This week’s Spotlight is on Gavin Bryan. Born in Walterboro, Gavin is the son of Jason and Jessica Bryan he has an eight-year-old sister Kenley. He is a 12-year-old seventh grader at Colleton Prep Academy.
Gavin has a unique hobby, turkey calling. Dad Jason explains, “I grew up turkey hunting and a lot of hunters enter turkey calling competitions. There’s a competition circuit that runs all over the country. In February of each year, they meet in Nashville surrounding Valentine’s Day and present the Grand National calling contest at the National Wild Turkey Federation’s Convention. They have anywhere from 70 to almost 100,000 people come to a three day show and I wanted to get on that stage. When I was a teenager, my daddy started taking me to contests around the area. When Gavin came along, I said, it would be cool if father and son could do this.”
Gavin entered his first contest at three years old and won a small trophy. “When he was six, we went to Grand Nationals. He came in dead last.” Jason adds, “He was a little aggravated about it, but that lit a fire under him to really practice and train. There’s a series of calls that we do prior to a contest and we practice and practice, so lo and behold, a few years later, Gavin was able to win the Grand Nationals.” Gavin won what was called the POLTP for the 10 and under class.
Recently, Gavin had the honor to perform on stage in the circle at the Grand Ole’ Opry. Gavin says, “It was an amazing experience being backstage with the singers. Locash was there, Mark Wills. It was crazy fun being backstage with the performers. I want to thank Mr. Rob Keck the CEO of the National Turkey Federation and Jason Hart for the opportunity to perform on the Opry Stage.”
The National Turkey Federation’s headquarters is in Edgefield, South Carolina. Once a year, they have the South Carolina State Turkey Calling Contest. Jason says, “Rob was there this past summer. He saw Gavin call, met Gavin, and talked with Gavin. Fast forward to October, November, when they had the national board meeting. They were looking for some kids to get up on the opry stage and run the turkey calls. The National Wild Turkey Federation puts on a conservation aid concert. Jason Hart immediately brought up Gavin’s name for one of the grand nationals he won. He’s won a world championship in Mobile Alabama; he’s won all kind of championships with turkey calling. Turkey calling has opened a lot of opportunities.” He has also performed in Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina. Louisiana has a very big one that we go to every year and some states have more than one competition.
In addition to turkey calling, Gavin enjoys turkey hunting. Jason says, “We just got back from a trip for spring break to Montana turkey hunting. We had a real good friend of ours here in town and he’s chasing his grand slam of the wild turkey. That’s where you try to harvest your four sub species.” You have the Osceola down in Florida, the Eastern that we have here in South Carolina, the Riaz, which is Kansas and Texas, and the Merriam Turkey, which is the upper part of United States. “We were to run the hills and climb some mountains and play in the snow and call some turkeys. That’s some serious father son time.”
Jason adds, “I started traveling with Gavin when he was about six, and Kenley’s now eight, and she went on her first trip to South Florida this year with me. She got her a nice bird down in the Everglades, South Florida, so Kenley’s also one bird short of her grand slam, which is amazing. We’re taking a family trip in two weeks to Wyoming and if she’s successful there, she’ll have her grand slam at eight years old. Gavin finished his first Grand Slam at seven years old. He now has two grand slams. You have turkeys all over the world. There are six subspecies of Turkey total. You can kill them all. You got a World Slam.”
Gavin adds, “We love to fry turkey breast, Dad does really good. He puts the turkey legs in a crock pot and once it gets done, it’s almost like pulled pork. From that, you can make pot pies, quesadillas, Turkey salad. It’s all good. Turkey is great as long as it’s cooked right.”
Jason likes the family time, “You can sit on top of that mountain top, just like we did the other morning, and watch that sunrise. It’s so pretty, and it is just so beautiful. But we gather some really good father, son time, family time. There is nothing like the great outdoors. That’s just how I was raised in, and that’s how I’m raising my kids. We love to see the country and these turkeys that take you anywhere you want to go.”
