Aggressive turkey provides laughter for outdoor photographer

This aggressive turkey was a nuisance to one photographer, but a source of laughter for another.
This aggressive turkey was a nuisance to one photographer, but a source of laughter for another.

It wasn’t quite as funny for other photographer

You can bet Rick Small has seen a lot of interesting stuff in the course of his work. The outdoor photographer from Rock Hill, S.C. specializes in taking live photos of wild deer and turkeys. And on Feb. 10, a wild turkey put on a show that Small certainly won’t forget.

We can’t find the words to say it better than Rick, so we’ll let him do the talking. This is what he posted to his Facebook page after it all went down.

“With things the way they have been, I have needed a good laugh for a while. Well, my friend Jay Sheinfield helped me out this morning, providing me a front row seat to an MMA match, a horror movie, a suspense/thriller, and a comedy (emphasis on the comedy part) all rolled up into one entertaining morning!

Sometimes, all you can do is laugh

This tom started clucking, yelping, and gobbling at us as he came out of the creek bottom. I thought he was lonely and needed a friend. I did not realize how true that was until I heard Jay yelling ‘Get! Go away! Get outta here!’

I turned around to see this turkey going after Jay, all the while strutting, gobbling, yelping, pecking, and jumping at Jay as he was chasing. Jay was yelling and running. A sight to behold for sure. I hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time!

This was one of the best photos I could get because the more I backed up to get them both in the frame, the closer Jay would come in my direction. He later told me that he purposely tried staying close to keep me from taking photos!

The only way Jay was able to get the turkey to stop was to stand his ground and kick at the turkey while yelling loudly something the likes of ‘stop it or I’l tell mom!’

Thanks so much Jay. It takes a special friend to ‘risk their life’ just to bring a smile and laugh to your face.”

—Rick Small’s photography has appeared countless times in the pages, and on the covers, of Mississippi Sportsman Magazine, as well as many others. Click here for a peek at some of his wildlife and nature photography.

This story first appeared on CarolinaSportsman.com