The 2023 NWTF Show is in the books. It’s been another great show with ample opportunities for turkey hunters to get their fix of all the sights and sounds of the soon coming turkey season. It’s been said, the NWTF Show is the official kickoff to the spring turkey season. And with this year’s event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the NWTF, it was truly the best show yet.
We spent several days making the rounds to take it all in. From new products and gear, to seminars, turkey story-telling sessions, and the calling contests, this show delivers an incredibly unique experience for the turkey hunter. Read on for a closer look at the best of the NWTF Show for 2023.
Turkey Gear
Turkey hunters love their gear. Particularly when it comes to the calls, decoys, and gadgets designed to bring a bird within range for the shot. However, the gear that seemed to grab the most attention this year was the turkey vest. The Mr. Fox Turkey Vest, from the crew at Mossy Oak, lived up to all the hype built up prior to this year’s show. See more about this vest from our Day 1 coverage of the show HERE.
The limited edition vest was designed to honor Mr. Fox Hass, father of Mossy Oak founder, Toxey Haas. But it was also built to be a fundraiser for conservation. There were 400 vests sold to the public at this year’s show at a price of $450 each. The #5 vest was auctioned off at the show at a price of $31,000! That’s a good chunk of change that’ll go a long way toward turkey conservation. The remaining turkey vests will be sold at future Mossy Oak events coming in the weeks ahead.
Another turkey vest that grabbed a lot of attention was the all-new M2 Turkey Vest collaboration from Tethrd and The Hunting Public. M2 stands for Mobile and Modular. Two years in the making, the vest was designed with a proprietary Whisper Tough fabric in Mossy Oak Bottomland camo. It’s a super tough, quiet and durable fabric built to handle years of abuse in the turkey woods. Greg Godfrey, of Tethrd, says it’s got tons of storage and organization for all your calls and gear, an expandable bird bag, and Molle all across the vest, allowing you to build it out with add-ons to best meet your needs. “There’s nothing else quite like it,” says Aaron Warbritton of The Hunting Public. “It’s designed to be mobile, fit nice to your body, and without all the moving around and noise that come with a lot of turkey vests.” The vest is priced at $299 and will be available at the THP and Tethrd websites.
Take a closer look at the M2 Turkey Vest in the video below.
For the minimalist that wants to ditch the vest, but still likes a little cushion on the back side, Hunter Specialties has introduced a couple great options with their Flat Back and Big Cheeks foam seat designs. They are lightweight, flexible, and water resistant, providing a great way to keep you comfortable for long sits.
From calls, decoys, blinds, and accessories, the gallery below features a bunch of great turkey gear we found on display at this year’s NWTF Show.
The Grand National Calling Championship is the Super Bowl of the turkey calling world. You’ll see and hear the best callers in the business doing their best to take home the title. But to do so, you’ll have to get past Matt Van Cise. The man is a machine when it comes to calling turkeys! He won the Senior Open Championship again this year making him an 8-time Grand National champion!
Turkey Hunting Stories with Cuz
Hunting seminars have long been a tradition at the NWTF Show, but this year many of these sessions went beyond mere tips and tactics to bring the audience true turkey hunting stories. One of the highlights was a “campfire” session packed full of old turkey hunting stories with Ronnie “Cuz” Strickland. It was a 2-hour story-telling session with a packed room full of turkey hunters, young and old. The session kicked off with Strickland’s daughter sharing a video that featured an incredible collection of vintage turkey hunting photos from the days gone by. It was enough to make Cuz cry, as well as many of the audience members.
If you’ve never been to the NWTF Show, you need to make plans to attend in 2024. It’s an exciting time when Nashville turns into Turkey Town for a 3-day celebration of the wild turkey and turkey hunting.
For more information, and to keep up with all the conservation efforts of the National Wild Turkey Federation, visit their website at www.nwtf.org.
