American Roots Outdoors w/ Alex Rutledge
Join Alex Rutledge along with Co-Host Wayne Lach & Mike "Redbone" Crase as we cover a variety of topics from Deer Hunting, Turkey Hunting, Fishing and today's top headlines...... all while Sharing our Faith! We will also have Special Guest appearances from some of the Hunting Industry's biggest names and Country Music Stars you all love!
American Roots Outdoors w/ Alex Rutledge
Jonathon Turner - Turkey hunting tips, techniques and it's future
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Mike Crase and Wayne Lach open the show discussing the recovery of Missouri Department of Conservation finally opening back up to hold classes after Covid had them locked down in 2020.
Then we are joined by Jonathan Turner from Kentucky to discuss Turkey Hunting Tips, Techniques and the Future of Turkey Hunting. If you’ve been to the NWTF Convention in the past then we are sure you know Jonathan who is a staple at the Tenzing / Avian-X Booths. Jonathan will share some secrets that will help you bag that Big ol'Tom this Spring Season!
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Missouri Hunting Heritage Federation:
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You're covered up in obstacles. I mean, you've got if you're in heavy woods, I mean, you've got all kinds of obstacles right in front of you. And it and if you don't have your gun pointed in that direction when he comes through, you might just have a narrow window to throw that pattern through. And it can mean the difference between, you know, tagging one or eating that tag at the end of the season.
SPEAKER_07Right. Yeah. We had I had filmed uh Alex, um, I want to say it was in uh Nebraska, I think we were. We were on this riverbank, and it was just sand. It was like the sandy, like uh Jeep Road, but it was just nothing but this pure white sand. It was beautiful looking. And there was all the uh marks along this road of them strutting.
SPEAKER_04Camel came. And uh Alex J.I.K. was hey, this is the spot we need to be. Go in my hand, walking in the earth.
SPEAKER_01Morning, the ammunition presents uh Merrick Ridge Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge and his friends. I'm Red Bull Mike Grace. Wayne Locke joins me in the studio as we get ready for this week's show, and we're gonna be talking a lot of turkey hunting, and of course, turkey season coming up uh here in the Ozarks in the not too distant future, and we can come in focusing on uh turkey hunting, turkey tips, turkey equipment, uh, and we'll we'll get into turkey recipes and all that kind of stuff eventually as we continue along here. But Wayne, uh today's guest is uh is a well-known turkey hunter, and we're gonna pick his brain.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, we got Jonathan Turner coming uh to us. Uh Jonathan works for Tenzing and uh Avian X and Plano and uh travels all over the country, turkey hunts. Uh anybody that goes to the NWTF convention knows Jonathan. Uh he is uh well respected, well known, and uh a one heck of a turkey killer.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, those tenzing turkey vests, those are good turkey vests.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and I'm I know we're gonna touch base on that because there is nothing out there that's like it.
SPEAKER_01No, absolutely. There's imitators. There are, there are, there are imitators. And of course, Plano speaks for itself, right? If you're a fisherman, you got Plano products at your house.
SPEAKER_07Yep, and I think anybody who ever bought their first, probably bowcase, bought a plano.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, absolutely, and probably your last. All right, so uh anyway, we'll get to all that with uh Jonathan Turner here in just a little while. Uh Wayne, you know, uh I've noticed uh a trend here from the Missouri Department of Conservation, and that is maybe things beginning to kind of get back to normal. We've talked about this uh during the opening segment of the show here for about well, over a year now. Uh well, almost a year now. And that is the fact that uh everything went virtual with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Right. Their seminars and and all the things that they do to keep people interested in the outdoors, everything went virtual.
SPEAKER_07And kudos for them for doing that, taking the steps to get it because instead of people losing interest, they were still able to keep people interested.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. And and uh yeah, I'm not complaining about that at all because that's just what had to be done. It's what had to be done. And and believe me, that was not easier for MDC. That was a lot more work for those guys than just having a field day and meeting people out and going and looking at birds. Right. It was a whole lot more difficult. But things are starting to change the other way. And one of the reasons I say that is because coming up uh this next week, as a matter of fact, I believe it's Monday, Monday or Tuesday, the Twin Pines Conservation Area at Winona, which is part of the Missouri Department of Conservation, is having a bluebird uh box building workshop. Now, folks, I'm telling you, it's probably too late for you to get in on that, but I think they're gonna be having another one. But it is an in-person event where people are gonna gather, they're gonna social distance, and I think they're asking you to wear a mask. But uh the point being that they're they're bringing people back onto the grounds and having a participation type event. And then I got to look in uh I get uh uh Facebook notices from MDC events you might like from Missouri Department of Conservation. And all of them that were listed there were in-person events that are coming up in the spring and into the summer. So all that being said, maybe some normalcy beginning to reappear here as we approach spring in the Ozarks.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and I know with the uh the bluebird box class, they were talking about they're just gonna, you know, they'll have their normal social distancing. It's a limited class size, you know, they're not gonna pack people in like you know they probably usually do with those kind of classes. Um, but the fact that they're having them in person, that's great news. Across the board, that's great news.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And and I've noticed too with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, I get notices from them too. It's the same way. Right. You know, things are kind of getting a little bit more back to normal. And uh again, kudos for the virtual stuff that y'all did. But now that we're getting back into the field, I think that's a good thing as well. All right, uh, want to remind you too, uh, as of last Sunday, uh, if you live in Missouri, your hunting, your small game hunting, and your fishing uh licenses, I like to call them, their permits, actual name for them, they have expired. So you haven't gone if you haven't gone this week and bought a new fishing license or a new hunting license, you gotta go do that now.
SPEAKER_07Right. Yeah, you better hop on it because you don't want to get yourself in trouble.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, before you decide to go out and you know kill some squirrels or have a rabbit hunt or whatever the case may be, right. Need to uh get those permits purchased. And uh and they're good for a year, of course, from the time you buy them. Also, this past uh week, uh Wayne, the uh uh catch and keep portion of the trout season in Missouri opened at the four major trout parks in Missouri, including Merrimack Springs and all those. And on Monday, and I'm always amazed by this because the um the TV stations they always go out and they they do you know a spot from the opening gun. And and there are people lining like Bennett Springs uh up around Salem, uh Montauk up around Salem and all those different uh trout fishing areas in Missouri, people are lined up shoulder to shoulder for like 300 yards. Right. And and they're all ready to make that first cast. Yep. And I'm thinking, aren't lines getting tangled? I mean, how in the world do you fish shoulder to shoulder like that? But there are people that do that every year. They go first day, regardless of the weather. Yep. And they just that's what they live for. Some of them are, you know, using their light spinning rods, and some of them are using their fly rods. Now, how do you stand shoulder to shoulder with a guy and operate a fly rod? I'll never know.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I bet beats the heck out of me. I know up in Ohio we had uh at the Rocky River when salmon opened up, uh, it was that way. You you had your your deep pools that, you know, you like Rocky Fork and stuff like that where you knew people were going to be, but it was shoulder to shoulder all the way down. The first time I ever went to one, I was I was pretty young back then, but uh I I pulled up and I saw what was going on and I turned around and went back home. I'm like, this is crazy because there's no way, but they're they're all waiting for that you know, that person, and there were so many game wardens that they brought in from other counties to help out because if you snagged one, that's illegal. And I'm thinking if you have 500 lines going into this one little pool, I'm sure there's going to be one snagged. Yeah, you would think so. Right, and but that they're there, it's illegal to snag them. You have to catch them in the mouth. But they had all the game wardens in that there and the uh the park rangers there to check to see who was snagging them and keeping them. Now, if you snag one and let it go right away, yeah, no big deal. Sure.
SPEAKER_01But if you're trying to keep one that was snagged, exactly you're in trouble. Yep. Well, anyway, it's a it's a great sport, and and we're no way making fun of it, but it it it's just amazing to me the number of people that I mean they talked to one guy on the KY3 news, and I'll give him a little bite here. Uh 28 years in a row, he has gone to this particular spot, stood at the very same spot along the river for the opening day of trout season.
SPEAKER_07Wow. That's a long time. 28 years.
SPEAKER_01And uh, and of course, this past Monday was was not great weather for the opening day, but uh they were lined up. Wow. All on one side. There's nobody on the other side of the river, everybody on one side. And and and that's cooperation.
SPEAKER_07No, that is, you know. Because you'd think somebody they were on both sides of the river for what I was talking about. I'm thinking, oh, that is crazy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that that is the disaster waiting to happen. Yeah, sling sling a hook across the river and hook some guy in the ear. That wouldn't make it.
SPEAKER_07You know what that probably comes down to? Maybe the the people down south here just have more common sense than the people up in Cleveland. I don't know about that.
SPEAKER_01All right, but anyway, uh so there's some stuff going on. The opening, the uh the outdoors is kind of opening back up, coyotes are still in the breeding season. Here's uh here's a uh warning for you. Skunks are headed into their breeding season.
SPEAKER_07That would explain all the skunks on the road every time they live.
SPEAKER_01That would explain all the skunks. And here's something that I read today. Uh skunks can spray ten feet and they can spray up to six times in a row. Oh, I did not know that. And if you if your dog gets sprayed by a skunk, do not put water on it. Because the water seals the scent into the hair. Oh it reacts with the oil and it it will seal it. What you should do is you should make a there's a paste and you make out of uh, I don't know, I'm gonna I'm I don't remember what the paste is, but go online, you can find it, and put that on the dog dry and leave it on for about 30 minutes and then wash them off and it will remove the smell.
SPEAKER_07Huh. Now I I've always heard, you know, from old timers that baking soda, you sprinkle that on them because it absorbs it.
SPEAKER_01I think that's what it was baking baking soda and and but a little kind of a paste and then spread it all over your dog. Uh but uh do not put water on it first, because that will seal the smell into your dog.
SPEAKER_07And everybody who lives in the country should have a case of V8 juice too. And they claim that works as well.
SPEAKER_01Right. My dog gets it seems like about every spring my dog gets sprayed, and uh I don't do anything to her.
SPEAKER_07I just yeah, we've lucked that way with all the dogs we have. We have never had one spray. I haven't even seen a skunk in our area.
SPEAKER_01You better knock on wood. Yeah, I'm doing it right now. I'm doing it right now. All right, folks, we got Jonathan Turner coming up as our guest. We're gonna be talking turkey hunting on American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge and his friends. We'll be back.
SPEAKER_00This is Brenda Valentine, and you're listening to American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutledge and friends.
unknownI've been on a big boy for a while. I could load him in the back of my throat.
SPEAKER_02Red Bone, what would you say if I could tell you that you could kill a buck on a certain day?
SPEAKER_01I would say you're crazy. There's no way to predict how the bucks are gonna move.
SPEAKER_02Well, you're wrong. There's a new camera out called Wise Eye Technology. These guys can predict the actual deer movement at that time that a deer is gonna come through. Really? Wise eye technology. This camera has five megapixels fixed, it has a GPS system built inside, and it's an experiment using this camera. It collects data and it tells you the movement went directly on a camera. On a camera.com.
SPEAKER_01And how do I find out more information about this?
SPEAKER_02You go to wiseiesmartcam.com. I'm using them. You should make sure that use wise eye.
SPEAKER_01Come on. Wiseye Technologies presents American Root Town Jourse Radio with Alex Rutledge and his friends. I'm the Red Bull Mike Craith. Wayne Like is in the studio. We're joined by Jonathan Turner, who is no stranger to folks who love the turkey hunt. And uh, Wayne, very uh very uh uh appreciative of Jonathan's taking a little time to be here with us today.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, welcome aboard, Jonathan.
SPEAKER_06Hey guys, how are y'all doing?
SPEAKER_07Oh, fantastic. Can't complain. Weather's great, kids are behaving, so I mean I I I'm all good.
SPEAKER_01I'm saying knock on wood again, Wayne, because that's the second statement you made that could change. Oh, yeah, that's right. That's yeah, good, good, good weather. Uh yeah, it's March. We can still get some bad weather. So I guess we appreciate what we got. Oh, not a problem at all. So, uh Johnson, where are you right now?
SPEAKER_06I am in southern Kentucky right now. Monroe County, Tompkinsville, Kentucky.
SPEAKER_01Beautiful part of the world down that way.
SPEAKER_06Yes, sir. We're right here on the Kentucky and Tennessee state line. We got the Cumberland River running through here. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Oh, the prettiest fall hills that you'll ever see, I swear.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty, very pretty country around here.
SPEAKER_01And it's also a great turkey hunting part of the world.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't tell everybody that.
SPEAKER_07I was gonna say he didn't seem too ex too too uh in a rush to tell everybody, yeah, oh no, it's fantastic.
unknownYeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, some uh 35 years ago I had uh chance to uh interview a gentleman who and uh and his name escapes me now, uh, but he was a world-renowned turkey hunter. And uh well the question is I asked him, I said, well, how about turkey hunting in Missouri? Because he wasn't from Missouri. And he said, you know what? He said, Missouri is probably the at this time, this was 35 years ago, Missouri is probably the best kept secret in the entire United States for turkey hunting. He said, I never write about it because I want it to stay that way.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And and and I think people from Tennessee are the same way. They they know they got great turkey hunting, and and people in the turkey industry know that. Uh, but uh sometimes they want to, you know, you'd kind of like to keep it quiet so it stays that way.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I'm kind of surprised Jonathan didn't say nope, nope, all the turkeys died last winter. So yeah, don't come down here.
SPEAKER_06They are all gone.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. All right. So, Jonathan, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where where where did you get your your starts in life and and just kind of what led you into the outdoor industry?
SPEAKER_06Well, uh, you know, growing up here in southern Kentucky, I I was raised by a family that coon hunters. My grandfather, he was a coon hunter. So that was the first taste of of you know hunting for me. And I just fell in love with it. Coon hunting when it turned into deer hunting, and you know, back in the 80s around here, you didn't see no deer. If you seen a a spy buck or a uh a small basket rack six-pointer, you killed that. I mean, you was you was the big stuff, you know. So, you know, uh grown up just hunting, uh deer hunting turned into turkey hunting, here here we are. I mean, I mean I get excited. Wayne knows me, and Alex does too. I mean, I'm like a kid when when I see somebody, you know, or myself, I killed a turkey. I'm I'm excited, pumped up, it's getting shaken to the mercy. I I love it. I love it. But uh man, you know, here in Kentucky we've got you know the Cumberland River. Doing a lot of fishing on the Cumblin River uh smallmouth fishing as worth uh which Alex I'm sure knows is and white does he uh what is it? Smallmouth uh what would you call it? Smallmouth.
SPEAKER_07Smallmouth mecca is what I would say.
SPEAKER_06The largest the largest for the uh world record field, ain't it?
SPEAKER_07I don't think it's been broke yet.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah. I think it's still still there. It said a long time ago, but yeah. It's uh that's you know, we've grown up fishing there, and I don't know. Uh it's it's something that we've always done, you know, it it's just a way of life.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, no, I know like with the uh with the turkey population and that you were talking about the deer population being the way it was, and we've heard those stories, you know, Mike from like Brenda Valentine and that, who was talking about the same thing, that hey, if you saw a deer, you know, you you were the talk of the town that weekend. Um, you know, and same thing what exactly what you were saying, but like with the turkey population, you look at back at the 80s, what they were what it was in Kentucky to compare to what it is now. How do you how do you think that growth has gone and and what do you see going on for the future there?
SPEAKER_06I think in different areas, you know, it it varies in different different areas for sure. Like where I hunt at, uh it it it stays pretty, pretty thin, you know. But in other areas, you know, people are saying, you know, we've got a bunch of birds, and uh I I think that depends on on predators and stuff like that. But uh I think it's growing every year. I I don't where I hunt at, where I'm you know accustomed to, I don't see no cuts. Everything has been going completely up here where I'm at.
SPEAKER_07Okay, what's that address of your farm? Well, what's that address of your farm again?
SPEAKER_03I'm I'm just gonna we cannot discuss that. We'll go ahead and put that I can we'll go ahead and put that the GPS right now.
SPEAKER_01Right, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I'll get that in the show notes.
SPEAKER_06I do hear all the time, you know, some hunters like up northern Kentucky, they'd be like, oh, our population is gone. But here where we're at, you know, we we a lot of farmers. Uh so they keep, you know, they always keep a rifle with them. So if you see a coyote or something, they pop it. So our population around here is I think is is real good.
SPEAKER_01You know, Wayne, it never ceases to amaze me. Every guest we have on, especially with the the turkey hunters, every discussion eventually centers around the coyotes. Isn't that yes, that is it's funny you mentioned that because and not to get too much off-subject right now, but folks, we can't stress enough. We've got to kill those coyotes to keep that population down.
SPEAKER_07Right. And and during our during our predator episodes, uh, Jonathan, that's one thing all of our predator hunters started that subject came up too. The turkeys. And now with turkey hunters, we're hearing the same thing talking about predator hunting.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. I tell you what, I don't know about y'all. I I can't stand to be sitting there turkey hunting, and you call up a coyote or a bobcat or something. I I'm telling you what, it I don't care how many birds or goblins, if a coyote comes within range while I'm turkey hunting, it's a dead coyote. I'm cheaper.
SPEAKER_07Amen to that. I've always said I'll ruin a good turkey hunt to kill a coyote.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and likewise a deer hunt the same way.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. See, yeah, the only good coyotes are a dead. And I know they're part of the ecosystem and and they need to exist. Right. Uh, but you do have to control those populations. All right, so uh Jonathan Turner is our guest today. I know we got a lot of things we want to get into, but uh as always, uh things are kind of flying by here. So uh we need to take a break. We'll be back with more with Jonathan Turner talking turkeys today on America Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge and his friends.
SPEAKER_06Right here, right now, this is Chance Walter listening to American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutledge. He knows our current bowl.
SPEAKER_05Come on here.
SPEAKER_07Texas Rays Hunting Products presents American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutledge and Friends. This is Wayne Luck. I got Mike Creeks in the studio and Jonathan Turner on the phone with us talking turkey. Uh Jonathan, speaking of turkey, you know, we were talking about the past and and uh how things have changed. I mean, what have you seen in the industry-wise that you've noticed that has probably made the biggest difference in uh recruiting turkey hunters and the turkey population and and getting people out there to enjoy such a great sport?
SPEAKER_06You know, I I just talking to one another. Uh just you know, I I think people everybody's talking, you know, you're at work. People talk about, you know, hey, you know, you got turkey season coming up. Everybody talks about it, especially around here in in our next woods. And you know, a lot of people will either make a a contest or uh just breeding back bragging rice, you know. Um have turkey camps, just people get together and you know, just hang out. You know, that's that's that's what it's all about, you know, just the camaraderie, I guess, and and uh passing on uh what what you've learned and and everything. Wouldn't you agree?
SPEAKER_01I mean Oh yeah, absolutely. And also the uh uh the technology and and the improvement in the uh tools for turkey hunting has been amazing, especially over the last 15 years.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, i every year they're coming out with something, you know, uh greater and better. I I mean decoys they've come a long way. Um I mean I can remember using a foam type of decoy that you just rolled up. I I know they still sell them.
SPEAKER_07I think I still got mine.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I I mean I I had to sew mine up literally all the time every year and repaint it. And you know, they work great, but I mean, but the decoys I think decoys have come a long way. You've got these uh something else's I don't know if y'all are ever used it, but the tungsten steel shot and and using the 410 um getting down range, you know, uh 50 yards or something like that. Um they're coming out with you know remote control decoys, which can't use that in Kentucky, but I mean it it it they're coming out with something great every year. You know, Penzing come out with that uh T P14, you know, uh back in 2014 and that that set off you know uh other companies like Alps, they've come out with a pack and you know they get better every year, and that you know, if you can sit there longer, I I agree with this. If you are a comfortable hunter, if you're sitting down and you're real comfortable, you can sit there longer, the chances are you're gonna kill something.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I agree. I agree. I matter of fact, Mike and I were talking about that before the show even started about the packs and uh how they've come such a long way. I mean, you think about what they what you had back in the uh the 80s when you or 90s, even you know, when you were turkey hunting, compared to what like Tenzing's putting out now with those bars that pop out. And man, I tell you, you better, okay, you gotta actually have something to keep you awake, you know, because before you were where you were never worried about falling asleep because you're always like shuffling this way, shuffling that way because your back hurt and this and but now you are so comfortable, it's crazy. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I even take mine, I even take mine to the beach.
SPEAKER_07I've seen people do I you know what we actually saw guys that would take them to the concerts when they do those lawn concerts, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they're comfortable. Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, smart. It it's very smart, and and you know, they're coming out with some. something all the time. And the longer you you're comfortable, your your chances are going to increase. And I miss the NWTF uh convention um real bad this year. I that's you know something that I do every year for uh Plano Synergy I go down there and work the booth with Fred and Dawn's ink and you know this year of course they didn't have it. Right. But there's no telling there's no telling what what we would have seen down there. There's always something just the hottest item.
SPEAKER_01Yeah can yeah can you imagine Jonathan not having it for a year and then when it does come back next year we hope. Can you imagine the difference in the technology? You know two years two years between shows it's going to be absolutely mind blowing what people are going to have on display and showing as far as new products.
SPEAKER_06Yes yes you're exactly right it you know I every year they were setting a record. You know one year it'd be uh 40,000 next year 42. It's always growing the when what when's the next one be uh 2022 I guess? Yeah yeah I I expect them coming in like cattle. I mean and people are going to spend money.
SPEAKER_07Oh yeah because I think people are going to be real excited they're going to be saving it up knowing that man I didn't get out at all last year. So no not only the NWTF but all the shows have been canceled. You know even a lot of your big you know a lot of your local shows have been canceled so people are itching and they cannot wait I'm sure till next year.
SPEAKER_01Y'all just just last week Jonathan we had uh Eddie Salter on the show and Eddie gave us a little preview uh audio of something new a new turkey call that he's coming out with now he wouldn't give us any details he said that's for a show on down the road but uh you've got guys like Eddie Salter and and Alex Rutledge and and numbers of others who develop turkey calls and and work for companies that develop turkey calls uh what we see in 2022 as far as turkey calls is going to make everything else obsolete that's I I might just see it.
SPEAKER_06I I I don't know that there is there is no telling what we're liable to see at the NWTF in 2022. There's no telling what you're allowed to see.
SPEAKER_07Right well I know like with the NWTF I missed a couple years and when I came back at that uh my gosh I had to be five years ago and that's when it may have been a little longer than that but when Avian uh came out with their you know those hard decoys that and that was the big release of their hard one and uh I had not I missed that first year release and I didn't even see it. And the second year I went there and saw it and I was like mind blown. I thought this was the greatest thing in the turkey world that you know could come across it of I mean the realistic look and everything of these birds and the shimmer that they had you know like I say you know we were talking about having those foam ones you know you unroll those foam ones and you end up sticking jamming sticks up in there to try and fluff them back out and it seemed like the bird was always looking to the left because because it then they've been storting your pack the entire year that way you know but um you know and then these things come out and they're just mind blowing and I can imagine after like you were saying Red Bone a year off what these deep decoy companies and call companies and that are going to be coming out with can't wait.
SPEAKER_01Yeah I'm it it's gonna be it's gonna be mind blowing I know uh uh zinc or I'm sorry avianx they come out with a new decoy uh this year the you know the hard the hard uh not the inflatable but it's the hard shell and you can uh change out the head I believe it's uh I believe it's just the breeder I believe and then Plex Tone of course they come out with with another um hard shell decoy to to finish up their uh which I think it might have been a breeder as well but uh no I'm sorry the the one that Z com Navy next come out with it is a strutter it is a strutter I've seen uh uh the Drury brothers our drew come out with it did a did a showcase with it and it it's it's pretty nice I mean it comes a long way you you when you set it up it's like you said you ain't gotta worry about it leaning to the left or looking to the left all the time it looks real that's a the uh the new uh the HDR strutter I think is what you're referring to right yes sir yeah sir yeah that thing is that thing is freaking awesome looking yeah well and and and and if you if you're like me and got a bad memory you might shoot it thinking it's the real turkey you get when you fall asleep and wake up and see that yeah and there's no there's there's eight birds out there wandering around and you go okay now which one's the real turkey and which one's the decoy I could see red bone over there saying hey that one's not moving that's gonna be an easy target.
SPEAKER_02All right uh folks you're listening to American Roots Outdoors Radio we got Jonathan Turner on the line and we'll be back with more right after this is Eddie Salter and you listen to American Roots and Outdoors with Alex Rutledge and Freaking boots passed on down planted deep in the ground around your heart so you never gotta worry what the wind might do American Roots Hi everybody this is Alex Rutledge with American Roots Outdoors how many of you needed an attorney if you're like me sometimes you do I go to Zane Pervette at the Brevet Law Office Will Springs Missouri no case is too big or too small you can call Zane at 417 469 3535 Zane Prevet at the Brevet Law Office.
SPEAKER_01This is Alex Rutledge and he is my attorney Eagle Seed presents the American Roots Outdoors radio show with Alex Rutledge and his friends and by the way I don't think we mentioned in the open alex or uh Wayne Alex not with us again today uh just uh you know on assignment right still out of Colorado so uh hope to get Alex back in the studio with us next week I feel bad for him because he came back for a day and they called him up and he was thought he was going to be back for a couple of weeks to called him up and said nope we need you back out tomorrow. Yeah that's just crazy. Just crazy. Uh but anyway we got uh Jonathan Turner we're talking uh turkey hunting and and turkey hunting uh supplies accessories if you will and and things to to make your hunt more comfortable uh make it easier to stay in the woods and and uh you know better calls to call those turkeys with and everything else in the world and and Wayne I know you've you've got some things specifically you want to ask Jonathan in this final segment today.
SPEAKER_07Yeah Jonathan with you being such a successful turkey hunter and I know the people you take out you're always laying the birds down for you know getting them on them and so those kids and that can lay them down. What is it that you in your that you put in your repertoire that you can say these are the things that of all the stuff out there that you must have and what do you think is like one of the most important things that you can do uh as a turkey hunter to make it a successful turkey hunter patience that that is the first thing I tell everybody is patience.
SPEAKER_06And it that pays off. If if you rush things you you know just as well as everyone else it it just usually doesn't work out very well. I I try to to preach patience um once you learn a little patience that that everything seems to come around. Decoys when you know when I'm setting up I I try to get set up in the shadows under a tree somewhere where they're not looking toward you know I've rarely ever set up directly behind decoys but you know and and take your time and just watch Mother Nature just come in and and put on the show. That's what I preach that's what I preach. Just just take your time set up and uh you know just keep it simple just keep it simple there's no there's no need to overthink it when you start overthinking and and and I I struggle with that. I'll tell you a little story last year I was set up opening morning had birds right up above my head and I'm sitting right on the edge of the uh cattle pasture and I'm sitting right there in the edge of the woods they're flying down to me. I see the head I don't see the time and I got got excited got set up behind this huge tree. I've got a huge tree sitting in front of me. My decoys are sitting off to the left my gun's laying in my lap facing to the right and I didn't see that time fly down. That time marked right up to my decoys feet on the deck within ten yards feet from the depth and when I pulled my gun around the game over I was shooting at that bird running. And when I took my time didn't put an obstacle in front of me you know kinda in the heat of the moment things happen and you don't think about things but yeah I mean you know you live and learn. So you just try to keep it simple. Don't overthink things be patient. It it it pays off.
SPEAKER_01Yeah if you're not patient and don't take your time and and and let the game come to you so to speak it doesn't matter if you got the best decoys in the world and the best turkey calls or the best turkey caller calling for you it's I mean you might get lucky and kill a bird but uh chances are if you're not patient it's just not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah. And and down here where I'm at, in another couple of weeks you'll be able to go outside, take two sticks together, hit them hit 'em together, there'll be a turkey gobbler. I mean it's that simple. You know but if if if you if you don't take the time, if you don't set up do things the right way. I mean you're turkeys are gonna make it hard either way. I I know you're sitting there and you're calling to a bird it's gobbling in front of you thinking it's gonna come right in front of you. No, it's gonna come up from behind you something it's it's something always happens like that. So try to keep it simple.
SPEAKER_07They never follow the script do they?
SPEAKER_06No they don't they never do. And that's what keeps it here it it it's a challenge ain't it oh without a doubt.
SPEAKER_07I know I had the I had two boys I took out one time one being my son and then another uh his buddy who was just getting into turkey hunting and we uh we roosted them the day before we sat down at the uh the bottom of this little ravine area I said hey listen I know they're gonna cross over here they do every every day I've been I've hunted this area for a number of years so I put them up with a log going down the right side of us I said they're gonna come down to your left let's just get position and sure enough where do those birds do they circle behind us they come up to the right and we're all facing to the left and nobody can get a shot off and they're they're literally the if you if you took your eyeballs and you look to the right you could see their eyeballs and their eyelashes. That's how close they were to us but nobody could turn to get a shot off and they just walked away we had four jakes within I would say maybe seven to ten yards and none neither one of those kids could get a shot off. Because they they just didn't read the script like you said if you expect the unexpected. Yeah and they were I bet they're hooked oh that is an understatement that is an understatement matter of fact the mom was not happy with me when I brought him back because she called me up a couple days later and said hey I just want you to know we had to go to Dick Sporting Goods and I spent about $200 on stuff that I don't even know what it is. But he said you said he had to have it. So I've always apologized anybody that I take out for a first time I always apologize to either the wife or the husband or the mom or dad and say listen I'm gonna apologize up front but uh when we get back this is probably going to cost you more money than you can imagine. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know Jonathan you said something a while ago and talked about patience and uh and also uh you know kind of keeping it simple and overthinking and you said don't overthink it and that I think is one of the deterrents to people that don't turkey hunt and one of the things that keeps them away from turkey hunting is because a lot of times as we watch the shows on TV and we're talking about well I did this call and then I did this call and you got to do this call at this time and then and and all the products that you have to have it looks like a very uh a sport that that you really have to think a lot about and some people just don't have that time or think well I can't learn all that I'm just not gonna start I don't know I I I think I think you get what you pay for.
SPEAKER_06You know you you can go out here and you can buy the knives and sequels well they work yes you can also get the phone flex uh what we were talking about earlier in the show they work um you gotta keep them interested and and you know I I've I've taken my son out before and have a bird show up no time he pops and kills it next time we go we sit there for hours and that and I tell you what that's when them packs come in real handy where they're real comfortable you know right so yeah it's um yeah you you got to keep them interested though you gotta absolutely yeah you got to keep those kids interested in the same way with with any new hunter you just got to keep them interested and and I think important to let them know that it's not as complicated maybe as sometimes we think it is.
SPEAKER_07Right. And I know we're gonna talk more about some tactics and techniques and that on the bonus segment uh that you can hear on the podcast and that I know we're getting uh running out of time here for the radio segment but uh you know Jonathan where can people reach you and and and find you and follow you if they're you know if they'd like to right now the only thing I'm on is uh uh Facebook you can look me up I'm listed as Jonathan Turner um you'll you will see something about hunting when you look me up it's just that's me and it's not even hunting season we're seeing stuff all the time about you hunt I can't even wait till until turkey season actually opens up I mean I mean I don't think there's nothing else to do.
SPEAKER_06I mean that that's that's the that's the only thing there is to do. Right.
SPEAKER_07Yeah and you got your family into it and I know you're proud of that too.
SPEAKER_06Yes sir yes sir I'll tell you what it I I look at it like this. If you keep a kid interested in hunting it keeps them um out of trouble the way I look at it.
SPEAKER_01You know amen to that amen to that yeah because they won't have enough money left to get into trouble. That's right that's right that's right that's right all right folks what do you think expensive if you allow it but uh folks don't let that let again don't let that deter you because sometimes you can just keep it simple. I was looking through some old pictures the other day and I got a picture of a 140 class deer I killed and me and I was wearing a pair of jeans a pair of those old rubber those green and yellow rubber boots and a a a red and black uh like a checkered flannel checkered flannel shirt and then one of those old vinyl bright orange hats those old vinyl hats they had had one of those and I mean other than putting on my my uh vest which my actually my wife made a little vest for me to wear and this was you know almost 40 years ago um I killed this deer sometimes I think okay now I'm spending hundreds of dollars on camo and you know 300 for a pair of boots and you know wool socks and wool underwear and everything else in the world and I've never killed a deer as big as that one since. Right like actually actually I have but but that one was probably I mean that was the first really big deer that I ever killed and I was sometimes I just want to go back to those days.
SPEAKER_04Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01I killed I killed it with my old Remington my old uh Winchester 3030 and uh two years ago I started hunting with it again.
SPEAKER_07Oh that'll bring back some memories yeah absolutely oh yeah I guess yeah we're gonna have to wrap it up all right well again thanks for joining us on the radio show here and again to listen to more of Jonathan and we're gonna talk some tactics techniques and some tips uh just listen to us on the podcast go to your favorite podcast carrier type in American Roots Outdoors subscribe and uh be sure to leave us a five star review and if you do leave us a review make sure you leave your name and uh state that you're from so when we draw a winner next week uh you'll be able to get contacted and we can get a hold of you and give you your prize.
SPEAKER_01And be sure and join us again next week here on this great radio station for American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge and his friends. When your roots run deep and strong there's no reason to fear the wind. See you next week everybody what the wind might do American Roots Thank you for joining us for today's American Roots Outdoors radio with Alex Rutledge you can find us on Facebook look us up on the World Wide Web at American Roots Outdoors dot com.
SPEAKER_07We'll be back again next week on this great radio stick Hornity presents American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutledge and friends this is Wayne Locke and we got Mike Creek in the studio Jonathan Turner on the phone if you're listening to this that means you're listening to us on your favorite podcast carry we appreciate you being and listening to us on the podcast and be sure to leave us a review and subscribe and if you leave a review make sure you put your real name and the state that you're from so if we draw winners uh we're gonna be drawing next week for a great turkey package uh we can get a hold of you and get that package sent out to you yeah five star reviews are great four star reviews are are great three star reviews are we'll delete okay anything anything anything under three you are not going to win no that's not right actually everybody is eligible regardless of that the more stars you put in the more names go in the hat oh no that's not true yet but uh hey Jonathan we you know when we left off the last segment one thing that did catch my um ear is that when you said uh having an obstacle in front of you and that made me think there's a a few uh people at the NWTF I went to some of their seminars I won't mention any names or anything uh but they said hey you should always have an obstacle in front of you because when that thirky walks behind it that gives you a chance to pull your gun up and I've tell you I've done that a few times thinking that was the way to do it and I've had nothing but problems with that obstacle in front of you now would do you find that you try to do something like that or you just say hey let's just keep the opening in front of me clear yes yeah I don't I my experiences I wouldn't know you don't need to have an obstacle I and if you do it's got to be small but if you've got a small obstacle that's not gonna that defeats the purpose of having one in front of you to hide your movement.
SPEAKER_06It I don't like to have an obstacle I like to have my gun pointed keep up in the vicinity the area where I know that bird's coming from I don't want to move I've I've I've been busted so many times just just by the slightest the slightest movement and and no no I I don't yeah I'll agree with I don't agree with that I don't agree with it at all at all.
SPEAKER_07Yeah I I got a real funny story with this I had my son with me uh or excuse me my daughter with me and we had I put her put us down had this humongous just had to be a 200 year old uh red oak in front of us and this thing was as wide I always say it's as wide as a Volkswagen and uh I said oh that's perfect bird gets behind there I'll you know come out I'll have be able to get her adjusted and everything and uh bird comes in 30 yards and went behind that red oak I adjusted her so she could get it when it pops out the other side it never popped out it walked directly away and you never saw it again behind that red oak.
SPEAKER_01Yeah I've had that same thing happen I've had that same thing happen deer hunting. Yeah uh a buck walk right in when I was bow hunting get within 15 yards behind a tree and then he just disappeared.
SPEAKER_06He never stepped out yeah same thing yeah but it it just vanishes it it likes it goes uh underground you you never see it again and and you know just as well as I do when you're hunting in the woods you're covered up in obstacles I mean you've got if you're in heavy woods I mean you've got all kinds of obstacles right in front of you and it and if you don't have your gun pointed in that direction when he comes through you might just have a narrow window to throw that pattern through and it means the difference between you know tagging one or eating that tag at the end of the season.
SPEAKER_07Right. Yeah we had I filmed uh Alex um I want to say it was in um Nebraska I think we were we were on this riverbank and it was just sand it was like the sandy like a jeep road but it was just nothing but this pure white sand it was beautiful looking and there was all the uh marks along this road of them strutting and uh Alex is like hey he goes hey this is the spot we need to be we heard one off in the distance he's like I'm gonna get it called in over here he sat right in the middle of the road nothing in front of him nothing behind him he just sat right in the middle of the road called that turkey those turkeys in around the bend and he all he did was just wait till that turkey turned when it was in he pot he put out one decoy that turkey turned in full strut and when that fan when his head was blocked by his own fan that's when he raised his gun and when that thing that turkey fan went down boom there it goes but that I when I saw that that convinced me that you can kill a bird with having nothing but just being like you said patient and perfectly still yeah yeah it it it that's the key.
SPEAKER_06And and and sometimes it's hard to do when you hear those birds gobbling and y you know it gets you fired up you're thinking, oh baby it's getting close and then it goes off the other way and do I get up move do I sit here? Just just sit still. There there you know they could have been another time with it and now they've split up. One's going the other way the other one's coming towards you silent. He he wouldn't got one. So I I've learned just just apply the brakes, sit still, let it, let it unfold. More likely you're gonna have better luck.
SPEAKER_07Right. I agree a hundred percent. Now speaking of that, now let's let's talk about what is your favorite style of turkey hunting. Do you like you know hunting the field edges? Do you like hunting the the timber birds? Uh do you run in gun? Are you a blind hunter? What do you like doing?
SPEAKER_06I am I am where the birds are I Alex Alex told me a long time ago he said you are only as good as the land you're hunting on. And and and if I have to run and gun we're gonna do it. But um I I mean that's that's what I prefer to and and but when it comes right down to it I love field edges. I'm not gonna lie to you that I need every advantage I can get I I they they they always will will you know they'll they'll come in where you don't think they will so I need every advantage I can get the the open open area is I'd prefer that to be honest with you. When it rains I get excited because I'm sitting there thinking oh baby they're gonna come out there in that field right there in the wide open if I can't hit one in the wide open then I need to give it up right and then you know that's a actually a good point and a good tip.
SPEAKER_07A lot of people like with deer hunters and that it rains they're done they're like okay I'm just I'm not gonna sit in the rain I'm not the deer aren't going to be moving. I don't want to lose a blood trail in that but when it rains or you have that light uh that light sprinkle man you ain't kidding that is the time to get out there if you're a turkey hunter.
SPEAKER_06Oh yes oh yes I mean that's that I I get more excited when it is raining. I I'm I'm serious it does not bother I'm it does not bother me at all to sit out in the rain turkey hunting. If I if I'm deer hunting if it's deer hunting we're talking about I'd just soon dig ditches than have to sit in the woods deer hunting raining. But turkey hunting I'm excited.
SPEAKER_01Yeah why is that Johnson?
SPEAKER_06I I don't know um I I know that there's turkeys in that area and I know there's deer in that area but I I I just think it's I I really enjoy talking to those birds tricking them. I I I I just get excited about it I guess.
SPEAKER_01Well I guess and one of the other things is I guess if if it is raining you're not gonna have as as big a chance of running into another hunter.
SPEAKER_07That's true too because most guys just won't right yeah that's we're having that is that is though we're having the right gear and spending a little money having that that waterproof gear does come in handy. No doubt about that. And with the rain you know you got especially in the fields the the birds love going to those fields after especially if you can get there like after a storm especially if you have a morning storm and then you get out and you get on that field because the first place they're heading is those fields because that's where the bugs are going to be. And those bugs are going to be hammered down because of the rain in that they're not going to be you know up and flying around so those birds have a better chance of eating them. That's at least that's what the biologists have always told us.
SPEAKER_06Yeah and the worms are coming to the top yep right they're they're soaking wet too they're they're soaking wet you they they want to dry off when when you're in the woods and and you've got water dripping rain hitting the leaves it's hard for them to hear that's what I've always been told so they'll get out there in them fields and they'll they'll feed around it it's it's I've I've always been told it's safer actually for them.
SPEAKER_07Yeah and I've heard that too that they can't hear predators coming if they're in the woods. Yeah they got to use eyesight for their advantage and best place is open fields. Yeah well but uh hey Jonathan I I want to tell you thanks a lot for coming on the show we appreciate you having you on I know uh you've been feeling under the weather and that with that whole COVID shot that you got you got your second round today and or the other day and it's kind of getting you down and we appreciate you taking the time and coming out here. And again everybody if you if you want to follow Jonathan just go to Facebook type in Jonathan Turner lives in Kentucky you can't miss the picture uh he's got his family there with him uh in the picture and that and uh great guy uh we we're we're so sad that the NWTF did not happen this year I know I am because I love always coming over to the booth and chit chatting with you you always got some great stories in that but uh Jonathan I know you'll be back for the NWTF next year if they're back right yes sir yes sir good lord willing creeks don't rise yes I I plan on being there and the same thanks for having me guys it uh I'm always following y'all and watching what you do and you y'all are doing an an excellent job. I've always considered uh Alex as as a dear friend and uh my opinion one of the godfathers of of turkey hunting him and he saw uh the godfathers of it and you know we uh I'm I'm tickled to death to to know him and know y'all yeah they they have paved the way for generations that's for sure absolutely yeah when when Alex asked me to Alex asked me to be a part of this radio show he made me an offer I couldn't refuse yeah I learned that's right yeah that's good that's good you just couldn't review yeah man I I learned I learned so much hunting with him and it it you know I I'll take it to the grave I ain't telling nobody can't give up a weather secrets but I mean just listening to him uh watching him learn learn a lot it it helped me as as a as a turkey as an outdoorsman you know right yep but uh everybody thanks again for listening to us on American Roots Outdoors podcast been listening to this again please leave us uh a review subscribe tell your friends about us take a moment send an e uh a Facebook post or an Instagram post I'm starting to date myself because I said Facebook but for all these new kids out there listening I know you're all on that Instagram and TikTok but get the post out there share us share the stories Jonathan thank you very much and like we say here at American Roots when your roots run deep and strong there's no reason to fear the windows