Bob Coker - Owner of the World Deer and Turkey Expo

We are joined this week by Bob Coker who is the owner of The World Deer And Turkey Expo.  He shares the importance of the service suh a show has for hunters and the bet he had with Alex Rutledge which caused him to about pass out!

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Transcript

Bob Coker: [00:00:00] It just got quiet all of a sudden. Well, I had no idea they was coming, cause every time they walk up that hill, it sounded like they was walking away from us. Yeah! And they, they pitch off that mountain, right in our laps, I ended up killing a bird with my bow. Yeah. Alex pulled my lip out all the way to his house, and filled it up, filled it up with a can of that stuff.

And then we heard another bird, and he says that's my, it's my turn, it's my turn. So, I sat down with this big wad in my mouth, and We weren't that bird for a while and never got him in and I finally had to give up on him and when I went to stand up My world was spinning He was sick I had to lay back down and stretch my arms out Camel boots on my feet Bow in hand Walking in the earth Wise Eye Technologies presents [00:01:00] Welcome to American roots, outdoor segment, one of our show.

And man, do we have a good show lined up for you? We are in the studio at K country 95 and red bone. It was pouring rain. When I left birch tree, I had to go by pipe plus to pick up a piece of aluminum. I bought me a camper for Linda and I were going to go camping. We had a little bitty tent with an air mattress, but I got thinking about it.

I saw this on marketplace. So we went and bought a camper. And I also want to say this red bone. My partner, Dakota Connell, and I say partner in fishing. Mm-Hmm. . And I won the another CRSA last week. Yeah, we won the tournament last weekend. We did. Yeah. So we're sitting in first place in points. We got a 1.41 one pound 0.41 ounce lead over the second place team.

Oh, congratulations. So, yeah, we had a, a Dakota. My, my fishing partner caught a 4. 30 smallmouth, 21 and 3. 25 inches long. We had another three pounder and another two pounder and another one pushing two and another pound and a half. So we had 11. 79 and five smallmouth. [00:02:00] We've averaged over 10 pounds per tournament.

Wow. That's really good. Yeah. So, yeah, and like you mentioned as we're recording this on Wednesday, there is major flooding in northwest Arkansas, southwest Missouri. How many inches of rain did they get down Mountain View, Arkansas? Just north of Mountain View, Arkansas, Ryan Vaughn, who does the weather for KAIT TV in Jonesboro, reported 15 inches of rain overnight.

Oh my! And you ought to see some of the, on the, what, White River runs down through there, whatever it runs down through Mountain View. Yeah. A lot of those places where they do fishing and boat diving and stuff on the river are just gone. They're going to have to have government assistance. Oh yeah, absolutely.

I got a friend that lives at Flippin. They lost everything. Oh my. They were water waist high in their house. What about the North Fork River there below the dam? Yeah, I don't know. You know, but just from what I've seen. My buddy Richard Kraft's got his house right there below the dam. Yeah, yeah, I like that.

I haven't seen anything from there. But I like that. There are some bridges that have been washed out. I mean, it is a disaster area in northwest [00:03:00] Arkansas and parts of southwest New Jersey. Prayers for them. I saw one picture of a community, it was in Arkansas, the McDonald's. It's almost completely underwater.

That's sad. You know, what about their county roads and stuff and their roads washed out? The governor's going to have to declare assistance there or something. But anyway, so prayers going out to all those people who were affected by the flooding and the heavy rains and it's all over with now, at least for a while.

So anyway. King of the River Tournament is coming up July 27th at Van Buren, Missouri. This is Ellington Nutrition Center, a fundraiser. The King of the River is the most prestigious tournament on the Current River. If you're interested, go to Current River Smallmouth Association. And the information will be posted there.

Also, the Ellington Nutrition Center Facebook page, if you want to fish that tournament. We'd love to see you. It's a single tournament. It's a five fish weigh in, and you gotta have a live whale and all that, you gotta be able to have your [00:04:00] boat pass safety inspection pass the water safety rules, and it's a singles tournament.

I've won it once in 2019, my brother Jack's won it three times Derek Hampton has won it four times. Once, twice, and so was Aaron Nicholson. Aaron Nicholson won it twice. So there's a lot of good fishermen on that river, man. It's just getting the right place, the right time, but moving along here to all you target shooters out there.

Right now is a great time to be target shooting, even through the summer months, and we encourage you to be out there shooting that hornady ammunition, you know, and I run my trail cameras year round. I'm gonna give them a plug. And I want to thank all of our local partners that help us bring this radio shows to the networks all across the country.

Yeah, we couldn't do it without them. No. And from our corporate sponsors all the way to the local sponsors. Yeah, we couldn't do it. We couldn't do it. We appreciate you all. But, We've got just a few minutes left here. I want to touch on this again. Election time's coming up, August 6th. And study [00:05:00] your candidates, everybody.

Use your head. Don't believe what people tell you. Research your candidates for yourself. Know your candidate. If they do not believe in what you believe, don't support them. If they do believe in what you believe, and you think they've been good leaders and they're coming up for re election, support them.

You know, without getting to one side or the other, Yeah. I was watching the Republican National Committee or Convention last night, Nikki Haley came on and did her endorsement of Trump, but she said something I thought was very fitting for local elections, state elections, federal elections. She said, you're not going to agree with everything that President Trump says or stands for, but more often than not, we are going to agree.

You're right, she's right. If you use that from a local perspective, nobody is going to believe. Everything you believe, and you shouldn't blindly just follow that person and say, well, he believes it, so I'm going to believe it. [00:06:00] You should have your own convictions, and you should vote for the candidate, whichever side of the aisle they stand on, that has the same convictions, or at least most of the same convictions that you have.

Don't be mad at somebody because you don't like what somebody said. Look at their work record. Seriously. You know? And some people say, Oh, they've been in there too long. You know, if they've done a bad job, they end up beating themselves. Nobody beats them. They beat themselves. They've done something wrong.

So keep that in mind. Just a big shout out to all my friends that listen, Travis Smith, good friend, Herman Kelly another great friend, Bill Mr. Ellett is representative Mark Collins. Joe Lloyd. Oh, Mr. Elliott this morning. Yeah. Good guy. Good guy. Anyway, real quick before we go to the break. We like top Cardinal baseball.

All Star break was earlier in the week. Maybe the Cardinals got rested up and healed up a little bit because they were starting to falter a little. You know, they lost four of their last six games before the All Star [00:07:00] break. They did split with the Cubs up at Busch Stadium, but lost two in a row to the Royals before that.

And, and the Royals Bobby Witt Jr. finish his second in the home run derby, and he almost tied it on his last swing of the derby. Hit the wall. He hit one and hit the wall and straight away center field down in Arlington, which is one of the longest, one of the longest places to ever hit a baseball.

I mean, it's, it's crazy. Nobody ever hits home runs to center field. He bounced one off the wall or he would have forced overtime in the home run derby. Yeah. Well, anyway, good to get baseball going again this weekend. Yes, it is. And I want to say this switching gears just a little bit back to the outdoors.

I'm talking to a lot of people, Redbone, that sent a lot of baby deer. And a lot of turkeys, baby turkeys, finally, another good hatch. That's two years in a row here in Northern Arkansas, Southern Missouri. People's telling me. So hopefully we've got another great spring coming up. It's coming here. Yeah.

Everybody, we're going to go to a break. When we come back, we've got our special [00:08:00] guest talking about the World Deer and Turkey Expo in Birmingham. Alabama. Mr. Bob Coker. He is the creator and founder of the World Deer Turkey Expo. Wait till you hear his story, how he came up with the idea to do it. It's pretty good, Redbone.

Yeah. And folks, you do not want to miss Bob Coker. One of the funniest people that I've ever had the pleasure of interviewing. He's so witty. So witty. Everybody, we're going to have a break. We'll be right back with more American Roots Outdoors right after this. Right here, right now. This is Chancy Walters listening to American Roots Outdoors with Alex Rutley, the Ozark Herd Bull.

Hey, Turkey Hunters. This is Alex Ru. Have you heard about Apex ammunition? If you haven't, they are [00:09:00] American owned, American made, made one at a time, hand loaded. These turkey loads will give you the confidence that you need to close the deal. On that old hoot daddy long beard gobbler. For more information, go to www.

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Legacy Farmland Specialist LLC presents. Welcome back to American Roots Outdoor Segment 2 of our show. As promised, as we always do, we have a special guest. This guy and I go way back in the 1980s, and this guy is now red boned. The new owner of the World Deer and Turkey Expo in Birmingham, Alabama. One of the oldest shows in history in the outdoor industry.

Yeah, I've been there. Oh yeah. You went there with me. Yeah. Yeah. We went one year and had a great time. What a [00:10:00] great show it is. Oh, it is. And he puts on a great show. Well, we got Bob on the line. Welcome to the show, Bob Coker. Thank you, Alex Rutledge. Hey, buddy, what's the weather doing in Birmingham? I know you're at the show getting ready.

Here it is Wednesday and we're in the studio. You're down there getting everything laid out. I know that's a big task. Yes, it is. It's something you work on for a year and a half, putting it all together. Some of these attractions we had to sign up that far in advance. Twiggy, the water skiing squirrel, he's booked two years in advance.

So it takes a long time to put something like this together, but it's all coming together this weekend. And we're down here getting exhibitors checked in and getting a floor plan passed by the fire inspection officer. And man, we're ready to go. Well, how many people come through the doors at this show?

I've been coming for the last, I don't know, 10 plus years, but how many people are we expecting this year in 2024 to [00:11:00] come through the doors, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? First, we're expecting to have the largest crowd we've ever had based on the pre ticket sales. This time last year, we're over 5, 000 additional tickets in sales.

So this will be if from all indication, this will be, this will break all records of any attendance we've ever had, which was in 2012. And that attendance amount, if I may ask again, the total amount, what are you expecting? Well, we're hoping to have over 70, 000 people this weekend. That's a lot of deer and turkey hunters.

That is. So, so, Bob, you're the new owner. Well, I say new owner, you've owned it for quite a while. Let's talk about the history of the World Deer and Turkey Expo, where it started. Well I used to sell computer control systems to automate industrial plants and my, I [00:12:00] started specializing in pulp and paper industry.

And to meet those decision makers in those different I joined an organization called the ISA, which is the Instrument Societies of America. And to make a long story short, they do a fundraiser for the non profit every year where they do a trade show. And they rent a big building and set up pipe and drape for boobs and then sell those spaces to people who sell industrial grade equipment to the pulp and paper industry.

So I volunteered to work on that, and there was about 12 of us that volunteered, but like in all group structures, you got 20 percent of the total mass doing most of the business, so me and another guy ended up running that thing, and it made hundreds of thousands of dollars for this non profit, and so it gave me the idea of doing this on my own.

[00:13:00] And at the time, as still today, I'm just eat up with hunting. I mean, I eat fish, sleep, dream it. And so I thought, what better way of making a living than doing a trade show in the hunting industry? And back then there were none. This was in 1983. It took me two years to put it all together, but but you know, there wasn't another one anywhere.

And then. The year after we had ours, um, Dixie, Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh, North Carolina came out and then the Bucarama in Atlanta came out and the Bucarama is no longer around but the Raleigh Deer Classic is and we're both they'll be doing their 41st year next year. There you go, Redbone.

What do you think of that? Yeah, you know, it's an amazing story and, and to be going on this long, it's, it's And one of the things I remember of being at the show, and it's like a lot of them that we've been to, is, [00:14:00] it's not just about deer and just about turkey. There were waterfowl people there, and elk, predator, yeah, anything in the world that has to do with hunting and fishing is represented at the show.

I say hats off, because so many of them want to specialize. I think they hurt themselves by doing that, but you kind of open it up to the whole gamut. Well, yeah, to make it the world, Deere Expo, you know, it's the largest in the world, and you can measure that by a number of booth spaces, or you can measure it by the attendance.

But you know, we, this year we had to go into the South Hall with booth space. We've got every single hall at the Birmingham Jefferson County. Convention complex. We got every square inch of it covered up in booth space and it was by far. The, you know, we've always had over a thousand booth spaces this year.

We've got over 1, 100, I think it's almost 1, 300 booths. [00:15:00] Wow. That's crazy. That is crazy. That is crazy. Well, I'll tell you what, when you come to the world during Turkey Expo, it's still, again, it's just like a reunion, you know, I get to see all my old friends. I've done social media posts this morning inviting people to the world during Turkey Expo.

And I will be working the buck grits booth and also the wise eye booth. So I'll be down there shaking hands, talking to people and I love to help people, you know, buy products that really work. And Buck Grits is one of the, probably the best deer feeds I've ever seen and used. And the WiseEye Datacams, there's no other cameras out there like them, Redbone, Bob.

And you've researched them as well, I know, Bob. Yes yes, for the money, no doubt, one of the best buys in the motion detecting. Yeah. Data collecting. Yeah. So anyway we got about a minute left [00:16:00] here, a minute and a half left in this segment. So you purchased the business, you got the business straightened up, turned around, and now you've got over 60 to 70, 000 people attending this thing every year.

That's a true statement to Bob Coker, what kind of motivator he is, Redbone. Well, I think he's got to be a hero to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They either love him or hate him. You would think so, wouldn't you? You would think so. 41 years of packing out restaurants, packing out hotels, and bringing revenue to the city.

Yeah, I think Bob Corker ought to run for governor of the state of Alabama. What do you think, Redbone? Well, maybe mayor of Birmingham to start. Yeah, maybe the Birmingham mayor. Well, you don't live in Birmingham. Oh. So this is Dadeville. Oh, okay. Yeah. You still live in Dadeville, right, Bob? No, actually, now I live in Abbeville.

Just a little town north of Dothan. Okay. I know where you're at, buddy. We're going to go do a break. When we come back, we're going to talk more with Mr. Bob [00:17:00] Coker, entrepreneur that took the world during their Turkey Expo and turned it around to create one of the largest show in America, probably, for outdoors during Turkey Expo.

Don't go away, we'll be right back with more American Roots Outdoors. Right after this. Hey guys, this is the Mima Boys here with Master Belt. You're listening to our buddy Alex Rutledge with the American Roots Outdoors right now. Let's go. Gimme five. Baby

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Hornady Ammunition presents. Welcome back to American Roots Outdoors, segment three of our show. Again, our guest, Bob Coker, the founder, well, not founder, but the owner of the World Deer and Turkey Expo that's being held this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama. You know, it's pretty exciting. I am the founder too.

Oh, you are the founder. Okay. Yeah. I started it over 41 years ago. Well, see, I thought you bought it from somebody. I don't know why I was [00:19:00] thinking that. So it's good to know that Bob Coker is the founder, Redbone. He is the Deer and Turkey Expo. He is. He is the man. So, so let me ask you this, Bob. You're a huge outdoorsman.

You and I've killed some turkeys together, and I've seen that you travel all over the world together. Talk about Bob Coker real quick. Where was Bob Coker born and where did Bob Coker go to school and did he go to college? Let's go into that. Well, I I was born over in Georgia Fulton County to be precise, but lived in Mableton, Georgia, which is not far from where six flags over Georgia is.

The computer company that we talked about earlier moved me to Alabama. And that's when I lived in Dadeville lived there for about eight or nine years and then moved to Eufaula, Alabama lived there for about 14 years and then moved up to Birmingham. And was there for a little over seven years.

And then I moved back down to Abbeville where I have a farm graduated South Cobb high also [00:20:00] went to Georgia tech. Got my electrical engineering degree there made a career in that business, but at the same time I started the world deer expo and it just, it grew to be so big that I didn't have enough time to do both.

And, you know, do I do, do I do a computer job or do I, do I go hunting and fishing for a living? I mean, for me, that was a no brainer. And and it's been history ever since this, this shows just keeps growing. And It, it's it's become the, the largest in the world. It is. You know, Alex, earlier you talked about the fact it's like a big family reunion for the, for the vendors and for the, the celebrities that they come to be at the show and you know, speak or whatever they're doing.

But this thing has got to be like the world's largest family reunion for Bob Coker because these people are coming back year after year just to see Bob. Really? They do. I mean, Bob, Bob, we're going to blow wind up your skirt here, but it's the truth. He's very well respected. [00:21:00] Bob's word is his name and whatever he says, it's going to be that if it means taking a loss or whatever it is, that's just the way Bob Coker rose.

That's the Bob Coker. I know. Let me tell you, Bob Coker and I, we got to share a story real quick, Bob. We killed a turkey together, hunting along the Jack's Fork River. The first time, and Bob, I'm gonna let you tell it, Bob. Talk about our turkey hunt. Those gobblers that gobbled across the canyon, across the creek.

Tell it real quick. Way, way back then, way back then. Late 80s. Both hunting a turkey. There weren't any of these blinds, you know. Yeah. So it made it. Very difficult. And so I've been hunting turkey with my bow for six years and I put shotgun up and I was determined I was going to do it. And I've been doing it for six years now and Alex invited me to come down and we're going to do a TV show and, and film it.

And we, we, we put a few days in. And hadn't had any luck yet. Heard a bunch of [00:22:00] birds, but just couldn't get a bow shot. I mean, that's without a blind. That's really hard to do. And we got to talking and Alex found out that I hadn't killed one yet with a bow. And back then Alex used to dip. I don't know if he still does or not, but, but I had never touched the stuff.

So, you know, every time he went to get a dip, he always offered me one and I'd turn him down. He said I'm going to tell you something. He said, you've been hunting six years and hadn't killed one. If I call a bird up for you and you kill him with your bow, we're gonna take, we're not, we're not, we're not gonna take a champagne toast.

We're gonna take a dip toast. So I said, alright, alright, we'll do that. Well, long story short, we had birds on the other side of this canyon and there was a big creek at the bottom and anybody who turkey hunts, they know how difficult it is to get them to come across water. But Alex called these birds and called these birds and they'd walk up and down The mountain on the [00:23:00] side they were on come go all the way down to that water and they wouldn't cross it And then they climb back up Finally, he worked them up so much They climbed up to the top of the mountain on the other side and glided across over to us right in our lap 10 feet of us.

We didn't know we didn't know they was coming. Did we they just got quiet? Well, I have no idea that he's coming because every time they walk up a hill sound like it's walking away from us. Yeah You And they, they pitch off that mountain right in our laps. I ended up killing a bird with my bow. Alex pulled my lip out all the way to his house.

Build it up with a can of that. And then we heard another bird and he says that's my, it's my turn. It's my turn. So I sat down with this big wad in my mouth and we weren't that bird for a while and never got him in and. I finally had to give up on him and when I went to stand up, my world was spinning.

He was sick. I [00:24:00] had to lay back down and stretch my arms out and my legs out and Alex comes to over me. I filmed it all too. I filmed it all. He said, I hadn't been seeing you spit much. I said, spit? I thought you were supposed to jog. Oh boy. I forgot to tell him to spit

Well, did it, did you get hooked on the dipping or not? No, I went three days without falling asleep. , he said a hell though.

Oh, that's quite a great river. But he did kill a big old golfer with his bow. Had a group of his with him, it would come in and leave. Come in and leave. And finally I coached him in and he killed like a 25 and a half pound gobbler with 12 inch beard. Big old Spurs. We got it on video somewhere. Good beard, big old bird.

Him and my brother Jack, I got it, mount it and I [00:25:00] got pictures of him. He's, he's something else man. He's in the magazine article too, I believe. Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. It was a magazine article. Uh had a great big old poster made frame. Yes, it's semi my hunting lodge. Yeah. Well, see, you should have got a deal from Skoll.

Yeah, Skoll. Sponsorship. If they hear it, maybe they'll sponsor the World Deer and Turkey Expo. Maybe. All right, so we got to go to a break, and Bob, I'd like you to think about here, and with Alex's permission think about the vendor that has been to your show. The most, or maybe one of the very first vendors that you ever got booked into the world.

Yeah, all these years. That have stayed with you. So, think about that. Yeah. In the meantime, we will take. We will take a break. We'll be back with more American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge and his friends in just a moment. Hey, this is Eddie Salter and you listen to American Roots and Outdoors with Alex Rutledge and friends.[00:26:00] 

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Eagle seed presents. Welcome back to America Reached Outdoor Segment [00:27:00] 4 of our show. Again, what? That was funny, Redbone, Bob. Yeah, but what a mean thing to do to somebody. Well, I didn't mean to be mean. I just wasn't thinking clear, you know. No, he was just trying to share, you know. Just trying to share. I pulled his whip out, so he said to the statewide.

Three days later, my world was still spinning. Well, I can tell you that that will make you will. Yeah. It will. I remember when I started chewing red man leaf tobacco when I was playing American Legion baseball. And one day I had a big old chaw in, I played third base. Yeah. And the batter squared around the bun, I go charging the plate and he brings the bat back and hits the line, drive right up my head.

Oh my. And I went, you swallow it and, and swallowed the whole Oh, my whole chew of red man chew. Oh yeah. I've done it. Ended up going seven for eight for the double header. I'll never forget it. I was thick as a dog. And that's why, and you see that a lot in athletes, they're sick or don't feel right, and they They [00:28:00] swallow their chew.

Well, you become ultimately focused on what you're doing, and you block everything else out. I had a great day that day, but I've never, I was never, never strong enough to say, maybe I'll swallow some chewing tobacco before every game.

Anyway, Bob, before we went to a break. I think that's worse than swallowing your spit. So anyway, Bob Redbone's question was, since you started your world during Turkey Expo, what vendor is still with you that you think a lot of, and they're still hanging with you, name some of them. Well, I'd like to, first of all, say the very first booth I ever sold was to Bob Hyfe, who used to own Tree Lounge.

Oh, yeah. And Bob did my show up until he passed. He got, he got Alzheimer's and he got the best of him. But he and his company did my show from, from show number one. I remember he bought [00:29:00] six booths. You know, you're out there trying to sell this concept that's never been done before and it's going to be a first year.

Right. And you're out trying to sell one booth at a time. And boom, my very first sale was six booths. And like I said, he did it for a long time. The second vendor that started the second year was the bow hunters association of Alabama. They run my 3d archery tournament and they have been doing it now 40 straight years.

Wow. And you just bring your bow. And they have different categories for you to shoot in, giving away trophies and plaques. And it's next, the next funnest thing to actually hunt and shooting these 3D targets. Then we had Mark's Outdoors there for a really long time. Yes. He started the third year and he did my show up until he His untimely passing [00:30:00] with cancer.

And then, then you had Dennis Wilburn. He started about the eighth year and he did my show every year, all the way up until last year, when he, he finally retired and sold his sporting goods store. So but those are my long, longest vendors. I've got some, I've got some folks from South Africa that's been coming for a very long time.

There's lots of people I'm probably leaving out that's been doing it for 20 plus years, but the real, real, real old timers of over 30 years are the ones I just told you about. You even had Ben Lee to speak there, haven't you? Ben Lee spoke in the very first show and did it several times after that up until his passing, but yeah.

Ben became a really good friend of mine, and I used to run camera for him when he did videos before his TV show. Mm hmm. [00:31:00] And back when he had Ben Lee calls, and he was a five or six time world I think he was six time world champion, but five of those were in a row. Yeah. Just just an excellent hunter, a really funny speaker.

Yeah. You know, he's really missed in this industry. But, but yeah, he was, he was one of our very first celebrities, you know, along with Jackie Bushman and, and Lee Bill Jordan and Toxie Hayes, all the guys from Mossy Oak, they're there every year, Strickland, all those guys. Yeah. Who are some of the people that I'll give it back to you?

Who's some of the people, speakers that you got this year? Well, this year we got the entire Seek One crew. You know, Drew Carroll, Lee Ellis, and Kendall, uh, Golightly, you know, they've got one of the hottest TV shows streaming right now. They've got some of the biggest social media followers. We also got [00:32:00] Bill Jordan's son, Tyler.

Oh, that's good. He's now heading up Realtree Road Trips and he also will be at the show signing autographs and, and taking selfies. You know, we've got Barney Fife, the impersonator, which we've had him every year come back. Turkey man, Eddie Salter, you know, right here in Alabama. He, he's gonna be at the, at the show as well.

Then we got Trigg Twiggy, the water skiing squirrel. Oh yeah, that's a big squirrel. He'll be here performing the trout pond, hourly door prizes. Make sure you fill out your tickets so you can qualify for door prizes. We'll be giving away ten hunts. They will also be giving away seven African safaris.

Wow. And then we got the big buck contest. Bring your deer in, but make sure you fill out your ticket or you won't qualify for any of the things we're giving away because we won't have any way of getting a hold of you, but You can go right now and buy tickets online, [00:33:00] save, they're discounted, plus I pay the sales tax for you.

And that's worlddeerexpo. com. Worlddeerexpo. com. So Bob, is the Expo, I mean, and we're down to just about three minutes here left in the program. Is it the same time of the year, I mean, right here, this time in July every year? Every year, you know, every year you lose a day except leap year, so it backs up one day.

So, when we get all the way to the 14th, we have to spring forward seven days, but it always ranges from the no sooner than the 15th and no later than the 24th. Because if people hear this on Saturday It's always that weekend. If people hear this on Saturday or in the future on the podcast they'll want to start making plans to attend next year or the year after.

Yeah. And I would assume Well, some of these people that listens right there are close to Birmingham. We got a lot of listeners over there. They can go to the show. Yeah. All over Alabama and Mississippi. Yeah. I was thinking [00:34:00] about people that might want to go and probably need to make motel reservations way early and all that stuff because I would assume that Birmingham fills up for this weekend.

Mm hmm. It does. Well, all the hotels right downtown does, but I mean, there are a lot of hotels within a couple of miles of the Civic Center, but yeah, we fill up the Westin and the Sheraton and all the ones that are connected right here, they fill up fast. All right. And real quick, if people come, is there food at the venue?

Oh, yes. There's all kinds of concessions, just like it would be at any kind of a festival or a fair. Yeah. Now, if somebody calls you last minute, they may hear this on Friday or Saturday. Is there a possibility they could still get a booth somewhere? Well, well, the show has been sold out for six months.

However, you know, when you've got 5, 000 vendors trying to travel from all over the world, there's going to be some people that have some medical emergencies. There's going to be some [00:35:00] people that may be an automobile breakdown. So we always have cancellations right at the last minute, but it isn't very many.

But if you got somebody who is willing to go on that waiting list and And could make it in just a phone call away. Yeah, we'll put you on a waiting list and I can guarantee you there'll be a booth come open sometime. Friday. There you have it folks. World expo. com go there and we'll see you at the show this weekend.

Bob, we got a bonus segment coming up this bonus segment. You can only hear it. If you're a podcast listener, we're on every podcast listening. Network that's possible. And my carrier. So we have a huge reach. Bob, thank you again for being on our show. Don't go away. And we're going to do the bonus segment.

But always remember this. Teach your boys to become men. Teach your young girls to become ladies. Always remember when your roots run deep and strong, there is no reason to fear the wind, so you never gotta [00:36:00] worry what the wind might do. American Roots, thank you for joining us for today's American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge.

You can find us on Facebook. Look us up on the worldwide web@americanrootsoutdoor.com. We'll be back again next week on this great radio station.

Tens. Time to shoot a mess. Take it, do holler, take it. Do a feel across the creek of a big,

do you wanna sell your land? Do you want to buy land? Hunting land? Farm land? Contact Legacy Farm and Land Specialist LLC. Ron McKinley, tell us about Legacy. Legacy Farm and Land Specialist LLC is based out of Poplar Bluff, Missouri. We service all the state of Missouri. We're opening up an office [00:37:00] in Kentucky.

Come and see us. There you have it, folks. Legacy Land and Farm Specialist, LLC. Buy, sell, auction. Ron McKinley. 573 683 1449. Emotes passed on down, planted deep in the ground. Around your heart, so you never got away. Wise Eye Technologies presents The American Roots Outdoors podcast segment. Again, we've got Bob Coker, founder and owner of the World Deer Turkey Expo.

And we're going to talk about one of the funniest things you've ever seen happen at the World Deer and Turkey Expo. Do you mind to share that with us? Mr. Bob at the World Deer Expo or on a hunt that I was on, whichever. Alright. Well, I, I went to Russia. I've been over there several times, but I was on a bow hunt for a brown bear and [00:38:00] everybody else in camp were gun hunting.

I was bow hunting. Each and all of our guides spoke only Ruski and the hunters were all you know, from America that we spoke English. So it was very hard to communicate. Make a long story short. I shoot this big brown bear, but it's right at dark. And he was moving. I didn't quite, I let him just a little bit too much and shot him on up into the shoulder.

But I knew it was a fatal shot, but I knew it was going to take some time for him to go down. But I couldn't communicate that to my guide and he was insistent and we go right after him. So we did. And again, make this long story short. I'm trying to tell him, let's go back and let this thing rest.

Cause we done jumped him up six or seven times. It's now about two o'clock in the morning. And all of us, and we've been walking through these woods just slapping me in the face. All of a sudden the batteries go out in his camera, in his flashlight. Oh my goodness! There's a big brown bear, and brown bears will [00:39:00] kill you!

He ties a little white handkerchief up on a tree before we last found the last bit of blood, and we turn around and we start walking back. With no light, and we're nonchalantly walking through the woods. I got my bow up on my, on my shoulder. He's, he's shouldered his rifle that he's backing me up with, and we I'm leading.

The way and all of a sudden I trip over that brown bay

He had done circled around and was tracking us because he got tired of us pushing him And I trip over him and I fall and the first thing i'm worried about is did I fall on my You know, of course, they're in the quiver like they're supposed to be. But then as I slide down this furry creature and I'm trying to catch myself, my hand slides into his slimy mouth and you, and you got [00:40:00] blood and slobber and all that coming out.

And fortunately for me, he was dead, but I had no idea at the time that he was. So I start screaming like a girl. And and of course my, my guides trying to get his rifle off of his shoulders fast as he can. So now I'm thinking I fell on my broad heads. I'm fixing to have my hand bit off by this bear.

And now I'm going to get shot in the dark by my guide. That ain't even the funny part. Let's get him out, get him back to camp. I'm the only guy in camp that's killed. I'm the only bowhunter. All the Americans are sitting at their breakfast table and I'm telling the story. And all the Russians are sitting at their table and they're telling the story.

And so Every time he pauses, they [00:41:00] all look over at me and then turn their head back to him, you know, so it's obvious he's telling the story. So I'm over here telling my story and I've got my chest poked out. And I'm thinking, wow, you know, and all these Russian guys now are going to respect me because that guy's over there telling them what a great job I did.

Yeah, yeah. And I get about. In my story to where I fell over the bear and I heard my russian guide going And all of them started laughing and looking over there at me So I knew that his version of the story wasn't quite going the same way that my version of the story would go Oh, that's priceless. Oh my god, that's priceless.

Hey, what a good time we've had with bob coker. Absolutely This guy is so humorous and so knowledgeable, man, and he's doing [00:42:00] great things for the outdoor industry by creating the World Deer and Turkey Expo. He does a lot for conservation and, and Bob, you've been a wonderful guest. Yeah, and you know, stories everywhere from, you know, swallowing his skull to almost getting killed by a dead bear.

Hey, Bob, tell people again, all over the world, 19 countries listening, how they can find out more about Bob Coker and the world during Turkey Expo. Go to the world deer expo. com world deer expo. com. You can buy discounted tickets and read all about all the different attractions. They're going to be there this weekend.

There you have it. Everybody. Bob Coker, what a great show. There we go. Wrap it up, everybody. Have a good day. I hope to see y'all at the World Deer and Turkey Expo again. I will be there representing Buck Grits and Wise Eye Datacams. Come by and see me and let's talk huntin I'll hook you up with some Buck Grits and some Datacams, Wise [00:43:00] Eyes.

And always remember, teach your kids to know of Jesus. Teach your boys to become men. Teach your girls to become ladies, and when your roots run deep and strong, there is no reason to fear the wind. So you never gotta worry, what the wind might do, American Roots. Thank you for joining us for today's American Roots Outdoors Radio with Alex Rutledge.

You can find us on Facebook, look us up on the World Wide Web at AmericanRootsOutdoors. com. We'll be back again next week on this great radio station.