Two brothers from Smiths Station are making headlines across the state after winning this year's Alabama Black Belt Adventures Big Gobbler Photography Contest. 14-year-old Logan Warrick and 12-year-old Declan Warrick's photo garnered more than 1,000 votes, nearly double the number of votes received by the runner-up, making them the contest winners.

“Each year our contest features work from young people who enjoy the outdoors here in the Alabama Black Belt, and it's especially gratifying to see a young person's photo become a winner,” said ALBBAA Director Pam Swanner. “The Alabama Black Belt has earned a reputation for great turkey hunting each year, and we're grateful to everyone who submitted photos and voted in this year's contest.”

The boys' father, Orrin Warrick, was proud of the boys' skill that enabled them to take the winning photograph.

“I've been hunting for years and I've never seen anything like this,” he said. “It's incredible. They did it in less than five seconds.”

ALBBAA's 12th annual Big Gobbler photography contest began in March and ran throughout Alabama's wild turkey season. The contest received dozens of entries and nearly 3,000 online votes. Participants uploaded photos from the 2024 season to the ALBBAA website, and the winner was selected solely through online voting.

As the winners of this year's contest, the Warrick brothers will receive a Black Belt Strutter turkey call package, which includes a custom Alabama Black Belt Adventures Edition glass pot call made from locally sourced Demopolis Mock Orange wood and an Otis Elite Universal Gun Cleaning Kit provided by Black Belt Strutter. The total value of the prize package is approximately $300.

ALBBAA has always promoted and encouraged ethical hunting and fishing practices, and the annual Big Gobbler photography contest is an effort to educate the public about the abundant natural resources found in Alabama's 23-county Black Belt region.

Austin Shipley is a staff writer for Yellow Hammer News. You can follow him on X. @ShipleyAusten