PRIVATE - KEEP OUT! AWTHDA MEMBERS ONLY!

Small Munsterlander,
another Versatile dog, owned by Mark Bulvanoski of
New York state

Welcome to the membership list and thanks for your help. Your contributions are what keeps this place together. Suggestions on how to improve TurkeyDog.Org are always welcome. Originally, this page was to list all the members, but in hindsight, that was a bad idea. Besides all the administrative work of keeping it updated, it also subjected everyone to nefarious uses, particularly entry by hackers. Tip - it's a good idea to close the browser and start a new one, anytime you log into a Members Only site like this. It prevents the hackers and crackers from getting in.

Annual membership is only $10 (as of January 2025, PayPal's fee on the $10 renewal went from $.59 to $.84). Personal checks preferred. If sending a $10 check is more trouble than it's worth, send several years worth. Items in the Store and purchases through the Amazon links help support this place too. Please send cash or checks to: AWTHDA 15634 Old CC, Maribel, WI 54227

This is a labor of love, or it'd of disappeared years ago. Your membership helps with the expenses of advertising, bank charges, book publishing, certificates, computers, ink cartridges, internet provider, paper, PayPal fees, postage, printers, telephone, utilities, etc. Here's just GoDaddy's domain name registration & website hosting costs:

$9.21 GoDaddy 6/6/2007 register turkeydog.org
$20.38 GoDaddy 6/1/2008 renew turkeydog.org 2 years
$79.68 GoDaddy 3/17/2010 Hosting 1 Year
$20.56 GoDaddy 6/6/2010 renew TurkeyDog.Org 2 Years
$215.73 GoDaddy 8/30/2011 Hosting 3 Yr Renewal
$54.80 GoDaddy.com 5/7/2012 renew TurkeyDog.Org 5 years
$266.10 GoDaddy 8/28/2014 Hosting 3 Yr Renewal
$40.34 GoDaddy 6/5/2017 renew Turkeydog.org 2 years
$395.64 GoDaddy 12/15/17 Hosting 3 Yr Renewal
$21.17 GoDaddy 6/8/2019 renew turkeydog.org domain for 2 years

$287.76 GoDaddy 1/17/2021 Hosting 2 Yr Renewal

$63.51 turkeydog.org 6/6/2022 renew turkeydog.org domain for 3 years
$287.76 GoDaddy 1/17/2023 Hosting 2 Yr Renewal
$241.30 GoDaddy 3/19/23 Maximum Linux Hosting with cPanel (AutoSSL)
$479 GoDaddy 3/23/23 Managed SSL for 2 years. That makes $1008.06 in 2023 alone.

The cost to operate TurkeyDog.Org through GoDaddy is $597.02/year (as of August 2025). Most were renewed for 2 or 3 years. Here's the annual cost and when they're due:

$155.88 Website Security Standard (January 10)
$167.88 Web Hosting Deluxe (January 17)
$38.28 Microsoft 365 Email Essentials Basic (January 26)
$22.99 TurkeyDog.Org domain (June 6)
$199.99 Managed SSL (June 10)
$12.00 Full domain Protection (August 7). Loads faster now too.
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$597.02 Total per year.

I'm ready to pass the torch. If you have a vision of what Turkey Dog's future should be, contact me Jon 920-776-1272 awthda@turkeydog.org

Some misinformation from a 1902 NH paper (far left) and an 1899 PA newspaper (left).
No wonder turkey dogs get a bad image. The article on the right was from an Ohio paper in 1934.

Turkey dog hunters are definitely the smallest niche of hunters in the country. The benefit is, we have no competition for access to good turkey hunting land. The drawback is, we're a dying niche if we don't share the knowledge and excitement. Most hunters never heard of turkey hunting with a dog and if they did, they think it's unfair to the turkey. It's just doesn't seem honorable - it's not like using a bird dog for grouse or ducks. Today we have generations of hunters (from 9 to 99) who think turkey hunting is what we do in the spring. The majority of fall hunters are archers hunting deer. To them turkeys are secondary and they have no concept of, or respect for the fall tradition.

TurkeyDog.Org and it's members mean to change that perception by sharing the information. Tip: the two states with the longest history are also home to our most experienced members; Virginia and Pennsylvania. Sharing your experience is what keeps the tradition alive.

It takes a noble man to plant a seed for a tree that will some day give shade to people he may never meet. D. Elton Trueblood (1900-1994)

After hunting with many different dogs, and hearing many different stories, we know that perfect dog doesn't exist. There will always be dogs that are smarter, faster, range farther, better looking, more athletic, have a better nose, or bark more. Or are healthier, easier to train, sit quieter in the blind, are less expensive, more loyal, or more obedient. But what every turkey dog does have, is the ability to create a unique experience for the hunter. The recipe is simple, the more time you spend with your dog, hunting and not, predicts how good a turkey dog you'll have and how rewarding your time is together.

While there are the specialized, big running, high strung turkey dogs, there are also the mixed breed dogs rescued from the pound. Dogs don't care if you're hunting turkeys or rubber ducks, as long as they get to be with you. Ed Morris of Charlottesville VA still said it the best: "We believe the best dog is the one that suits you."

Members are the Only ones with access to these pages:
Hall of Fame | Members List | Museum | Studies | and the Primary Turkey Dog States:
KY | NC | NY | OH | PA | TN | VA | WI | WV
Once you log in, you can view every page without logging in again.

For your protection, any time you log into a password protected page (here or anywhere), close your browser after you're done looking at the Secure pages, and then start a new browser. This clears any stored information, prevents others from accessing it and is good practice for Safe Computing.

Members genuinely interested in the history and tradition support TurkeyDog.Org with an annual membership: #1R - only $10/year

Your votes of confidence are most appreciated and what keeps this place running. Thanks for your support. Jon 920-776-1272.

Lucky ran through the brush so hard, she'd wear holes in her hide/chest. Put a vest on her the first year and a half.
May 10, 2014, when Lucky was 3 1/2, it looked like she cut her tongue off. I let her run in an unfamiliar field for exercise after a 3 hour car ride, she went through the pasture fence, heard her bark, a hen flew (off the nest I asumed), so I called her back. She did okay on the way out, must've hit some barbed wire running full speed on the way back. Looked like it cut her tongue in half, the bleeding was so bad. Had to drive 20 minutes to get cell phone reception, called the Vet, he said there's nothing he could do, either she'll live or not, he can't sew a tongue back together. 3 days later, looked like she'd make it, when she started eating again.

Lots of storm damage to trees from the August 7, 2013 tornado, many other derechos and high wind events before and since then. 10/2/18 horrendous puncture wound! 5 minutes after I let her run (she's got one speed - wide open), Lucky got impaled with a stick into her groin, major injury. Took a double dose of anesthesia to knock her out (her adrenaline was so high), before the Vet could sew her up. Recovering from the anesthesia took 10 hours, before she'd even take a drink. Her legs got so cold that night, I put warm towels over her and a blanket on top. Stitches & Elizabethan collar, antibiotics. 2 month recovery. Here's a Gray Wolf that died from a Stick Impalement.

12/30/20 Suki ran into a broke off cedar root or branch, chasing turkeys, cut/stabbed a hole in her left front shoulder. She wouldn't put that leg down on the ground. Vet said bring her in. He injected something to freeze it a little, then washed it out with hydrogen peroxide, iodine, antibiotic, stapled it 3X. Gave me antibiotics for her and 4 pain pills. The Vet said he could do exploratory surgery, but recovery from the anesthesia (lung problems, constipation, diarrhea, etc.) can be worse than the alternatives. Put horse linament on it. After 20 days of antibiotics, epsom salt hot packs and horse linament, the objects had migrated down, felt something in the wound this morning. Vet pulled out 2 pieces with a forceps. If he got it all, should heal up now.
1/22/21 Her wound is still weeping. Been applying epsom salt hot packs many times a day and the horse linament once a day for an hour (with E.Collar). I looked inside the hole with a flashlight, but never see anything. Vet applied lidocaine to freeze it, then explored with forceps, couldn't find anything. Applied penicillin inside wound. It doesn't look any worse than it was. Antibiotics for another 5 days. 1/29/21 It healed shut. A lot of missing skin and hair. It's been 31 days.

10/13/21 here's why I check my dogs over thoroughly now after each hunt. If I'd of seen this right away, the Vet would've stitched it up and Red would've been able to hunt again sooner. I didn't notice it for 2 days, when he started licking. In order to stitch it now, it'd require cutting off the dead tissue surrounding the wound, making the wound bigger than it was. Never knew what he hit, maybe a steel stake, a nail in a fence post, a sharp stick in the woods? He ran 10 miles hunting turkeys on 400 acres that day, never found what he hit.

11/10/21 hunting Lucky by herself, she knows this river bottom well and is flushing turkeys both sides, when she suddently quits and is coming back through the hayfield on 3 legs, she won't put any weight on one! It's bleeding on the top of the paw, between the toes, swells up terrible. Put Lidocaine and Neosporin on it many times. Bleeding as if it burst open. Took her to the Vet, he gave her antibiotics and pain pills. Soaking it in epsom salts for 10 minutes, twice a day since. 11/15/21 she'll weight bear somewhat, after soaking it but she's on pain pills. Looks worse every day, a swollen mass between the toes. After 11 days, she let me probe in there with a hemostat, felt something solid, got ahold of it and pulled it out! Healed up pretty good in 3 days. Could've hunted her again in 5.

From now on I carry a muzzle and a hemostat forceps (medical grade locking needlenose pliers) to explore sooner! I check their feet before each hunt, apply Mushers Secret as needed. Keep Veterycin in stock, essential for minor scrapes and cuts, saves on Vet bills. Know First-Aid and have supplies on hand, including eye drops and a muzzle.

Some dogs are so competitive, it's best to hunt them one at a time. When there's 2 or 3 dogs, they all want to get there first and are more susceptible to injuries. Or bring them in from opposite sides of the woods, so they don't see each other, until they already got to flush some birds. Of the 4 injuries above, Lucky was running alone both times, Suki was determined to beat Red to the flock and Red was running with Suki and Lucky, although they were a long ways from him in the same woods when he got that slice in his chest.

Next time a dog gets stabbed with something, I'll put a muzzle on them, lay them down up against a wall, sit next to them and block them with my body, get somebody to help hold her legs while I explore the puncture with a forceps, extract it, then soak the wound for 10 minutes in epsom salts many times. Examine your dog all over after each hunt. Have your Vet on speed dial, preferably one that will answer your call late in the day and on the weekend. Jon Freis

"If the reader is desirous of knowing what is a wild turkey, by turning to Audubon's, Wilson's, or Bonaparte's Ornithology he will discover it to be of the gallinaceous order, with conical papilla on the forehead, neck corrugated, beset with cavernous caruncles, frontal caruncle blue and red, and with scutellate toes, scabrous above and papillae beneath...
Let him imagine a full-grown black turkey-cock of the domestic species, with a much smaller head, made shy and cautious in its movements, restless with its head and neck, high stepping over obstacles with its red, bare, sinewy legs, and erect, slender, and game-like in its bearing. Its eye is full and soft, with a hazel iris. The wild turkey is to its barnyard kinsman what the racehorse is to the carthorse. See him in the early morn as he stands on some elevation and welcomes the dawn, and announces to his family his movements for the day. His scarlet wattles lie pendent on a neck that one moment curves like a swan's and in another is erect like a crane's; his comb is a soldier's plume; his eye is full and hazel black, gleaming with something of a human look from his shapely head, which is covered by the wrinkles of skin and a few scattered hairs, and tinged with blue and red. His neck swells very gradually to his body, and is burnished with a gloss of bronze and gold, that varies with every light. There is no pomposity or clumsiness about his air; on the contrary, his whole manners are those of an accomplished gallant...
If the cock sees danger he lowers his body to the height of a chicken's, and, followed by his harem, runs through the brush, with a speed and silentness that renders pursuit futile, unless by a fast and trained turkey-dog." Camp-fires Of The Everglades, Or, Wild Sports In The South Charles Edward Whitehead 1891

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