Rob Keck Joins Bass Pro Red Head Team

The Red Head Pro Hunting Team has just got Rob Keck former CEO of National Wild Turkey Federation as a new pro staff.

“To be a part of this elite group of hunters is quite an honor for me,” stated Keck. “Johnny Morris and I have hunted together many times and he is passionate about passing on our rich hunting heritage to the next generation.”

Keck, named One of Hunting’s 25 Most Influential Personalities of the 20th Century by Peterson’s Hunting Magazine, is the former CEO of the National Wild Turkey Federation and the voice and face of the organization for 30 years. He played a leading role in the restoration of the wild turkey across North America.

Rob Keck’s departure from NWTF last year was somewhat of a surprise but it’s good to see him joining the Red Head Team.

The RedHead Pro Team is a group of world-class hunters with over 3 centuries of combined field expertise. Members include Brenda Valentine, Bob Foulkrod, Jim and Angie Ryan, Lee and Tiffany Lakosky, Walter Parrott, John Paul Morris, Allen Treadwell, and team leader Jerry Martin.

I look forward to seeing Rob Keck back on TV.

Work Day At The Hunting Club

Saturday was a work day trying to get a bunch of stuff done. Not having the equipment we hired someone to bushhog for us and we worked on clearing roads and trails. It is amazing how many trees and limbs will fall down in a year .
We also had to do some repair work on some stands. I forgot to bring some wasp spray and I had a number of nests inside my towerstand. I successfully knocked 5 nests out of my stand by opening the windows and batting them out. Any of the wasps that didn’t go with the nest out the window either I stomped on them when they lay dazed on the floor or I successfully batted them out as they flew at me. Not a single sting. Granted these were pretty small nest but a small feat in my book anyways.

I had sprayed down with bug spray real good so when I got home that evening I didn’t find a single tick. The only tick I found on me was during a water break crawling on my shirt.

As far as wildlife goes we saw a number of deer including a fawn that the bush hog pushed out of beds. No turkeys were seen but a nest was found and a number of broken eggs shells were there lets hope they hatched out. Not seeing many hens with pouts earlier we are thinking the spring rains around the nesting time got a number of them so we hope they renested. The mineral licks we have around the property seem to be getting hit pretty hard. A number of them have been dug out pretty good. Most of us kept guns handy all day but no yotes showed himself but coyote sign is pretty strong across the property.
While it was a warm day it wasn’t unbearable hot like some years past. Lots of water breaks we still got a lot accomplished. Yesterday and still this morning I’m a little stiff but its good to feel that it should make this falls hunting a lot better.

Opening Day Fatal Shooting Ruled Justified

SBI investigation shows that Officer Mark Minton was justified in the fatal shooting of Clyde Coffey during the opening minutes of the 2009 wild turkey season. The district attorney will not file any charges against the officer despite the family and some in the community calling for him to do so.
Mr. Coffey was 76 years old and was deaf according to family and legally hunting on his own property.
The SBI investigators confirmed the presence of bait around the treestand Mr. Coffey was hunting from and the stand that his son in law was hunting from. Baiting of turkeys is illegal making both of these men poachers but certainly not a reason anyone had to die.
Why did the Officer Minton shoot Clyde Coffey?

“Through the investigative efforts of the SBI, it was determined that Officer Minton became aware that someone was potentially baiting turkeys on the Clyde Coffey property on Cane Creek Church Road in Wilkes County. Based upon this knowledge, Officer Minton went to that location to determine if anyone was illegally hunting turkey over this baited area,” Horner said.
“Officer Minton initially encountered Larry Dean Helton, later identified as the son-in-law of Clyde Coffey, in a tree stand at one location of the Coffey property. Officer Minton approached Mr. Helton and took enforcement action without incident. In addition, Officer Minton allowed Mr. Helton to ride his ATV down the mountain from this tree stand to another location where Officer Minton would later meet him,” the district attorney said.
“According to statements from Officer Minton, he then proceeded down the mountain alone and on foot to a second tree stand occupied by Clyde Coffey.
“Officer Minton was initially unsuccessful in multiple attempts to get Mr. Coffey’s attention and have him exit the tree stand. At one point after Officer Minton identified himself as a ‘game warden,’ Mr. Coffey stood up in the tree stand and in an agitated tone demanded that the officer leave his property,” Horner said.
“Mr. Coffey continued to not comply with Officer Minton’s commands, causing Officer Minton to radio for assistance to other N.C. Wildlife Resources officers who were several miles away. However, before assistance could arrive, Mr. Coffey descended from the tree stand with his weapon cradled across his arms, disregarding the instructions of Officer Minton to leave the weapon in the stand,” Horner said.
“According to the officer, when Mr. Coffey reached the ground, he advanced towards Officer Minton, holding his weapon in a ‘low ready’ position and pointing it directly at the officer. Officer Minton commanded him multiple times to stop and then retreated up the hill from Mr. Coffey approximately 85 feet from the tree stand as Mr. Coffey continued to pursue Officer Minton with his shotgun pointing at him.
“Mr. Coffey was approximately 25 feet from the officer when again he was told to stop,” Horner said. “Officer Minton stated that he thought Mr. Coffey was going to shoot him; he drew his service weapon, pointed it at Mr. Coffey and fired one round, striking Mr. Coffey in the chest. Mr. Coffey fell immediately.”
“The distance between Mr. Coffey’s body and the base of the tree that Officer Minton fired from was 14 feet. Officer Minton radioed to the other officers that he had shot Mr. Coffey and EMS was requested. Furthermore, Officer Minton attempted CPR on Mr. Coffey without success,” Horner said.
“In the course of the investigation, SBI agents collected ’scratch feed,’ which is commonly used for baiting turkeys, from the area around Mr. Coffey’s tree stand. This feed was consistent with feed located at Mr. Coffey’s residence and with feed located near the tree stand occupied by Larry Helton.
“Agents also determined that Mr. Coffey suffered from hearing loss. According to information provided by the family of Clyde Coffey, the conduct described by Officer Minton was out of character for Mr. Coffey,” the district attorney said.
“North Carolina general statutes authorize a law enforcement officer to arrest someone without a warrant if the officer has probable cause to believe that the individual has committed a criminal offense in their presence,” Horner noted. “Furthermore, a law enforcement officer is justified in using force upon another person when and to the extent that he reasonably believes it necessary: to defend himself . . . from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of physical force while effecting or attempting to affect an arrest. Deadly physical force upon another person is justified… only when it is or appears to be reasonably necessary to defend (oneself)… from what is reasonably believed to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force.
“After a thorough review of the SBI’s report, interviews with the investigating agents, a review of the appropriate legal standards and in consultation with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, it appears that Officer Minton’s actions were reasonable and appropriate in response to the perceived use or imminent use of deadly physical force by Mr. Coffey,” Horner said. “Therefore, criminal prosecution of Officer Minton for the shooting death of Clyde Hill Coffey is not warranted.”

Wilkes Journal Patriot

Unclear from the press release is whether or not Officer Minton was in uniform or not when this happened. Early on there was some speculation the lack of a uniform lead to some of the confusion as to who the officer was.
Game Wardens and Wildlife Officers have some of the most dangerous jobs seeing where many of the individuals are armed that they come in contact with. While some will believe that Officer Minton used excessive force I see that an officer acted the way he was trained so he could go home at the end of his shift. I believe despite the hearing issue that Mr. Coffey knew that this man was a law officer and he made some really poor choices that cost him his life.
Officer Minton while cleared of the potentially more serious criminal charges must now wait for the NCWRC to complete their investigation.

“We appreciate the work of both agencies to resolve this issue,” said Gordon Myers, the executive director of the Commission. “An internal investigation is ongoing and until the investigation is complete, it would not be appropriate for the Commission to comment further.”

NCWRC

Wild Turkey Fajitas For Cinco de Mayo

So has the French ever won a war? Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican Holiday celebrating a victory over the French. Anyways I need little excuse to make Mexican food so with fresh wild turkey in the fridge I made some Fajitas. Easy recipe… Fresh Turkey Breast cook in cast iron pan with a little peanut oil sprinkle some salt and favorite Mexican spices. Then add Peppers and Onions to the pan and cook for a few minutes but don’t overcook. The Peppers and Onions should still have a little crispness to them. We used whole wheat tortillas and added our favorite condiments for me that includes chipotle Tabasco sauce.

I’m sure if you don’t have a wild turkey available you could substitute domestic turkey but it won’t be as organic and healthy for you as the wild one.

Rouge Gang Of Jakes

This has been an unusual turkey season for me so I was happy when I finally filled one of my tags. Saturday I was sitting in my buddies blind(Rick) on our Alamance County lease. Most of our lease is fields and open land with small pockets of woods so running and gunning is not really an option.
The Ameristep blind was set up at the edge of the field that had been planted in tobacco last year, but plowed under after the crop was harvested, and now overgrown with weeds. Saturday was a warm day with off and on showers so hunting from the blind was a good plan. I had three decoys out; two hens and a Jake to hopefully entice a bird to close the distance if we called one to the field. Rick sat with me in the blind for the first few hours. We did call a hen out to the field but she looked the decoys over and just fed off. Rick had to leave so he shuck off and I settled in for what could be an all day hunt.
Shortly after Rick left a heavy shower rolled through but I kept calling and watching. Not long after the shower ended I got the feeling that something was coming even though I hadn’t heard or seen anything. I picked up my Mossberg 935 and got ready. In the back of my mind I was suspecting a coyote was sneaking in so I was surprised when four Jakes showed up near my decoy spread. I think they were equally surprised because I suspect they were only expecting to see the two hens. The sloping land had allowed them to cover the 50 yards or so from the woods to the decoys undetected by me but also prevented them from seeing the Jake decoy until the popped over the hill. What happened next was an amazing event to witness as all four Jakes ran straight at the Jake decoy stopping just a few feet behind it and all four gobbling at once. The sound about rocked me out of the blind and as soon as they did that they turned tail and started running back the direction they came from. In my haste I did not pick up or put a call in my mouth so I had little options so I yelled “Hey”. One bird stopped but the slope of the field all I could see was his head as he stuck it up to see who was calling him. The Mossberg 935 barked as the Remington Nitro #5 found the mark and dropped him. I saw the other three birds fly up into the trees at the other side of the field and I’ll admit I wasn’t 100 % sure I had gotten the bird until I got out of the blind. I paced it off and it was 43 paces a bit far but the results were a dead bird.
Believed it or not in all my years of turkey hunting this is the first Jake I’ve ever taken. While some don’t consider a Jake a trophy because it is a juvenile gobbler in this case this will be a hunt I won’t soon forget. This has been a tough year and next Saturday is the end of the season so I’ll have one more chance to fill my second tag.

Hockey Gobblers And Heat

Well I’ve been pretty busy lately and haven’t posted out here much. Besides my passion for hunting especially turkey hunting I love to watch NHL Hockey. I grew up in Boston during the Bobby Orr era so less face it I bleed black and gold. Living here in North Carolina I was excited to see the Whalers move to North Carolina a few years after I arrived if for nothing else that I’d get to see the Bruins a few times a year. Well like turkey hunting the new hockey team the Carolina Hurricanes grew on me and I got to admit that after a couple of seasons here I was hooked.
Well this week my two hockey worlds have collided as the Canes stun the NJ Devils with two goals in the closing minute or so to win game 7 and to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They now will face the Boston Bruins and I will get to live a lifelong dream to see the Bruins live as they play playoff hockey. Granted whoever wins the series between the Canes and the Bruins will be bitter sweet for me but the next two weeks will be exciting.
Mixed in with all this hockey has been turkey season and it has been a tough season thus far. I’ve yet to see a gobbler and they have been hard to find because they‘ve been pretty silent so far. With the unseasonable hot weather (90’s) and limited days to hunt I seem to be behind the 8 ball. It is suppose to cool off a bit this weekend and I’m hearing reports that the gobbling lull seems to be coming to an end.
With game one of the Bruins Canes series set for Friday evening I guess that means I’ll stay in town to watch it on TV and leave in the early am on Saturday to hopefully catch up with a gobbler. I hope it’s a great weekend. Go Bruins

Hen Pecked

This past weekend I didn’t have much luck trying to fill one of my two turkey tags and to be honest this is shaping up to be a tough season. I was hunting our lease in Alamance County which is mostly fields so we have to utilize blinds rather than running and gunning. I was sitting in the blind with some decoys out when I called a hen in to the spread.
She came in real quiet and caught me by surprise coming through some high grass. Not knowing if she was a hen or a gobbler I first grabbed my gun but when she came out it was clear to see she was a hen. There was nothing else with her so I picked up my camera but not fast enough to catch her surprising move.
The hen ran up to the Jake decoy and pecked him a couple of times in the head. Not getting the reaction she expected she seemed confused by the decoys. She never got near the hens and she slowly turned and left the field.
Kind of a funny experience and something I’ve never seen. I’ve seen gobblers go after the Jake decoys but never a hen.
Hopefully I’ll find her boyfriend real soon.

What Happened In Wilkes County?

On Saturday morning there was a deadly confrontation in the woods of Wilkes County off of Cane Creek Road between a turkey hunter and a North Carolina Wildlife Officer that has a family asking what happened.

N.C. Wildlife Commission Capt. Rusty Hunter said Wildlife Officer Mark Minton was patrolling during the first day of turkey hunting season when the confrontation happened about 7:30 a.m.
The commission said the shooting happened on private property in the Cane Creek area of Wilkes County.
The hunter who was killed, Clyde Coffey, was a 77-year-old from Lenoir. Reports indicate he died of a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Hunter told television reporters there was no evidence suggesting Minton confused the hunter with an animal. Instead, it appeared the officer was protecting himself, Hunter said.
“An armed confrontation with a hunter resulted in Officer Minton firing a shot, apparently in self-defense, which led to the death of the alleged assailant,” the Wildlife Resources Commission said in a statement.
Minton is on administrative leave while the State Bureau of Investigation reviews the incident.

Salisbury Post

The family does not believe Officer Minton’s account

“He’s minding his own business sitting in a tree stand. He hadn’t been there long. My dad had a gun, he was turkey hunting! But my dad’s gun never fired. And ther was only two of them there, and my dad’s gone. He can’t tell his side,” said Clyde’s daughter Debbie Robbins.

Fox 8

The unofficial story as best as I can gather it is as follows;
Officer Minton had reason to believe that the area this incident took place was illegally baited and he went on to the posted private land to catch someone hunting over the bait. Officer Minton found Mr. Coffey hunting out of a treestand and confronted him. Mr. Coffey was hard of hearing that could of made communication difficult and some reports that officer Minton was dressed in Camo clothing that day and not the traditional uniform. Or at least his uniform was covered up. At some point Mr. Coffey did something that put Officer Minton’s life in danger and he shot Mr. Coffey with his service weapon one time in the chest killing him.
Mr. Coffey’s family report that this type of behavior is out of character for him and they question what happened. As far as I can tell there were no witnesses to the confrontation so the SBI investigation will have to focus on the physical evidence to piece this together.
Officer Minton is a seasoned officer with 12 years working with the Wildlife Commission so it is reasonable to assume he has the experience and skills to exhaust all other avenues before he used deadly force.

Someone made a bad choice that morning whether it was Mr. Coffey or Officer Minton will have to wait and see what the SBI Investigation determines.

Opening Day of Turkey Season For Me Was Quiet

Saturday was the opening day of turkey season in North Carolina so Friday I headed up to the camp in Caswell County. The weather on Friday was not good with a strong line of thunderstorms cutting across the entire state. We spent the evening sitting around swapping stories and lies as the rain pounded down on the old house.
In the morning I headed for my favorite spot to turkey hunt on the property. It was just about shooting
light when I slipped out of the thick pines and into the hardwoods knoll. I sat down with my back
braced
against an oak tree to listen to the woods waking up. It was almost 30 minutes before I heard the first
gobble and that turkey was way off. About 10 minutes latter I heard another gobbler and he
sounded like he was pretty deep into the Game Lands. That would be the last gobble I would hear on Saturday which is pretty surprising considering how it has been the past few years.
None of us got a bird opening morning although one of the guys passed up a jake. Judging by the signs and the scouting we’ve done it would appear the combination of 3 years of poor hatches and the drastic increase in predators, mainly coyotes, the flock is not as big as it once was. The afternoon/ evening hunt we hunted green fields hoping to catch one strutting in the clover. That was a bust as well so the opening day ended without me seeing a turkey which is an unusual start for the season.

Hopefully next weekend will be better and I’ll get a chance to work a bird at least.

North Carolina Wildlife Officer Used Deadly Force On Opening Day Of Turkey Season

Mark Minton North Carolina Wildlife Officer used deadly force after a confrontation with a turkey hunter on opening morning in Wilkes County. 77 Year Old Clyde Coffey was hunting on his own land off of Cane Creek Road when the confrontation took place.

MCGRADY, N.C. – A 77-year-old hunter described as a “teddy bear of man” was shot and killed on his property early Saturday morning by a veteran Wildlife Resources officer, a state game warden and family members of the victim said.

Family members identified the man as Clyde Coffey and his daughter said he often came to his house on Cane Creek Church Rd. to hunt on the hill behind his property. Neighbors remembered Coffey as a “teddy bear of a man” who would never hurt anybody.

Wildlife Resources officers told FOX8 News officer Mark Minton shot a hunter around 7:30 a.m. Saturday, which was the first day of turkey season.

Fox 8

It is unclear what exactly happened and we may not know officially until the SBI wraps up their investigation. I’ve heard that Mr. Coffey was hunting from a treestand which is highly unusual for turkey hunting. Mr. Coffey may have also had a hearing problem that could have contributed to a breakdown in communication between him and Officer Minton. Was he violating a game law when Officer Minton made contact? A lot of questions that I’m sure will have answered at some point. I believe this is the first officer involved shooting in over 20 years for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission Enforcement Division which is pretty remarkable when you think that many of their encounters involved armed individuals. We’ll Update when more Info is Available.

Sighting In For Turkey Season

One of the most important things you can do to help you be successful in the turkey woods is to sight your shotgun in. You’d be surprised at how many people overlook this important step and have no idea what kind of pattern there gun is shooting. We talked before about shot size and choke tubes in an earlier post and both will effect the pattern your gun will shoot.
When it comes to shooting a turkey with a shotgun remember unlike other types of hunting with shotguns you really need to shoot it like a rifle. That’s why it is important to sight it in. I like to have a minimum of 20 pellets in the spine / brain area of the turkey target when I sight my gun in. So I’m including some printable targets that you can use to check your gun pattern before the season comes in.

Gunners Den Target

Missouri Wildlife Turkey Target

Remington Targets

Season will be here soon So get prepared.

Selecting The Shotgun For Turkey Hunting

While far be it from me to tell anyone they don’t need a new gun but the reality is for many first time turkey hunters their current shotgun will work just fine. The 12 gauge is probably the most popular gun but with the advances in ammunition and choke tubes the 20 gauge is gaining in popularity. I’m sure a few gobblers meet their demise each year with the rare 16 gauge and 10 gauge. While a 410 will fold a dove or quail it’s probably a bit light for the turkey woods.
The key to a good turkey gun is working up a good shot pattern within the gun usually the tightest choke is what you will want. There are a number of aftermarket choke tubes that you can use to help work up that killing pattern but before you rush out to buy one check the tubes you may already have. I didn’t have a full choke for my Mossberg 500 so I bought an Undertaker Choke Tube a number of years ago and it works great.
The other part of the puzzle is the ammo you’ll use. I would suggest that you pick up a box or two of turkey loads because the technology has advanced a lot to make it worthwhile to spend a little bit of money to get a turkey load. I use Hevi Shot # 5’s that seems to give me the best pattern over the years testing a variety of different ammos. Most people I talk to seem to use #5 or #6 shot and occasionally I run into folks who use #4. Like anything individual guns will work better with a particular shot size and even a brand then another so it’s important to test them out.
Other aspects that you may want to consider when pulling a shotgun out of the safe to use is the importance of camo. Some guns have a camo finish others you can add a sock or tape to help the gun blend into the woods. While it is not a must to have a camo gun avoiding shiny or reflective items that may help the gobbler bust you is important.
Tomorrow will go a bit more into the sighting in process and I’ll even give you some free targets to use on the range.

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