Editor’s Note: Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland videoed for Mossy Oak and Primos Hunting for some years. Today, Ronnie, “Cuz” Strickland is Mossy Oak’s vice president in charge of television and video production. Strickland probably has filmed more TV shows and videos about hunting and the outdoors than anyone in the industry. Currently he’s responsible for producing 5 TV shows, including “Hunting the Country”, “Deer Thugs”, “Turkey Thugs”, “Inside the Obsession”, and “Game Keepers,” as well as all the videos that Mossy Oak produces. Strickland has hunted all over the nation and all over the world with celebrities and everyday hunters and has seen about everything that can happen in the woods. We’ve asked Strickland to tell us about some of the funniest and strangest hunts he’s been on while hunting across the country.
I was spending a turkey hunt in Texas with one of my good friends, Bob Dixon, who has passed away now. Another friend of ours, Will Walker, was hunting with us. Back in those days, we mainly filmed calling the turkey in, shooting the turkey and showing the hunters with the turkey. So, Will and Bob posed behind the turkey. I had them both miced, and they were talking about the hunt, calling the gobbler and taking the shot. Then, while I was still filming, the dead gobbler lifted his head up, looked at Bob and Will, jumped-up and started staggering off before breaking into a full run.
Instead of picking-up the gun and shooting the turkey again, they started chasing that tom, throwing rocks and sticks at him. Finally, they caught the ole turkey and put him down. I still have that video in the Mossy Oak files and enjoy getting it out and watching that turkey lift his head up, look at the two hunters, start walking and then running off. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a cartoon any funnier than these two hunters leaving their guns on the ground where they had been kneeling beside the turkey then picking up rocks and sticks, as they ran and throwing them at the turkey, until they finally caught-up to the bird and put him down.
To me, hunting is more than taking game and being outside. What I always remember the most and still enjoy thinking about is the people I’ve hunted with, and some of the crazy funny things I’ve been able to see and remember.
Day 2: Cuz Says a Dead Deer Isn’t Always a Dead Deer
Tomorrow: You Can Get Too Excited Hunting Turkeys
