I had it explained to me one time by a judge in court, not hunting.

Seems like I'd killed a turkey during the wrong dates and times.

He said, why did you do this?

I said, well, where I'm from, when your tomatoes get right, you pick them.

When your potatoes get right, you dig them.

When your turkeys are right, you go get you on it.

Yeah, but he said, that's not the way we do it.

You have laws that govern when you can kill them and when you can't. But he explained

that to me. I traveled a couple of hours south and slightly west from my home on Wednesday,

March 26th, 2025 to meet with a man who I was told might be the most interesting man in Lafleur County, Oklahoma.

I hardly knew anything about him, and oddly, though I talked to people for a living, while I was in my

truck, and when I got within about two miles of his cabin, I started to get nervous. He was described to me as a kind man, loved by those who know him, but with a checkered past

and an uncanny expertise in wild turkeys.

Why he'd agreed to talk with me, I wasn't sure, and I began to doubt why I had agreed to come.

This is real rural America, not the curated version that I sometimes like to talk about.

This one has addiction, illegal hunting, and broken relationships.

But I had no idea I'd be impacted so much.

This is an unusual bear grease.

Dark at times, funny at others, but I was surprised at the arc of redemption.

You'll have to forgive me because I'm still sorting out the details.

But I'd like to share with you the confessions of this former outlaw.

I really doubt that you're going to want to miss this one.

...