Longtime Radio Personality Marv Luten interviews guests, shares community updates, National and Local sports and more. The Marv in the Morning Podcast is a production of O’Quinn Media. For guest or sponsorship opportunities, email tracy@oquinnmarketing.com or marvinthemorning53@gmail.com
— Automated Transcript —
**Intro**
Welcome to The Marv in the Morning Podcast. Now, here’s Marv.
**Marv in the Morning**
Yes, it’s yours truly again on The Marv in the Morning Podcast on the Fort Not Lost in the Woods Podcast Site. Brought to you by STR Glass of St. Robert VFW Post 3168 of Waynesville, TK’s Pizza, Bales Construction, The Bank of Crocker, Paul’s Furniture, Shelter Insurance Agent Dave Hollat of Richland, St. Robert Auto Supply, Sieger Toyota, and the Pulaski County Health Center.
Easter is now in the rearview mirror, and for those who went to an outdoor Easter sunrise service and bundled up a little bit, temperatures were in the 30s, and in the river bottoms and the low-lying areas, some experienced a bit of frost. My wife and I covered up some of the early veggie plants that popped up and the blueberry bushes whose flowers had some blooms on them, and hopefully, saved them for future consumption. We still have a mess from last year, which turned out to be a pretty good blueberry season.
Spent a couple of hours early Sunday morning at Spearhead Church in Buckhorn, where Mike Wells is the pastor. Mike was a Waynesville Tiger quarterback, and I had the pleasure of calling all of Mike’s games. He went on to marry one of my best friends’ daughters, Aaron Ziegenbein, so I’ve come to know Mike quite well, and knew one day, he would succeed at whatever he did. He was always a good speaker, but I did not know his ambitions of leading a church, and now, I know. He made the right decision. Mike does a great job at Spearhead, and if you get the chance, Google Spearhead Church and see if you can bring up Spearhead’s Easter Sunday sermon. I thought it was one of the best Easter Sunday sermons I’ve heard and was happy with myself for getting off my butt and attending.
This year, we did something a little different for Easter. After getting the early morning feeding done, then attending church, we had decided instead of cooking for just the two of us and my sister-in-law, we were going to either do a turkey or a ham. We decided to let someone else do the cooking and went out to eat for Easter dinner. In all my years, this is the first time I remember going out on Easter Sunday to a restaurant. Now, we’ve gone to friends’ houses for Easter, but I don’t remember actually sitting down at a restaurant, but it may have happened before. I just can’t remember a time it did.
We made a short road trip to Lebanon at Tee’s Redneck Steakhouse, one of my favorite places to eat. They had a ham special going on, which my sister-in-law and my wife decided to partake in. I got a couple of bites. It was good, but when I’m on a steakhouse, that’s usually what’s on my plate. Yeah, it happened again Easter Sunday. Ribeye, baked potato, and some onion rings. Another first, I believe, steak on Easter instead of ham or turkey. I might just do that again.
Don’t want to spend too much time on this war in the Mideast that has our gas prices nearing four bucks a gallon, but I was impressed again with the U.S. military after two fighter jets were shot down over Iran that captivated the news last weekend. One, an A10 Warthog, whom we see over our neck of the woods all the time doing their training missions at Canon Air Range at Fort Leonard Wood. It went down in friendly territory. The pilot ejected and landed in Kuwait. The two pilots in the F15, however, did not. Both ejected, came down in Iran, and while one was rescued right after the crash, the other one spent two days in hostile territory. A bounty went out for his capture, but before the Iranians got to him, the U.S. got there and got him out while under enemy fire. Great job by the U.S. military, proving they are the best in the world. Our president said this war will be over soon, but he also said in his campaign he would keep us out of those never-ending wars. And now look at us.
I think we’ve all come to realize what comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth one day can change the next. Hell, what he says at the start of one press conference can change by the end of that same press conference. Enough.
As mentioned in my last podcast, yes, I did get in my first lawn mowing of the season, and yes, it was March, the last day of the month, because I could not stand it any longer. And it was such a nice day, and rain was on the way for the weekend, so I bit the bullet and mowed in March. By the time we drop this week’s episode, I will have mowed again, that I’m almost sure of.
This weekend is the youth spring turkey season, and that’s where our interview is taking us. For several years, the Clay Hollat Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation selects youngsters, some who may never would have had an opportunity to get out and hunt the wild turkey. They train them, take them to the field, trying to bag a bird and get them interested in the sport. The chapter’s president, the son of the chapter’s namesake, Dave Hollat, helps put this together and has for several years. He got together with some conservation agents, some landowners, and set up a youth hunt in our area. Dave talks about that, what the upcoming season looks like, and plans for the chapter this year, including their huge fundraiser banquet coming up in September. Dave Hollat is coming up next.
Congratulations. You’re having a little girl. At that moment, everything changed. Our hopes and dreams for ourselves were instantly replaced by our hopes and dreams for her. We got life insurance policies from Shelter Insurance. So that regardless of what life throws at us, we’ll still be able to provide the world to her. For a free insurance review for auto, home, life, farm, or business insurance, see me, Dave Hollat, your Shelter Insurance agent in Richland.
Since 1911, The Bank of Crocker has served the greater Pulaski County area. This year marks their 115th year. How do you last that long? Well, by giving their customers cutting-edge banking services with a hometown flair. You can do your banking from anywhere in the world with their convenient online banking. At the big banks, you’re just another number. At The Bank of Crocker, they know your name, maybe some of your family, and might even know the name of the dog sitting next to you in the drive-in facility. It’s called the personal touch, which is why they’re celebrating their 115th year as your hometown bank. And there’s four locations for your convenience in Crocker, Richland, Waynesville, and St. Robert. The Bank of Crocker. Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender.
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On the podcast today, another returning guest, my little brother from another mother, Dave Hollat, joins us, the president of the Clay Hollat National Wild Turkey Federation Chapter here in Pulaski County. David, thanks for being with us.
**Interview**
**Dave:** Well, hey, thanks for having me, and I know it’s not good morning or good evening. I think it’s whatever time the folks decide to listen to this podcast, so…
**Marv:** I’m always used to saying good morning.
**Dave:** I’m always used to saying good morning because we used to always run at what, 6, 6:30 in the morning when our show would air.
**Marv:** Yeah, I know.
**Dave:** So now it’s whenever you got time to play it.
**Marv:** That’s exactly right. Changing times. We love the people that are listening in and getting the information. This weekend, and the reason we got you on here, because you are the president of our local chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation and we have the youth season coming up. It’s April the 11th and 12th, and that is this weekend. First off, um, what what’s the turkey hatch look like this year?
**Dave:** This is the uh, you know, probably the second year that the hatch has has been, you know, better than what it’s been in the past. It’s still not where uh, where they’d like it to be, but you know, obviously it’s not in the gutter like it was in the years before. So this has been our second year of an improvement in hatches. And so, um, we’re basically looking at uh, you know, more, you know, if you noticed, uh, last spring, you probably noticed a lot of jakes, you’ll see that this spring as well, where you’re going to see lots of jakes. And of course, there’ll be, um, lots of two-year birds. And those are the birds that are mainly doing most of your gobbling activity, those two-year birds. So, if you’ve got lots of two-year birds, that means you’re probably going to see see and hear, um, a lot more gobbling activity because those are the ones that are mainly doing the gobbling. Three-year birds, you know, they’ve they’ve been through the gauntlet so many times, and the reason why they survived is because they didn’t gobble that much. And, uh, or didn’t go seek out every little hen that made a noise, and, uh, that’s why they’re still alive, because they they survive that gauntlet, so to speak. And of course, that’s just natural selection. I guess, well, in this case it’s artificial selection, but, uh, but at least those birds that are older, typically don’t gobble as much. And, uh, so this this is the two-year birds that are mainly, um, what’s responsible for your gobbling activity. So you should see lots of that as well or hear lots of that.
**Marv:** And a jake is pretty much a one-year-old bird?
**Dave:** Yeah, your jake is your basic young of the year, those hatched out, you know, last summer or late spring. And they’ll be, you know, and it’s a season, that that time period those birds are hatching. Of course, there’s even late uh, you know, hens that that have lost a nest or failed several times or whatever, and finally got a nest to produce. And, uh, so sometimes those things are hatching out in early summer. And, uh, and so you’ll see various different ages of jakes. You can see, you know, jakes technically that are considered a jake that’s last year’s hatch, that may have a, you know, eight, nine inch beard. I mean, 18-pound bird, where there’s going to be other later hatches that may be a 14, 15-pound bird and have just a barely visible beard.
**Marv:** Well, jakes are legal to take in the spring.
**Dave:** Yes, they are. If it’s got a visible beard, and even a bearded hen is a, um, is a, um, legal bird to take. It’s got to have that visible beard. And in fact, uh, you know, we were setting up blinds, uh, yesterday for our youth hunt that we’ve got coming up. And we actually seen a, there was a bird out in the field that we were driving through, and, and, uh, one of our buddies goes, “Hey, that’s a jake!” And I was looking at it, and, uh, another guy goes, “No, no, that’s a bearded hen.” I was like, “Are you sure?” And I finally pulled up the binoculars, going to look at it, and, “Yeah, it is a bearded hen.” It had about a 9-inch beard. It’s a bearded hen. Or an 8-inch beard actually.
**Marv:** So, pretty big hen.
**Dave:** So, yeah, you’ll see that. And, and, you know, bearded hens are common. It’s not, uh, it’s not, it’s not the norm, but it’s not uncommon to see a hen with a beard.
**Marv:** So this youth hunt, uh, of course, the Conservation Department, um, sets the dates, and then the, um, youth can hit the fields and they have to have, um, a licensed hunter with them.
**Dave:** Yes, this is kind of all part of that mentor process. You know, when they started doing these youth seasons, you know, technically the youth, um, you know, they don’t have to have their hunter safety yet because they’re not, uh, you know, they’re still in that youth category, but they have to be hunting with somebody that does, you know, have their hunter safety, does have an unfilled, you know, basically that turkey tag with them, or deer tag if it’s during the deer season. Uh, so it’s more that mentor process. It’s that time that, uh, you know, the department and what it is, is encouraging people, especially the kids, you know, to get out there, get in the field and, and, and get that introductory into into the outdoor hunting sports, whether it be the deer or the turkey. And, uh, um, and surprisingly, you know, a lot of people that that just they there’s that barrier where they they don’t know where to go, they don’t have the know-how. Um, and so that that unknown kind of keeps people from doing that. Even though, say, here in Missouri, we live in God’s country, so to speak, where we have lots of public land where there’s all kinds of opportunities for you to get out there on and hunt if you want. There’s no barrier there ’cause there’s there’s tons of public land. But that other barrier is the know-how. And so that’s what a lot of it is, is that, you know, if someone just needs to grab somebody and say, “Here, come on, let’s go. I’m going to show you how to do this. I’m going to, you know, show you, here here’s how you call. Here’s how you make those noises. Here’s when to call.” Those kind of things. And, uh, and so that’s kind of what that season’s all about is to, um, open that door, uh, to the outdoor hunting sports here in Missouri.
**Marv:** So the Clay Hollat Chapter, uh, the one you are the, uh, president of, you get together with the conservation agents along with, uh, maybe some of the schools, and how do you pick the kids? Because you take how many kids do you take on this youth hunt that’s coming up this weekend?
**Dave:** Uh, throughout the season, it basically kind of depends, but we start out with six. That’s kind of six to seven is kind of what we look for as far as, you know, the, the number of opportunities that we have to take a kid out. So what we do, and let me back up just a second, you know, Aaron Pondrum, you know, our our, um, our past conservation agent for what, 20, 27 years here. Uh, you know, out of the blue, he had called me one day, and this has been, I don’t even know how many years it’s been. Has it been 10, 11, 12 years we’ve been doing this?
**Marv:** It’s been it’s been a while since you’ve been doing it.
**Dave:** But, uh, but, uh, yeah, I’m a good record keeper here, Marvin. Um, but anyway, he called me and he’s like, “Hey, I’m I’m looking at doing something here and trying to, you know, maybe try to get a local youth hunt started here, uh, for, for turkey season.” And said he had a we have a landowner benefactor that was really eager to get, uh, to, you know, be offer his property, uh, to allow us to do this, which is just fantastic that you need that land benefactor that’s going to do that. And of course, you know, that got my gears, uh, got turning too. I thought, well, heck, you know, we got a great way to, uh, to fund this as well because that’s what I do is through our activities with the National Wild Turkey Federation is, is raising funds, A, for habitat management, uh, for, um, for habitat modification, also for, uh, for, you know, getting people into the into the hunting sports. And so it was kind of a no-brainer. I put the grants together. We wrote the grant. And so now it’s an annual thing that we’re a line item on the budget is for our annual youth turkey hunt that we’ve got, uh, got money provided to, uh, to help buy equipment and, and, and to refurbish equipment because over the years, you know, decoys get get, uh, get full of holes and get wore out, and, uh, blinds tear down, that kind of thing. So you constantly have to kind of refurbish that equipment or repurchase it. And so that’s what, uh, we we continue with that funding is to continue with that equipment purchases.
**Marv:** And how important is it to have these private landowners help you out because you don’t want to take a bunch of kids that you really don’t know out in the public land where you don’t know where other hunters are.
**Dave:** Right, that’s the problem is that, you know, that’s that unknown is that you may, you know, you may get together and have a big group of kids together and go out there and do all that and find out that, hey, you know, those those spots are taken or someone’s already there. And so you really can’t rely on that kind of a thing. Uh, and so that’s what we need that that private landowner that’s going to allow us to have that opportunity that we know is going to be there. And, uh, that we know it’s just, you know, for the most part, we know just us has permission to be out there, so to speak. And, uh, and and the timing too, because, you know, this time of year right now, if you’ve noticed, people have just now started seeing here in the last couple of weeks, you know, they’re they’re starting to see the the gobblers and the hens out there, you know, seeing the gobbler strutting. Turkeys are more visible now. You’re seeing them more broke up. And so you’re kind of seeing that beginning of the of the turkey breeding season. And that’s where you want to put that, um, for, uh, for youth is because right now, it’s it’s an incredible to be out in the woods right now, um, to to call some turkeys because it’s it’s the opportune time. When the regular season starts, that kind of is on the tail end of the season, where all the hens have pretty well been bred. And the gobblers are basically doing cleanup. It’s kind of what that’s that it’s that second peak of gobbling is what it is. Uh, so it’s basically, you know, after the peak breeding season, so to speak. And so those gobblers are more like, I wouldn’t say dead weight, but they’ve already done their job, so to speak. And, you know, so to so taking that mature gobbler out, you’re it’s not like you’re you’re removing an opportunity for him to breed hens ’cause he’s pretty well already done all that. And he’s still looking for other hens to breed, even though most of them have probably already been bred.
**Marv:** Now, yeah, and then part of, um, part of this hunt is some land that your family owns up by the lake, and then the other, uh, landowner is Art Booth.
**Dave:** Yeah, we got Art Booth down at, uh, you know, on the south side of the river there in the Brownfield area there, basically just, you know, kind of south 17 area, but just on the south side of the river. It’s weird how, you know, a river can make two separate communities there. But really, you know, the folks that are on the south side of the river, they’re kind of more connect with, uh, Lebanon area. Uh, whereas the folks on the north side of the river tend to connect with, uh, you know, the Waynesville, St. Robert, Richland area. But literally, it’s just a, you know, a thin river right there that divides those communities. And but yeah, the Art Booth farm is down there on south seven or on, uh, you know, the south side of the river down there, uh, in the Brownfield area. But then I’ve got a, uh, between my land and then mainly found another family member, it’s a distant family member, but he has a huge farm at in the Lake of the Ozarks area that allows us to bring kids out as well, and it’s, uh, it’s turkey heaven out there too. And, uh, and that’s what I’m saying is that this time of year, what really makes it fun is that it’s getting into the peak breeding season. And so the turkeys are, um, spent, I guess you could say, you know, very eager to breed, very eager to react to calls. And so what makes it fun is that with these kids, you always have an opportunity where where a kid’s going to move, or a kid’s going to make a noise, or a kid’s going to miss. There’s lots of things that happen, uh, when you’re working those birds and getting them to come in that it may not work out. And so, especially even if a if a kid takes a shot and, and completely misses, well, those birds are all going to scatter. Of course, you know, the kids might be a little bit distraught. But I’m like, “Hey, just hang out. Let’s just sit here quiet.” And he’s just going to hang out for a half hour, not make any noise at all and just sit there. But then again, I’ll start making calls again. And next thing you know, I’m calling in another group of birds. And, uh, it makes it fun because the, uh, the gobbling activity just never ceases or at least the the the the activity of calling birds in. And I’ll and I’ll always say, I just told the story yesterday. There was a kid that, uh, had a real hard time connecting with a turkey. And, uh, this had been four or five years ago, but, um, within a, it was a little over an hour time period, uh, one of my guides called in five different sets of gobblers out of the same blind within in about an hour’s time frame until the kid finally on the fifth set of gobblers finally shot and connected and got his bird. So that’s that’s that’s the opportunity that you have out there and, and that much, uh, you know, that much type of, you know, potential to work birds at that time because they’re just so eager to breed that it’s it makes it so much fun. And it wouldn’t be fair to have the regular people out there because they could really do some damage to the turkey population. But this is where you want to, you know, you want to show those kids, “Hey, this is, you know, just like in the the youth deer season, it’s basically during prime rut.” Um, because they want to be, you know, you want to be they want to make them see the deer.
**Marv:** How old are these kids that you guys take out?
**Dave:** Oh, they vary. I mean, it’s it’s an ages where, like I said, you know, just old enough. We try to get them, you know, at least, you know, no, you know, seven to eight, not really any younger than that. And then all the way up to, you know, 15, which is a youth. And it all depends on the, uh, uh, you know, the opportunity they’ve had. That’s what we look for is out in the community and me, you know, throughout the whole year between myself and the conservation agents and and other guys on our committee. Uh, we’re constantly, you know, in throughout the year, you know, we come across a kid and and then all of a sudden, I just write their name down and, and just throughout the year, I just gather that list between, um, you know, Nathan, the conservation agent or Casey and, and myself and other members of the committee, we’ll we’ll pretty well easy to get our kids together. But it’s always those kids that, you know, they don’t have the opportunity to hunt, they’ve never been hunting. Um, you know, that that’s what we’re looking for is those kids that don’t have the opportunity.
**Marv:** Nathan Engel, one of our conservation agents here in Pulaski County tells us some pretty good stories, uh, because he loves this youth season.
**Dave:** Oh, yeah, and it’s, you know, now that, you know, uh, you know, he is the he’s the guy. So it’s, you know, he’s the main ringleader. I mean, uh, him and I. And he’s the one that mainly does it because he’s coordinating with the landowner. I’m coordinating with my landowner. So we both, uh, but he’s putting together the the the seminar, basically, is where a lot of that work comes in. And that’s where, you know, we just had our seminar last weekend. But that’s where we had, you know, pretty well, uh, a whole bunch of all the area agents were all there. And of course, we had all the kids and their parents and other kids that were there. And we have the big classroom setup where we’re teaching, you know, A, the, you know, the history of the wild turkey in Missouri, wild turkey conservation, then there’s some hunter safety mixed in there. Then I get up and I teach, uh, you know, turkey calling techniques and the different calls and, uh, the different sounds you can make in the woods that that, uh, that may be helpful during turkey season. And then they go through that whole classroom session. And then when we after we eat lunch, um, and then they they get out the opportunity to shoot shotguns, pattern their shotgun, get used to shooting. ‘Cause a lot of these kids haven’t even shot a shotgun. And so that’s another intro introductory there too. They get to do that and shoot, you know, to their heart’s content to make sure they know what they’re doing there. And then, uh, and then that kind of winds up the day right there. And then we kind of show them the blinds and all the equipment. Kind of, it’s a it’s a it’s a kind of a crash course in turkey season in a day, kind of a thing. And of course, we’re always part of it too. The parents are there too. And then when we take them hunting, we have the kid and we have, you know, a parent or guardian that’s with us with us as well. Because and pretty well every time I’ve said in that blind with, uh, with the kid and the parent, we’re sitting there doing that. They’re getting the bang, you know, the the dad or the mom, or whoever it is I’m sitting there, could be the granddad, could be the uncle. It’s like, you know, “This could be our thing. What do you think? This is something we could really do.” And again, all they needed to do is that little just that little kickstart just to kind of show them, just kind of open that door a little bit is really all they needed to kind of get that fire lit. And, uh, that’s what we’re there for.
**Marv:** And you guys have done this, like you said, for 10, 11 years now, and it’s been of a huge, huge success, to say the least.
**Dave:** Oh, yeah, it’s, uh, you know, and like I said, trying to find the kids, you know, it gets to the point now. I got, you know, parents are, you know, calling me, saying, “Hey, you know, can you have you got an opening for for my kid this year?” And, and a lot of times I do, or I’ll put them on next year’s list. And so that we try to accommodate everybody. And then even those kids, like if I if we’ve got, um, uh, you know, a lot of times, you know, a kid’ll bag out just, you know, right there first half hour of daylight, you know. So that I’ve gotten another opening. And so usually we have a couple other kids in the wings where I can be like, you know, make a phone call and next thing you know, I got another kid up there and introducing them. So, um, we just kind of all play it by ear, but yeah, usually we’re rotating through, at least on my part, uh, that that whole the whole thing, usually, um, eight or nine kids total, probably we finish out through the throughout the youth season.
**Marv:** We’re going to take a break and we’re going to come back with Dave Hollat. Talk a little bit more about turkey hunting when we return after this from our sponsors.
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**Marv in the Morning**
We’re back with Dave Hollat, who is the president of the National Wild Turkey Federation Chapter here in Waynesville, St. Robert, uh, the Clay Hollat Memorial Chapter, named after his father. And, um, your dad was an outstanding hunter, fisherman, uh, outdoorsman, to say the least, and when I, I’ve I’ve told this story many times, when I first came to the radio station back in the late 70s, you were just a kid, probably seven, six, seven years old, but you and your brother Matt would go out and at the time they used to have these turkey calling contests. They would have them like at schools and stuff like that, and how many turkey calling contests did you and your brother win? You were winning every time I we turned around.
**Dave:** Yeah, it was pretty well, it was pretty well every one of them. Um, because, you know, once we got that’s all we did was even before these contests were about was, you know, dad would show us turkey calling and we’d sit there and play with turkey calls and I still think back at this, and I think, my gosh, how did my mom put up with all this? Um, us rattling, either friction call, mainly mouth calls, you know, that, you know, 7, 8, 9:00 at night, you know, and then dad’s sitting there listening, “Nope, nope, your tone’s a little different. Go use this, use this.” And kind of that’s all we do. But then, but yeah, when we started doing these turkey calling contests, you know, we we were pretty well seasoned callers by the time all that started. So, at least in the youth division, in the kids, you know, we pretty well dominated that until the point, you know, dad was like, you know, “I think you guys kind of need to, you know, step out of this and let some other people do it, you know, ’cause, uh, we just it was a no-brainer for us ’cause we’ve been doing that for so many years and and it’s just, you know, practice makes perfect is what it is. And of course, we just practiced early and just got, uh, you know, we’re at that point better than other kids. They just didn’t have the practice, I guess you could say.
**Marv:** Yeah, I remember you and Matt coming into the station with those calls and it was like, somebody better get that kid out of here or I am going to take that call and shove it down his throat. Because you were, you’re right. I don’t know how your mother stood it ’cause it drove us nuts at the radio station. Of course, we’re trying to do our job, you know. And here we are in a recording studio and you’re doing a commercial for Charlie’s Cars or something. In the background, you know, we got a bunch of kids out there driving us nuts with turkey calls. But those are some of the good old days that I remember. And now, of course, you are an adult, you have your own kid, your own family. And is your kid going to be part of this youth hunt?
**Dave:** Well, he’s the same thing, just like, uh, you know, he has the opportunity and so yeah, he’s with us because he’ll come with me. And of course, like I said, he’s never featured as part of the hunt, just ’cause he he gets to go with me whenever he wants to go, you know. So I never want to bump a kid that don’t have the opportunity, so that he can. And so, yeah, he’s always floating around with us. So then, yeah, when we get, um, you know, another kid that’ll that’ll tag out and we have an opening and I don’t have anyone to come in right there immediately, then we rotate him in and then we start, uh, moving him around to the different blinds. And so he yes, he gets to fit in. So, yeah, he’s a he gets his turkey every youth season because we fit him in there, um, throughout the, but it’s, you know, he’s not taking anyone’s spot. He’s just coming in on the backside.
**Marv:** Well, yeah. I mean, you can after you’re done with your youth season, uh, with your kids that you selected, you can take him out, uh, because I mean, you’ve got some nice property where you live. And I mean, I would imagine that it’s not real hard to just, uh, hop into the woods down there and, uh, get ready. Plus, you’ve got the makes it easy when it’s in your backyard.
**Dave:** Yeah. And a lot of times the landowner, you know, the the Calverts, that’s the farm we hunt at Lake of the Ozarks. But yeah, the the one of the the landowners, the the son that’s my age, um, Little Ernie, um, he’ll take pain too ’cause he’ll be like, “Hey, I’ll, you know, he’ll go with me while you guys are taking these other kids.” ‘Cause there’s there’s like 900 acres out there and it’s it’s, uh, there’s all kinds of places to hunt out there. So we can, you know, our our problem is is is the amount of kids we can take is the amount of people I can find to help guide. That’s pretty well what our limit is. And so that kind of delineates the size of it because, uh, you know, I can’t I take, you know, seven or eight kids if I could. I just can’t find the seven or eight guides that can always be there. That’s the problem. So I usually stick with that three to four number as far as guides. Makes it manageable too.
**Marv:** So the youth season is again this weekend and then April, what is it? The 20th?
**Dave:** Uh, April 20th.
**Marv:** It’s a Monday.
**Dave:** All the way to, yeah, April 20th, all the way to May 10th. You know, it’s a three-week season. It used to be two weeks back in the day. Now they made it three weeks here in the past, what? I think it’s oh gosh, that’s been quite a while ago. It’s been the three-week season. But, um, but yes, that youth season, April and 12, uh, April 11th, 12th, it seems a little bit later. You know, the way Easter falls, sometimes it affects that. I’ve seen the youth season be as early as the first weekend in April, like, you know, up there in, you know, April 1st and 2nd or March 31st, April 1st. It’s it’s fell on those dates before as well. Um, but, uh, but if you look at the weather coming out there, it’s it you know, it’s going to be ideal weather. It’s not going to be cool. Morning’s going to be, looks like, in the 60s, um, upper 50s in the morning, and then during the day, getting close to 80. And no rain and really not necessarily windy either. So it should be ideal conditions, uh, to be out there hunting turkeys. I’m looking forward to it because the past couple of years have been super windy, where the wind’s just gusting, you know, and it’s very hard to hear. And so I look for those mornings. One of my favorite sounds is to be up on on that big ridge and to hear, you know, a dozen different gobblers firing off and just gobbling like crazy and hearing that gobbling activity is what really what really sets the tone for the day. Uh, but when it’s so windy, you can’t hear nothing but your blind flopping around, you know, and and leaves blowing everywhere. It kind of kind of makes it a little more boring. But the turkeys are still going to operate. So if you’re out there hunting and you can’t hear no gobbling, again, just sit still. You know, every, you know, you don’t want to call all the time, but, you know, I always kind of use the 15-minute rule, where I always, you know, if there’s nothing going on, I sit in one spot. Usually, wait about 15 minutes between calls and just do a series of yelps. And, uh, even though the birds aren’t gobbling, they’re hearing you. And there’s a reason why they’re not gobbling, but, um, but they can hear you. And so for the past couple of years, I’ve called in a lot of birds for kids and never heard a gobble. I mean, they just you just look over and they’re standing right there. And, uh, all puffed out, strutting. And they might gobble when they finally get up to you, but they’re not gobbling coming to you. But it does make it a little bit boring. And, and I’ll tell the kids, “Hey, you know, this is, you know, it this does get better. This isn’t it, you know, when they’re gobbling, it’s a it’s pretty cool.” And so I’m looking forward hopefully that this year we get a lot of gobbling activity that kind of keeps the blood pumping there and the and the kids are a little more excited too.
**Marv:** Are decoys a necessity, or are they just kind of like an added attraction?
**Dave:** They’re they’re not yeah, they’re they’re an added attraction. It’s not necessarily a necessity. It does help out a lot of times in the woods, it’s not necessarily a necessity ’cause the turkeys are looking anyway. And mainly what that decoy is for is to kind of get the bird’s attention away from you because if there’s no decoy out there, the bird’s really if a gobbler’s walking through the woods, he’s eyeballing every little twig, every little leaf, every little twitch, you know, looking for that hen. Whereas when you got that decoy sitting out there, he’s kind of zoned in on it a little better and allows you to, if you have to make a little adjustment or move a little bit. And this is if you’re not in the blind. Um, it it makes that a little easier. Uh, but one thing it helps out if you’re hunting, uh, you know, if you’re hunting some real open areas, like some some field corners and things like that, those decoys really help out because, you know, this is the time of year the birds like to get out in the fields, they like to display. And so those decoys out the field kind of, you know, when they come out in that field, they can kind of, you know, ’cause it’s kind of hard to when you there’s no decoy out in the field, and you’re on the edge of the field calling, that the turkey’s looking around, going, “Well, there’s no hen out here. Where’s she at?” You know? And and so that decoy helps. But the decoys can be a problem because if you’re hunting a big field and when those birds come out, they’ve got, you know, 150 yards to look at that turkey or 200 yards, depending on where they pop out at. Um, when they get to look at it that long as they’re coming in, they’re like, “Okay, this chick ain’t real.” Or something’s going on here. And you know, they usually they’ll hang up out there just out of gun range because they’re a little bit leery. So if you do do the field situations, you kind of want to set up where when those birds do come out in the field that they don’t get that 200-yard look at the turkeys or even a, you know, a 300-yard look, you know, ’cause they got you want to set it up where they pop out of the woods, there’s not a whole lot of distance between when they’re popping out to where those decoys are at because, uh, pretty well, they’ll figure out that that’s something’s up, they’re not real.
**Marv:** Yeah, we’ve had a good March as far as weather, uh, we’ve had pretty decent April, uh, so far. And, uh, foliage is another big part, uh, of why you need a blind out there in the woods. Because right now, there’s not a lot of foliage out there that you can hide behind.
**Dave:** And early season is always that way, where it’s, uh, typically there’s not much vegetation sprouted out yet because just, you know, the growing season’s just starting. But, you know, that’s that’s a double-edged sword is that A, yeah, the turkeys can see you, um, but then you can see them well as as well right now. Um, and where, um, later season though, when when everything gets fully flushed out, you know, you might be standing up. You can see pretty good the woods. But then you can get to sit down. You can’t see 10 foot, uh, very well. So that’s a lot of times you got that gobbler that’s really right close to you, but you just cannot get a clear shot through the leaves, even even even see the thing, uh, depending on how things set up. So it can be a bad thing as well too, that that vegetation or the foliage. And so, but with the kids, it’s kind of a must that we set the blinds up just because, you know, these kids are not seasoned hunters. Um, you know, they they it’s it’s one of those things, you know, learning to be still is a learn is a I’d have to say that’s a that’s a learned experience right there. Uh, I’ve taken grown men out in the woods that fidget and twitch just like a just like a six-year-old or seven, eight-year-old kid, um, because it’s just something you have to learn to do and know and, and probably spook a few a few birds before you finally realize that, “Hey, they could see me blink my eyes and, hey, they could see me twitch that finger,” you know, that kind of thing. And, uh, so that’s where the blinds come in with those kids can you can get a lot of movement in. And plus, you know, sometimes those birds coming from different directions where you can easily move around inside the blind without the turkey seeing you and still get that that gun setup to where the the the youth can get that shot opportunity. So the blinds are a must. Uh, hunt with those youth and, uh, makes it, you know, you’re not near as mobile, but, you know, this time of year, where the birds are hot, you don’t necessarily have to be. I mean, yeah, the the run and gunning is ideal. That’s the way I love to do it. But with a with yourself, uh, with the kid and with the parent, you know, you know, three people running a train through the woods that really don’t have a lot of foliage right now. It makes it tough to really get up close to a bird with that kind of with that kind of group. So the the blind’s kind of the way to go.
**Marv:** Well, good luck with your, uh, youth hunt. What else is going on with the, uh, Clay Hollat Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation this year? I know you have your banquet coming up this September.
**Dave:** Yeah, still setting up for the banquet. And of course, you know, I’m always, uh, you know, getting merchandise for the banquet throughout the whole year. You know, Dan over at Post Pawn, you know, he’s my FFL and my firearm guy and, you know, they they’ve been wonderful, uh, throughout all these years and kind of give me more of a freer hand and instead of me trying to right there at the last, you know, few months before the banquet, you know, purchasing all the items for the banquet, I’m buying all this stuff, literally, uh, just within the next week after my banquet gets over. And, uh, so I’m collecting all that merchandise and he’s just stockpiling it back there, just kind of holding it for me. So that’s that’s awesome that that, uh, Dan does that for us and it allows me to kind of really pick and choose and get some really great merchandise and some really great items because if you notice my banquet, I’ve got some, you know, some firearms and things like that that you’re never going to see at a banquet. And even the the quality of the firearms that you’re never going to see at a banquet because, uh, I’m a little more confident that, uh, with our crowd that that I can generate generates some funds with with those types of firearms and not actually lose money on it. ‘Cause a lot of people are scared to death they’re going to lose money on something like that and actually have a banquet that’s, uh, you know, a net a net negative, so to speak, which that’s what you don’t want. But, uh, we’ve always done well with the way we the way we do our mix and then and again our crowd and the and the community here is very supportive of the National Wild Turkey Federation. So that’s that’s what makes it successful too is is the, uh, you know, the population around here supported as well. And so, yeah, we’re always gearing up for that too. So this should, you know, every, you know, every week I’m I’m dealing with it, um, getting stuff together. So that’s why it makes it such a successful banquet.
**Marv:** Any fundraisers coming up this summer that?
**Dave:** No, that that one’s going to be just mainly just the, uh, just getting everything ready for the banquet and then, you know, I’ve just I’ve had some other fundraisers not related to the NWTF for other folks that I’ve done. Uh, so I’ve only got so much time out there. So this one I’m going to have to kind of step back on a breather and just, uh, work with what we got going on right now, which is, uh, getting ready for the banquet. And of course, right now, getting through turkey season with our kids.
**Marv:** All right. Well, good luck with that.
**Dave:** Well, thank you, Marvin.
**Marv:** Dave Hollat, our guest on our podcast today. He is the president of the Clay Hollat Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation here. And again, youth hunt this weekend, uh, the 11th and 12th, and then the spring turkey season coming up April 20th through May the 10th. We’ll be right back.
**Sieger Toyota**
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**Bales Construction**
When you’ve been in business since 1939, and when you do the math, that’s 85 years, you’re doing something right. Bales Construction in Waynesville has been doing things right for a long time, and that continues today. Bales Construction has rapidly grown from being Pulaski and neighboring county’s top residential builder to one of Missouri’s largest commercial general contractors. Today, they specialize in construction of educational and healthcare facilities, but their excellence in building does not stop there, completing an extensive number of projects such as banking, retail, industrial, civil, multifamily, food service, hospitality, transportation, and municipal projects. Their offices in Waynesville and Springfield, Missouri, allows Bales Construction to cover a large portion of central and southwest Missouri. Explore their website and see what Bales can build for you.
**STR Glass**
In these days of texting and emails, words, phrases and names are shortened to letters. It doesn’t change anything, it just makes things easier. That’s the case of STR Glass, a St. Robert establishment since the 60s. Still the same great service when it comes to auto glass, windows, shower doors and anything to do with glass. And when it comes to fixing chips in your windshield to prevent cracking, there’s none better. They’re still in the same location on VFW Memorial Drive and still have the same phone number 336-4122. They’ve just shortened their name from St. Robert Glass to STR Glass, but will never shorten their services to you, the customer.
**Sports**
In sports, the college basketball season ended earlier this week with the women’s championship on Sunday, the men’s on Monday. The women’s final featured South Carolina and UCLA. This was after South Carolina ended an undefeated season for UConn and denying them a repeat. In 2024, the year before, South Carolina won it all, taking down the Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes. This was UCLA’s second consecutive trip to the Final Four after getting blown out by UConn last year. Last Sunday, the Lady Bruins made amends with a 79-52 spanking of South Carolina to claim their first-ever Division I NCAA Women’s Title. The men’s bracket was finalized Monday. One of the sort of surprises in the Final Four was Illinois. They were a high seed and not considered a real Cinderella, but I would be surprised if many had the Fighting Illini penciled in on their Final Four bracket. The title game pitted UConn and Michigan, with the Huskies a two-seed, Wolverines a one-seed, and a suffocating defense by Michigan proved to be too much for UConn, and the Wolverines came away with the top prize in men’s college basketball in a 69-63 final this past Monday night.
So with college hoops done, the Masters Golf Tournament is underway this weekend from Augusta. And even if you don’t watch golf, the beauty of the Augusta golf course is something to see, even if it’s on TV. NFL Draft is coming up later this month as most of the national attention turns to the National Hockey League and the NBA playoffs, and those two playoff brackets takes us into June before their champions are determined. There’s also baseball, of course, and the St. Louis Cardinals have surprised some of the folks in Cardinal Nation in the early going. I’m one of them. But it’s a long season and we’ll have to see how this rebuilding season pans out. So pro baseball a little closer to home is the Springfield Cardinals coming off a title season last year, their second in franchise history, winning it all back in 2012 in Double-A ball. And they have a lot of players coming back into the fold this season trying to make their way up the ladder. Some of the young players on the St. Louis Cardinals made their way to the majors with a stop in Springfield. And if you’ve not made a trip to see a Springfield Cardinals baseball game, I’d recommend it. The atmosphere is great and it’s not quite as expensive as a trip to a major league ballpark.
**St. Robert Auto Supply**
Winter weather driving can take a toll on your vehicle and your wallet. Take the necessary steps to make it as pain-free as possible with a trip to your NAPA Auto Parts store, St. Robert Auto Supply, just off Missouri Avenue. Your NAPA Auto Parts Center has everything you’ll need from their line of NAPA Legend Batteries to the best there is in windshield wipers from Bosch, Trico, and the NAPA brand of quality wipers. You’ll find about every brand of antifreeze on the market. And of course, jumper cables, which should be in every vehicle in the winter months. But the best thing I’ve found at St. Robert Auto Supply is the knowledge the staff at St. Robert Auto Supply has to help their customers with any problem that comes your way. Need a part they don’t have? They’ll have it the next day, making downtime minimal. That’s why I recommend St. Robert Auto Supply to anyone who asks. Besides the great NAPA brand of auto parts, it’s the customer service you get in a time when customer service is a thing of the past. Not at your NAPA Auto Parts store, St. Robert Auto Supply, just off Missouri Avenue, and you’ll get the good stuff seven days a week.
**Outro**
Well, that’s it for this time. Thanks to my sponsors, STR Glass of St. Robert, along with VFW Post 3168 of Waynesville, TK’s Pizza, Bales Construction, The Bank of Crocker, Paul’s Furniture, Shelter Insurance Agent Dave Hollat of Richland, St. Robert Auto Supply, Sieger Toyota, and the Pulaski County Health Center. Thanks to my producer, Tracy, for putting this all together, and thanks to you, my podcast faithful. Those old and new for letting me be a part of your day, whatever time you bring up the podcast. If you’re enjoying The Marv in the Morning Podcast, we invite you to leave a review on whatever app you’re listening on. We would also love for you to share the episode with family and friends on your social media accounts. Be sure to follow our podcast on Facebook on The Marv in the Morning Podcast page. You’re also invited to join us on Facebook on the Fort Not Lost in the Woods Podcast group. This podcast is a production of O’Quinn Media.
Join me next week when we hope to have the Sheriff of Pulaski County, Stacy Ball, with us, as he’s into his second year as the county’s top law enforcement officer. Until then, have a great week. Later.