Is Terry helping Mark down a hill or pushing him into it? One might not know as they get downright competitive on the show. (Courtesy Drury Outdoors)
February 08, 2013
By Steve Rogers, OutdoorChannel.com
There’s friendly competitions, then there’s good old sibling rivalry.
There’s no comparison.
King of the Spring , a new show on Outdoor Channel, is a brother vs. brother battle featuring Mark and Terry Drury, veterans of several shows on the Outdoor Channel lineup. The competition centers around spring turkey season in Missouri and a variety of contests and shenanigans on the Drury farm.
The Drury brothers will spend the season trying to put a host of guests and friends on turkey, all in an attempt to earn points in the season-long battle to best their brother.
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“Anyone who has a brother, they know about that competition against your brother – there’s nothing like it,” said Terry, 56. “Mark is 10 years younger than me, so there is a pretty good age difference there. But there has always been some level of competition there about everything.
“It’s no different on King of the Spring . I just want to beat him and he just wants to beat me, no matter what it is.”
The age difference kept the sibling rivalry at bay during their youth, Mark said.
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“I really didn’t get know Terry very well until I was 18 or 20 years old,” Mark said. “I mean, when he was 18 and I was 8. I was the last person in the world he wanted to do anything with. But we’ve always had sort of a friendly rivalry when it comes to hunting, and it carries over to the show.”
On the show, Mark heads Team Mad Dog along with longtime friend Steve “Coon Dog” Coon, while Terry is the leader of Team T-Bird with Chris Comstock. During each episode’s competition, a variety of guests take part, including stars from the entertainment industry, professional athletes and also other stars from the Outdoor Channel lineup.
In addition to hunting turkey, the Drurys and guests also take part in several skill challenges.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Mark said. “But whether we’re in a shooting competition or a bow challenge or racing the Dodge Ram trucks, we’re trying to win.”
The turkey season gathering has been a tradition in the Drury family for more than 20 years. And actually, the Drurys’ career in video and television hunting series began with a turkey hunt in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas in 1989.
“We bought a camera and pulled a camper down there,” Terry said. “It was quite a challenge, dropping into an unfamiliar area where we really didn’t know much about anything. But we got lucky and got on a real hot turkey. He obviously didn’t have a hen – don’t know if he had just lost one or what, but he clearly didn’t have one.
“Mark was able to call it in and we got everything on tape. Everything began right there.”
Turkey calling has been one of Mark’s passions for decades. He became a competitive caller as a youngster and collected more than 150 victories and won six world titles.
But, he says, that does not give him or his team any advantage during the competition.
“You can’t carry those trophies out in the woods with you,” Mark said. “I’ve always been a little more passionate about it (calling), but Terry’s quite good at it, too.”
As for the remainder of King of the Spring’s first season, the competition heats up even more.
“It definitely gets more intense,” Terry said. “I don’t want to say things get heated, but there is quite a bit of high drama. Neither side wants to lose, so we all push harder and work harder to win. We think everyone’s going to enjoy it.”
Be sure to check out King Of The Spring .
