Valdosta Teen Shoots Pending No. 3 Gobbler For Georgia Ladies

Milly Prince, of Valdosta, may only be just 14 years old, but she’s got a pending No. 3 gobbler ever for a Georgia lady under her belt already. Milly was hunting in Brooks County with some friends on Saturday, April 11 when she rolled the big longbeard. It was her first turkey ever.

“We didn’t end up killing the bird until 9:15,” said Paul McSwain, of Valdosta.

Paul and his good friend Dr. Harvey Miller take a number of kids hunting every season, and it was Milly’s turn to tag along with the gun. Also on the hunt were Milly’s mom Suzan Garnett and Milly’s stepdad, Brice Garnett, a PGA golf pro enjoying some down time since golf has been suspended due to COVID-19.

“We went straight to the blind 45 minutes before daylight,” said Paul. “The birds were real quiet. They gobbled very little, I think he gobbled maybe once. He was probably about 100, 150 yards. We heard about three gobble that morning, it was a slow morning.”

Milly, her mom and her stepdad were in a Double Bull blind watching a food plot where a hen and gobbler decoy sat 20 yards in front of them. Paul and Dr. Miller were behind the blind 40 yards apart and would call every 15 or 20 minutes.

“He eventually came in quiet,” said Paul. “Milly saw him and was wanting to shoot him when he was coming through the woods, but she held off.”

Paul McSwain (left), Milly Prince and Dr. Harvey Miller celebrate after Milly killed a big Brooks County tom on April 11.

Milly was shooting Paul’s single-shot Stevens .410 shotgun.

“I got a JEBS Choke in it, and I’m shooting that Federal TSS shot. It’s a turkey killing machine,” said Paul.

When the solo gobbler stepped into the edge of the food plot, he saw the decoys, gobbled a few times and all Milly had to do was hold still and be ready.

“He went straight to the decoys and put on his little show. He strutted around, but she didn’t give him very long to put on a show. She gave him probably 20 seconds, and she drilled him,” said Paul. “He didn’t hardly flop.”

Milly’s first turkey weighed 21-lbs., 10.08-ozs., had a 12 5/8-inch beard and had spurs that went 1 3/8 inches and 1 7/16 inches. The gobbler’s total typical (birds with only one beard) score came to 75.

Paul said they are submitting all the paperwork to the National Wild Turkey Federation, the gatekeeper organization for all wild turkey records. If the NWTF accepts the score of 75, Milly’s gobbler will be the No. 3 Georgia bird of all time ever taken by a lady. She’ll also rank No. 44 for all Eastern gobblers taken by a lady anywhere.

For details on how to score your wild turkey and the process to get it registered with the NWTF, visit their website.

If you kill a turkey that you’re entering into the NWTF Wild Turkey Records program, please email GON at [email protected].

Milly’s first turkey weighed 21-lbs., 10.08-ozs., had a 12 5/8-inch beard and had spurs that went 1 3/8 inches and 1 7/16 inches. The gobbler’s total typical (birds with only one beard) score will be 75.