1927

[Iglow]

Turpins booklet doesn't have a publishing date but some think it was published around 1927. It mentions SuperX shells and they came out in 1922 so it was after that. To show how much has changed, he gave instructions on making a Jordan type caller with cane and a wing bone and a rough idea of making a box call since there wasn't any mass production of calls to buy. His old standby call before he learned about the trumpet type caller was a little scratchbox caller that used a slate striker. His idea of camo was buying a pack of dye and staining his hunting outfit, he said his wife fussed at him for ruining it, she said it looked like nothing now and he told her that's what he wanted the turkey to see when he wore it, nothing! Another idea he had was sewing a sheet of rubber in the seat of his hunting pants to keep dry on the ground.
At the end of the booklet he mentions that turkeys were a fast vanishing gamebird that needed to be protected by short seasons and low bag limits, I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.
From what I read, his entire hunting equipment list was his homemade camo suit, his double barrel shotgun(or a 30-30), his trumpet call, a box call, some coal oil soaked ashes in a little box and matches for making a fire and his lunch (I guess carried in the game pouch of his coat) ,his compass and his hunting horn.

 

[megalomaniac]

Where did he hunt? There weren't many populations in the 1920s. Mississippi (esp the Delta and SE MS where I live) had some birds to hunt back then.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Fairly recent article that might answer a few questions.

https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/blogs/waterfowl/tom-turpin-hall-of-fame-duck-call-maker

 

[Iglow]

Where did he hunt? There weren't many populations in the 1920s. Mississippi (esp the Delta and SE MS where I live) had some birds to hunt back then.

Some of the stories mention Moss Island, Arkansas, the Mississippi river and Dyersburg. He lived at Memphis and what few photos you can find are flat land in the background. He would have been 20 years old in 1891 so he probably never had great numbers to hunt and they were probably pretty spotty locations. I don't know how low the numbers got and when/where but by the 1940's they were very rare or absent in most of their former range.

 

[Huntaholic]

Turpins booklet doesn't have a publishing date but some think it was published around 1927. It mentions SuperX shells and they came out in 1922 so it was after that. To show how much has changed, he gave instructions on making a Jordan type caller with cane and a wing bone and a rough idea of making a box call since there wasn't any mass production of calls to buy. His old standby call before he learned about the trumpet type caller was a little scratchbox caller that used a slate striker. His idea of camo was buying a pack of dye and staining his hunting outfit, he said his wife fussed at him for ruining it, she said it looked like nothing now and he told her that's what he wanted the turkey to see when he wore it, nothing! Another idea he had was sewing a sheet of rubber in the seat of his hunting pants to keep dry on the ground.
At the end of the booklet he mentions that turkeys were a fast vanishing gamebird that needed to be protected by short seasons and low bag limits, I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.
From what I read, his entire hunting equipment list was his homemade camo suit, his double barrel shotgun(or a 30-30), his trumpet call, a box call, some coal oil soaked ashes in a little box and matches for making a fire and his lunch (I guess carried in the game pouch of his coat) ,his compass and his hunting horn.

PM me if you want it and I will give you Steve Turpins cell number. He can answer any questions you have.

 

[Iglow]

PM me if you want it and I will give you Steve Turpins cell number. He can answer any questions you have.

Thanks, but he's probably got enough people bugging him about his kin without me adding to it!

 

[Iglow]

Couple of pics, see what I meant about the flat land. House up on poles means it's along the river bottom for sure

 

[Iglow]

I like old hunting pics and history, kinda a pastime.

 

[prstide]

I've been told before that decades before restocking began there were 2 areas of the state that were still holding decent sized huntable populations of wild turkey; Cherokee National Forest and Shelby Forest.
@scn could probably shed more light on this but if it's true, I could see where Turpin could've still had success hunting in his local area during that time frame. Much like East TN deep in the hollers and hills being tough, the river bottom hunting West TN offers isn't necessarily easy hunting either.

If only we could all live in Mid-TN where you can SeekOne a turkey with a blow dart from behind a boxwood bush in any subdivision.

 

[Iglow]

I've been told before that decades before restocking began there were 2 areas of the state that were still holding decent sized huntable populations of wild turkey; Cherokee National Forest and Shelby Forest.
@scn could probably shed more light on this but if it's true, I could see where Turpin could've still had success hunting in his local area during that time frame. Much like East TN deep in the hollers and hills being tough, the river bottom hunting West TN offers isn't necessarily easy hunting either.

If only we could all live in Mid-TN where you can SeekOne a turkey with a blow dart from behind a boxwood bush in any subdivision.

The subdivision thing, it's not an exaggeration! I've got a buddy that lives not 3 miles from lower broad at Nashville and he said he had 4 longbeards in his front yard day before yesterday, I see turkeys in that subdivision just about every time I stop by his place.

 

[Iglow]

Think I'll make this the season of the homemade calls. The slate call ain't finished yet, will be tomorrow. That little cedar scratch box is the best of the bunch.

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

My great grandpa was said to ride in a wagon somewhere down in Alabama in the 20's along the tennessee River and hunt turkeys. My dad still has the shotgun, I'm gonna kill one with it eventually.

 

[Iglow]

The little slate caller is done, it's a little bigger(deeper) than a jet slate. Sound of clucks and yelps is a little lower and sorta hollow.

 

[Huntaholic]

I've been told before that decades before restocking began there were 2 areas of the state that were still holding decent sized huntable populations of wild turkey; Cherokee National Forest and Shelby Forest.
@scn could probably shed more light on this but if it's true, I could see where Turpin could've still had success hunting in his local area during that time frame. Much like East TN deep in the hollers and hills being tough, the river bottom hunting West TN offers isn't necessarily easy hunting either.

If only we could all live in Mid-TN where you can SeekOne a turkey with a blow dart from behind a boxwood bush in any subdivision.

There was a remnant population at Catoosa too. It just means a little more to hunt turkeys that God put there, not man.

 

[Iglow]

There was a remnant population at Catoosa too. It just means a little more to hunt turkeys that God put there, not man.

I saw a pic at the Tn archives website made around 1900 of hunters in the Cumberland mtns with some turkeys.

 

[Biggun4214]

I remember hearing my great uncle talk about killing turkeys by shooting through the "butt" of the wing with a .22. He also told about trapping turkeys. This would have been in the 1920's and 30's.

 

[MickThompson]

Think I'll make this the season of the homemade calls. The slate call ain't finished yet, will be tomorrow. That little cedar scratch box is the best of the bunch.

Cedar is hard to beat for a scratcher. Try some butternut too if you can find some.

 

[Iglow]

Cedar is hard to beat for a scratcher. Try some butternut too if you can find some.

I've got one we made from poplar that's a close second to the cedar but I like the high pitch screechyness of that cedar one.

 

[timberjack86]

There was a remnant population at Catoosa too. It just means a little more to hunt turkeys that God put there, not man.

You talking about hunting them mossyheads! That's what old timers called the original strain of wild turkeys found in areas they was never wiped out from.

 

[Iglow]

I remembered seeing a caller like this in an old book, just finished it.

 

[Iglow]

 

[Iglow]

https://m.gutenberg.org/files/46542/46542-h/46542-h.htm
Here's a link to Jordan's / McIlhenney's 1914 book " The wild turkey and its hunting" for those interested.

 

[Biggun4214]

One of the first turkeys killed legally in Hawkins County was killed with a box call that was a hollowed out block of mulberry. The man used a chainsaw and then sanded it down and then added the paddle.