them at the game and convince them that you're one more girlfriend that they need.

SPEAKER_05

Yep. It's uh your job to kill him and his job not to get killed. Let me uh let me ask you this. Say you couldn't go in the morning. You were tied up, you had work going on, you may get to go at eleven o'clock or ten thirty something. And you go eat into the woods and try and try to locate one. Let's say you don't have no MRI, you don't know where they're going. What what what is your routine for moving and calling? Do you always do you start with a crow call? Do you start with a box? A mountain why how do you try to strike one, Bo?

SPEAKER_02

Well, uh I do two things. First of all, if possible, I like a crow call in the afternoon. I've even hallehooted in the afternoon. And but I like a crow call. And then I'll I'll I'll move up a little bit and I'll crow call again. If he gobbles, then I know where he is, and then I'll move in and position myself, and then I'll start using my box call or I'm a friction guy, so I'll start using my call. And um, and if he responds to it, it works on it. I don't keep crowing at him. He's already told me he's there. When he tells me he's there one time, then I don't just sit there and just keep hammering it. Uh then I move in and then I start trying to use my my turkey call. Whether you choose a mouth call, a slate call, a tube call, or a box call. It's it's it's your choice. It all sounds a whole different. It's just about the rhythm and and and and and how you call and the series of how you call and what you do. And when I'm doing that in the afternoons, unless he tells me to, unless that turkey tells me to, I just try to stay calm. I must call some yelps, maybe a little cut or two. I don't try to just hammer him and hammer him and hammer him, because I found that a lot of times, if I had to hammer a turkey in the afternoons and make him, and and I've I've done it. Take a box call and hit it and and and cut and do all that, and then he gobbled way off. And uh he's more than likely he's got some hands with him. If I move in and he answers me in a different call, then I know, hey, well, uh, he's interested. Now the game starts. Now we're gonna try to start out maneuvering each other. Trying to get a little closer, trying to do some things, be smart. Um, I'll tell you something that's been very successful in my in my life. If I know he's there and I want to really, really mess with this turkey's mind, and I want to really drive him crazy, I'm not gonna get up and move a hundred yards. I'm in a set of trees and I'm looking at my background, I'm looking where I got something behind my back. I might call to him right here. He still stays out there, and and he answers me a time or two, and I think, okay, there's a tree right over there, 10 yards. I'll get out, I'll crawl over there, I'll take my time, I set up, I get the chairs positioned, I get everything right. I call to him again. Scratch around in the leaves a little bit. He answers me, he hadn't moved a whole lot, he does again. I see a tree over 20 yards, I move 20 yards to a different back over to a different direction. That's what hens do. They just don't take out walking a lot of times and go crazy. Then he's like, Okay, she's there. She's there. She's not sitting at the exact same spot. I've moved three, four, five, six times and not ever move a 30-yard circle, 40-yard circle. Drive them crazy.

SPEAKER_03

What a good joke.

SPEAKER_02

Drive him crazy. I tell the young guys, you ain't gotta get up and run into that turkey. He's gonna see you.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You just let him know you're a turkey. What do turkeys do? They're just sitting there walking around, scratching under each tree, pecking, scratching, pecking, scratching, pecking. And that's just what Bo Preston's learned to do a long, long, long, long time ago. And I just sit there and mess with his mind. And and a lot of times they'll start committing. And when they start committing, I make sure I'm on my final tree. I got my great background, and and the game starts.

SPEAKER_05

Man, what a good tip. Let me ask you this 30-year-old Bo Prestige. Tough as nails, bulletproof. Did you ever hunt in the rain, or do you kind of wait till that's over with? And if you did, how'd you do that?

SPEAKER_02

I've hunted in the rain when I got caught in the rain.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_02

I didn't go out intentionally hunting in the rain. I'll wait for it to stop. Let him let him feather off a little bit, let him shake. Even let the sun shine a little bit. But that little bit of rain didn't ruin the day by any means. He hadn't gone anywhere, he hadn't done anything. He's gonna shake that that water off, and he's gonna go to doing what turkeys do. Um this is this is the one of the craziest stories that ever happened to me. I'd got on a turkey at daylight and I chased him to about 1030. And we'd probably moved a quarter of a mile back and forth. I always let him kept leaving to me, and I always just kept getting a little closer because I could hear the hens, I could tell there wasn't but about two hens with him. And I thought he's gonna break away from him at some point. And I was in a bottom and and it was thundering, and man, he was going crazy, and it was thundering, and I thought, it started lightning, it scared me. And I was by a huge, huge oak tree. So I just set my gun, I wouldn't I set it kind of away from me. I thought, God, I'm not sticking this up in the air. And he was out there about 65 yards, and and he locked up. And the two hands were just kind of maneuvering him around, and he was getting where he he me and him were looking at each other. And it started thundering and lightning, and he was going crazy, and it started raining so hard that I couldn't see five feet. And I said, you know, he can't see five feet either. Or at least he can't see ten feet. But he's 25 yards on the other side of that big sycamore tree. I had I had sat down, I took my gun like an idiot. This is what a young boat fish did. I crawled up to that sycamore and got around in front of it. Never said a word. It rained for five more minutes. I was soaking wet. It rained so hard you couldn't see. It was an awful thunderstorm. Today you wouldn't do that for nothing. When it finally quit raining, he I couldn't see him. He I saw his two hands out there. I said, Well he hadn't gone anywhere. And in about five minutes, like a ghost at 20 yards, he walked right up behind a big cottonwood. Never said a word.

SPEAKER_03

Oh.

SPEAKER_02

I just eased that gun up and gave him a good killing. And I did that in the rain. Today would I do that? I'd lay that gun down. I wouldn't care if he walked over 500 yards. I wouldn't do that today.

SPEAKER_05

Too much wisdom under that bridge.

SPEAKER_02

Too much wisdom under that bridge. Back then, all I wanted was that turkey, and I got him, and he was a big, old, beautiful homespurve turkey. Killed him in Mississippi and he had black wings.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. That's crazy. I wish everybody could see your lodge what it looked like. We're gonna probably do another podcast one day on some of that other stuff. I mean, if you were one of the first people I knew going out to the Midwest, you'd go out to Kansas going all over the place. And and I know you hit that high wind and you you just gotta deal with it out there because sometimes it don't quit. What's Bo's tactics for when the wind's blowing, you know, 20 miles an hour and it ain't gonna stop.

SPEAKER_02

You know, that's that's the biggest thing about hunting in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and all those areas out there. You deal with the wind. Montana, I've hunting to all those states. Wyoming, when I started hunting out there, I realized you're gonna hunt the wind every day.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I mean crazy wind. But the only thing that I did find out about that hunting in those bottoms and the Platte Rivers, hunting in those places, and hunting on the Powder River, they're gonna follow those rivers. And and I knew which way they were going. So when I was in the wind and I called and I called louder because I was in the wind, and I called louder, and when they responded to me and anywhere I was, I just started working them and I didn't move because it was open. You're hunting little. You're not hunting the big hardwoods, you're hunting different territories. Hold still. They're in the wind every day of their life. It's nothing new to them. It's only new to you. They function in it every day. You know which way they're coming. Just hold still. They're coming. Might be an hour, might be two hours, might be three hours. But that's what they do. They're going up down those river bottoms every day. You'll see you more than likely you'll see them. But I I do call louder when I'm in the wind. When I can get to where I can hear them, I soften it down. Yeah. I soften it down. That's what I do. Because uh hunting in the wind to me is the hardest thing of all. Because it'll it'll be blowing 20 miles an hour and all of a sudden it'll gust 40. And you'll just go, golly, this is awful. Because that's not what we're used to. But that's what those turkeys are used to. You're in their territory, then they're not in yours. So hunt them at their game. Hunt them in the wind. Just use the wind to your advantage and just hold still. You know, if they're moving the other way, you'll know. If they're moving to you, you'll know. I always like to sit up downwind from where I think the turkeys are. That way I can hear them. Even though they can hear you, if you're upwind, downwind, uh, you can hear them better, and you know if they're getting closer and you can you can you can get a better feel for it. That's what I always like to do in the wind. That's my first move is to be downwind from them.

SPEAKER_05

Such a good tip right there.

SPEAKER_02

Call louder, be downwind.

SPEAKER_05

I always tell people I say just double everything. You know, call twice as often and twice as loud and cover twice as much ground until you hit them. And then you pay. Then that's all about patience. I but what other than your turkey calls, and I know you got a lot. You travel a good bit. What's what's in your turkey vest other than calls that you you pretty much gonna take every day?

SPEAKER_02

Every day, believe this or not, and I just retired it, and it's got most yoke on it, and I made it in 1983. I had the same turkey mask from 83 to right now. I just put it in my safe and I'm gonna put it in a shadow box.

SPEAKER_05

I remember it.

SPEAKER_02

It doesn't need to talk. It's just a very big piece of history. It definitely doesn't need to talk.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

I and I'm and I've got different masks. I'll carry a couple masks always. I always have my gloves. The most important thing is I always use insect and pillar because it's real serious with these ticks. And I'm always using permanent on my clothes to protect or promethium or something, deeps, and I'm always trying to protect against ticks and anything like that. Ticks more than anything. If if you're in an area in the Delta and you're hunting hard and the mosquitoes have gotten bad, I'll use a thermosale. They work. They're great if you're gonna hunt in an area where the insects are around you like that. But I always, always in my best. I I I spray my clothes down, I spray them about once a week real hard, and then I always put other stuff on to protect against. I guess ticks would be the major thing now that concerns me more than anything because I've had some friends that had some life-changing experiences with them.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_02

And um, not to scare anybody off, but both of my friends that got real sick hunted the Northeast. Now, I've had some friends in the South that's got sick too, but both of them on their first trips got real sick hunting in the Northeast. They had they said they were just a lot of ticks. So be prepared. They were prepared, but not prepared enough. And I don't know that you can always prepare enough because we got a lot of ticks in the south, but that's my thing that scares me more than anything. I'm gonna have my calls, my multiple calls. I'm gonna have my fan in the back and my and my my uh wing, which is real easy to carry. You gotta be real careful with how you use them. Uh, I'm going to have all my insect repellent. Uh, if I'm in an area that I'm gonna move some that I'm not familiar with, I'm gonna have a compass to know exactly where I'm going to to get out of there. Um I I'm never ashamed to use a compass if I don't know where I'm at, if I'm in an unfamiliar territory where a lot of people are traveling and hunting public lands and hunting without guides. Uh if you're gonna get in there, you don't sure want to get out. You don't want somebody looking for you at one o'clock in the morning. And um, that's the things that I uh main things that I carry is something for direction, something for insects, uh, make sure I got an extra mask, uh, gloves, calls, my in my backpack, I got I got my my wing and my fan, and that's the things that I'm gonna have in that vest every time I leave. And a lot of times, if I think I'm gonna do a lot of walking, the bottle of water is gonna be in there too. Keep hydrated. Keep hydrated. That's very important to keep hydrated. Take your bottle of water. If you're a big water, take two if you think you're gonna be gone all the way to after lunch. Don't get caught without a pack of nabs and a couple of bottles of water if you think you're gonna be out there that long. Because the worst thing that can happen is at 10:30, you decide you're thirsty and you're hungry. Pack of nabs and water will fix a lot of things.

SPEAKER_05

Amen. You know, I keep my water bottle in my box called thing on my Dixon vest. I don't care if I call. And you may be one of the only old school guys I know like me. I carry an old school compass and I'll shoot me a reading at my truck. If I'm somewhere I ain't never been, I I'm like you. I'm gonna get out.

SPEAKER_02

It may take me a little while, but that's uh Well, when I was a kid, I was so fortunate to hunt where turkeys were when people didn't have turkeys.

SPEAKER_03

Yep.

SPEAKER_02

And I learned from an old guy named Roy West in the Arkansas River. And he was my mentor, turkey hunting. And we built hog blinds before the season even started, and we'd get on those ridges. We knew the gobblers were coming, we knew where they were at, they knew where they were gonna end up. And an old hog pen is something that you stack those woods up that you can peek through and you go up above your head. And you sit there, and every 15 minutes you look at your watch and you yep three times. If you yep four, you're just gonna get talked to because he's sitting over there listening to you. Better not call any less than 15 or 20 minutes. And I'm telling you, what was crazy is you'd be having a turkey gobble out there, and all of a sudden you hear. And one would have come in that never said a word, he'd be five feet from you. And you could see him through that hog pen and the little two-inch gaps. And I'm like, good gracious. You just the people don't realize what's there that's not saying anything until you hunt that environment.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So I learned to be patient. I learned to sit there. I learned that overcalling was worse than undercalling.

SPEAKER_05

Great advice. I love it. All right, let me ask you this. Opening week, this is a 67-year-old Bo. 20 gauge or 12 gauge? What are you what are you carrying in the turkey woods this year?

SPEAKER_02

Carrying a 20 gauge, and I'm actually gone to a scope because in my eyesight about 10 years ago. About 10 years ago, I was in a pine ticket, called up three long beards, had my regular old Beretta 391 Eureka 12 gauge. I couldn't shoot the turkeys at 30 yards because I couldn't when I got down on the gun, I couldn't see. I had glass, I couldn't see them. They were blurs, and I could not get on one to feel comfortable enough to shoot the bird. And I just didn't want to I'd never just blast down through there at something. I don't do that. My my number one goal is to make a clean shot, clean cue. And I had to let them walk on. And the guy told me he said you need to try a scope. And I did. I went to a scope. I went to a um small scope, small real low power, I think I'm on two and a half power on my scope. Now I'm uh on a Beretta 20 gauge with a uh same scope, two and a half power. Your scope choice would be your decision. Uh whether it's a Leopold or Conus or whatever you choose, uh Vortex, that's that that's that's your choice. What you're comfortable with, uh the the reticle opticals that you're comfortable with. And um that's where I'm at. I'm with a 20 gauge and uh I I shoot um I guess what you call it, tungsten?

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, TSS. Yeah, you shoot TSS too.

SPEAKER_02

And and there's TSS, both of them uh are uh are great, great uh shells of choice. They both sell a lot. TSS and uh Apex and um is a great company and uh and uh you know they got a lot of great shells out there right now that that people can use. Main thing they need to do is pattern and see what is the best and everything like which one fits my choke.

SPEAKER_05

Well you'll get you'll get some comments about all that's too much technology trying to kill a turkey at 80 yards with that. No, the reason I love it is that I got a technical pattern at 40 yards. That's what I want. And if that's what does it want to use? And the older I get, the more I care less. I cannot care less for somebody to I think that's incredible. And how many parents are you gonna get to shoot? You don't get to shoot that many anyway.

SPEAKER_02

You know what, you know what I think? What I think is there you are with technology again. It's better. It's a better shell. Uh I love the pattern of it. I love all the shots. And I don't my shots, 99.99% of my shots are 40 yards in. I'm not gonna flash out 75 or 80 yards at him anyway.

SPEAKER_05

Amen.

SPEAKER_02

Because I'm there for the hunt. I'm there for the hunt. I want that turkey. I want to beat him, I want him at his game. But hey, PSS, you use that, you use those shells like that. It's got that pattern. I mean, it just absolutely, from the wattles, a little bit below the wattles up, it just covers everything. You're not shooting a pattern with blowholes in it. That's right. And that apex is probably, in my opinion, some people have different. Number one out there for me.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

They uh they don't flop either. They just drop that uh scope thing. I've been on that scope thing for almost 30 years. You know, every time I went, I'm taking 50 places. You know, all that kind of stuff. And they don't want to add stuff that's in their force. You know, they look through there and put that cross there on there. And I got no issue with that. So I love an older guy who does not gun technology if it makes him more effective.

SPEAKER_02

No, I I I think I think that you're being simple-minded not to be condemning anybody. And the older you get, I think with this great technology, take advantage of it. That doesn't mean because you bought that shell, you have to start shooting him at 80 yards like they some people say, I kill him at 80 yards. No. If you're a hunt, if you're hunting, you want to beat him and you want him 40 yards in, do it. But nothing compares to that shell when you shoot him.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So let him get 40 yards in and shoot him with it, and then walk over and pick him up. You don't have to run him down on him like when we were 20 years old and chasing him 100 yards through as you turned him through clips.

SPEAKER_05

Oh, my brother, I love it.

SPEAKER_02

That holds true. That holds true. And turkey hunting, and if you know, if you remember me, many, many years ago when you came over and y'all sent crews over. It was a very expensive shell, but it was unreal. It was called heavy shot. Oh, true heavy shot.

SPEAKER_05

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02

And everybody go, what are you gonna shoot on this shell? I said, I'm gonna shoot heavy shot. Eight shots. I was three with my limit. And they go, how'd you do that? Shoot the right shell. You don't have to shoot three boxes of the other kind. Apex. Uh uh, the density of that. You you want to see a duck foe? Yeah, they might cost more. Do you want to come out of there if you if you're a decent shot? Now, if you're gonna miss anyway, just shoot the cheapest shell you can shoot, and it won't cost you so much because you're gonna miss anyway, because you don't practice. You don't prepare. People don't do enough to prepare for their hunts. They don't scout enough when it comes to turkey and deer, and when they go duck hunting, they rely on somebody else to scout, but then that's the first time they pick their gun up any year and they go out there and they shoot three boxes and kill no ducks. Preparation. Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

SPEAKER_05

Different a killer and a hunter is being prepared. That's right. I got two more questions for you, Bo. I done held you up long enough.

SPEAKER_02

No, I'm great. I'm great.

SPEAKER_05

Always talking to you. The first one I I'm I'm really wanting to hear you answer this is do you still love turkey hunting as much as you did when you were 35 years old and bulletproof? Do you still love it as much as you did, even though we're seizing it a little bit, may have slowed down a step?

SPEAKER_02

I love it as much or more because I know my time is limited.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

My body is telling me my time is limited. I love it as much or more. I just have to pick and choose my hunts and what I can do and how I can do, and enjoy the moment. And if you don't go out there and you don't score and you don't get to kill that turkey, but you're hearing. When you get there, thank God, and when you get up, thank God, because he's already blessed you. And if you harvest that turkey, or if you harvest that animal, then guess what? That's just a bonus to the hunt. But make sure you always bless God on that deal because he's the creator, he's the maker, and he is the one that allowed that to happen, and you're just lucky to be a part of it. And thank God for companies like Moss Yoke and everybody that's gave us advantages to be there to make it more of an opportunity because without them, it wouldn't be a doable thing. We'd still be hunting blue jeans and army shirts. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

Well, God saw you threw a pretty tough hell scare. I'm I'm my personal opinion is he wanted you to turn hunt some more, and I bet you uh thinking about that.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_05

You had a close call, my brother.

SPEAKER_02

I've had a close call a couple of times, but I'm still here, and you know what? I'm prepared right now. I can't wait till I take my grandson. Uh, you know, I've been fortunate enough that uh he's gonna be nine this turkey spring.

SPEAKER_04

Ooh, perfect.

SPEAKER_02

When he was seven and when he was eight, he was with me, and uh, I got to watch him kill two long beards. And uh, you know what he was shooting? What? He was shooting uh Apex, number nine shot out of a four ten.

SPEAKER_05

In your wildest dream, you ever believe you'd see somebody kill a turkey with a four ten when you were thirty years old?

SPEAKER_02

At twenty or twenty-two yards, and the turkey never flopped.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah. Isn't that great?

SPEAKER_02

And I'm thinking, and he's a r and this kid loves it. I mean, he's there. He's there for the game. I don't we go, I explain to him about life. I we have our moments, and we talk about life, and we have greatest times spending and just just thinking, God, he let me sit there with my grandson, and some people it's their granddaughter, it's it's whoever. People don't understand those moments. Or just maybe if you don't have a grandchild, take another child. There you go. Take somebody else that doesn't have that opportunity from somebody. Take them. Go in there, get them some OCO camo, carry them out, take them, put them out there because you might be the one that makes a difference in their lives.

SPEAKER_05

That's right. And it can happen.

SPEAKER_02

They're gonna remember that.

SPEAKER_05

It can happen. Bo, I can't imagine how many hunting stories you got. And I know sometimes, you know, I tell people sometimes now take your son, right? All in my equation. I want you to tell me one of your favorite, just old school, pure turkey hunting stories. That's the last thing I want. I want to hear a really good story.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you know, of course, watching my grandson, that was good. But we're gonna have a lot more hunts together. That's another level. I'm gonna tell you two stories real quick that's really funny.

SPEAKER_05

I want to hear them.

SPEAKER_02

One of them, one of my long, long time turkey hunting buddies for 45 years, is a guy named Bob Patterson. And I always give him hick, but we always hunt together, and he gives me hick and we do crazy things. And one morning uh we were in Texas and I was in a good position. And you know, in Texas, you can harvest both your birds. If you got two birds, you can harvest them both at the same day.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

There was a big flock. And he wasn't far from me. The turkeys, I got in the right position, got lucky, killed my two turkeys. And these walked off in a big oh my went off. And the wind was blowing hard. There we go. The wind was blowing hard. And about 1.30, Bob said, What do you think? I said, Let's go after them turkeys. There's more in that flock, and they're gonna bust up from them hens this afternoon. So we started walking, and we walked probably three quarters to a mile. We'd just walk and call. And I was having to go into the wind the way they went down through that narrow oakmot, and I felt like they were staying in there or close to it, and I was calling real loud. And we would just did one of those young turkey hunting stakes because we were young. We were caught 30 yards between two trees with a little ridge right over us. And I hit that call and didn't nothing say nothing. I hit it louder, and he said, He gobbled right there. And he was the wind was blowing from us to him then. And I said, Well, if you heard him, he's gotta be close. He said, Yeah. Now we didn't think to go get by a tree right that half a second, which we shouldn't have anyway. He said, Oh Lord, he's looking at us. He's 50 yards. I said, Don't move. We both are fully out, decked out, in camo, and we got our head mask on. He said, What do we do? I said, Don't move. Don't move. I'm facing him, and I can see the turkey out of my left eye. And it's not only that, here comes another one. It's two of them. And here they come full back. She said, We gotta do something. I said, Don't move. I said, just pick your shotgun over my shoulder. And my face was almost touching the side of his face. He said, I'm gonna blow yours out. I said, Well, if you do, you're gonna blow your own out. I'm on the side of your eight. And we're whispering to each other. And I said, How far is he? He said, He's 40 yards. And I just hit that call again, and he just went crazy. The wind's blowing from him to us. And here he came and he started running. He said, he's 30 yards, he's 20 yards. So when he gets close enough, just kill him. And the other, he said, here's the other one right on his tail. And he shot and killed that turkey. Bam, it did hit the ground. He killed it at 18 steps.

SPEAKER_05

Wow.

SPEAKER_02

We're standing in the wide open with our mouse yoke, no tree within 20 yards of us in the oatmeal, standing up in the wide open. So help me, this is the truth have I ever told you. He's shooting that regular old 870 like we did all our lives. He pumped that 870 and that other one turned to run off. I fell to my knee and I hit that car real hard and cut it. And that one spun around and throw leaves in the Ant Goblin. I said, kill him, Bob, Bob, kill him. He killed two turkeys, bam, bam, just like that. First time he had ever doubled in his life, we were young. And we had both of our turkeys right there.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_05

We had moss. And the wide open. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02

Wide open, unreal. Another hunt that was as crazy as anything you've ever seen. I was hunting at uh National Forest Land. I'm not gonna call the name of it because I still hunt that place. Uh I got my little areas, and it's a corridor. I'm sitting up there and I'm in an area where I'm facing these big, beautiful woods, and there's a big, huge creek behind me, 20 feet deep. Nothing but clear-cut behind me. No turkey's gonna come from that direction, see, because I've always read that when I was young. They're not gonna cross the creek. They're not gonna do that. I'm sitting on a big, huge pine tree with my back, and I've been there so long, I just long calling about every 15 to 20 minutes, just like you're supposed to. Nobody's ever said nothing. All of a sudden I hear and I'm like, oh Lord, that's close. And he's not in front of me. So he's gotta be on the other side of the fence, which I'm on the tree that the fence is tagged to left and right. And all of it was National Parks, and and he come. I said, he sounds like he's a little side creek. Well, he's not gonna fly that creek because turkeys don't fly the creek. Plop, plop, plop, plop, boom. He's he's ten feet from me at that time. And I'm laying down, took my vest off, crotched down, my gun's laying on my leg. I'm not gonna move. And I thought, well, he's gotta walk left or right down this fence. He's not gonna cross this fence. And he that bottom strand was off that fence, and he came under that fence, and I could have reached with my left hand, I could have grabbed him. And I was looking up through that face mask at him, and we were looking straight at each other at about three feet. And he looked down at me and he broke the run. But when he ran, he was gonna go back under that fence. He made a mistake. He went on the right side of that below wood post, so the left, and he got caught in the fence. So I turned around from The next morning we called the truth. We didn't call it the truth. We had to go home. I did that. And that was so funny. That was a real story. I mean, it really happened. Like I'm saying, I mean, you couldn't he did not have a fan of these beaters when we saw him the next day.

SPEAKER_05

Come out of a clear cut, flew a ditch, crossed the fence twice, and they ain't supposed to do none of that.

SPEAKER_02

None of that. He wasn't supposed to do none of the three. And he did all the three, and then still got away.

SPEAKER_05

Man, I'm gonna tell that story, but I'm gonna give you credit for it. That's one of the best.

SPEAKER_02

And called him back up the next day. We moved oh six or seven hundred yards from where we were, got on him, called him up. We didn't know it was the same. He came on and after the guy sitting resting with me. He ran past us and stopped, and we had a battle with him behind us. We couldn't turn around or do nothing in NB Hardwoods. And finally, uh he got a hand in there. He walked off and left us about 10 30. We flew with him all morning. Couldn't get to make a movement up to us where we could kill him. You know, we were too scared to try to turn him and shoot at him.

SPEAKER_05

You need to write a book and call that the streaker. You had a turkey streaking by you that second day.

SPEAKER_02

That's he did it. He whooped on us. He whooped me two days in a row. I hope he grow those feathers back.

SPEAKER_05

Well, Bo Presge, I'm I can't tell you how much I appreciate your time. You a national treasure. I I let I appreciate you letting me share you with some of these people who aren't waterfowl enthusiasts. All anybody that's ever duck hunted back in the day knows of Wildlife Inc. and Bo Presge, but I don't think they knew your turkey hunting resume was that stout. Man, I appreciate your time.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I've been turkey hunting way before it was cool, and I traveled so many states way before it was cool and other countries way before it was cool. Not ever gonna be able to chase that 49 lower states, just too old can't do it. But you know, you look back and I think I was just close to 30 different lower stage countries. I didn't even do that, even thinking about 40 minutes. If you don't have a grandchild or your grandson or your granddaughter doesn't want to hurt, see if you can make a difference in somebody else's life. You will change them for the good.

SPEAKER_05

Only takes one hunt. Only takes one hunt. Well, Bo, I hope uh I hope your grandson has good luck. That's a special time. I'm gonna miss my youth weekend this weekend. I'm gonna be next weekend, I'm gonna be in Florida, but you know, they're my my grandkids are grown, so I think they're gonna have a three-man party doing their thing, but nothing more special than that. And again, God bless you.

SPEAKER_02

I know I'm gonna miss mine to a baseball tournament. But I'm you know where I'm gonna be? You're gonna be at the baseball tournament. I got you. I'm right.

SPEAKER_05

Well, God bless you, brother. Hug everybody and your family and tell them we appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02

I hope that uh people enjoy it. And anything I can ever do for y'all, because y'all have been one of the biggest influences in my life from films to show, and I appreciate all y'all's friendships and everything, and thank God for Marcio. They changed the world.

SPEAKER_05

Thank God for both presents. Thank you, my brother. We'll be hollering at you.

SPEAKER_02

All right, cuz, thank you. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_05

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SPEAKER_01

This is Kevin Van Damme and you're listening to A Fistful of Dirt with Cud Strickland. He's not much of a fisherman, but he knows some people. Approved by anglers, hunters, food potters, and moms everywhere. It's KVD approved.

SPEAKER_05

Doug Flamber Duck Flamber.

SPEAKER_08

That was fun. You know my favorite line he used? It said presence equals pressure. I love that.

SPEAKER_05

He said some really cool. He did.

SPEAKER_08

There was a bunch of good little snippets in there.

SPEAKER_05

And you can tell he is uh passionate about it.

SPEAKER_08

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05

And it, you know, he he's just like me. He's slowing down a little bit, but that that want to, yeah, it's uh it's it's right up there with have to. They're about running even and even. And uh that was uh that was very special.

SPEAKER_08

It was. I'm glad we got that one.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, finally I love dealing with them old school people because I f I look, you say what you want. I think the young people eat that up. He's just he's just spitting truth. He's spitting truth bombs. That's what we do here at a fistful of dirt, right? It's all about a fistful of dirt. So somebody made a cool comment about uh one of my trapping posts the other day said, you know, it's sometimes maybe that's all you get is a fistful of dirt. Yeah, that that would be how I trap. But anyway, I'm all in. And I know how it affects people. I I get the greatest comments ever. If I hadn't answered yours, I'm sorry. I'd literally get hundreds of PMs and stuff like that. And it's usually people saying, Man, I heard this on the podcast, I heard that. So you know, congrats to you, Laureen, for having this idea of going we're working on six years now at some point.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

And uh it's uh still doing good.

SPEAKER_08

I'm so excited. It's so I'm having such a good time. I don't take it for granted getting to sit up here and do this with you.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, me neither. All right, well, I'm gonna keep everybody posted. Y'all if y'all follow me on Instagram and Facebook, you already know where I've been, what's going on, but I'm gonna continue to do that. Turkey season only comes around once a year, and we have lots of turkey hunters that follow us. So with that said, God bless old Bo Prestige. I hope he and his grandsons have a great hunt. From me and Laureen up in the Camo Cave in Mossy Oak and Malse Oak Properties, God bless you all.

SPEAKER_08

We'll see you in seven days.

SPEAKER_00

Your favorite place.

Head Shot

Ronnie "Cuz" Strickland

Host