By Torin Miller

The essays were received, the votes were tallied and 18-year-old Torin Miller of State College, PA was declared the winner of the Generation Wild Turkey Hunt Contest. His prize was a spring turkey hunt at the Tamarack Preserve in Millbrook, NY with Field & Stream’s Video Editor, Mike Shea and guide Shane Odell. Check out the video of his hunt and Torin’s own thoughts on his experience.

By Torin Miller

Nothing says “Welcome to Upstate New York” like a mural of walleye and smallmouth bass. That’s exactly what greeted me at the gate of Albany International Airport. In the morning, I would be hunting eastern wild turkeys at Tamarack Preserve in Millbrook, N.Y. My excitement level couldn’t have been higher.

The alarm buzzed early in our motel room--3:30 a.m. early. It didn’t take me long to get into my gear, and I met Field & Stream’s Video Editor Mike Shea in the empty motel parking lot and we headed off to Tamarack.

We pulled into the Preserve’s parking lot and headed inside to meet our guide for the day, Shane Odell. Shane was much younger than I was expecting, but he sure knew his stuff. As he was roosting birds the night before, he was mock-charged by a black bear sow. He just laughed it off and then told us we were headed to that same spot for the morning hunt.