Business Lessons From Turkey Hunting

Pheasant Hunting with Ed Smith

Wishing Happy Birthday to an “old” Marine and my dear friend Ed Smith who never met a stranger! Ed taught me how to turkey hunt many moons ago in LA (Lower Alabama). The lessons to be learned in Alabama turkey hunting are also excellent lessons for life and business. Ed is one of the best turkey callers in the state. He understands the biology and psychology of turkeys as well as anyone. He is a master of turkey hunting techniques and strategies. Turkey hunting is all about getting into the mind of a male turkey gobbler. Each spring, these males become very anxious to hook up with female turkey hens. To that end, they usually gobble around sunrise from high in a tree and expect the hens to fly up to them quickly in response. That is where the turkey mind games begin. Before sunrise you move through the forest fully camouflaged from head to toe listening for these anxious gobblers to proclaim their demands. To get them started you can make a crow or owl call and they will often gobble in response. Once you know the gobbler’s position, you quietly move toward it and sit down with your back against a tree. You then begin to periodically tease the gobbler with the sounds of a hen such as yelps using a turkey call. The gobbler will respond aggressively from his tree essentially yelling for the hen to get up here now! But, you sit there quietly and patiently and after an eternity to the gobbler periodically let out a few little yelps. Eventually the gobbler loses his patience and comes down from the tree in a frustrated attempt to find you (the “hen”) in the forest. He knows where your sound came from. At this point the gobbler has abandoned the natural rules he was created to follow. He is now on a slippery path towards destruction and his eventual death.

There are clear lessons from turkey hunting for life and business. Whenever a business begins to operate from a risk-of-enforcement perspective (i.e. ignoring regulatory requirements that it thinks or knows will not be enforced by the government or the public) it is behaving like the gobbler and heading down a slippery path of self-destruction.

I enjoy the challenge of identifying regulatory requirements and developing rational compliance systems to keep businesses up in the trees. I am thankful that Ed taught me how to turkey hunt so long ago. I hope that you enjoy your day Ed. Great hunting and Semper Fi!