The Wade Bourne Lifetime Achievement Award in Communications is named after the late Wade Bourne.

Turkeys for Tomorrow (TFT) is proud to announce that co-founder Ron Jolly recently received the Wade Bourne Lifetime Achievement Award in Communications with the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame. The event took place in Springfield, Missouri. It was held at the original Bass Pro Shop.

The Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame was founded by Gary Mason. At the event, Mason delivered a profound remark. “If you don’t want to hear about God, country, and our first responders, you probably should leave right now,” he said. Without question, the organization is rooted in conservative and conservation values.

Soon after launching this initiative, Mason named one of its most iconic awards after the late Wade Bourne.

“It's so humbling, because I knew Wade Bourne,” Jolly said. “Wade suddenly passed away from a heart attack. He was the face of Ducks Unlimited. He was a true conservationist. Just a gem of a man. Everyone loved him.”

Reflecting, Jolly noted how his wife, Tes Jolly, won this award last year. It means even more to him to follow up and win it after she did.

Of course, Jolly has done much for the hunting industry and conservation realm. Will Primos believed in him and provided an opportunity for Jolly to launch his career in the outdoor space.

“I think it was a 1987 when I contributed to a project he had going called ‘The Truth’ video series,” Jolly said. “One of my friends at that time was Chuck Jones. We grew up in the same parish in northeastern Louisiana.”

Jolly and Jones were filming wild turkeys and other critters even before they knew who and what Primos was. Together, they enjoyed running cameras in the outdoors. It was their hobby. (Incredibly, Jones also was inducted into the Outdoor Hall of Fame this year.)

Eventually, Jones got the job with Primos but needed some help. At the time, Jolly was a farmer. He asked Jolly to contribute to the project.

“I'm a camera guy,” Jolly said. “God has blessed me in so many ways. I’m the happiest outside. I'm happiest in the outdoors. Over my 40-year-career in the outdoors, I’ve never considered a day of it work. It's where I’m most comfortable. It’s where my creative juices kick in. It’s where my dreams come true. And it's where I see and feel my God.”

Eventually, with the help of numerous like-minded individuals, a stirring creative mind, and a hunger to help the wild turkey, Jolly and company launched TFT.

“It was a direct result of what I and 13 other people realized in 2019,” Jolly said. “There was something drastically wrong in the turkey woods. We met just to discuss it. I wrote an article after that with the questions each of those people brought.”

What if this was fixed? What if that was fixed? Is it fire ants, predators, or over-harvest? Jolly wrote an article on this called, “If Not You, Who?”

“When that was published, the response was pretty overwhelming,” Jolly said. “A lot of people were seeing the same things. In early 2021, 12 people put up $300 a piece. We started down the trail, and in February, of that year, TFT was born when we got our 501(c)(3).

“From that point on, it's been up the mountain,” Jolly said. “And right now, there's more awareness around and research behind the decline of the wild turkey than ever before. Even when almost to the point of extinction, hunters brought them back from that. Still, there wasn't as much energy behind it then as there is now.”

Today, according to turkey biologists, there is more money available for turkey research than ever before. There is more interest in funding wild turkey conservation. That’s in part due to TFT, and the great founders, like Jolly, who made it possible.

Jolly says he’s very proud of that. It ranks right up there with winning this award with Wade Bourne’s name on it.

“There's so many people I would like to thank,” Jolly said. “First of all — my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You don't take on something like this — like standing up TFT — without knowing that there's something that you're being called to do.

“Then, there’s Tes,” Jolly continued. “Tes and I have been tangled in a web spun by wild turkeys for 30 years. We met around wild turkeys, and probably 65% to 70% of the work over my career was in production for something revolving around turkeys. The wild turkey is one of the most unique, mysterious, beautiful creatures on this earth. And when you take him on one on one in his territory, and hunt him the way my dad taught me to hunt him, it’s a challenge. When you get to my age, if you don't win, you’re still happy.”

And a lot of people are happy for Jolly and his recent recognition for incredible work in conservation and the outdoors.