Black Belt Beginnings

We belly-crawled up the hill. I stopped and sat up, cross-legged, shotgun in position, arms braced against my knees, vision tunneled and shaking with adrenaline. Adkins crawled the decoy level with the top of the hill, pressing the spike into the ground, before retreating a few feet.

“I couldn’t see anything over the hill; then he hit the call. Four red heads popped up in the distance. I could just make them out through the grass. They ran, covering what seemed like 100 yards right to the top of the hill, bunched together. They stopped, suspicious. Time stopped.”

Those are the words of writer Alex Landeen of Athlon Outdoor group, describing his first real turkey hunt. And soon after “time stopped,” Landeen was able to connect with a beautiful gobbler, bringing him into the turkey hunting fold.

The hunt where Landeen was introduced to turkey hunting took place on a sprawling southern Alabama plantation and was hosted by the Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association, the NWTF and the Professional Outdoor Media Association. POMA as it is known to outdoor writers across the country, has an annual conference each year where writers from all corners of the U.S. attend, but this was a unique expedition.

While their annual conference is filled with seminars, educational field trips, a range day and more, this hunt was a collaborative approach to get writers real-world experience. POMA has several unique experiences throughout the year for members.

The Alabama Black Belt Adventures Association, launched in 2009, helped organize the hunt in Alabama’s famed Black Belt area. The ALBBAA is an initiative to advance the welfare of the region. The Black Belt area, which stretches across the south-central area of Alabama from Mississippi to Georgia, refers to the region’s rich, fertile black topsoil which provides a lush habitat that supports an abundance of wildlife.

Our lodge rested on the stunning Shenandoah Plantation, and Riton Optics and Benelli USA provided optics and shotguns for the hunters, while Black Belt Strutter provided calls. Other sponsors included Twin Oaks Plantation, Conecuh Brands and private landowners.

Chef Jeremiah Doughty, founder of From Field to Plate, prepared a delicious wild game dinner featuring a wild boar chorizo stuffed mushroom appetizer, a main course of wild turkey breast stuffed with spinach, garlic cream cheese, sundried tomatoes and finished with a bourbon glaze. He also included sides, a dessert and a signature cocktail.

Unfortunately no other hunters came away with a gobbler on their shoulders.

I was fortunate enough to share the woods with Clay Furrow, one of the hunt sponsors and owner of Black Belt Strutters, and guide Adam Mills for the late-season hunt. What started as a hobby for Furrow, has developed into a successful call business in the last 10 years. Furrow said he loves to get out and hunt, but seeing his craftsmanship help others tops the list.

“You would think building and using my own calls would be the most enjoyable, but what is better than that is getting so many successful hunts sent to me with one of my calls in the picture,” Furrow said. “It makes me feel like I’m a part of every turkey harvested.”

Furrow said his favorite call is a combo of his 2.5 ghost cut diaphragm call and a black anodized aluminum call with a walnut pot, which is the combo he used during our hunts.

Although the calls were top notch, our late season hunts were challenging. The birds had been educated all spring and were weary of “new” hens that popped up in the territory.

Although tough, the hunts were amazing. On one morning hunt, a bird gobbled early before flydown and never stopped gobbling. It felt almost like someone was playing a gobble over and over on a looped recording. For nearly an hour, the old tom gobbled on the roost, but when he hit the ground, he went silent. No matter the technique, or the ground we covered, we could not connect with that gobbling gobbler.

“Some hunts are just tougher than others, and many factors can cause that,” Furrow said.

Mills, who has been hunting turkeys for 25 years, agreed and said that late-season hunts can make a turkey hunter question his or her tactics.

“My advice for a struggling turkey hunter is to embrace the struggle,” he said. “Sometimes it feels like you can do no wrong and they come in on a string, but most of the time it’s not that way. There are many days we go and don’t connect. Heck, that’s most of the time. Learn from each hunt and try to figure out where that bird wanted to be. A turkey is much easier to call into range when you’re where he wants to be. Calling is 20% or less of most successful hunts … getting in the way of where he wants to go is what kills turkeys.”

Hunting any time requires patience, but hunting late-season gobblers requires an appreciation of the time and place, not just bagging a gobbler. Mills said even though he has traveled all over to hunt, there is nothing like hunting at home.

“In my humble opinion, there’s nothing like chasing them at home in Alabama,” Mills said. “These birds down here are special to me. We work all year long to create habitat for these birds, and when you hear them hammering at daybreak on property you’ve spent countless hours working on…. there’s nothing more satisfying.”

Sometimes, just hearing them gobble can be a successful hunt.

POMA Mission: The Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) empowers outdoor communicators by promoting excellence in content creation, fostering business growth and connecting media professionals with industry leaders. The organization champions honest, responsible storytelling in traditional outdoor sports and conservation, while mentoring the next generation of media.

Britney Booth, owner of Booth Media Group and president of POMA, said in addition to the annual conference, the organization has plenty to offer in the coming year.

“We plan to continue our “expeditions” which are the hunting/fishing/shooting camps, with our corporate partners. We will have three or four in 2026,” Booth said.

To join this elite group of writers, photographer, broadcasters, creators and industry leaders, visit https://professionaloutdoormedia.org/.