Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/433799
S P O R T I N G C L A S S I C S 8 6 critters that feasted on the tree's mast in the fall. Incidentally, all of this actually happened one afternoon when we each shot a limit of wood ducks in a grove of oaks. A passel of gray squirrels also figured in the game bag. As we headed back to camp in the gloaming we had the makings of a fine game supper ahead of us and my knowledge of the flora and fauna of Florida's woods had been upgraded appreciably. Speaking of the larder from that hunt, I cleaned it and Lovett cooked it. He was a first-rate hand in the kitchen, and if ever a man knew how to live off the land it was him. During a memorable stay of several days at his Fisheating Creek camp, he created a menu from the nearby woods, swamp, and creek—armadillo, rattlesnake, and gar appetizers; swamp cabbage (heart of sabal palm) as either a raw salad, cooked, or pickled; a succulent young wild boar with leftovers used for barbeque; and wild turkey tenders. This may not be normal camp fare, and I suspect that today uppity bureaucrats would make much of it off limits in a commercial operation, but my goodness was it delectable— indeed, so much so that having some experience producing cookbooks myself, I suggested Lovett compile his recipes and knowledge into a volume and call it Florida Cracker Cooking or Eating Wild the Florida Way. He never wrote such a book, yet there was no shortage of production from his pen on other fronts. His books include The Book of the Wild Turkey (1981), The Voice and Vocabulary of the Wild Turkey (1984), Studies of the Wild Turkey in Florida (1988 and co-authored with David H. Austin), The Art & Science of Wild Turkey Hunting (1989), Wild Turkey Country (1991), Managing Wild Turkeys in Florida (1991), After the Hunt (1996), Hunting the Gould's Wild Turkey in Mexico (circa 2002), Wild Turkey Hunting & Management (2006), The Ocellated Turkey in the Land of the Maya (2010 and co-authored with Erick H. Baur and Neal F. Eichholz), and Who's a Florida Cracker? (2011). Several of these books appeared in both paperbound and hardbound versions. W illiams was equally active in recording and filming wild turkeys. His Real Turkeys tapes (later CDs) remain invaluable for anyone hoping to master turkey talk. He was also devoted to the history of the sport, something which, given my personal background in that field, particularly appealed to me. In 1984, in company with two other turkey-hunting veterans, Larry Hearn and Parker Whedon, he founded Old Masters Publishing. Under that

