“Johnie Wood Hunts Turkeys with ThermaCELL All Across the Country”
Part 1: Thank God for ThermaCELL and Snake Boots
Editor’s Note: Johnie Wood of Montgomery, Alabama, teaches classes on turkey hunting and another class, the Total Hunt, for the non-profit organization, Outdoor Women Unlimited. Wood, who hunts turkeys all over the nation, has taken more than 200 birds and has put together a World Slam of wild turkeys. Wood has hunted with ThermaCELL for 3 years but was one of those hunters who initially resisted this new technology in insect repellent. However, today Wood is a ThermaCELL disciple and teaches everyone he meets about ThermaCELL.
 Question: How were you introduced to ThermaCELL?
Wood: I got my first ThermaCELL 3-years ago. My daughter had been telling me over and over again, “Daddy, you’ve got to try these ThermaCELLs. They’re fantastic.” But my daughter’s hard-headed daddy had been using spray-on bug spray all his life to hunt in the Deep South where we live. That spray would make me nervous and jittery, and I had that stinking smell on me all day long. To a degree, it kept some of the mosquitoes off me. And, I had the philosophy of, “Well, I’ve always used mosquito repellent, so I always will.”
 Question: What made you decide to try ThermaCELL?
Wood: Three years ago, I went hunting for Osceola turkeys just outside of Orlando, Florida, near Kissimmee. I was hunting with a guide, and the mosquitoes were about to tote me off. I reached in my turkey vest to get my bug spray, however, my guide, Scott, said, “Hold on a minute, I’ve got something better than that bug spray.” He pulled a ThermaCELL out of his turkey vest and clicked that device. It came on, and I was thinking, “This guy is nuts. The mosquitoes are going to carry me and him both out of this swamp.” But within 2 to 3 minutes, there wasn’t a mosquito anywhere around us. When I saw that happen, I thought, “Wow! I’ve got to get me one of these ThermaCELLs.”
The reason I remember this hunt, this day and the ThermaCELL so well is because it also was the day that I wore snake-proof boots for the first time, although I’d been hunting for 40 years. At that time, I’d taken about 165 or 170 turkeys and never really thought I needed snake boots. But for some reason, I decided to buy a pair and try them on this trip.  Since the turkey didn’t come in, we had to move to reposition ourselves to try and call the turkey. As we were walking from one location to the other, a diamondback rattler struck my snake-proof boots, but all I felt was a thump. I saw the snake and had a cold chill run up my spine. But the snake’s venom, because of the snake-proof boots, didn’t penetrate the boot, and I didn’t become a victim of snake bite. Therefore, I’ll always remember the first day I learned about ThermaCELL and the first day that I learned why companies build snake-proof boots, and why wearing them is a good idea.
Tomorrow: My Adventure into Mosquito Heaven
Part 1: Thank God for ThermaCELL and Snake Boots
Part 2: My Adventure into Mosquito Heaven
Part 3: What Happens When You Don’t Have a ThermaCELL
Part 4: Taking Mr. Leonard’s Tom
Part 5: Mr. Ed Takes His Tom |
