Evan Felker Became An Avid Bird Hunter When He Realized Coon Hunting Wasn’t Good For Him: “Had To Stay Up Too Late, Drank Too Much Beer”

“The Bird Hunters” is more than a song… it’s a way of life for Evan Felker.

The Turnpike Troubadours’ “The Bird Hunters” is one of the most beloved songs from their catalog, aside from the likes of classics like “7&&,” “Diamonds & Gasoline,” and “Good Lord Lorrie.” The song is about nostalgia, returning to one’s roots, and revisiting a place that once felt like home. While the song, at its core, is a heartbreaker about a man returning home to Cherokee County and being comforted by an old friend, it’s also so much more than that.

As Felker’s smooth vocals coat your ears, we hear many alliterations throughout the song, poetically intertwining the heartbreaking story into the way of life that Felker experienced in his youth:

“Shotguns-a-singin’”
“Sun westward sinking”
“Belgian-made Browning”
“Dozen Decembers”
“Flutter of feathers”
“Shotgun to shoulder”

Evan Felker was born in Okemah and grew up in Wright City, Oklahoma, a rural town located in the Southeast part of the state. Felker developed an avid interest in hunting during his youth and spent a considerable amount of time in the woods. Bordering Arkansas, the region is hilly, filled with pine trees, and is a dream come true for outdoorsmen. It’s a “paradise,” in Evan Felker’s words.

“That’s just what everybody did, and that’s what there was to do that was relatively not super expensive, right?”

Felker told Texas country legend Robert Earl Keen while chatting during a recent episode of his Americana Podcast. Felker and his family did not discriminate in the hunting they did, either, revealing that he did it all with a fleet of dogs nearby. Geographically, Southeast Oklahoma is much different than the rest of the state.

“Squirrel hunting, deer hunting, rabbit hunting, trapping furbearers, and fishing. Anything to do with the outdoors, we were doing it. Chasing coonhounds around and bird dogs in the hills and beagles and everything else.”

Now, Felker does not coon hunt these days and spends his free time bird hunting when he’s not on the road or tending to his cattle farm.

“Yeah, I got my first bird dog when I finally realized that coon hunting was not a sustainable way of life for me. I had to stay up too late, and I drank too much beer. So I took up a gentleman’s sport, and I bird hunted. I’ve kept one or two around ever since.”

Pretty funny for Felker to say. Of course, Felker has been sober for the last few years since taking time away from the band in 2019 on an indefinite hiatus. But after putting in the work on himself, he returned to the stage in early 2022.

Now, when Felker is not on the road, you can catch him on his cattle farm in Okemah, Oklahoma, or in the woods with his bird dogs. Felker shared that he grew up with English Pointers, but since he also enjoys duck hunting, he now runs German Wirehaired Pointers because they are more suited to swim in cold water.

In a CBS Saturday Morning interview earlier this summer, Felker shared that the balance he has now of life on the farm and on the road is perfect for him to keep his mind fresh:

“It makes for a really great life balance where I feel like I’m going on vacation when I leave the ranch, and I feel like I’m going on vacation when I leave the road. The life I have right now is a pretty great thing. I count my blessings to be to do this stuff.”

A happy life, two children, cattle, bird dogs, and hunting game. What more could a man ask for when he’s home? Evan Felker appears to be living large these days, and the music he wrote for The Price of Admission reflects the wealth of his life.

Check out the whole podcast episode below:

He went into more detail on his coon hunting origins, as well as his bird dogs, with Steve Rinella on The MeatEater Podcast:

And before you go, turn up “The Bird Hunters.”

 The post Evan Felker Became An Avid Bird Hunter When He Realized Coon Hunting Wasn’t Good For Him: “Had To Stay Up Too Late, Drank Too Much Beer” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.