Photography by George's friend Kerry Wix
Mr. George Mayfield of Alabama dedicated his life to hunting the wild turkey. He knew about as much as one man can know about hunting turkeys. He shared his knowledge with the Gamekeeper Podcast a couple of times, and he was the kind of person you want to listen to when he's talking. He always wore nearly the same exact hunting clothes every time he broke day in the turkey woods, and he especially loved an old Bottomland coat he wore hunting. He never washed the coat, and he had carried out so many turkeys on that old coat that the shoulder he carried the turkeys out on had become almost waxy looking. He was inducted into the Alabama Turkey Hunter's Hall of Fame last year.
George Mayfield passed away on May 29, and his funeral was this Saturday, June 6. He was laid to rest in his old Bottomland coat, as well as his old Bottomland pants and shirt. He always carried a good walking stick and so he was laid to rest with a good walking stick to take on his next journey. Printed in silk and lining the top of the coffin above his head was a turkey strutting.
His children, Alex, Kelly, and Michael, and his wife, Andrea, all wore Bottomland to the visitation and funeral in honor of Mr. Mayfield and to represent the thing he loved most of all--hunting the wild turkey. He was laid to rest in exactly the way a turkey hunter would like, and it was a beautiful service.
Mossy Oak is glad to have known him.
Mr. Mayfield in his old, favorite Bottomland coat.
