Only a handful of sportsmen and women have had opportunity to rub shoulders with the rich or famous in their hunting and fishing pursuits. Daymon Davis of Danville is one of the elite.

He considered the late Charleton Heston, past president of the National Rifle Association, who recently succumbed to Alzheimer's disease, a dear friend.

"I remember the first time I met him. He had such a powerful voice even when he spoke quietly," Davis recalls. "I was practicing outside before an NRA competition, and all of a sudden I heard sounds like you know what you're doing'. I turned around and Wow!"

They conversed and a friendship began.

"I took five of the Buffalo Bills turkey hunting in Texas," he added.

That, too, was a highlight in Davis' life.

"In two and one-days, we harvested 30 legal birds. Each of us were allowed four gobblers. There were also some people there who hunted from Hunter's Hope, founded by (Hall of Fame quarterback) Jim Kelly."

He continued, "There are so many well-known people I have met down through the years, but they are no different than what you and I are."

Davis has been hunting turkeys for 33 years, and he savors every minute spent in the outdoors pursuing them. "When you hear that first gobble, it's just pure excitement and it doesn't end until the gobbler responds or leaves. There's nothing like it.

"Turkey hunting is also a social sport. You have time to talk with friends and admire what God has put on the earth for us," he shared, explaining his love of the sport.

Davis said he stopped counting when he surpassed harvesting 200 gobblers. "I used to travel to other states which allowed four or five birds," he said explaining the high number.

Davis' countless turkey hunting trips and game-calling competitions have taken him all across the United States. He is humble when admitting that he holds nine world championships in game calling alone, plus three grand nationals on a two-man team. His game-calling expertise includes waterfowl (duck, goose), turkey, barred owl, elk, coyote predator and white-tailed deer.

Because of his game calling accomplishments, he is on the pro-staff for Southland Custom Calls, RealTree and Walker Game Ear. "This gives me opportunity to work on different types of calls. Southland is a good group of guys who are making better products for turkey hunters."

While his turkey hunting and game-calling accomplishments are too numerous to mention, he has now changed his focus to disabled youth. "More of my time now is taking kids, including disabled kids, hunting, and it's so much more rewarding than getting a gobbler myself."

In fact, he received an invitation from Make A Wish Foundation to take terminally ill children hunting. "I didn't know if I could do it at first," he admits. "Most of them are cancer kids, and it's tough. So far, in the past two years, I've taken five."