I can vividly remember my first turkey. It was a warm day and I had already peeled off numerous layers of clothes and was down to a pair of camo pants and a blue and yellow sweatshirt. I had my gun leaning on a fallen tree at a place we called turkey corner. Dad was off to the side doing his best to entice a bird into range. After just a short sit, numerous jakes came in to check out the calling. After picking one out, I removed the safety on my single shot 20 gauge and pulled the trigger. Nothing fell. After frantically searching through my pants pockets I found another shell, placed it in the barrel, and pulled the trigger again. Again, nothing fell. After going thru the frantic search again…this shot hit the mark. My first spring turkey. That first turkey just days before my 11th birthday was the first of many hunting memories. My younger brother and I never passed up an opportunity to hunt or shoot guns. I can remember numerous quail and dove hunts…but our preference was hunting turkey and deer. We were fortunate to have a dad that loved to take us hunting and had the knowledge to get us started on the right foot. Over the next 4 or 5 years I practiced my turkey calling not only to lure in big toms, but also to get the highest scores possible. When not in the woods, I was on stage competing against some of the best youth callers in the mid-west. In 1985, my hard work helped me win the Missouri State Turkey Calling Championship and place 5th in the US Open.Even though I have been successful killing long beards in Missouri and Kansas with both shotgun and bow, hunting whitetails is my main hunting focus. Nothing excites me more than bowhunting the last week in October when big bucks can’t sit still. My finest whitetail hunt happened the weekend before rifle season in 2010. This is the afternoon I was able to arrow my first Pope and Young buck. Not only have I spent a lot of great hours in the field, the outdoor industry has provided me with some excellent opportunities to learn from and share with others. For the last 4 years I have been fortunate to be a Mossy Oak Pro Staffer and for the last year a ScentLok Pro Staffer. In an effort to take my outdoor experiences to the next level, I joined the MVP Outdoors Field Staff team and have focused on videoing all my hunts. I am excited about this great opportunity with Heartland Hunters and look forward to working with this fantastic team. Good luck to you the next time you head out to the woods…make it the hunt of a lifetime!