By Red Guarino
The Lowndes Signal
Complete with an appearance by two-time world turkey calling champion Eddie Salter and broadcast by James Big Daddy Lawler of WJDB 95.5, the 2014 Lowndes County Turkey Rodeo, sponsored by The Southern Land Brokers and hosted by Trey Harrell and Jon Dyer at Harrell and Sons’ Farm in Hayneville on Saturday, March 22 was a huge success, according to organizers.

A total of 71 teams competed for prizes including $1,000 for First Place Best Bird and $400 for Best Double.
The birds were scored using The Southern Land Brokers scoring system.

First Place honors for Best Bird and Best Double went to Jason Little and George Elijah Jr. of the Hayneville area. Their birds scored 70.81 and 71.755.

Second Place for Best Bird went to Jarod Lowe and Carter Harsh, who took home $600 for a bird that scored 67.225. And Third Place for Best Bird went to Adam Vickory and Robin Hagood, who took home $300 for a bird that scored 66.175.

Harrell said, “We had a good turnout. Everybody had a good time, killed a lot of turkeys, got to meet Eddie Salter. Everything just went real well.”

Among those who participated was Lowndes County District Court Judge Adrian D.

Johnson. He said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the turkey rodeo. My partner Randy Bozeman and I had some success. We killed a nice bird. It’s a good opportunity for turkey hunters to get together and celebrate all the outdoors and joys of turkey hunting. It’s a great event for Lowndes County.”

Little said he and Elijah did their hunting in Lowndes County. He said he killed the first place bird with a body weight of more than 23 pounds. “We had a good time and it was good hunting. The turkeys were gobbling early. We got in there… and killed both of them (for Best Double). We had a good hunt. We got lucky.”

Little said he is glad the rodeo is being held. “We’ve got all these turkey hunters around here and we’ve never had anything to get together on. Now we’re having this. Everyone had a chance to get bragging rights and have the opportunity to kill a good bird.”

Elijah said he and Little both grew up in the Hayneville area. He said of the Best Double kills, “We both had seen those birds and knew they had good spurs.”

Salter told stories about his turkey hunting experiences and had a special treat for the youngsters in the crowd. He called the children around him and taught them to “run mouth calls” which he gave away to each who came up to participate.

Winners Pictured are winners of the 2014 Lowndes County Turkey Rodeo held in Hayneville last Saturday. From left is rodeo host Jon Dyer, Second Place Best Bird winners Carter Harsh and Jarod Lowe, First Place Best Bird winners Jason Little and George Elijah Jr. of the Hayneville, who also won Best Double; Third Place Best Bird winners Adam Vickory and Robin Hagood, and two-time world champion turkey caller Turkey Man Eddie Salter. At back from left are David Harrell and host Trey Harrell. Some 71 teams participated in the event.”