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I just got back from the 2nd annual Henrietta Turkey Fest & Expo ( www.claycountyoutdoors.org ) and it was a blast!
To give you some background, this event is held the 2nd weekend in April in Henrietta, TX (near Wichita Falls). This year there were around 12 TV Shows (including Lee & Tiffany, Phil Phillips, Roger Raglin, Wayne Burns, along with several others) that were invited to compete against each other. There were several categories including longest beard, longest spurs, heaviest bird, and overall champion. The TV Celebrities met up with their host (which were land owners that volunteered their land for the TV host to hunt on) on Wed. and hunted Thursday and Friday.
Scott Catlin was our land owner and he had a beautiful place with lots of turkey. Thursday morning, Terry (our guide), took us out to Mr. Catlin's place and around 10:00 am we set up and called for about 20 minutes and heard nothing. We were all sitting there talking and out of nowhere heard a gobble in the distance. After a few more calls the big Tom showed himself and was coming right to us in full strut. The Tom then saw my "Pretty Boy" ( www.carrylitedecoys.com ) decoy and came in on a string. He circled around and gave me about a 30 yard shot and I busted him. I knew it was a mature bird, but when I went up to recover him is when I noticed the multiple beards. I was pumped! He ended up having 4 beards with the main beard being around 9 1/2 inches and the other three all over 6 inches.
Friday night we went to the big Turkey Fest & Expo banquet were I was honored to be crowned "OVERALL CELEBRITY CHAMPION" (all I can say is right place, right time). Also that night they auctioned off hunts for those at the banquet to buy to get to go along with the celebrities the next day. Evan Phillips (15 year old from Houston, TX) bought our hunt and even though we did not get him a bird, we had a great time and he was a joy to be around.
I just want to send out a special thanks to all of the nice volunteers that were involved in the turkey fest. Also, a special thanks to Bill & Doris Slaughter ( www.SlaughterRealtors.com ) for letting us stay at their beautiful home. We look forward to coming back next year.
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