The culture of country music and hunting have long been intertwined. The foundation of both hunting and country music is storytelling. A good song tells a story about life, love, or some other lived human experience that other people can relate to. The moment a hunter pulls the trigger and shoots an animal happens in the blink of an eye. That experience lives on forever though thanks to the story of the hunt. What brings the entire hunting community together is sharing good old-fashioned hunting stories. Given that overlap, it’s not surprising that many country music singers and songwriters also share a passion for hunting.
In 2021, the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) launched the Gobblers-N-Guitars video series. It blends together turkey hunting adventures and the music and stories of singers and songwriters. Production of the project has been made possible by Winchester, one of the most historic firearms and ammunition manufacturers in America.
Beginning this year, Outsider will provide support for the series by amplifying the videos to our digital audience. So as we gear up for another great spring of good music and rowdy big bird hunting, let’s take a look back at some of the earlier episodes of Gobblers-N-Guitars.
A Closer Look At The Music Made By Justin Adams
After a highly successful college football career at the University of Northern Iowa, Justin Adams found himself back in his home state of Oklahoma. He was dreaming of turning country music into a full-time job. So he took off for Music City to chase those dreams.
His first two major cuts as a songwriter came courtesy of one of the biggest names on the Texas country music scene. Granger Smith’s hit songs You’re In It and When The Good Guys Win were both co-written by Adams. The ladder of which was the title track for Smith’s 2017 album. In addition to his songwriting prowess, Adams has also released quite a bit of original music himself. Among his most popular recent releases are the songs Damn Good Life, Kings and Queens of The Modern Day Honky Tonk, Joe Bought A Bar, and Lucky One.
An Inside Look At His Successful Turkey Hunt Out In Kansas
Justin Adams was the first musician featured in the Gobblers-N-Guitars video series. He joined NWTF and the crew from The 1% Media in Kansas back in the spring of 2021. They were chasing Rio Grande gobblers and sharing their stories. The video opens up with him drawing comparisons between the art of songwriting and an appreciation for hunting stories.
Though he had been turkey hunting before, he had struggled to find success connecting on a big gobbler. That all changed on his trip to Kansas though. The action opens up with several roosted birds letting gobbles rip from the trees. As the sun comes up, the hunt really gets going. Things go back and forth between some strutting gobblers and Adams’ hunting buddy on the squawk box. Then a group of toms rolls in and rampages the decoy spread. Adams pulls the trigger and drops a bird. Making the moment even more special is that he doubled up on birds with hit songwriter Brad Clawson. We’ll have more on him in the next episode.
The experience comes full circle as Justin Adams fries up his bird, fixes some side dishes, and pours a glass of red wine. The video wraps up with him picking up a guitar and playing an acoustic version of his song Let It Be Country.
