Spring in our neck of
the woods…Dogwoods and redbuds in bloom, morels popping up, the scent of
honeysuckle, locust trees flowering…marshmallow peeps and chocolate bunnies and
my annual love/hate relationship with Eastern wild turkeys!
Frustrating, aggravating, exhausting…Ugh!
All ways to describe turkey hunting in late April! How can a semi-flightless
bird with the brain the size of a pea outwit and outsmart me on a routine basis?
I am after all a member of the species at the top of the food chain…Why do I
even chase the fool birds? Why!
Call, don’t call, did I “over” call? Is he
coming in or not? Roost the birds here the night before, they show up over
there the next morning…Set up perfectly, not a sound made, still as a statue
and he walks the other way. Completely incognito, camouflaged from head to toe,
blended in seamlessly only to have his x-ray vision pick you off as he “putts”
and spits and tells all the other birds you’re here…busted again! You sneak in
under the cover of darkness and they fly to the next ridge…You slip into your
spot only to find that the birds have slipped to another. He comes in blasting
gobbles one second and then sneaks in, stealthy silent the next, only to sound
off ten feet from you, nearly causing cardiac arrest! He’s answering your best
impression of a love sick hen, coming on a frozen rope cutting the distance
only to hang up at a broken down stand of barb wired fence or a teeny, tiny
ditch…Full strut, outdoor theatre at its best, with his electric blue head
changing colors just to have him lock up beyond your decoys, too far to shoot
and too close not to try…Then there’s snakes and spiders, ticks and mosquitoes
and don’t forget the poison ivy and dew soaked webs…
Yep, frustrating…but when the plan all
comes together, that booming gobble, that thick, black rope of a beard, his fan
fully displayed, moving side to side as tom makes his way in to impress all the
girls and show the other guys who’s boss…that rush of adrenalin, the goose
bumps and raised hairs, that quickening in your breath, the pounding of your pulse…the
colors of the wild flowers, the smell of the damp dirt. The early morning
sunrise…The draw of your bow or the subtle click of the safety on your shotgun
at the moment of truth…challenging, exciting, thrilling…that’s why.
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