Road tripping and bucket listing with friends

Published 3:45 pm Thursday, February 19, 2026

By Brad Dye

There’s nothing like a road trip with good friends, especially when that trip involves heading to the National Wild Turkey Federation Convention to see another good friend that happens to be an exhibitor. Outdoors writer Brad Dye and friends Jamie Thomas and Jerry Beck visited friend and outfitter Steve Brown last week at the National Wild Turkey Federation Convention in Nashville. Brown is the outfitter/owner of Brown & Company Outfitters. If you’re interested in pursuing the coveted World Slam, Brown should be your first contact. He can be reached via email at brownandcompany@upsidebrown.com. Pictured (L-R): Jamie Thomas (Caledonia), Steve Brown (Starkville), Brad Dye, and Jerry Beck (Glen) Photo courtesy of Brad Dye

I finally made it. Over the 53-year history of the National Wild Turkey Federation there have been 50 NWTF Conventions, and I finally made it to my first last week.

If you’ve read my column for any length of time, that fact must seem odd, especially coming from a self-proclaimed turkey hunting addict. However, if you read last week’s writing, then you’ll understand that February, the month in which the convention historically lands, is a “catch up” month for me.

With the Mississippi deer season ending Jan. 31 and turkey season kicking off in mid-March (early March if you’re lucky enough to get to hunt in Florida’s South Zone), I always use February to catch up on projects around the farm and on my “honey-do” list.

That means I’m usually smack dab in the middle of projects when the NWTF Convention rolls around. Plus there’s always the added pressure of getting everything ready for turkey season, prepping calls, patterning turkey guns, and rounding up the necessary items for any upcoming turkey trips.

For the past several years, good friend Jerry Beck, who makes the trip to Nashville every year for the convention, has been after me to go, and I’ve always bowed out, reasoning that I’m just too busy, that there are just too many things to do before turkey season.

When Jerry B threw out his annual invite this year on a group text that included friend, turkey-hunting buddy, and fellow Tenth Legion member Jamie Thomas, it was an offer too good to refuse — a road trip to turkey hunting’s premiere event in its 50th year, a pilgrimage to see the Holy Grail, if you will.

Ok, that’s probably a bit much. There would be no cup of Christ, however shaking the hand of Toxey Haas in the Mossy Oak booth or having David Halloran hand pick his favorite long box from all the gems for sale in his booth would certainly come in at a close second for me.

All kidding aside, what made my final decision to go this year, aside from the convention having been on my bucket list for decades, was the thought of spending time with two of my best friends and the opportunity to see another, Steve Brown, outfitter/owner of Brown & Company Outfitters, who would be there working a booth.

As we finalized our plans to attend, plans that would include overnighting Thursday night at Jerry’s home near Corinth and driving up to Nashville bright and early Friday morning, my excitement began to peak over the thought of finally making it to my first NWTF Convention.

After dinner Thursday night at Café Mike’s in Corinth, during which we consumed one of the best pizzas I’ve had in a long time, we retired to Jerry’s for bourbon and a few turkey tales around the fire or, more accurately, from our recliners.

We headed north to Nashville bright and early the next morning, after stopping to pick up a biscuit for breakfast. Good food is, for me, one of the hallmarks of a great road trip. Along with good friends and good music, good meals help make a trip.

Our pizza the night before had set the mark high for this trip and our sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit from the Whistlin’ Dixie Trading Post & Cafe in Counce, Tennessee, elevated it even higher. It was quite possibly the best breakfast sausage I’ve ever had.

I suspected our road trip provisions could only go downhill from there. I was wrong. Our bookend breakfast Saturday morning at The Pit Stop in Corinth featured the biggest “cathead” biscuit I’ve ever eaten and perhaps the best tenderloin as well. Lunch on our return home from North Mississippi would be unnecessary.

So, what of the convention? The first word that comes to mind is overstimulation. I felt like a child on Christmas morning as we walked into the main room, the air filled with turkey yelps, cuts, and gobbles, and turkey call makers and Mossy Oak camo-clad apparel and items in every direction that I turned.

Moments later, I heard someone calling my name and turned to see my friend Dudley Phelps with Mossy Oak motioning me over to the Mossy Oak booth, a booth bedecked with Bottomland, Green Leaf, and Full Foliage camo. Alice had officially arrived in Wonderland.

Throughout the day we continued to run into turkey hunting friends and fellow members of our own Tenth Legion group, including the “Wise Old Owl” himself, Collinsville’s own Mark McPhail, as well as Mississippi NWTF State Board of Directors member, Louisville’s own Wendell Womack.

The Mississippi connections didn’t end there. I found Meridian’s Chris and Claire Crowe helping work the Houndstooth Game Calls booth and, later, ran into fellow Tenth Legion member William Carruth while headed to the Chêne booth.

I’d be hard pressed to find a better husband and wife turkey hunting duo than the Crowes and William’s dad Bill has helped turn him into one of the best young turkey hunters around. I’d be proud to share a tree with any of them.

Seeing all those familiar faces amidst the massive crowd gathered at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center was a wonderful reminder of the tight-knight bonds that exist within the world of turkey hunting.

There was a time when I would have described this gathering of turkey hunters as a community, but the crowds in attendance over the convention’s three day are a testament to the rapid growth that has occurred during the past few decades. Our “community” is now a major metropolitan area.

Often when I think about those growing numbers and the effect that social media has had on this cherished pursuit, I become a bit disillusioned. Have we lost our way? Has it become, for many, simply a game of “kill it and post it,” with the emphasis placed on tagging out at all costs?

When I think of the circle of friends that accompanied me to Nashville and those that I’ve mentioned here, I can firmly say the answer to those questions is “no.” It’s my hope that these folks and hunters of like mind within this tribe of turkey hunters can help keep the “old school” ways of turkey hunting alive for generations to come.

Until next time, here’s to good friends, good road trips, and good food, here’s to a spring filled with long beards and sharp spurs, and here’s to seeing you out there in our great outdoors.