About Old Place Outdoors
A little bit of the backstory!
Growing up in South Mississippi, I developed a passion for the outdoors. Rarely a summer day passed that I didn’t have my feet sunk into the muddy bottoms of some creek or along the banks of the Bogue Chitto River. Only a mile or so as the crow flies out my back door, the river ran and all the wilderness that surrounded it gave way to endless opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. Like many kids in that area I grew up hunting and fishing and as I got a bit older would become quite fond of pursuing the Meleagris gallopavo. That’s the Wild Turkey for you less sophisticated folks! Now, if you hunt the wild turkey then you know what I mean. Ben Rogers Lee worded it best saying, “Turkey hunting aint a sport, It’s a damn disease!”
Longing to work in the outdoor industry I began studying taxidermy and would after the military attend the Pennsylvania Institute of Taxidermy. After completion of school, I opened my first business, Leatherwood Taxidermy, and would begin commercial and competition taxidermy.
Having hunted the wild turkey around the country, I wanted to add a new element to my endeavors. It was around 2015 when I began making and using my own turkey calls for my hunts. I paid close attention to the woods that I spent hours in, listening to turkeys and learning sounds that often can even go unnoticed. I would later add a small flock of turkeys to my rural homestead to get close and listen to these birds even more. I never have and still do not consider myself a great caller, I firmly believe that hunting turkeys is about 80 percent of understanding them and wordsmanship in general. My love for hunting the wild turkey is something that these short sentences can’t express. But I do hope that the products and services that Old Place Outdoors provides can help others to find that same joy and passion for being out in God’s creation and pursuing the greatest of game animals there is, the Wild Turkey.
Growing up, our family had a place that I spent many mornings hunting and the family referred to this spread of property as the Old Place. It was on this parcel where I harvested my first spring gobbler and caught this disease that many have fallen victim to. The name came with little effort and Old Place Outdoors is where all of my outdoor passions collide, hunting, call making, taxidermy and wildlife artistry. Take a look around and feel free to reach out to me with any questions.