Special guest talks turkey

Although groups of families had flocked to Kitty Fork Outdoors for the annual dove hunt put on by Jeff and Dana Jones Saturday, the guest of honor was there for a different reason.

Bernard “Colonel” Allman was there to get a prize that was a year in the making — a turkey he had shot last year.

Allman, a 96-year-old Army veteran, showed up just as the hunt was ending in his all-trac electric wheelchair. He was quiet, partly due to his slight deafness and his inability to raise his voice more than a whisper, but he did seem happy as he wheeled his way around the farm with his family. Five generations of the Allman family made their way to Kitty Fork Outdoors to celebrate his surprise, even if it meant they had to travel from out of state.

One of his family members, Janet Thorp, talked about Allman’s turkey hunt while she hovered by his side to watch over him.

“You almost shot two of them, right?” she asked the veteran, leaning over to speak directly into his ear. “You shot it in this very chair.”

“I didn’t get to keep it,” Allman asserted.

Thorp smiled, reaffirming that he didn’t get to keep the turkey because they had kept it so they could get it stuffed for him. What Thorp knew, and Allman didn’t, was that his turkey was right there on the farm, just a few feet away in the air-conditioned silo.

Dawson McLamb, who had participated in the dove hunt earlier Saturday morning, was the one who worked on the turkey.

“I met the handicapped sportsmen through the Dixie Deer Classic … talked to them, told them if they ever had anything I could help them out with to let me know,” McLamb said. “And they gave me a phone call that morning, said they had got a turkey for Colonel Allman. And I told them to bring it over.”

Now, McLamb isn’t sure how long it took for them to finish the taxidermy process. Instead, he explained that he and his coworkers work hard to take their time and do the best job that they can do.

But before the turkey could be showed off to the crowd and given back to Allman, a speech had to be given.

“We got a special guest here today,” Ed Martin, one of the volunteers for the dove hunt, spoke into the microphone to begin his speech. “We got Colonel Allman, and he’s 96 years young. He started out at N.C. State University. Then he went into the Army and flew Bird Dog Scout aircraft in Korea. Then he went on and did two tours in Vietnam flying Huey Cobras.”

Martin went on to say that Allman was given two purple hearts before going into more detail about the turkey hunt that led everyone to gather at the farm. He explained that they had been hunting a turkey for two days before calling in for help in the form of Keith Campbell, who is nicknamed the “Turkey Whisperer,” and his friend Brad — who’s also great at turkey calling.

“We actually had nine people in the field, believe it or not. We had two people in one blind, four people in a bigger blind, and two people in another blind. All out there, ready to go,” Martin further explained. “And the birds did absolutely exactly what Keith wanted them to. They came in on a rope, probably what, 10 minutes after shooting light. Two huge toms came in.”

From there, he explains how Sean Horsely told Allman how to shoot the gun he was using to hit the turkeys. After that, it only took “two seconds” for Allman to get the bird.

“So, thanks to Dawson and Liam right here at Avian Addicts Taxidermy, we’ve got something for you Colonel,” Martin said as the turkey was carried to the wooden table.

“It looks like the one I shot,” Allman said once the turkey was fully presented.

His family laughed, one of them telling him that it was the turkey he got. Allman didn’t stop looking at his turkey, a wide smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

Once the presentation was over, he was able to make his way to the table to not only see it up close, but to get a couple hundred photos with it too.