Gobbler Attacks!

Mark Bennett, an Insurance Agent for the Georgia Farm Bureau, had an experience on March 29 that he’ll never forget.

Mark, from Acworth, was out taking pictures of a Cherokee County house for insurance reasons when he noticed a turkey heading in his direction. Instead of putting and heading for the next county, the bird kept coming and actually got right beside Mark and blew up into a full strut. Mark, who is not a turkey hunter, thought this was a Kodak moment and he took a picture with his camera. As soon as the picture was taken, the bird came after Mark and actually spurred him in the leg.

“My camera and papers went up in the air, and I took off running,” said Mark. 

The house owner, Jeff Blanton, heard all the noise and stepped out on the back porch.

“The turkey was chasing him all over the pasture,” said Jeff.

Luckily, Jeff had a 2X2 that he tossed to Mark, and one good whack in the head ended the chase.

It was never determined whether this was a wild turkey. However, Assistant Chief of Law Enforcement, Ron Bailey, who was not familiar with the case, said that even though a 2×2 is not considered a legal weapon for wild turkey hunting, it would probably be considered a self-defense case. Most people can’t even kill a turkey with a 12 gauge loaded with 3-inch magnums. This was just one of those crazy things.

The turkey is waiting to be mounted at the Cherokee Taxidermy Shop where Mark will have a souvenir of his most interesting day as an insurance agent.