NWTF Convention disappointment

[Roost 1]

I also contend that the states done most of the hard work and would have done it without the NWTF.

I'm sure this is true in some states, but here in NM that was certainly not the case.  Without us turkey hunters organizing under the banner of the NWTF here, I believe very little would have been done in terms of turkey management or for turkey hunters.  Our organized persistence with our Game & Fish Department back in the 80's and 90's is THE factor that put turkeys on the map here.  Without our insistence that turkeys be managed as a species worthy of their true value as a premier game animal, they would still probably just be a consolation prize for big game hunters.

Having said that, however, we watched over those decades as the emphasis at NWTF headquarters went from being about supporting sound wild turkey management and projects to benefit them to that of feeding the growing corporate machine and the greed that naturally accompanies that.  That transformation is truly unfortunate,...both for wild turkeys,...and wild turkey hunters.

Regardless of all of the above, I hope those that attended the party had a great time!

The best post in this thread.... I agree 100%!!!

[treein dixie]

They went up on booth rent $300 at once, they are moving the smaller guys around next year after having the same spot 10+ years for commercial accounts that rent more booths.  They had husband and wives split up seating at the dinner.  The auction on line and in person was horrible.  They couldn't manage the auction on line at all.  Last year they used EBAY this year they wanted all the funds and screwed it all up spite all the hard work.  The admission marketing deal is BS just to get more money. They moved Thursday for Sunday that a lot couldn't take off for.
Once they knock the smaller dealers out of the show the show will SINK.  I can go to Bass Pro any day of the week they must had 20 booths,  Its OK looking at guns but I can go to the local gun store 5 days a week and look at guns.  I can buy a primos calls any day of the week at bass pro or on line, another 10 booths gone.  I believe we all go for the turkey items, hand made calls, cloths specials, taxidermy, etc what original made the show!!

[Roost 1]

The custom call makers originally made the show now they can't afford to buy a booth... These days it reminds me of an indoor, upscale, flea market. I can buy soup mixes, honey, dips, etc at the grocery store. I don't go there to see ATVs, wood carvings, cheap jewelry, lawn mowers, etc. 

[treein dixie]

The custom call makers originally made the show now they can't afford to buy a booth... These days it reminds me of an indoor, upscale, flea market. I can buy soup mixes, honey, dips, etc at the grocery store. I don't go there to see ATVs, wood carvings, cheap jewelry, lawn mowers, etc.

You see it too!  Yes I know several dealers not going back next year because they can't afford the prices jumps!  Pushing the call makers out!

[bigriverbum]

i always feel a certain disconnect when i page through the latest ducks unlimited magazine and see all the big wigs in tuxedos and ball gowns at their "events"

DU was the worst when I was involved with them. Every meeting was about how to make more money. At banquets it was push, push, push to get money from folks. Dropped them years ago.
Sad

then they take that money and spend a ton of it on "habitat". which often involves helping private land owners flood crops and run "pay to play" operations......that you can experience on youtube when the DU "stars" get to hunt there for the tv show

[Greg Massey]

Regardless i go to support the call builders who are at the show and will be returning next year.. the other vendors at the show , just help in making it something for everyone ..  Some call builders may leave and I'm sure others will give it a first time try at the show, it's all part of the game ..  Getting upset , doesn't help anyone , my suggestion is call the NWTF headquarters in Nashville and voice your opinion about how you feel about the show and booth prices etc .. that's the only way we may get it change for the future and help these call builders ....

[Jester87]

Wish I could have experienced the convention years ago when it was more intimate and affordable for smaller vendors. Commercializing events is a sad trend nationwide. Love em or hate em, if these events indoctrinate the youth to our great sport its a win for us all.

This was my first show, and coming from afar, I took in the whole experience going all 3 days. Commercializing aside, its still an amazing opportunity to run calls, watch the best compete and learn a thing or two about turkey hunting. I spent a lot of time in the custom call room. These are contest calls and should be considered their best work. Where else besides Unicoi can you run calls from the best at your leisure. They were available on silent bid and some sold at a steal imo. I was also kindly taught how to run a few that were new to me. Thurs was the best day to meet, greet and hear the calls above the crowd. Friday double the crowd and some vendors were gone or low on stock. Sat is a circus and best spent watching the finals or in the custom room. Which day you decide to attend will most impact your overall experience. Meeting some great call makers, turkey industry icons and playing their calls was priceless for me.

I do wish they had done a better job at signage to the seminar and taxidermy rooms. I had to ask directions and went the wrong way on several occasions.   

I hope to make Unicoi some day but for now I got a Glenda satchel full of amazing calls to practice and hunt!

[Goodtimekiller]

Do people not realize that the more members an organization like this can report can greatly increase the amount of support and pull they can get for fighting for the things we all deem important.

And conservation projects on the number of acres the nwtf has affected and renting the opryland hotel with an extra room this year, is not free.

Look up sometime the $ amount the nwtf has put on the ground and how many turkeys they have spread across the country.

If you have had the chance to hunt turkeys in the last 20 years, you should buy an nwtf membership every year.

I have paid $15-20 to get into gun shows that i can walk through in 15 minutes and see everything. But the nwtf costs $35 now and they give you a $25 gift card, and you guys want to complain?


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[GobbleNut]

Do people not realize that the more members an organization like this can report can greatly increase the amount of support and pull they can get for fighting for the things we all deem important.

And conservation projects on the number of acres the nwtf has affected and renting the opryland hotel with an extra room this year, is not free.

Look up sometime the $ amount the nwtf has put on the ground and how many turkeys they have spread across the country.

If you have had the chance to hunt turkeys in the last 20 years, you should buy an nwtf membership every year.

I have paid $15-20 to get into gun shows that i can walk through in 15 minutes and see everything. But the nwtf costs $35 now and they give you a $25 gift card, and you guys want to complain?

Your points are well taken.  We all have our own expectations for the organization.  As one who joined NWTF in 1975, what I deemed to be important was putting dollars on the ground for wild turkeys.  From my own perspective, that is still the vision I have for the organization, but I have watched as it has morphed into what it is today. ...Not saying it is good or bad,...just saying it is not what it was when I joined "way back when",...and I wish it still was.

There is no doubt in my mind that the NWTF was instrumental in the explosion of wild turkey populations and the popularity of turkey hunting across the country a half century ago.  By the same token, we have watched turkey numbers plummet in a significant number of places in recent years.  The NWTF of old would have been on the cutting edge of doing something about that.  Question is,..."Where are they now"?

To paraphrase the old saying, as far as I can tell..."they are fiddling while Rome burns"!

[bbcoach]

Goodtimekiller, Most of us aren't complaining.  We have seen the NWTF grow on the backs of small call makers, small donations from small companies and individual memberships.  When these organizations start getting larger, they overpay the top 1%, get their hands on corporate money and forget about the people that got them started.  IT'S GREED, pure and simple.  And with that greed, comes the need for more and more $$$.  Local chapters of NWTF are the Grass Roots of this Org. not the BIG SALARIES paid to the top 1%.  Yes, NWTF has done some Great work for this sport but GREED will bring them to their knees very quickly, as so many other organizations have witnessed.  And the Turkeys will be the ones that suffer.  I would really like to see what % of the money they take in each year, ACTUALLY gets put back into the turkey population.  I'll bet it's less than 50%. 

[eggshell]

NWTF greeter:  "Here have a glass of cool-aide. you'll feel a whole lot better in just a little bit.....it'll be just like heaven. Oh let me hold your billfold it looks awfully heavy".

I used to know an old Wildlife Biologist who worked a lot of the turkey trappings and restockings. He had a saying, "it's picture day, it ain't a work day" . If you knew him well you knew he meant that his crew was the ones baiting sites for two months, setting up and mending cannon nets, sitting in blinds at 20 degrees at 6:00AM, and wresting turkeys into boxes only to drive them to a dog and pony show in fancy NWTF boxes and all the suites getting a picture with them releasing a turkey. The crew was 2 miles down the road releasing the main group.

[Goodtimekiller]

Do people not realize that the more members an organization like this can report can greatly increase the amount of support and pull they can get for fighting for the things we all deem important.

And conservation projects on the number of acres the nwtf has affected and renting the opryland hotel with an extra room this year, is not free.

Look up sometime the $ amount the nwtf has put on the ground and how many turkeys they have spread across the country.

If you have had the chance to hunt turkeys in the last 20 years, you should buy an nwtf membership every year.

I have paid $15-20 to get into gun shows that i can walk through in 15 minutes and see everything. But the nwtf costs $35 now and they give you a $25 gift card, and you guys want to complain?

Your points are well taken.  We all have our own expectations for the organization.  As one who joined NWTF in 1975, what I deemed to be important was putting dollars on the ground for wild turkeys.  From my own perspective, that is still the vision I have for the organization, but I have watched as it has morphed into what it is today. ...Not saying it is good or bad,...just saying it is not what it was when I joined "way back when",...and I wish it still was.

There is no doubt in my mind that the NWTF was instrumental in the explosion of wild turkey populations and the popularity of turkey hunting across the country a half century ago.  By the same token, we have watched turkey numbers plummet in a significant number of places in recent years.  The NWTF of old would have been on the cutting edge of doing something about that.  Question is,..."Where are they now"?

To paraphrase the old saying, as far as I can tell..."they are fiddling while Rome burns"!

There is an old saying, "those that refuse to change, die."  Look at the groups that refuse to pay high administration fees, they go under. You can do it 2 ways, pay more for great administration and be successful or pay little and not grow/succeed.

Less than 10% of nwtf money raised goes to administration.


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[eggshell]

For a comprehensive evaluation

https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4201

They do get a high score as charities go, but accounting can be pretty creative. The most glaring thing I see in the graph goodtimekiller posted is only 22%+ went to conservation and 52%+ to program and fund raising, program means any expense not attributed to direct mission. That may include salaries. Overall aprox. 77% went to things other than direct Turkey conservation. I concede thay have done a lot of good in the past. They helped fund land and research, but they have also evolved into a corporate beast. The link I gave shows >40 million in revenue and ~39 M in expenses. Divide that by 49 states with turkeys = ~795,000 dollars per state meant to help turkeys. In my home state of Ohio 1.7 M +/- hunting license were sold. That equals 45 cents per license holder spent by the NWTF on turkeys. If we each donated $1.00 extra on our license purchase we'd bury their contributions. Ohio allow you to do that and I have. I'll spnd my money at home thank you.

[Gentry]

I was part of an NWTF chapter for a while and finally realized that I really didn't agree with what was happening. I think the organization was beneficial to the wild turkey at one time, but I have never seen their presence or evidence of their presence anywhere that I personally hunt or have hunted, and populations seem to be falling everywhere. Where are they doing anything to help a single turkey?

I will go as far as to say that the NWTF's promotion of the sport for monetary gain is doing our precious turkeys more harm than good.


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[Upfold99]

I just attended it for the 1st time. I was already a member, but 35 dollars to talk with top names in the industry, see the best calls in the world and hear the best callers. 35 bucks is a drop in the bucket. If you haven't been its worth it...