Turkey Hunting with The Admiral

I’m a die hard, ultra competitive, super sleepless, ridiculously relentless,

gobbler getting turkey hunter. Spring is my thing. Period. When I go turkey hunting and come home empty-handed, I’m usually really disappointed. And grouchy. And irritable. And down right unpleasant.

So when I got skunked on my recent turkey hunting trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota, I was disappointed, but I was also thankful. I had the privilege of spending five days introducing a person I admire to my favorite thing in the world. I took the United States Navy’s recently retired Vice-Adm. Carl V. Mauney, or “Uncle Van” as I know him, on his first turkey hunt.

I can make a long story short when it comes to the hunting: for five days, it rained for 70% of daylight hours (even snowed one day), we got soaking wet and cold more than a few times and the few Merriam’s gobblers we found were unresponsive to calling. We didn’t even come close to getting a turkey.

Even so, Uncle Van (in his late 50s and in great shape) trudged up and down the Black Hills listening intently as I tried to teach him everything he had to suppose I’ve learned about turkey hunting over the last 13 years. I had to admire him for his effort and dedication to the hunt. Here’s a guy who’s led thousands of men on missions and assignments for the last 30 years, and he’s willing to listen to his nephew, who’s half his age, tell him where to sit in the pre-dawn minutes before gobbling time.

As hard as Uncle Van listened during the hunting, learning as much as he could, I felt like I did the same when we were lucky enough to have him to recount stories from his brilliant career.

Naval assignments forced Uncle Van, my aunt Debby and their three daughters to move often as I grew up, and in turn, they were in and out of my life. The hunting trip allowed us to catch up on years gone by.

I heard how he helped lead the investigation in the aftermath of the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in 2000, which was one of the first pre-9/11 attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda terrorists. Then, when Army Gen. Tommy Franks led U.S. forces into Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks, Uncle Van was at his side as his Executive Assistant. Sitting in the lodge during our hunt, as Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke on FOX news, Uncle Van commented, “he’s one of the finest men I’ve ever had the privilege of working with.”

Pretty cool stuff if you ask me.

I was surprised that Uncle Van kept smiling and enjoying himself even though the hunting was miserable. I spent months telling him how awesome the trip was going to be. I should have known better than do doubt his vigor though. It was almost as if he had a little experience with things not always going according to the plan. Thanks U.S. Navy for preparing my uncle to be a turkey hunter!

On most turkey hunting trips, a 20-pound, loud gobbling longbeard is normally the star of the show, but that wasn’t the case on our trip. Uncle Van, and his tales from oceans and command posts around the world, stole the spotlight – and I’m so thankful I was there to listen.

Big thanks to Winchester Ammunition and the National Wild Turkey Federation for teaming up to introduce my uncle to the sport of turkey hunting and for always supporting veterans and the U.S. Armed Forces. Uncle Van can’t wait to get back into the turkey woods, so I consider the hunt a huge success!

Visit to Cannon Safe & GunVault

Last week I visited Cannon Safe and GunVault headquarters and manufacturing facility in San Bernardino, CA. A really cool aspect of my job is being able to go behind-the-scenes and see how everything is made.

I settled on one of the oversized couches in the Cannon Safe show room floor, which would put many Cabela’s trophy rooms to shame. I heard the hustle and bustle of the manufacturing facility behind two over-sized fully functioning safe doors, curious as to what was behind them.

Sure enough, welders were sparking, forklifts were racing around and painters were meticulously painting safes, all signs of a healthy company. I then got to see a variety of safes being built from start to finish.

Every employee on the floor has a specific task, and boy are they efficient! Not one step was wasted, cuts were precise and safes were moving along the assembly line in a fluid motion. It was neat to learn that a lot of the employees at this family run business have been on the job 8-25 years! It sure did show too, every safe was inspected for perfection.

It is the attention to detail that has made Cannon a leader in the safe industry. They also stand behind what they make. To them, it is important that they take care of the customer after the sale. They offer free parts, free labor and free freight for repair of a safe after burglary, natural flood or fire for the LIFETIME of the safe.

It was neat to see the safes being made. I am proud to be representing a company that has been in the Baker family for generations as well as a company that produces a quality product that is customer-focused.

I also have to admit, being a Southern California native, it was nice to visit the sun and enjoy a double-double from In-N-Out!

Hi - I'm the new guy

Hey everybody, my name is Michael Turbyfill, but lately everyone is calling me “the new guy.” I’m a new public relations specialist for Chevalier. My situation gives me the new guy label with both my coworkers at Chevalier and our client, Winchester Ammunition. Unlike high school, when it was cool to be new, now I’m just the guy who needs to know where the bathroom is located and how to use the copier.

New guy or not, I’m extremely excited and blessed to support the PR efforts of one of America’s most recognizable and respected brands. In Winchester’s office lobby, a giant, bronze statue of American icon John Wayne holding a Winchester rifle reminds me each morning that the Winchester name is truly timeless.

Heading into my recent job change, the only negative part of the switch was I’d have to move smack dab in the middle of my favorite time of year – spring turkey season. Lucky for me (not so lucky for a couple gobblers), I was able to get in a few last-minute hunts in the Carolinas.

On April 8, I was fortunate enough to harvest a testy gobbler on public land in South Carolina. Less than 72 hours later, in the mountains of western North Carolina where I grew up, I smoked an old, mountain gobbler in the same hardwoods where I first learned to hunt. Ironically, both longbeards met their demise with a face full of Winchester Xtended Range #6s. Check out the photo of my S.C. bird and I'll look forward to sharing more of my adventures in the future.

Chasing Easterns in Alabama

I’m sure you all remember my quest to shoot a turkey with my bow, but failed miserably.

This year I changed my game plan entirely and headed south to Alabama with a shotgun to chase Easterns. I met up with my friend Hilary Dyer of Grandview Media at the Davis Quail Hunts lodge. Our host Field Trial Hall of Famer, Colvin Davis and his wife Maize Davis, greeted us. We all got a laugh at Hilary’s expense when she left her choke tubes at home and had to use the loaner gun – a 10-gauge pump. After that laugh we ate a good southern meal and prepped for the hunt.

There was turkey sign everywhere and I was pumped! However, that feeling was short-lived as Murphy’s Law crept down to Alabama. Next thing I know, turkeys aren’t answering my calls, turkey tracks lead to nowhere, roosting spots disappear and hens are aplenty but toms are absent.

I hunted three times a day with no luck. I sat…I spot-n-stalked…tried every method in the book with no results. On the last morning, determined, I set out with Hilary and Maize. The night before they were able to locate a roosted gobbler not far from the lodge.

We set up our decoys on an elevated field and started calling at first light. Within minutes we heard a gobble probably 300 yards behind us. He was fired up too! However, behind us was another field sandwiched between two ditches. It became apparent that the gobbler was walking up and down the ditch line, refusing to cross over.

If this gobbler wasn’t coming to us, we were going to him! We left our decoys and blind behind, as we knew we had to move fast. We crossed one ditch in hopes our big boy was in the field. After calling again, a silhouette appeared. My stomach turned when Maize confirmed our guy was about 200 yards across the field and on the other side of another ditch!

After strategizing for a brief moment we determined that Hilary and myself were going to army crawl to the other side of the field and set up right along the ditch. Maize would stay back about 50 yards and call. The game plan was to lure the tom right along the ditch line and shoot him from the other side. It was a fail-proof plan.

I took off my pack, clipped my ThermaCELL to the small of my back and started crawling. Hilary and I slowly but steadily made our way across the field. My motivation came when our tom would gobble. We got set up on the edge of the ditch and waited….and waited.

After a long sit we heard crows overhead causing a ruckus. Shortly after that Maize walked up to us and said she saw the crows harassing the tom and he took off in flight. Bummer!

Every Spring I am haunted by Facebook status updates and Twitter feeds – photos of successful hunters smiling while displaying a fan of feathers and long beards. Men, women and children, young and old, experienced and novice all are mocking me for one simple thing.

I can’t seem to kill a turkey. People now have a name for it…the Slayer/Salyer turkey curse.

Introduction from newest member of Chevalier!

My name is Tim Zick and I am thrilled to be the newest member of Chevalier Advertising Marketing and Public Relations.

As a public relations associate, I’ll be able to utilize the bachelor’s degree I earned from Minnesota State University, Mankato. I majored in mass communications with an emphasis on public relations. Prior to graduating, I spent roughly six months interning at a non-profit organization called The Arc of Minnesota Southwest.

Having been raised on a farm in Northern Minnesota, I am very familiar with hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. Where I’m from, deer hunting is a major holiday. You either become a hero or have to spend a venison-starved winter waiting for next year’s hunt. It is the only time of year that my dad takes off from work.

Personally, I enjoy grouse hunting and fishing equally as well as hunting deer. Spearing Northerns during the winter is fun as well. Other outdoors activities that interest me include four-wheeling, snowmobiling and looking for sheds in the spring.

I’m very excited at the opportunity to work in this industry and to be a part of a great team at Chevalier Advertising. Check back later for more posts!