A Realtree Dream Turkey Hunting Trip To Remember

For the third consecutive year GON has given away a Realtree turkey-hunting dream trip to a kid in an effort to encourage more youth involvement in hunting and other outdoor activities. Realtree has been gracious enough to host these dream hunts and put our winning kids on some of the finest turkey-hunting land in the Southeast. This year was no exception.

Fifteen-year-old George Murray of Griffin was this yearʼs winner. He and his father Niles met Realtree cameraman John Tate on the afternoon of April 6 and they got a tour of the Jordan Outdoor Enterprises headquarters in Columbus. George and Niles got a first-hand look at the video department where popular videos like Monster Bucks and All-Stars of Spring are made. They also got a sneak peek of some turkey-hunting footage that had been filmed the day before and eventually should appear on either a video or their television show, Realtree Outdoors.

Hereʼs the GON-Realtree Dream Turkey Hunting crew (from left): Realtree Cameraman John Tate, dream-trip winner George Murray and father Niles and land manager for Realtreeʼs Circle-N Lodge, Chuck Sykes.

After their tour, it was time to head across the river into Alabama to Realtreeʼs Circle-N Lodge, where George would go on his first turkey hunt. Georgeʼs guide for the next morning would be owner of C&S Wildlife Services Chuck Sykes. You may recognize Chuckʼs name from his TV show, The Management Advantage, on The Outdoor Channel. Chuck not only manages several big tracts of private land, but he also manages the 5,000-acre Circle-N Ranch, and he proved to George and his father that itʼs full of longbeards.

While at Jordan Outdoor Enterprises headquarters George and his dad watch a video of a recent turkey hunt.

Before roosting time, Chuck drove George and Niles around the Circle-N, where they spotted several longbeards feeding in the food plots. Chuck and John, who was filming the hunt for Realtree, made a decision that the next morning they would set up on a particular food plot where they had spotted a late-afternoon gobbler just prior to roosting time.

Back at the lodge Chuck and John gave George some turkey-hunting advice and watched him fire a few practice shots with his 12 gauge. After a hot meal and a round of shooting clay pigeons under the stadium lights it was off to bed in the Circle-N lodge, a place where many famous folks have stayed — including Dale Earnhardt, Dave Marcus, Jeff Foxworthy, Richard Childress and Hank Williams Jr.

Chuck Sykes (R) and John Tate help dream-trip winner George Murray sight in his shotgun before a morning turkey hunt at the Circle-N Ranch.

The next morning the crew arrived at the food plot before light to set up camera equipment and make sure everything was perfect for the morningʼs hunt. Although Chuck and John were confident that the gobbler they spotted the afternoon before would show, it never even gobbled.

Chuck quickly decided to locate a vocal bird and it paid off. Within 30 minutes, Chuck called up a mature longbeard, but the gobbler spotted something it really didnʼt like — a very anxious dream-trip winner. It putted a few times and gobbled off in the opposite direction. George just couldnʼt control his natural urge to shake when that big strutter popped its head up within shotgun range.

“I got nervous and started shaking when he was gobbling so close,” said George. “I love it when they gobble like that. It just shakes the woods.”

By late morning, Chuck had another gobbler working right in front of George and the Realtree camera, but once again, the turkey spotted movement from a still very nervous 15-year-old.

This yearʼs dream hunt with George did just what it was supposed to do. George got a big taste of just what gobblinʼ fever is all about, and I predict a return to the turkey woods in his future.

After a day in the turkey woods George was greeted with a surprise at the end of the day. When the team returned to the lodge at dusk Realtree founder and president Bill Jordan was there waiting to meet George and make sure the dream hunt was a success. The smile on Georgeʼs face showed there was no question about it.

The opportunity was there for George to harvest his first turkey on his first-ever hunt, but the kill is always just the icing on the cake. George went home with an earful of gobbles and a headful of memories that will last him forever.
Thanks to this yearʼs dream hunt, I feel that we have one more hunter in our corner — someone who will continue passing on the great tradition of hunting.