Wild Turkeys and Black Swans with Fred Bird — WildFed Podcast #156

As eaters of wild turkey meat, maybe we're a little biased, but we're huge believers in the National Wild Turkey Federation's mission. Turkeys were Daniel's gateway into hunting itself, and he has initiated several other new hunters by bringing them out for their first birds too. We're of the opinion that stewarding turkeys and turkey habitat is, in a way, caring for lots of other species too. Turkey habitat is, after all, deer and bear habitat. They share the woods with lots of other game and nongame species that we all love and celebrate. And, we hunters aren't the only ones who like eating turkey. They're also an important prey species for a lot of the predators on our landscapes. Daniel's been a member of the National Wild Turkey Federation for years, and we've hosted their New England Regional Director, Carter Heath on the show a few times now too. So we were eager to meet Fred Bird — yes, you read that right, his last name is "Bird" — their Social Media Manager and host of the NWTF's Turkey Call All Access podcast. Daniel and Fred really hit it off, as they see eye to eye on a lot of issues and both represent what they see as hunting's rapidly changing demographic. They have a fun and lively conversation, and we expect it will lead to many more. The fall turkey season is open in a lot of states right now, so we hope you've got time to get out there and get after them this year! It's easy for us to take them for granted, with such high populations around the country. It's also easy to forget that just a few decades ago, they were nearly extirpated from the landscape. Thanks to the efforts of conservationists, hunters, and of course, the National Wild Turkey Federation, populations are strong and the turkey is here to stay. And with Thanksgiving quickly approaching, now's the time to take advantage of the many opportunities we have across the US — in 49 states — to eat what almost became America's national bird! View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/156