Acorns to Oaks

As a communicator for the National Wild Turkey Federation, one of the greatest aspects of my job is regularly talking with the organization’s volunteers from across the country. Hearing about successful mentored hunts, conservation field days, record-breaking banquets and so much more, I am joyed to receive unexpected texts and phone calls from the organization’s volunteers on their impact on the NWTF mission.

Last year, former Arkansas NWTF State Chapter President Terry Thompson (and 39-year NWTF volunteer) texted me a picture of his grandson’s first buck. But it wasn’t just any buck. It was a deliberate moment that Thompson literally seeded before his grandson was born.

Accompanied with the picture he sent me, Thompson said: “Thirteen years ago, on a cold February morning, five days before convention (the NWTF’s annual Convention and Sport Show), I had my first 300 oaks show up unexpectedly at my door. Cindy (Thompson’s wife) and I hand-planted them in 28-degree weather before heading to Nashville. [This] Saturday morning, my grandson took his first buck sitting in a ground blind underneath those now 25-foot oaks. It’s never too late to make a difference.”

Indeed, it is never too late. Thompson’s way of thinking has sat with me since he texted me last deer season.

“It’s never too late” is a great sentiment and extends to all aspects of how we can propel the NWTF’s mission – it’s never too late to mentor a new hunter, it’s never too late to manage your property for wildlife, it’s never too late to start an NWTF chapter…It is simply never too late to move the mission needle forward.

A great American philosopher once said “… no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till.”

You can take this literally: plant it, nurture it, and it will grow, or as Ralph Waldo Emerson meant it, no matter your disposition in life, it is solely up to you to live your life purposefully. Both pertain to the conservation of the wild turkey and the preservation of our hunting heritage.

As the NWTF embarks on an entire new era of the organization’s history, we must initiate purposefully, just like Thompson did over 13 years ago or just like all of the NWTF’s volunteers have done over the last 51 years.

What matters the most to you? Hearing abundant gobbles with your grandkids (or future grandkids)? Hunters’ rights? Healthy ecosystems and wildlife habitats? Clean water? All of the above? Whatever your calling is, it’s never too late to make a difference. You cannot have a mighty oak without starting with an acorn.

The NWTF’s annual Conservation Week is on the horizon, September 22-28, and we’d like to highlight what is important to our membership. Let us know what is important to you by emailing us at NWTFstory@nwtf.net .