Just wondering if there are any books out there by Ben Rodgers Lee? Or videos? This is gonna sound bad but I just discovered him, and now I'm extremely interested in learning more of Ben Lee. Thanks In Advance
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Jim Casada has some books for sale.
I have/had a VCR tape of his about deer hunting. I seldom throw anything like that away. I'll look tomorrow.
Ben Lee made a few audio tapes on Turkey hunting I have them on cd, as well as a couple books. The vhs tapes are hard to come by.
Didn't he also make few how to tapes on using calls etc.. ?
Quote from: LaLongbeard on May 23, 2020, 09:22:36 AM
Ben Lee made a few audio tapes on Turkey hunting I have them on cd, as well as a couple books. The vhs tapes are hard to come by.
I think I did find 1 or 2 vhs tapes on eBay. I'm probably gonna have to scoop those up and buy a DVD player.
It's pretty tough to find stuff on him.
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Quote from: joey46 on May 23, 2020, 03:14:44 AM
I have/had a VCR tape of his about deer hunting. I seldom throw anything like that away. I'll look tomorrow.
Haven't found it yet. I remember it is "Hunting the Rut". It will eventually turn up.
I met Ben Lee at a seminar he gave in Pa. in the late 70's right about the time I graduated high school. The man was hilarious and damn, could he talk turkey!! He and Dick Kirby are the 2 men I "blame" for my addiction to chasing gobbles for nearly 45 years now.
I still have a mint 45 record of Ben instructing on how to make the different sounds of turkeys and their meanings. I also have a copy that I must have played and called along to a million times! :TooFunny:
His book "The Turkey Hunting World of Ben Rodgers Lee" is a great read, a collection of stories by him about his life, hunting tactics and humor. Hard to find, but Jim Casada May be able to locate it for you.
https://www.amazon.com/turkey-hunting-world-Ben-Lee/dp/B000726M8A
In addition to the book 'The Turkey Hunting World of Ben Lee' which you simply must have (and don't be put off that he preaches body shooting turkeys...things have changed since that book was written), the book 'Spring Gobblers' by John Lowther has "expert advice from Ben Lee" but that book is hard to come by. In 1989 Ben Rodgers Lee put out a VHS 'Turkey Hunting With Ben Lee and Friends' which is fun now to watch. I have a number of records and audiocassetes he did as well...keep an eye out as they pop up. I have some of of his old catalogs as well, time capsules now!
I got very luck and was able to get a copy on Amazon for a very reasonable price, was even delivered on my birthday.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49928293431_6a5dc2978b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2j4Zyan)Ben Lee Boox (https://flic.kr/p/2j4Zyan) by Sir-diealot (https://www.flickr.com/photos/91075563@N06/), on Flickr
Couple of items on ebay - Ben Lee mouth calling record and World champion turkey calling techniques ...
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
Ah man, no way! Really??
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Man $100 for that book is pretty steep. I'm gonna have to keep an eye out on eBay or something for some at a better price.
From what little snippets I've read he seems to be a major wealth of knowledge about turkeys and turkey hunting.
Bummer about that poaching stuff...
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Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
Somewhere I have a cassette recorded secretively on which, under the influence of alcohol, he speaks candidly of the activities of which you write. Listening to the tape, I believed what he said. However, he was one the great ones and let ones without sin cast the first stone. And he could call, man, he could call.
Quote from: Mossberg90MN on May 23, 2020, 11:02:22 PM
Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
Ah man, no way! Really??
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Yes. I'm sorry cause I don't wanna kill any accomplishments but at the same time imagine a guy was a great teacher but a pedifile per se (To be clear I'm not referring to him that way) Should the great teaching make a man be looked up to?
Ben Lee perhaps had some good things he could be known for but in the same token he should not be an ambassador of our sport. He did it to himself and even bragged on it. To me that's all he'll ever be. A poacher and one of the type makes us all look bad. It's his words that painted himself that way and it amazes me no one else seems bothered by it.
Quote from: silvestris on May 24, 2020, 03:58:01 AM
Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
Somewhere I have a cassette recorded secretively on which, under the influence of alcohol, he speaks candidly of the activities of which you write. Listening to the tape, I believed what he said. However, he was one the great ones and let ones without sin cast the first stone. And he could call, man, he could call.
I'm not without sin nor casting a stone. I'm just stating facts. We need role models in life and this ain't one. That's with no judgement. Bible says don't judge or you will be judged. It says to forgive or you won't be forgiven. Does it say to look up to thieves?? It doesn't. You all can do as you wish I'm just stating what I personally witnessed
Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
What kind of law breaking are we talking about.
Quote from: Bowguy on May 24, 2020, 05:30:20 AM
Quote from: Mossberg90MN on May 23, 2020, 11:02:22 PM
Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
Ah man, no way! Really??
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes. I'm sorry cause I don't wanna kill any accomplishments but at the same time imagine a guy was a great teacher but a pedifile per se (To be clear I'm not referring to him that way) Should the great teaching make a man be looked up to?
Ben Lee perhaps had some good things he could be known for but in the same token he should not be an ambassador of our sport. He did it to himself and even bragged on it. To me that's all he'll ever be. A poacher and one of the type makes us all look bad. It's his words that painted himself that way and it amazes me no one else seems bothered by it.
Why use the teacher/pedafile remark as an example and then turn around and say your not referring to him that way. Thats a poor example to use and uncalled for.
Tom Kelly in Tenth legion mentions up country hunters that on matters of killing game (and taking timber) for personal use are on a different wave length than the rest of us, but he respected them was proud to call some of them friends.
Charles Elliot in his book enjoyed hunting with Ben Lee and speaks highly of him.
I've read Ben Lee's book several times and watched his hunting videos and don't recall any mention of poaching or tresspasss in them.
and for the record I'm not in favor of poaching, and Tom Kelly went on to say how it benefited the turkey population when a lot of rural folks moved to the cities in the 30's and 40's for work.
The thing is , a man can do alot of great things in his life but if he does something really bad , he is remembered for that.
Quote from: mikejd on May 24, 2020, 06:46:13 AM
Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
What kind of law breaking are we talking about.
Legal shooting times was one I remember. Didn't think deer or turkey carried watches.
I remember when I was young a store near my home rented Vhs movies. They had 3 hunting movies and one was ben lees hunting the rut my friends and I watched it many times.
Ben Rodgers Lee was a pioneer of turkey hunting back at a time when there were few others around. For those of us around back then,...and cutting our teeth in learning to turkey hunt,...we took what he said as "gospel" in turkey hunting. ...Wasn't until years after his untimely death in that car accident that I/we figured out that it was best to take a lot of what he had preached with a grain of salt. :)
Glorifying any man, especially one you don't personally know, will leave you disappointed every time the whole truth is displayed. We are all human and every one of us has our lesser know failures that we don't want shared.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to take from the gifts that a man was given, and use his knowledge to further your own.
God is the only deserving figure of glorification and the only instance where at some point you won't be disappointed. His motives aren't driven by greed, selfishness, nor pride. These things are pronounced characteristics of old time and new age turkey hunters.
Quote from: mikejd on May 24, 2020, 06:46:13 AM
Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
What kind of law breaking are we talking about.
Shooting animals out of windows, trespassing, too many, etc etc. Even found it real comical how he had to hide in a ditch when the cops were looking for him
Well, I can understand some of the whole, different time sort of stuff. After all it sounds like it was guys like him that were learning how to play the game. Back before some of these sportsmen rules were being set.
Yea I just stumbled on some articles about him and I thought, man I totally got to read about this guy.
Well, I'm gonna keep my eye out for that book of his. Hopefully I can find it for a decent price some time.
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One of his stories from his audio tapes he tells how he got all zeros for his last call in a calling contest. He was in Pennsylvania I think, he asked the judges about the zeros they said they'd never heard a hen cackle. Ben asked how many Turkeys the judges had killed they answered one or a few each, Ben let's them know he'd killed 5 Gobblers in a day using the cackle. He was either exaggerating to make a point or admitting to some serious over the limit shooting, no state at that time would allow anyone to shoot 5 Gobblers a day, you can't even do that in Texas today.
Even as a kid hearing the tapes for the first time I had enough sense to filter out what was and was not right or wrong. Nobody is perfect but I'd say I'd rather put up with Bens character flaws than some of the reapers and hen shooters that have no redeemable qualities whatsoever, at least Ben told a decent story.
Quote from: crow on May 24, 2020, 08:30:27 AM
Quote from: Bowguy on May 24, 2020, 05:30:20 AM
Quote from: Mossberg90MN on May 23, 2020, 11:02:22 PM
Quote from: Bowguy on May 23, 2020, 09:57:46 PM
Every time I hear his name I think of the time I watched a seminar of his. Throughout he talked openly and repeatedly of poaching and breaking the law. Was an embarrassment. Idk why no one talks about this but you wanted to know about Ben Lee. That was him
Ah man, no way! Really??
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes. I'm sorry cause I don't wanna kill any accomplishments but at the same time imagine a guy was a great teacher but a pedifile per se (To be clear I'm not referring to him that way) Should the great teaching make a man be looked up to?
Ben Lee perhaps had some good things he could be known for but in the same token he should not be an ambassador of our sport. He did it to himself and even bragged on it. To me that's all he'll ever be. A poacher and one of the type makes us all look bad. It's his words that painted himself that way and it amazes me no one else seems bothered by it.
Why use the teacher/pedafile remark as an example and then turn around and say your not referring to him that way. Thats a poor example to use and uncalled for.
Tom Kelly in Tenth legion mentions up country hunters that on matters of killing game (and taking timber) for personal use are on a different wave length than the rest of us, but he respected them was proud to call some of them friends.
Charles Elliot in his book enjoyed hunting with Ben Lee and speaks highly of him.
I've read Ben Lee's book several times and watched his hunting videos and don't recall any mention of poaching or tresspasss in them.
and for the record I'm not in favor of poaching, and Tom Kelly went on to say how it benefited the turkey population when a lot of rural folks moved to the cities in the 30's and 40's for work.
Why the remark cause that was the example showing how one thing could cancel out something else came to mind. I don't see what I'd do dif as I personally don't see that as offensive the way it was written but I'll make note of it.
Now if you've read books and saw his videos maybe you should figure incriminating evidence wouldn't be in them?? Pretty common sense if you ask me, But you are entitled to view him anyway you like as I am. Nothing to do with personal use the way he presented it. You weren't there. You don't know what you don't know. I was there in person w kids, wives, girlfriends of hunters. It was very uncomfortable in that room. Imagine all the people who were there w someone who don't hunt, they got a really bad impression of us. Man was not an ambassador
Back then , trespassing, over stepping limits shooting hours etc where not viewed the same as they are now .
You didn't have high dollar leases , and the majority of land owners could care less as long as you didn't harm there cattle or cutt a fence etc . It was simply a different time period . Things have changed ... some for the better, some worse . My own hunting practices, morels have changed over the years . I'd bet the farm that truth be told most turkeys hunters that hunted that era would say the same .
I never met Ben Lee , wish I would have though . Probly would've learned a thing or two from him .
I ran across some brand new still in packets calls he made . I've got a mouth call carrier / a cassette tape / a tube caller all never opened in my call collection and cherish them even though he may of been a little ruff around the edges .
Quote from: LaLongbeard on May 24, 2020, 05:42:46 PM
One of his stories from his audio tapes he tells how he got all zeros for his last call in a calling contest. He was in Pennsylvania I think, he asked the judges about the zeros they said they'd never heard a hen cackle. Ben asked how many Turkeys the judges had killed they answered one or a few each, Ben let's them know he'd killed 5 Gobblers in a day using the cackle.
Yeah, one of old Ben's claims to fame was his "discovery" of the cackle. He claimed that it was the "true mating call" of the wild turkey hen. We hunted for years back in the 70's thinking the cackle was the end-all key to success. Learned the hard way that Ben's claim about turkeys not being able to resist the cackle was a "slight" exaggeration.
Like I said before, we learned to take Ben's "theories" on turkey hunting with a big old dose of salt. Can't argue with his success "way back when" but I would love to see how he would deal with today's hunting conditions. Having said that, he was the first real "character" we had in the turkey hunting world. :)
Quote from: GobbleNut on May 25, 2020, 07:53:01 AM
Quote from: LaLongbeard on May 24, 2020, 05:42:46 PM
One of his stories from his audio tapes he tells how he got all zeros for his last call in a calling contest. He was in Pennsylvania I think, he asked the judges about the zeros they said they'd never heard a hen cackle. Ben asked how many Turkeys the judges had killed they answered one or a few each, Ben let's them know he'd killed 5 Gobblers in a day using the cackle.
Yeah, one of old Ben's claims to fame was his "discovery" of the cackle. He claimed that it was the "true mating call" of the wild turkey hen. We hunted for years back in the 70's thinking the cackle was the end-all key to success. Learned the hard way that Ben's claim about turkeys not being able to resist the cackle was a "slight" exaggeration.
Like I said before, we learned to take Ben's "theories" on turkey hunting with a big old dose of salt. Can't argue with his success "way back when" but I would love to see how he would deal with today's hunting conditions. Having said that, he was the first real "character" we had in the turkey hunting world. :)
There is a book "44 years in the life of a hunter by Meshach Browning" written in the mid 1800's where he calls in a spring gobbler by using the cackle of a hen, so nothing new there in Ben Lee's time, maybe just rediscovered