NWTF CEO Keck steps down after 27 years

Interesting news from the NWTF, the press release is below...

After 30 Years of Service, NWTF CEO Steps Down



EDGEFIELD, S.C. — After 30 years of distinguished service, including 27 years as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Wild Turkey Federation, Rob Keck has decided, for personal and family reasons, to step aside from his duties with the Federation as of June 1, 2008.

Wednesday morning, the NWTF's National Board of Directors reluctantly accepted this decision. Under Mr. Keck's leadership, the NWTF has grown into one of the nation's premier conservation organizations.

The NWTF is a grassroots, nonprofit organization with more than 550,000 members in 50 states, Canada, Mexico and 14 other foreign countries. It supports scientific wildlife management on public, private and corporate lands as well as wild turkey hunting as a traditional North American sport.

In 1973, the National Wild Turkey Federation was founded in Fredericksburg, Va. At that time, there were an estimated 1.3 million wild turkeys and 1.5 million turkey hunters. Shortly after its founding, the NWTF moved to Edgefield, S.C., where it is headquartered today.

Thanks to the work of federal, state and provincial wildlife agencies and the NWTF's many volunteers and partners, there are now more than 7 million wild turkeys and nearly 3 million turkey hunters. Turkey hunting has become the fastest growing form of hunting and has the second-highest number of participants of any type of hunting.

Since 1985, more than $258 million NWTF and cooperator dollars have been spent on upholding hunting traditions and conserving more than 13.1 million acres of wildlife habitat. Hunters have also benefited as the NWTF has worked tirelessly to support our hunting heritage and protect and promote laws that increase hunting opportunity and safety.

The NWTF's National Board of Directors will immediately begin a nationwide search for Mr. Keck's successor.

Deer Scouting Wytheville VA 3-16-08

Yesterday I did a little roadside scouting, just seeing if the deer are still nocturnal or if they’re coming back out in to the fields in the daytime. I didn’t get to travel at the time I wanted to but I did see some turkey but no deer. I’ve been reading “Bowhunting Pressured Whitetails” by John and Chris Eberhart, I’m not very far in to the book and it’s already motivating me to do all that I can to make more time for scouting right now because this is the best time of the year. I already knew that but due to the fact that Harry needs so much attention I haven’t been doing all I can do. I also recently bought a hang-on stand from K-Mart that was on sale! I’m going to set it up on the one small piece of private property that I hunt on. I’ve been shooting my bow more now that I have it fixed and I’m starting to get more consistent from different angles and ranges! I’ve been doing fair on my fitness, it’s getting tougher due to Harry again but I’ve also been lazy about things, I have been working out etc just not as hard as I should be, however today I’m getting back on track!
Everything else is going well, I’ve been having a blast hanging with Harry and Jessica, work has been great, and the rest of the family is great as well! My life is so blessed right now and I thank God for that! Best wishes and happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!

Deer Scouting Wytheville VA March 1, 2008

Today has been a great day so far! I’ve gotten several things done and had a lot of fun doing it!

I spent about 4 hours getting in some pre or post season scouting, depending on the species you’re talking, about this morning. I found a new place to hunt and some positive sign in a place I’ve been watching, and I even got to watch a small doe for about 10 minutes as well. I also took the time and scouted several other places I hadn’t had a chance to. Several of the new places were unproductive but at least I can now cross them off of the list. One thing I have to mention though, my camo has really done its job on several occasions for me! I wear Mossy Oak and I’ve had deer hear and smell me on different occasions but even at extremely close distances and knowing that I was there they have never spotted me. Case in point the doe today heard me move at one point and looked directly at me, I was standing with only my left side behind cover and the deer was still not able to pick me out. I held still for a while and she went back to feeding shortly after that.


After my scouting trip I then went to Kmart and bought a new fleece Mossy Oak jacket and another waterproof Mossy Oak top with ScentBlock. They both were on sale so I didn’t even spend much money! Oh, and I also bought a binocular harness strap to make my scouting trips easier.