Wild Turkey, Video Star
I will date myself with this statement, but as a kid, I found the hot electronics smell emanating from a VCR in use to be associated with pure delight.
Renting a video for the weekend or getting the latest turkey hunting video release was a way to immerse myself in excitement and entertainment from the comfort of home. The throaty gobble of a mature tom is welcome in my home year-round and builds anticipation for those precious days afield. Though video rental stores are but a memory, there are plenty of videos on the secondary market, and (for now) one can still buy a new VCR.
With much digital content available and brands springing up nearly daily to exploit the wild turkey, I still find some innocence and nostalgia in old videos. Most of these videos are done respectfully and don’t rely on throbbing music and glorified kill shots to boost egos and drive social media likes.
I am sure I am not the only one who looked forward to the Midwest Turkey Call Supply annual catalog, which I anticipated more than the Sears catalog before Christmas! I spent hours on those pages dreaming about products and turkeys and am still trying to track down the years of that catalog that I am missing. When videos came out, I was even more able to enjoy the wild turkey 24/7/365.
I have an extensive Wild Turkey video collection, and the first releases I found date back to 1985. That year Denny Gulvas of Gulvas Wildlife Adventures released Spring Gobbler Hunting, Lohman put out the Bill Harper Complete Course in Turkey Hunting, Jim Clay and Tom Duvall of Perfection Turkey Calls launched Spring Turkey Hunting Techniques and Fall Turkey Hunting Techniques, and PSE offered Gobbler: Spring Turkey Calling in Alabama and Florida with Pete Shepley (featuring rising star Dick Kirby).
The titles represent what turkey hunters were hankering for, advice on success at this new outdoors pursuit, and footage of elusive gobblers coming to calls. In the first 10-year span of wild turkey videos of 1985-1994, over 100 videos were released instructing and entertaining turkey hunters. New outdoor careers were possible as videographers, editors, and producers of such content, and they gave us notable personalities such as Cuz Strickland and Ron Jolly.
I have cataloged 454 VHS wild turkey hunting releases to date, and there are dozens more I haven’t yet recorded. I discover new ones regularly and am finding a growing number of collectors who find these old tapes enjoyable. Billy Barnett of www.TurkeyhuntingUSA.com is one such fanatic, and his collection rivals mine, each of us having over 400 titles in our collections.
Billy shared, “My collection started from about 8 VHS tapes I purchased in the mid-90s when I was trying to learn as much as possible about turkeys and turkey hunting. Not having a mentor made these tapes invaluable to me. Twenty years later, I was cleaning the attic and came across the old tapes and a VCR.I watched a couple for old times’ sake, and the memories flew back. I could add more to my collection using eBay and some other sites, and once I got started, I couldn’t quit! The hunt was on trying to find missing volumes to complete sets.”
You must give credit to the people behind these video productions. Their equipment presented a challenge: eighty pounds of camera gear and tapes that had to be frequently changed…and none of the weatherproofing we have today in lightweight, handheld, or gun-mountable technology. Sure, the footage is grainy by today’s standard, and all of it is in 4:3 format, but this is watching history. The industry people and hunting celebrities I admire are all on camera, and there is history in the evolution and innovation of calls, camo, and other accessories.
The tangible enjoyment one can get from holding and examining these old VHS tapes is unparalleled to me as a collector. The artwork and imagery on many of the video sleeves are slick advertising. Catchy titles, colorful backgrounds, and tantalizing photos of gobblers all evoke strong emotions in us turkey hunters. Mark & Terry Drury of Drury/M.A.D. Calls have the most prolific stable of turkey-hunting VHS releases, with over 30 titles. Primos, Knight & Hale, HS Strut, Quaker Boy, the NWTF, Mossy Oak, Realtree, Indian Archery, and Lohman also have considerable collections.
Like with anything collectible, some of the more obscure titles are special. Collectability is very personal, but certainly, notable people, historical significance, and rarity all drive both intrinsic and monetary value. Examples are The Georgia NWTF’s “Makin' Boxcalls, The Legacy of Neil "Gobbler" Cost.” That title featuring a turkey callmaking legend has brought over $100 in online auctions. A 1991 video by Mountain Man Enterprises named “Turkey Hunting with The Legends” features Dwain Bland and Wayne Bailey, amongst other fathers of modern-day turkey hunting.
A growing number of our turkey hunting families, like Ben Lee, Dick Kirby, and Kenny Morgan, have gone to glory, and now the old videos are links to their passion and presence. As we carry on that legacy, it is fun yet to enjoy the on-screen exploits of those we knew or appreciated.