Harold Knight’s Memorable Turkey Hunt with Toxey and Fox Haas
Editor’s Note: This season, longtime Mossy Oak Pro Harold Knight of Cadiz, Kentucky, called in 23 turkeys that were harvested and three turkeys that were missed. In 61 years of hunting turkeys, Harold Knight has seen more than 100 gobblers taken by first-time turkey hunters. The co-founder of Knight and Hale Game Calls recaps his turkey season for us with some of his most memorable 2017 hunts.
This spring, I was invited to hunt with Fox Haas and his son Toxey Haas. Mr. Fox is one of my favorite people in the world. We’ve been hunting buddies for a long time, and I was really looking forward to this hunt in Livingston, Alabama. Mr. Fox is 87 years old, and Mossy Oak was going to film the hunt.
We rode to the place where we were going to hunt on a battery-powered ATV that made very little noise. After parking the ATV, we started walking down an old logging road. Toxey was out in front of us. Just as he started to go around a curve in that old road, he spotted two longbearded turkeys. Toxey helped his son Neill, who was the cameraman, and Mr. Fox get set up before I started to call. I quickly set up two decoys quickly about 25 to 30 yards in front of where Mr. Fox was sitting.
I got about 30 yards behind Mr. Fox and Toxey and started to call. Both longbeards began gobbling. Although they took their time coming around the curve in the old logging road, as soon as they spotted the decoys, they trotted to reach them. When the turkeys were 25 to 30 yards away from Mr. Fox, who already had his shotgun on his shoulder, he squeezed the trigger. That tom completed Mr. Fox’s record of bagging a gobbler every year for the last 70 years.
When I tell people about Mr. Fox Haas, I explain, “If you’re looking for the definition of southern gentleman, Mr. Fox’s name and his picture will be right beside it.”
I’ve never seen a family as happy as Mr. Fox, his son Toxey and his grandson Neill. They were very happy to see Mr. Fox reach a lifetime goal of taking 70 turkeys in 70 turkey seasons. There were a lot of big hugs and high fives as we went to pick up the gobbler and carry him out of the woods.
One of the reasons I feel a kindred spirit with Mr. Fox is that he’s interested in all the things I enjoy. We talk often about turkey hunting, squirrel hunting, baseball, basketball and Mississippi State University, because Mr. Fox is a Mississippi State fan and I'm a Kentucky fan. We share many fun stories with each other. I really enjoy the times I spend with Mr. Fox, Toxey and Toxey’s sons. I didn’t even take my gun on this hunt, because this hunt was not about Harold Knight. The hunt was about Mr. Fox and helping him get his seventieth-season turkey.
For more information about turkey hunting, check out John E. Phillips’ Kindle and print book, “Mossy Oak Pros Talk Turkey Tactics,” at http://amzn.to/1qZnffi and www.barnesandnoble.com for Nook books. For a free copy of John E. Phillips’ “The Turkey Gobbler Getter Manual,” go to http://johninthewild.com/free-books/ to download.
Tomorrow: Knight and Hale Take 3 Turkeys in a Day and a Half
