Despite Weather, Governor's Hunt Continued Success
By DAVID RAINER
Despite less-than-favorable weather conditions, the Seventh Annual Alabama Governor’s One-Shot Turkey Hunt continued to be an unabashed success at both bringing business to Alabama and bagging the Eastern species of wild turkey.
By the time, the two-day event ended, 25 turkey hunters had been successful, but that is only one part of how the hunt is judged, according to Alabama Gov. Bob Riley.
“This is our seventh hunt and it has been tremendously successful,” said Gov. Riley, who was presented a Bad Boy Buggy ATV fitted with a solar panel by BP America during the event. “In the past, we’ve gotten a lot of economic development activity because of this hunt. I think what is unique about it and one of the things that makes it unique in the United States is we get to showcase Alabama in a way that very few states are allowed to – and that’s in the home of Alabamians.
 “We have economic developers and business people from all over the country come to Alabama and spend a few days in an Alabamian’s home, hunting on their piece of property without a necktie on. They come and look at the Alabama we know and love. There are very few that we do that give us this kind of legitimacy in the economic community. This is one of the premier events we do every year. I want to thank Commissioner (Barnett Lawley) for making it a premier event. When you look at events like this, they tend to lose their enthusiasm after a few years. This one hasn’t.”
Gov. Riley said all one has to do to realize what the hunt has done for economic development is to look at the recent news that EADS North America and Northrop Grumman had won the contract to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force in Mobile.
“I don’t think there’s a better example of (the benefits of the hunt) than the CEO of EADS North America, Ralph Crosby,” Gov. Riley said. “Having EADS and Northrop Grumman come into Alabama is really going to transform the southern part of the state, if not the whole Southeast. This is probably one of those things we’ll look back on in 10 or 15 years and say that was one of the defining moments in the state of Alabama.”
And it certainly didn’t hurt that Crosby’s wife, Mary Grace, has been the most successful hunting participant with three birds in the past three hunts.
“I think I’m just probably just a very fortunate person to be able to hunt on John Hall’s property and I’ve had excellent guides,” said Mary Grace. “They have found the birds for me and I’ve been able to carry on and do my job. And it sure is fun. For me, I think the Governor’s One-Shot Turkey Hunt is the best. I think it’s wonderful to have all these hunters together and go out on the beautiful property and be with nature. I had never turkey hunted in my life before. I do hunt birds, but the only place I’ve turkey hunted is in Alabama.
“I think the excitement for all of three hunts was pretty much the same. The adrenalin is pumping so hard, I am afraid I won’t be able to hold the gun steady. But I realized I could rest the gun on my knee and then bring the gun up really slowly and pull the trigger. And this year we really got a show. Three other birds jumped on my turkey when he dropped. I guess he was a bad dude and they were glad to get rid of him.”
Ralph Crosby said, indeed, the Governor’s One-Shot Turkey Hunt played a role in bringing EADS and Northrop Grumman into Alabama.
“I’ll have to tell you I’m at home in Alabama,” Crosby said. “Now two weeks ago, the announcement of what we started three years ago has yielded in a win for Mobile, a win for Alabama and a win for the United States Air Force. This is the culmination of the type of relationship the Governor is referring to. We do feel at home here. Mobile already has benefitted, even before we won this competitive award under Northrop Grumman’s leadership. Already put in place as a result of what we started three years ago is an engineering center that will have 150 Airbus engineers. With the award of the KC45 aerial refueling tanker, it really makes this a major, major economic center for aerospace in the United States. There are only two places that produce airplanes. One is in Seattle, Wash., and the other is in Europe.
“This win means two things – first, we’re going to produce aircraft for the United States Air Force under Northrop Grumman’s leadership. And, the thing in the economic development sense that hasn’t been fully grasped is EADS and Airbus committed, that if we won, we would also produce commercial aircraft in Mobile. The A330 is a leading passenger aircraft in the world and now a commercial freighter. Now every one of those commercial freighters will be built in Mobile. That’s transformational. That’s our part in this, and there’s no better place to go than where you’re comfortable, where the community provides their welcoming embrace in every regard.”
Although Boeing has contested the contract award to EADS North America and Northrop Grumman, Alabama House Speaker Seth Hammett said he hopes to speed up the process.
“I can’t tell you how pleased we are that Ralph and Mary Grace are back visiting with us again,” Speaker Hammett said. “And I can’t tell you how pleased we are that you (EADS North America and Northrop Grumman) have won this very fair competition. I was telling Ralph just a moment ago that we have passed in the House and the Senate a joint resolution calling upon the U.S. Congress to stop this delay process and get on with the production of this tanker that is needed by the United States Air Force. As soon as the Governor signs it next week, I plan to personally send a copy to the Speaker of the U.S. House, Nancy Pelosi, and ask her, as a fellow Democrat, to get away from this issue and allow this tanker to be made by Alabamians. And I say to you that if it is made by Alabamians, it is in fact American made.”
In the turkey competition, Wayne Middleton of Hoover, an executive with Johnson Controls that makes interior car parts for vehicles around the world, was the first hunter to bring a bird to the check-in station and kept the lead throughout the competition, although the final margin of victory was razor thin.
Middleton’s bird weight 23.75 pounds with a 10.5-inch beard and spurs that totaled 2.375 inches for a 68.5 total. Jay Turner of Mobile bagged a gobbler that scored a total of 68.4375 for second place, followed by Ben Leard’s bird that scored 68.25.
Middleton’s guide, Scott Mills, said patience paid off in their successful hunt.
“The turkey was gobbling in a head of woods away from us,” Mills said. “I thought we were going to lose him because when he flew down he walked away from us. He looked up at the decoy and ignored it. He was after another hen, and a live one is apparently better than a fake one.
Middleton added, “Finally the hen started coming in our direction, and the gobbler followed her up there. Scott was sweet-talking the hen.”
Mills said his calling tactic was to mimic every sound the hen made.
“We had a good conversation and it worked out to our advantage,” Mills said. “I don’t think he would have come over to us if she hadn’t come our way.”
Kerry Earnhardt, eldest son of late NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, managed to bag his first Eastern species while hunting with Ted Watts in Elmore County during the governor’s hunt.
“We heard him gobble at daylight,” said Earnhardt, who retired from competitive racing last December but still works as a test driver for Dale Earnhardt Inc. “He gobbled twice behind us and didn’t talk any more. Then about 30 minutes later we heard him gobble and he was coming up the road to us. We were set up on the corner of a road and open field. He just walked right where he needed to go and I popped him. This is my first Eastern. I’ve gotten two Rio Grandes in Texas, but I finally sealed the deal on an Eastern. Being raised in a racing family, I didn’t have much time to go with my dad (the late Dale Earnhardt) because of racing and sponsor commitment. When I met my wife 14 years ago, I started going hunting with my father-in-law (Richard Klein).
“It was a great morning. And this is an awesome deal. Just look at all the people here. There are about 95 hunters and all the landowners and guides who put their time and effort into it. It says a lot about what this governor is all about. It’s about the outdoors.”
PHOTO: Wayne Middleton of Hoover is presented the Alabama Governor's One-Shot Turkey Hunt champion's trophy by Gov. Bob Riley. ###
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