There’s something different about opening weekend of turkey season in your home state - for us that's the beautiful woods of South Carolina. It’s not just listening to the woods wake up in a hardwood bottom or dew on the ground, it’s the feeling that winter is officially behind us and something we’ve been waiting on all year is finally here.
For me, turkey season starts in the Lowcountry, chasing birds through the ever-changing terrain of the Francis Marion National Forest. One morning you’re working open pine flats, the next you’re navigating thick swamp edges or tucked into hardwoods. It keeps you on your toes, and that unpredictability is part of what makes it special and makes every hunt feel earned.
As much as I love those early mornings in the woods, that’s only part of the story. The real highlight of the season, and the part I look forward to the most, happens a few hours upstate.
For nearly a decade now, opening weekend has meant one thing: turkey camp. It’s a standing tradition with a group of buddies I’ve known since college. While life has gotten busy - careers, kids, responsibilities - no matter what, we carve out this one weekend to get back together. For some of us, it’s the only time all year we’re in the same place at the same time.
And yeah, we hunt hard. Early wakeups, long sits, close calls, and the occasional firepot story-worthy success. If I’m being honest, the time outside the woods isn't what sticks with me the most.
It’s cooking big meals after the morning hunt. It’s cold beers at the firepot, retelling the same stories that always end in belly-laughter. It’s having the PGA playing in the background while someone’s cleaning a bird and someone else is already rigging up a fishing rod for the afternoon with an exceptionally early cold beer. It’s slipping away to the pond for a few casts before dinner, not because you have to, but because why not.
It's as simple as it gets and that’s what opening weekend is all about.
Turkey season will always be about pursuit and the places it takes you. But more than that, it’s about tradition. It’s about showing up year after year, not matter how much life changes around you. It’s about the people you share it with and the moments that don’t make it into a photo.
At NOMAD Outdoor, we spend a lot of time thinking about performance - making gear that helps you stay out longer, move quieter, and focus on the hunt. But at the end of the day, we know the best moments of the season aren’t just measured in tags filled. They’re measured in mornings shared, stories told, and weekends you wish would never end.
Because the good times?
They never miss.
