Nearly 40 years in the making, the Alabama Turkey Hunters Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class of honorees on June 8 during the National Wild Turkey Federation-sanctioned 2024 World Turkey Calling Championships held in Mobile.
In 1986, the city leaders in Linden established the Alabama Turkey Hunters Hall of Fame – in theory. The idea languished until 2021 when Doug Max of Uriah became interested in reviving it.
“For some reason, the idea never really went forward,” Max says. “I knew about the HOF because they put on a calling contest in 1993 and I was in it. A couple years later, the contest folded so the organization just sat dormant. It takes time to work through all the legal procedures, but the people of Linden did everything to help us reconstitute this organization.”
In 2024, Linden appointed a nine-person committee with Max as the first chairman of the Alabama Turkey Hunters Hall of Fame Committee. Each board member could nominate three to five people. For the inaugural class, the committee selected Lynn Dent Boykin, Tom Kelly, Ben Rodgers Lee, Billy Macoy, Eddie Salter and Fred T. Stimpson.
“Alabama has such a rich turkey hunting tradition,” Max says. “The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to recognize people who had significantly contributed to the sport of turkey hunting in Alabama, where modern turkey hunting began. In reviving this organization, we wanted to give recognition to certain people, recognition that, in my opinion, was long overdue.”
Lynn Dent Boykin
Lynn Dent Boykin of Mobile served on the NWTF Board of Directors for 10 years. She became the first woman elected president and chairperson of the NWTF board as well as the first woman to preside over any conservation organization. Among her many honors, she was awarded the NWTF C.B. McLeod Distinguished Service Award and the 1996 Alabama Wildlife Federation Governor’s Conservationist of the Year award for her work in promoting Alabama’s outdoor heritage.
Tom Kelly
“Col. Tom Kelly is the premier turkey hunting author,” Max says. “Every turkey hunting writer wishes he or she could be Tom Kelly. Tom was also a great turkey hunter and a great conservationist.”
He wrote more than 20 books about turkey hunting. Many people consider his most famous work, The Tenth Legion, a “must-read” for any turkey hunter. Kelly lived in Spanish Fort, but now calls Virginia home.
Ben Rodgers Lee
A consummate sportsman, Ben Rodgers Lee of Coffeeville introduced countless people to the sport through numerous videos, seminars and media appearances. Many people proclaimed Lee “The Father of Modern Day Turkey Hunting.” Lee won five world champion turkey calling titles, two national championships, three Southeastern United States championships and two Alabama state titles.
Billy Macoy
Born in 1949, Billy Macoy of Lineville started turkey hunting at nine years old. He guided all over the country for stars like Roy Rogers and Davey Allison. He won a national turkey calling championship and two Alabama state titles. He also won the 1985 Grand National Owl Hooting Championship and the 1989 NWTF Grand National Calling Championship, among his many accolades.
Eddie Salter
A well-known sporting personality, Eddie “the Turkey Man” Salter began competing in calling contests and won many events. Some of his titles include seven Southeastern Open Turkey Calling Championships, six Alabama State Championships and two World Open Championships.
Salter was named one of the Top 10 Sportsmen in the United States in 1986 and 1989. In February 2024, the NWTF honored Salter by inducting him into the National Wild Turkey Federation Turkey Callers Hall of Fame.
Fred T. Stimpson
Born in southern Marengo County in 1889, Fred T. Stimpson led the Alabama effort to trap turkeys and relocate them to areas with good habitat, but few or no turkeys to repopulate the state. Turkeys now occupy every Alabama county.
Many relocated turkeys came from what’s now called the Fred T. Stimpson Special Opportunity Area, a 5,400-acre tract in Clarke County. In January 1940, Stimpson helped organize the first World Championship Turkey Calling Contest in Mobile, which he won.
For more information on the ATHHOF, call Doug Max at 251-282-6256 or look it up on Facebook.
John N. Felsher is a professional freelance writer who lives in Semmes, Ala. He also hosts an outdoors tips show for WAVH FM Talk 106.5 radio station in Mobile, Ala. Contact him at [email protected] or through Facebook.
