Respect the King of Spring, honoring the fallen

[eggshell]

Over my long career of turkey hunting I have seen a lot and met some of the finest people. I have seen the great, the sad, the bad and humbled. I have had the honor of pursuing a great part of God's creation. I have seen the earth come to life with the first flowers of spring, the song of the birds and life waking after a long winter's nap. I have walked the woods with some of the people I have come to cherish and love deeply. We have laughed together, gasped for air together, we have listened to each other's pain and shared our own. Those we walk the forest, fields and streams with have been our joy for the most part, they are carved into our souls and memories. For those who of passed I long for one more walk and one more conversation. I should remember to tell their families how much I share their pain and miss them. Many of them have made me a better man and I should aspire to do as well. I thank God that he made such a great place as the wild places and things. The beauty of his splendor is never painted any better than on Spring's pallet, and this is part of why I Love him. The fact that he leads me into the field and along the stream and into eternity through his son, Jesus, is awe inspiring and I give thanks. I think he knew when he created turkeys that he was creating a grand Noble master of spring. That he gave him a voice that would rings throughout the valleys, across the mountain range and through the plains. He made him with keen senses and also made him a fine taste to eat. He knew this noble beast would feed the hungry pioneer and native family. He knew the colors of his plumage was made of the colors of heaven and would be a marvel to watch. He knew that those who would pursue him would learn patience and perseverance. That a simple bird would both anger men and bring them great joy. He knew that when we hunted this simple bird that we would also encounter our creator.

So when you are so fortunate to harvest this gift from God, say a blessing over his lifeless body and give thanks to God for this gift. Smooth out the kings feathers and treat him with respect. For he has given all he has to you and made you better

[Tail Feathers]

Amen!

[Tomfoolery]

Thanks for the great read! AMEN!

[BKnisley]

You have a way with words eggshell...quite the gift. Amazing read! Thank you.

[MS Boy]

Thanks for the write up and as said more respect should be given by all of us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[blake_08]

Amen! Thanks for sharing and God bless you.

[zelmo1]

Well said, Amen Brother 

[Sir-diealot]

Well said.

[WAGinVA]

thanks for the post.  I agree completely.  the contents of a letter that I gave to all my relatives on the occasion of my mother's funeral:

There are a few things that I would like for you to know that I will be unable to express at Mom's funeral.

It has been a privilege and honor to take care of my mother during the last ten years of her life.  I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to retire when I did so that I had time available to assist her where I could.  It was by no means easy but I am glad that I had the ability and honestly I am glad that it is now over.

When Dad died I was young and I thought it was the most horrible thing that could have possible happened.  It was catastrophic but it was over quickly.  Now I can clearly remember the darkness that I experienced but I also clearly remember how much brighter things were afterwards.  His early death gave me a renewed perspective on the beauty of life and a determination to enjoy all that I had left.

While mother's body finally expired on Sunday, she had been slowly dying for at least ten years.  I was forced to accept this fact when she had a stroke about six years ago and went to Brandermill Woods to live.  I have not experienced the intense darkness that I did when Dad passed.  Instead I have allowed myself to be impacted by "heavy cloud cover" for the last six years.  I cannot tell you whether the darkness or the grey is worse.

What I can tell you is that the beauty of life is always available to you if you choose to embrace it.  No matter what tragedies you are faced with life is still beautiful and wonderful and you can choose to focus on that beauty instead of the darkness.   I intend to strive to follow this advice for the rest of my life.

The rest of this is kind of complicated.  You have some inkling of how important spring turkey hunting is to me but I do not imagine that anyone else can truly understand the importance.  I love to be in the woods before light and watch the world wake up, I love to watch the daily progression of spring and I love to call to turkeys and have them respond.  I know you think that I am obsessed but I think that it is just a seasonal disease.  A brief recap of the last five weeks:

On the first day of the season I killed a very nice gobbler, probably the best trophy turkey I have ever harvested.  I said a little prayer of thanks in the field and walked back to the car.  When I got there I had a phone message saying that Mom had fallen and broken her hip and that she was on the way to the hospital.  I accepted that my season was cut short and thanked God again for what I was allowed to experience.

I spent the first week of the season in the hospital with Mom every day.  At the end of the week she was released, I was able to get her into nursing care and she responded better than I thought that she could.  I was able to hunt in the mornings during the second and third weeks of the season and spend afternoons with Mom.  I harvested two additional nice gobblers, used all my tags and ended my season on May 2 (as I remember, to your great delight).

On May 5 Mom decided that she was going to stop eating, drinking and taking medicine.  Dawn came in from Arizona on the evening of May 5.  On May 7 Mom had declined to the point that she required hospice care.  From the 7th until May 15 I spent the majority of my time with Mom in the nursing facility, along with Dawn and George. 

There was a sporting clays tournament in northern VA on May 16 and Dawn agreed to be with Mom in the morning so that I could go shoot.  Shortly after I got there you called and said that Mom's condition was rapidly declining.  I called the hospice nurse for advice and she returned my call when I was on the next to last station.  As I turned to walk away from the station while talking to the nurse I flushed a hen turkey off of her nest within 75 feet of the station in some tall grass.  The nest contained a full clutch of eggs.  Remember this is in urban northern VA in the middle of a sporting clays range.  This, not coincidently, was also the last day of spring turkey season.   I was able to return to the nursing facility and spend the last twelve hours of Mom's life with her.

I have heard God speak directly to me three times in my life and I am sure he has spoken to me other times when I was not paying attention.  This was the third time.   God ordered the last five weeks so that I could do everything that was important to me.  When I received the call "officially" confirming that Mom's death was imminent he displayed one of his creatures that I love dearly on a full nest of eggs in a most unusual place.  Could he have done anything greater to assure me of his promise of new life?

Some people will compare this little story to a witch doctor divining the future while stirring a pile of chicken guts, but they will be wrong.  God will come to you and speak to you in ways that are important to you and you will clearly understand.  All you have to do is pay attention and believe.

[turkaholic]

Thank you ,wonderful post. The woods are my church and his.

[eggshell]

Thanks for the replys everyone.

As WAGinVa posted a tribute to his mother, I would be pleased if anyone who wanted used my thread to honor someone that has passed. If it turns into a memorial thread that is quite OK....."He knew there would be pain and so He promised to never leave us nor forsake us"

[greencop01]

I can't help but notice that a lot of turkey hunters are believers in the Lord. I also notice that most of the great writers of wild turkey literature are also believers. I thought I was an exception when I thanked the Good Lord for the king of gamebirds when I managed to get one despite my feeble attempts to call and hunt for him. I was wrong for the woods and fields are full of believers that also hunt wild turkeys. Is it coincidence that this bird humbles us so many times or is it the Lord created this bird so that we would not take ourselves so seriously? Thank you for such a real sharing of your life brother.

[MISSISSIPPI Double beard]

Thank you for posting. This morning I was fortunate to harvest a Gobbler. I shot him at 8 am. I was supposed to be at my brothers house this morning at 8:30 to go and help dig a grave of his first grandchild who was stillborn Saturday. I was a little late, but he understood. On this day I honor Ava Grace. Thank you for sharing.

[Happy]

Just got word that one of my close relatives only has a few weeks left. They are only 52 years old.We just buried my mother in law in August. Somehow going to the woods tomorrow just doesn't have me excited. I am gonna go with a heavy heart and do a lot of reflecting.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk