Jolly celebrates an incredible and ongoing career and reflection of that with recent hall-of-fame induction.

The same day that Co-Founder Ron Jolly received the Wade Bourne Lifetime Achievement Award in Communications with the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame, his wife, Tes Jolly was inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame.

“I had this surprising honor that I was not looking for,” Jolly said. “That's the last thing I ever expected in my life. It's just very humbling and overwhelming to be inducted into the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame. I’ll treasure this for the rest of my life.”

Jolly says she was taught to not expect things like this. Accolades and recognition have never been a priority for her. Time spent in the outdoors, and people enjoying her work, have been more than enough reward. But she’s very thankful to be honored by such a prestigious group.

This initiative is headed up by Gary Mason. And Jolly says it's a very special thing to be in the company of the other folks who are being inducted this year, as well as those who were in the past.

“I have to give a whole lot of credit to the turkeys and the deer,” Jolly said. “I don't have the career that really puts me in front of people. I chose that to be in nature, because I’m most at home in nature. I've always hunted, and Just being out there and being able to share what God created.

As she puts it, the deer and turkeys have taken her on a lot of exciting adventures with the camera.

“I'm just very thankful that I've been able to do that and make a career out of it,” Jolly said. “You know, I'm in the senior part of life. I just plan on keep going until God calls me home. I want to keep doing what I'm doing as long as I can.”

“The work I've done on this earth, maybe it’s helped a lot of people, taught them, and made them appreciate nature and wildlife more,” Jolly said. “I mean, that's what it really means to me — to be able to share what I know and what I experience with others, and people find joy in it.”

Reflecting on her journey, and the many roads she’s traveled, Jolly is incredibly thankful for her family and the upbringing she had. Her parents recognized that their daughter could enjoy the outdoors and hunting just as much as any boy or man could.

“If it wasn't for the upbringing that I had, I don't know that I would ever have ended up in wildlife photography, but it built the basis for my career,” Jolly said. “For the last 25-26 years, all of that outdoor experience that they exposed me to is what built the foundation for the appreciation, love, and obsession, especially for wild turkeys.”

“I've made a career out of selling to magazines,” Jolly concluded. “Then, we morphed over the businesses transferred over into a lot of digital. But I'm very thankful that, with Turkeys for Tomorrow (TFT), it's opened up another way for me to use my work, to promote turkeys, and further their management.”

If turkeys had a bigger vocabulary, they’d probably thank her, too.