Having hunted turkeys in Virginia since a child, now for over 50 years, I have seen many changes. Up until 1962, there was fall hunting only for turkeys. Although I spring hunt, I still love to chase birds in the fall, calling them up for others and teaching youngsters.

For many years I hunted turkeys throughout the mountains of Virginia on foot, looking for sign, occasionally calling, finding and flushing turkeys, and all without a dog. Although I enjoyed the solitude of this type of hunting, I was very much aware of the old time art of hunting turkeys with a dog in Virginia.  I had just not had that experience. In latter years, I had the pleasure of meeting John and J.T. Byrne and also the legendary Kit Shaffer. Their knowledge and hunting expertise sparked my interest in fall hunting with a dog.
Later, I became friends with and hunted with Rod McClanahan, a biologist with the U.S. Forest Service. Rod’s Boykin named Molly was a joy to follow through the woods. What an unbelievable hunting dog. I decided, then and there, that I could save a lot of boot leather by using a turkey dog. I called J.T. Byrne, and got on a waiting list for one of the famous Byrne dogs. My brother Jesse now owns the Byrne dog and named him Jake.