Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve kicks off education program
Story by Roxann Edsall
Photos by Mackenzie Free
Wattle, caruncle, snood! Characters in a Dr. Seuss book? Though quite amusing to say, and quite like the nonsensical words used in the works of children’s author Theodore Geisel, these are real words that describe features of a gobbler, a tom, or a hen or simply a turkey.
The wattle is that flap of skin under the turkey’s chin, while the caruncle are fleshy bumps on the turkey’s head and throat. The snood is the fleshy flap that hangs just above the turkey’s beak.
Fun facts about turkeys kept the attention of dozens of young people and their parents at the Youth Turkey Call Expo, held at Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve in Springville to kick off its education program. The Preserve opened in March, and the education component will be a key focus.
The goal was to get kids outdoors and learning about the sport of wild turkey hunting, an activity they can do now with adults and continue to enjoy into adulthood. They learned about turkey behavior, their habitats, turkey calling and about habitat management.
If you’re wandering around the woods and find a turkey feather, don’t worry, that bird has quite a few more…about 6,000 more. And if you want to find that turkey, you’re going to want a locator call. There are basically three types of turkey calls – locator, diaphragm (or mouth) and friction.
Locators help to find where the turkeys are. Diaphragm-type calls are those that are held in the mouth, and sound is made by forcing air through them. Friction calls use a rubbing motion to make sound and include push-button, box and slate calls. Which type a hunter uses depends on his or her need at the time and their skills and preference.
“My favorite is a slate call,” said Miller Gauntt, already a seasoned hunter at 12 years old. His dad, Trey Gauntt, took him on his first hunt six years ago. “He didn’t even want to take a gun,” says Trey. “But I killed a turkey that day, and he changed his mind.” Miller says what he likes most is hearing them gobble. “100 percent it’s hearing them gobble … and being outside.”
Male turkeys are called gobblers or toms. Females are hens, and young turkeys are called poults.
As three children from one family head home, they excitedly reflect on their favorite lessons of the day. Five-year-old Noah and his 10-year-old brother, Caleb, were particularly impressed with their newfound knowledge on identifying turkey droppings. “Boy turkey poop is shaped like a hockey stick,” says Noah. Caleb completes the lesson by adding that the female’s skat can be identified by its more artistic spiral shape. Macy, their 9-year-old cousin, now knows that turkeys have three toes, a lesson learned this day through pushing a metal impression of a turkey’s foot into a bit of modeling clay.
“I think events like this are crucial to getting people out here,” says David Hopper, senior conservation officer and wildlife biologist for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. “Being a turkey hunter myself, I think it’s imperative to teach kids about the traditional ways of turkey hunting. We want to teach them to be safe and to respect the bird.”
He explains that respecting the turkey includes only killing what you plan to eat. And, if pictures are posted to social media, making sure the bird is cleaned up. “Make sure he’s shown respectfully,” says Hopper. “They’re beautiful creatures.”
Hopper grew up hunting and credits his grandfather as his outdoor mentor. “Turkeys and hunting, period, kind of shaped my career path, down to both degrees I ended up getting,” he says.
“As much as the outdoors and hunting has given to me, it became natural to give back. And the way we give back is to manage these resources so that my kids and their kids and everyone else have these natural resources for the future.”
He was four when his grandfather took him hunting for the first time. It’s a tradition he is planning to carry on with his own children.
Three generations of one family are enjoying the event and learning about the sport. Kyle Mavin, from Springville, has brought his son, Jake, and 5-year-old grandson Rowan to introduce the youngster to the family pastime. “I introduced Jake to hunting when he was a young boy,” says Kyle. “Now we’re introducing Rowan to it together. We wanted to get him outside, away from technology. Today’s been a great day to do that.”
Traci Ingleright leans in to help a child practice using a turkey call. She’s a teacher by day and volunteers with educational events for the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF). Having grown up turkey hunting with her dad, she is helping to educate future hunters as a tribute to him.
Her dad, Ben Knight, was a two-time world slam turkey hunter. A world slam turkey hunter is one who has harvested one of each of the North American subspecies of wild turkey in a given year.
Another grand slam turkey hunter is helping with another presentation today. Preston York got his single season grand slam in the spring of 2021. A family friend took him turkey hunting when York was 18 years old. “It spurred my love of the outdoors,” he says. “It got me in the woods every day of the season.”
Now he’s in the woods a lot as owner of FloMotion Trail Builders, the company that built most of the trails at the Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve and another 200 miles of trails in 40 locations in five states.
The VanWagner family loves coming out to the Preserve. “It’s a huge resource for us,” he says. “I do a lot of hiking and landscape photography, and this is a great place for that.” He has brought his two girls out for the day to enjoy time outdoors and to participate in the turkey call expo.
Eight-year-old Emma can hardly contain her excitement as she talks about her love of these “fuzzy and cute” creatures. She says she’s always wanted to use a turkey call, but that her dad won’t get her one.
Thanks to the vendors who donated prizes for the day, the VanWagner family has a very happy daughter. Emma won her very own turkey call. She’s sure to summon a gobbler soon, complete with wattle, caruncle and snood.
Maybe one day, she’ll be a grand slam turkey hunter, too.
