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Thursday, November 28, 2013

Arkansas: Will Turkey Drop Happen This Year at Yellville Turkey Trot Festival?



There is a little-known tradition in Northern Arkansas that drew some perhaps unwanted attention a couple of years ago from PETA in Yellville, Arkansas when the FAA got involved with the local tradition of dropping wild turkeys from low-flying aircraft.

Seriously,  there is a tradition in Yellville, Arkansas to low-fly aircraft and drop wild turkeys out of the planes at the annual Turkey Trot Festival. Back in 2011, PETA offered a $5000 reward for information on whomever was doing it.  Everybody in town says they have no idea who was dropping the turkeys.  Seriously.  How many people own crop-dusters in Yellville.  More likely, folks in the Arkansas don’t like the FAA and like PETA less.  Folks in Yellville say the turkeys can use their wings to slow their descent.


First held in 1946, the festival is also an attraction in the 1,200-person town. It includes a turkey-calling contest, a turkey dinner, and beauty pageants. And it once included a sanctioned "turkey drop" from the top of the local courthouse.

Now, the turkey drop is conducted by private citizens, Yellville Chamber of Commerce President Travis Doshier said.

"They keep themselves pretty well secluded," Doshier told the newspaper. He said he didn't know if they were planning another drop this year.

As I said, the FAA has tried to get involved, for the plane, it seems, rather than the turkeys: The FAA has tried to crack down before, Lunsford said. Officials have spoken to event organizers and at least one pilot who flew turkeys in the past.

Ozark Arkansans are unrepentant:  Fans of the drop say it doesn't hurt the turkeys because they can use their wings to slow their descent. Doshier said the turkeys "just spread those big old wings they've got and glide" to the ground.

"We know that they can get up in the air because they get on trees and roofs," he said.
But Lunsford says he's seen video of a turkey falling straight down and bouncing off the roof of a building.

All this brings to mind the funniest five minutes in the history of TV, the episode of WKRP in Cincinnati’s Turkey Drop Episode:  Enjoy:

Anyone in Northern Arkansas, let us know if it happened this year.

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