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Colonel Tom Kelly, the author of Tenth Legion and renowned turkey hunter died over the weekend. His daughter, Laura Kelly Bates, confirmed the news in a short video posted on Kelly’s website. The cause of death was not initially stated. Kelly was 99.

“This weekend, we lost one of the greatest,” Bates said. “No words can express what he has meant to me, our family and friends, his troops, and to his loyal legion of followers in the turkey hunting community.”

Col. Tom Kelly was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1927 and grew up around the briny Mobile Bay. At age 17, he joined the U.S. Navy against his mother’s wishes and became an aerial tailgunner during WWII. After the war, Kelly earned a degree in forestry from Auburn, eventually rose to the ranks of Colonel in the U.S. Army, and retired after 30 years of service.

While working as a forester, Kelly turkey hunted across the South and wrote about his adventures, which he later compiled into Tenth Legion, his Magnum Opus and the greatest work of turkey hunting literature. Every spring, turkey hunters flock to social media, quoting the Colonel and putting to words what he described as his greatest “compulsion.”

“I do not turkey hunt because I want to, I hunt them because I have to,” he wrote. “I would really rather not do it, but I am helpless in the grip of my compulsion.”

As much as Faulkner’s shadow still hangs over the Southern writer, Kelly’s own lyrical and meditative musings on turkey hunting cast a similar influence over others and even some contemporary writers today. It’s evident that Kelly’s writing affected generations of turkey hunters. Before Kelly, no one really wrote, with such eloquence, about turkey hunting.

Perhaps his greatest influence, though, goes beyond the page. His writing inspired his readers to revere the wild turkey, not through mere adoration alone but as a rally to arms for wild turkey conservation. In fact, the Mossy Oak documentary The Colonel and the Fox details Kelly’s and Fox Haas’ legacy of turkey hunting and conservation.

“He was 99. That sounds old for a man, but for Tom Kelly, you could almost believe he would live forever,” his daughter said. What remains of the colonel are his words and stories; stories that made generations of turkey hunters admire the wild turkey just as much as a turkey gobble might. And that, like the wild turkey, can surely endure.

Most whitetail hunters feel they need to play it safe in mid-October, but that might cost you a buck. This is a great time of the season to e-scout, ground check your work, and kill a good one when most of your competition is waiting on the rut.

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Where did all those gunfighters popping up the Old West actually come? Join best-selling author Bryan Burrough as he explores the extraordinarily violent place that gave birth to a whole lot of them: Texas. 

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The wind wasn’t blowing right for my favorite treestand, so I set up that morning in a ground blind downwind of the bedding area. I was watching an old logging road. It was thick on both sides, but I figured I could still get a solid broadside shot as deer crossed the road heading back to bed after a late-night buffet in the beanfield on the neighbor’s property.

I watched three does saunter past right at shooting light. About an hour after sunrise, as the fog burned off the swampy road, I saw one of the biggest bucks I have ever laid eyes on. Only instead of crossing the road, he was walking head-on toward my blind, nose out, antlers shining in the early morning light.

I raised my rifle, steadied my breathing, and waited. There was no way I was going to blow a shot on such a heart-stopping bruiser, and I didn’t want to ruin it with an iffy forward-facing shot. So I stared down my iron sights as he came another thirty yards straight down the logging road. My trigger finger was getting itchy, but I held steady.

Then he just stepped off the road and disappeared into the brambles and switch cane. I never fired a shot, but it took a good while for my heart rate to get back down to normal. My encounter with that buck drove home an important point. Just because there’s a deer lined up in your crosshairs doesn’t mean you should squeeze the trigger. It can be hard to remember that when you’re staring down the kind of buck dreams are made of. But sometimes the best thing you can do is let that deer walk.

That buck was well within shooting range, and I had a steady rest. But none of that mattered since he only gave me a frontal shot. A lot of hunters feel confident taking a frontal shot, but I personally don’t like the risk. If I had taken that frontal shot, there’s a chance I would have killed him. But I knew there was minimal margin for error, and there were so many things that could go wrong. I could strike bone instead of vitals or end up with an injured deer and a crappy blood trail. My bullet could ruin meat. I wanted that buck enough to let him walk and hunt him another day.

Frontal, straight-away, or a steep quartering angle are all solid reasons to keep your finger off the trigger. If you don’t have a clear path to vitals, it’s best not to shoot.

Last archery season, my target buck came from an unexpected direction. I heard soft footfalls to my left (my weak side), almost behind me. He stood broadside at 30 yards, nibbling acorns like he had nowhere to be.

It should have been the perfect shot, but getting into a good shooting position would have required some serious gymnastics on my part. I would have had to twist my torso into a pretzel and lean way out of the treestand to get the shot. I spent several minutes quietly hoping and praying he would come around to a spot where I could make a better shot, but it never happened. It’s tempting to make awkward shooting positions work. But if you’re twisted, off-balance, reaching, or almost hanging out of your treestand, it can make a chip shot almost impossible.

Forcing a shot from an awkward position makes it hard to control your weapon. If you’re shooting a bow, it can make it hard to get a good anchor or even break down your form. If you’re shooting a rifle, it turns a steady shot into a shaky one. The deer might be within your range, but your form might fall to pieces.

“Know your target and what lies beyond” is a cardinal rule of firearms safety. What if you have a solid rest and you’re staring at a broadside deer, but there’s a doe standing behind it? Or another buck is moving through the same opening? Or maybe a few cattle are happily grazing in the pasture just beyond your target? The shot is no good.

When your target buck lines up perfectly in your sights, it’s hard not to get tunnel vision. But every shot has a destination beyond your target, and you're responsible for all the damage that shot does once your finger squeezes the trigger.

If there’s another deer tangling up your shot, it may only take a few moments of patience for it to work itself out. If there’s a road, a house, livestock, or anything else you can’t afford to accidentally hit, there shouldn’t be any internal debate. Wait for a clear shot or let the deer walk. Ideally, you shouldn’t put yourself in a shooting situation where those other factors present a risk.

The pair had appeared almost out of nowhere. I saw the doe first and then the buck hot on her tail. I got my gun up and tried to line up the crosshairs on a buck still on the move. Then that doe crossed my scent line and put on the brakes. She threw up her nose, turned her head straight toward me, and stomped the ground twice. The buck was still oblivious, but he was closing the distance between them fast. I was running out of time before she blew the whole thing.

At that moment, it was hard not to panic. I was playing against the clock in my head. That’s when a perfectly fine shot can turn into a bad one. Maybe a deer is about to catch your scent, disappear into thick brush, or it’s just continually moving.

Your heart rate spikes, breathing quickens, and brain narrows focus. When buck fever kicks in, it’s usually a good time to slow yourself down. Give yourself a second to breathe, settle your weapon, and decide whether it’s a shot you can confidently make. Sure, you might miss an opportunity, but that’s a lot easier to live with than making a bad shot because you convinced yourself you were running out of time.

Sometimes the hardest part of hunting is knowing when not to shoot. While a missed opportunity might make you replay that scene over and over, a botched shot stays with you. There’s no shame in passing on a deer when the shot isn’t optimal. It’s okay to let him walk so you can hunt him under better circumstances another day.

This article covers shooting situations to pass on, but if you need a good resource for where to shoot a deer, check out this article from Tony Peterson.

A Maryland man is facing manslaughter and other felony charges after authorities say he fatally shot a 39-year-old woman he mistook for a deer while she was walking through a field with her partner and two children.

The shooting occurred on September 18th near Ellendale, Delaware, when Walter Moorhead (74) was hunting and allegedly fired at Santos Maria Chilel Soto, believing she was a deer.

According to court documents, Chilel Soto was walking through a harvested field with her partner, Minivaldo Velásquez, and two children, ages 10 and 7, when the shooting occurred. Velásquez told investigators the group was walking close together when he heard what he described as an “explosion” and saw Chilel Soto fall to the ground. She had been struck in the upper torso, and Velásquez applied pressure to the wound while calling 911.

At the time, WHYY news reports Moorhead was hunting deer from a ground blind with a scoped rifle. He told investigators that he initially spotted what he believed was a doe through his scope, but had to reposition himself and his rifle as the target moved. After repositioning, Moorhead fired.

According to the probable-cause affidavit obtained by WBOC, Moorhead then left the blind and headed toward the area where he believed he had shot the deer. Upon reaching the area, he found Chilel Soto injured and surrounded by Velásquez and the two children. Police and emergency personnel responded to the field shortly afterward, and Chilel Soto was transported to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Although Delaware’s regular deer firearms season was not open at the time, Moorhead was legally hunting under a crop-damage permit, which allows landowners or authorized hunters to remove deer causing agricultural damage outside of the regular hunting season.

Moorhead was arrested and charged with five felonies: manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of another person, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and three counts of first-degree reckless endangering. He was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court and later released after posting a $43,000 cash bond.

On Sept. 25, Moorhead waived his preliminary hearing, moving the case forward to Delaware Superior Court.

Now, Chilel Soto’s partner is speaking out about the shooting and questioning how Moorhead could have mistaken her for a deer. According to The Guardian, Velásquez said Chilel Soto was wearing a yellow blouse while he was wearing a blue T-shirt.

Velásquez said he does not believe the shooting was simply an accident, arguing that Moorhead should have been able to distinguish a person from a deer before pulling the trigger. He called Moorhead’s explanation “unacceptable and senseless” and said there was “no excuse” for what happened.

The case remains pending in Delaware Superior Court, and Moorhead has not been convicted of any of the charges against him. But regardless of how the case ultimately plays out, the shooting serves as a tragic reminder of one of hunting’s most fundamental safety rules: Know what you’re aiming at before you pull the trigger.

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Day 1 of the inaugural FishEater Classic Fishing Tournament on Lake of the Woods is finally here! Eight anglers, four teams, all fishing for a conservation organization of their choice to receive a $25,000 donation. Today, teams are launching out of the beautiful Crow Rock Lodge, targeting walleye and northern pike. Nobody in this tournament has fished Lake of the Woods previously, so it's anybody's game on day one. Presented by CanAm and Tecovas

This week, Cal talks about an unusual use of Halloween decorations, an unprecedented professional sports game proposal, the re-establishment of a classic wildlife area in Georgia, and a whole lot more.

Call to Action:

Do you have a fishing operation in the Chesapeake Bay? Apply for a USDA grant for seafood processors that focus on invasive, wild-caught catfish. https://simpler.grants.gov/opportunity/26d3b044-1102-43a4-9eb5-102d25c19347

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Steven Rinella talks with alligator hunter Bob Stafford after a successful Florida hunt. They discuss Bob's experiences as one of Florida's first gator hunters; how gator hunting continues to evolve and the ways in which gators respond to hunting pressure; Bob's experiences a commercial gator egg collector; the difference between catching baby gators and giant gators; the markets for meat and hides; and more.

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In another (unsurprising) caliber battle, the greatest whitetail cartridge of all time retains its title by a definitive knockout. The .30-06 Springfield defeated the 6.5 Creedmoor in a landslide victory. It won the vote, tallying 1,701 to the 6.5 CM’s 718. The results leave no room for doubt, except whether there’s a chance that the .30-06 Sprg might ever be dethroned.

But, it didn’t just demolish the 6.5 Creedmoor. It obliterated old-school cartridges like the .243 and .30-30 Winchester, offering better ballistics and versatility than either of its competitors. In fact, its ballistics and versatility were enough to make most voters forget about any recoil associated with this century-old cartridge.

While the overwhelming results suggest that the .30-06 Sprg makes an excellent, proven whitetail cartridge from coast to coast, that doesn’t mean the other cartridges are any less potent when it comes to deer. There are plenty of arguments surrounding shot placement and knockdown power, but the truth is that there are loads of cartridges that make excellent deer hunting rounds. The 6.5 CM certainly deserves its flowers, as do plenty of others.

For now, the .30-06 remains not only the best classic whitetail cartridge but also the best of all time. Looks like it might be a while before that changes.

Photo Courtesy of Rock Island Auction