Lamar Williams, Turkey Hunting

Lamar Williams in his shop

If you talk turkey hunting long enough to a good hunter, the name Lamar Williams invariably comes up.  Furthermore you do not have to be talking to someone in Starke.  Lamar is renown as one of the best custom turkey call makers in the entire United States.  He is a long time resident of and grew up in Starke.  He graduated from Bradford High School and built his first turkey call in his high school shop class under instructor Ted Oglesby. 

If you plan to purchase a turkey call from Lamar, make sure you have an alternative for the next two years, because that is about how long his waiting list is.  However if you just want to talk about turkey hunting, you will find him to be an easy conversation as this writer already knew and rediscovered on Monday of last week related to some of the topics that follow.

Regarding how he got to be so successful at making turkey calls, Lamar indicated that he got to know a gentleman named Neil Cost.  Lamar describes Mr. Cost as the grandfather of all turkey callers.  Mr. Cost shared some design concepts with Lamar before he died, and Lamar got really serious about developing the best turkey call possible.  As a result, he has developed a call that he is really proud of and that many people seek.  More directly Lamar noted that he has been “really blessed” in knowing the people that he has know and being able to do something so well that he really loves.  Despite the demand for his calls, he makes only about 200 calls yearly. 

As to whether Florida is a better deer or turkey hunting state, Lamar reluctantly says: “from a national perspective, it is a better turkey hunting state.”  He said, “if people are really serious about hunting deer, they’ll go up north or out west to shoot the big deer.  But, if they are really serious turkey hunters, the people up north and out west are coming to Florida to shoot an Osceola Turkey.  Serious turkey hunters want to score a grand slam, which means that they must shoot four subspecies of wild turkeys, one of which must be an Osceola Turkey that lives in Florida.”

When asked why anyone would pay his price and wait for two years for one of his turkey calls, he thought and said, “You wouldn’t.  You would go down to WalMart and buy one there.  Just like if you had a kid who wanted to get into music and learn to play a guitar. You’d get it from WalMart.  But if the kid got good at the music and put out a couple of top 10 hits, he’d trade that first guitar in and get a Gibson or a Fender.  That’s the kind of clients I have.  They’re master turkey hunters.  They already have many calls, but want a new one from a different type of long grain acoustical wood that is honed to the perfect tone and pitch for that kind of wood.  And some are collectors who know if they hold it for fifteen years and then sell, they’ll get more in return than they paid.”

If you would like to talk turkey hunting with Lamar, it will have to be after or before hunting season.  Do not forget him though, because he is a wealth of information about turkey hunting and a good conversation. 

Domestic Mallards

Domestic Female Mallard

What is wrong with this photo?  In the picture is a female duck with young that was photographed during the summer at Kingsley Lake, six miles east of Starke, Florida.  The female duck is a mallard, which is discernable by the blue patch on the outer wing.  The problem is that the above duck is not a wild mallard.  Wild mallards migrate northward during the summer, but domestic mallards that are hatched in captivity do not migrate northward, which within itself is not the problem.  The problem is that the domestic mallard is romantically attracted to the genetically similar and native Florida Mottled Duck.  They will mate with the mottled duck and produce fertile hybrid offspring.  The mottled duck is a reproductively less aggressive duck with a limited and restricted population; consequently, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is concerned that the mottled duck could easily become genetically extinct if the status quo is not reversed.

Further complicating the situation is the fact that the mallard and mottled ducks can be easily confused.  Its dark green head distinctly marks the male mallard. The female mallard and the male and female mottled ducks are quite similar.  The blue patch on its outer wing, as illustrated above, easily distinguishes the female mallard.  The female mottled duck also has a much lighter head than the mallard.  The easiest way to distinguish between the female mallards and female mottled ducks is to observe them during the summer.  Remember that the wild mallards will migrate northward, leaving only the domestic mallards behind.

Also confusing when reading about the issues the fact that domestic mallards are frequently referred to as feral mallards or residential mallards.

To address this issue, the FWC provides control permits to any Floridian interested in trapping, euthanizing or humanly killing the nuisance ducks.  The permit will allow the recipient to take up to 12,000 domestic mallards and destroy up to 6,000 mallard nests yearly.  Conditions of the permits -- which are not described in detail here -- must be closely adhered to.  

The domestic mallards will also reproduce and throw fertile hybrids with Muscovy duck.  Most often these hybrids will show a distinctly different plumage.  These ducks are also subject to harvest by the permit.