80 Louisiana Sportsman^ | April 2015
W
hen people get married, their love
forms a “perfect union.” It’s like
our founding fathers planned for
America, as in a more “perfect
union” in the Preamble to our
Constitution.
But this story is about another
perfect union — the long-stand-
ing friendship between hunting
partners Peyton McKinnie and
Nathan Pilgreen, who have been
hunting together since they were young enough to get
their first BB guns and go afield.
McKinnie and Pilgreen enjoy just about anything
outdoors, but they love turkey hunting the most.
McKinnie, a sheriff ’s deputy, lives in Marion and
Pilgreen, an AT&T employee, lives in nearby Dean,
both in Union Parish.
Union Parish is also always among the top three or
four parishes in the state for harvesting turkeys.
It hasn’t always been that way.
As McKinnie and Pilgreen were growing up, there
wasn’t even a turkey season.
In 1996, they attended a National Wild Turkey
Federation banquet in Farmerville. There weren’t many
others there, and they were the youngest. They both
won big bundles of turkey hunting door prizes.
Pilgreen had a friend with a spot in a small area of the
parish that opened for turkeys, and he killed his first
turkey there.
The next spring, McKinnie joined him for the first
time and they both got gobblers.
With the help of a few old timers like Joe Pickle and
Jerry Antley, they learned turkeys and were hooked.Peyton McKinnie and Nathan Pilgreen said the most-
accessible turkey hunting habitat in Union Parish is on
hunting leases and open to club members only.
There are thousands of acres of private land that hold
turkeys. And it never hurts to try the old-fashioned way
to gain access — ask permission and work with a private
landowner.
Union is, after all, one of the largest parishes in North
Louisiana, covering nearly 900 square miles.
The 12,000-acre Union Parish Wildlife Management
Area holds limited lottery hunts each year.
Unfortunately, it’s too late to get in on those this year,
but if you are interested, make yourself a note on the
calendar and try next year. There is some great turkey
habitat there.
— Kinny HaddoxFinding hunting areas
A more perfect union
Now, at 40 years of age, they are both still hooked.
“It’s hard to explain our love for turkey,” Pilgreen said. “I think
it kind of defines what Mother Nature is. In the real outdoors
world, hens cluck and yelp, and go to the gobbler when he calls.
Sometimes the gobblers go to the hens.
“What we do is imitate the hens and bring him to us. It’s the
way Mother Nature works. We just imitate it.”
His hunting style is aggressive.
“I call hard, even sometimes when the turkey is right there in
gun range,” Pilgreen says. “I’d recommend other people try that,
too: Not only does it get the gobbler even closer, it makes him
be more aggressive and really put on a show.
“That’s one thing I love about turkey hunting.”
The team recommends learning how to call with a box or slate
call because those are the easiest to use.
And, while they were taught by the old timers because that
was the only way, today’s new hunters can watch countless
videos on the Internet about how to call and when to call. As
they say, a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is
even better.
>PAGE 79: Nathan Pilgreen (left) and Peyton McKinnie
are a dynamic duo when it comes to taking turkeys.
ABOVE: Pilgreen and McKinnie killed their first
turkey in 1997, and they’ve been in love with hunting
the birds ever since..