Collecting Turkey Hunting Books

Two turkey book examples: Left is very expensive. Right is a more common book.

It should come as no surprise to my valued readers that I collect books on fishing and hunting. To take that one step further, I avidly  collect turkey hunting books. To be precise, my collection currently numbers 642 titles.

That means hardcover, softcover, self-wraps (a group of pages usually stapled together without an obvious cover), state and national publications of one kind or another. Among this group, there are some duplicates as certain titles were published in hardcover and paperback. It also means that most of these books are hardcore turkey hunting titles while there are some books that have a significant amount of turkey hunting in them while also covering other assorted game species.

I buy and sell books on my personal website (see Scoop’s Books). I have four  big plastic tubs of duplicate copies of some titles. A common question asked of me is why collect turkey books, and my reason is very simple.

Turkey hunting books are of special interest to me. Feel free to touch base.

Michigan’s spring turkey extends over about six weeks. The first two hunt periods last just one week while the last season lasts almost a month. I normally try for the 1st or 2nd turkey seasons in Area K, the largest turkey hunting zone in Region II (the northern Lower Peninsula). Spring hunts begin in mid-April and run through the end of May.

Hunting success can be hit or miss during the first two seasons. We had a great deal of wind and rain during the first two hunting seasons this year, and I’m not ashamed to admit not shooting a gobbler this year. Two gobblers were coming directly to me when a local farmer decided to fertilize his fields with a tractor and manure spreader. The birds had been coming to my calls, but the noise of the tractor and a sudden rainstorm stopped the birds in their tracks. They quickly disappeared, and couldn’t be found the rest of the day.

So, unless I hunt other states (which I have in the past) my turkey hunting is done for this year. One week of chasing gobblers isn’t enough to satisfy me, so what’s the next logical thing to do? It’s very simple: collect books on turkey hunting.

Which brings us to today’s topic. This is a relatively new topic among collectors, and many books are easy to find and are relatively inexpensive. Where the cheese gets binding is when we start looking for the cornerstone books of turkey hunting, the four key titles..

Those books include: The Wild Turkey and Its Hunting  was written by E. A. McIlhenny, and published in 1914 with two later printings of note. A good bit of this book was actually written by C. L. Jordan. The first edition, when a copy can be found, will sell for $800 to $1.500, depending on its condition and whether it has a dust jacket or not. It is a Very Scarce book.

The second book in this grouping of cornerstone books would be Hunting The Wild Turkey by Tom Turpin,  which was published  in 1927. It’s not positively known how many copies of the first edition were printed but at one time I knew of six or seven copies. A few other copies have turned up in recent years, and a friend bought a copy several years ago for less than $10.  Such prices cannot be expected now, and a true 1st edition is worth several thousand dollars. A second printing by Penns Woods was done in 1966, and it fetches $70-100 on today’s market.

The third cornerstone book would be Tales of Wild Turkey Hunting by Simon Everitt. It was published in a hardcover edition in 1928, with several later printings. Much of this book deals with hunting wild turkeys with a dog, especially in North Carolina. It has become very difficult to find in recent years although the second printing by Old Masters in 1984 in hardcover can be found. The second printing in Mint condition costs about $100 while a first is $1,000 or more.

The fourth cornerstone book, and in my person opinion is the best of the early books, is The American Wild Turkey by Henry Edwards Davis, and printed in 1949. The illustrated dust jacket is superb, and it sells for $500-1,200, depending on condition and presence of a dust jacket.
the second edition was done by Old Masters in 1984 and sells for $80-120, and this book in its first edition should be rated at the top of the turkey hunter’s list.

The four cornerstone turkey books should appeal to every collector.

From these rather humble beginnings have come several hundred other books, either entirely or partially filled with turkey hunting lore. The last 11 years has seen a tremendous increase in turkey hunting literature. Many have been good books while a few are hardly worth the paper they are printed on. Many of these books are paperbacks.

Hunters seek more knowledge about turkey hunting, and the only good place to obtain material capable of helping people understand and learn more about being a successful gobbler hunter is through books. They can be held in your hand, read and re-read, until salient points of hunting methods become firmly established in one’s brain.

Sadly, I admit a certain bias against turkey videos because I’ve been a fulltime outdoor writer for 44 years, and in my humble opinion, it’s easier to learn from the written word than from a video. I don’t mean to step on anyone’s tender toes, and tell readers to buy videos if they wish.

So far, we’ve talked only about the four cornerstone turkey books noted above. There are many other good books that I am personally looking for. If you have copies, and wish to sell them.

Contact me at David Richey, PO B0x 192, Grawn, MI 49637. Phone (231) 492-7038.Email me at <daverichey1@gmail.com> .

OK, why should anyone, Dave Richey included. collect these books? The answer is rather simple: hunting turkeys one week does not satisfy this itch that needs scratching, so I’m constantly trolling the internet in hopes of finding something new on the topic to read.

I want to learn more about tactics, hunting tips, and things that may make me more successful. What someone needs to write a book about is surefire tactics (if there are any) that produce during high winds, rain or snow storms, and when the birds aren’t gobbling.

I’m like a sponge. I’ve hunted for many years, shot a good number of birds (until this spring), and have called in birds for many people. I’m not a great turkey hunter but I am competent. I just want to increase my knowledge base, and the best way short of hunting more, is to study the new and old books on turkey hunting. A good book can satisfy this craving.

There are some great turkey books available for $20-30 that detail specific hunting techniques, and there are many books valued at $30-50. Some books, especially limited editions, will sell for upwards of $100 or more. Several books can be purchased only by the dedicated hunter, who has the money to spend several hundred up to $2,000 or more. If you begin collecting turkey books, try to get the author to sign the book whenever possible. It’s a nice touch/

How common are these books? Obviously, the more expensive books are the hardest to find. One’s best chance of finding the really difficult books means going to a specialist like myself that deals heavtiy in turkey titles. My duplicate holdings range from the fairly common to the expensive titles, and I have a decent stock of moderately to very expensive titles on hand, but like most booksellers, many of the tough books are one-of-a-kind.

If you have any of the following books, please contact me.

I’m also looking for some turkey titles. Contact me if you have any of these: John Aldrich -- Bibliography of The Wild Turkey & Its Management; Robert Austin -- The Osceola: Hunting Florida’s Wild Turkey; Martin Burget -- Wild Turkey Hunting Techniques; Malcomb Commer -- Mississippi Wildlife Monarch -- The Wild Turkey; J. Wayne Fears -- Scotch Turkey Guide; Bill Harper -- Strut Zone Hunting Tactics; W. H. Purser -- Wild Turkey Hunting; Ralph Totten -- Talking Turkey; and John T. Zimmer -- The Wild Turkey.

Most of all, this blog hopefully will serve to put me in touch with other people who do collect turkey books. I want to meet some new collectors, and it’s very possible that we may be able to work out a trade for some of my good turkey books for those books that I need to finish off my personal turkey-book collection. Perhaps I have something you need, and perhaps I have something you’ve been looking for.

The one great thing about collecting turkey books is meeting new people, whether they are beginning collectors or simply people who have one or two books, but wish to learn more along the way. I’m willing, within reason, to talk turkey books, prices, trades or even information. I have bought and sold books for 40 years.

Let me know your thoughts on turkey books. It could be fun and perhaps productive for both of us. May all your gobblers have long hooks, big drooping beards and gobble often.

Title: Collecting Turkey Hunting Books

Tags: ((Dave, Richey, Michigan, outdoors, buy, sell, trade, turkey, books, looking, for, collectors, common, expensive))

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