Quiet In The Woods

[ChesterCopperpot]

The June/July issue of Garden & Gun is worth the price of admission just for the turkey illustration alone. Thought y'all might like the final scene from this essay. Here's a link to the full: https://gardenandgun.com/feature/quiet-in-the-woods/
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The woods are waking up around me, and I have to fight off the urge to rush things. I wait a few minutes for the light to get up before I call, and when I do it is nothing loud or startling, just a subtle tree yelp sent from the bell of a trumpet. I am not expecting the response. There is no beat of wing or fly down, just gravity and ground, the dull thud of the bird hitting earth as he drops off the limb like a stone. He stands in the clearing and cranes his neck to study the layered shadows where the call has come from, but I am cupped in a dark hollow that light has yet to find, and no matter how hard he tries, he cannot see me. For the turkey, survival requires absolute certainty, and so the wood line becomes his line in sand. He will not come any closer.

A dogwood winter sets his breath to air, every gobble a sound written out like a score of smoke that hangs before him till the echo fades. He swells into strut and rakes his wing tips through the frosted grass, his head drained white as ice. For a long time, this is all that exists between us. I am a tree, and he is a dancer. The sun takes an hour to crest the pines, to warm that glacial blue dawn, and in that time he walks like eyes across a page, without one step taken into the margins.

When the first rays break the treetops, I watch his feathers turn to stained glass, a fan backlit bronze and barred, the outer curve fringed in gold. I cannot move, and I do not want to. Here is where I would spend my forever, heaven and earth the very same place, though even while I breathe it, I know that it cannot last. As quickly as it has come, it will go. There is always the flip of the switch. The world is awash with miracles, and I am thankful to simply bear witness.



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[Turkeybutt]

Chester C.  Thank you for sharing that with us. It made my day.

[GobbleNut]

Beautifully written piece.  There are those that write turkey hunting stories,...and then there are those rare, talented folks that compose turkey poetry. This is a striking example of the latter.   

[Greg Massey]

Thanks for sharing, a pretty well written piece. I really like the picture ...

[Spring Creek Calls]

I needed that, thanks!

[Tail Feathers]

Great writing and art there.  Thanks for sharing.

[3bailey3]

Very nice work David!

[Zobo]

It's really good Chester. There's a
different, more connected way many us hunters percieve, accept and understand the woods. You poetically, and more importantly, honestly capture that here. Very impressive. Love the last paragraph!

[310 gauge]

As my eyes captured each of your words, I was magically already there. Feeling the frost fall on the skin that had mistakenly escaped the camouflage. Hearing my heart beating in my chest in between his thunderous beckoning's. And as he slipped undaunted out of view, I uttered a simple "touché", unfolded myself out of my recliner and added another year to my subscription of G&G....

[tal]

 I had a turkey join me once on the top of a ridge. There was a hole in the tree canopy and a shaft of light hit the forest floor making about a five foot circle. The gobbler stepped into the light and went into strut. He strutted in that tight circle never leaving the sunlight, showing himself to full advantage. Good post Chester

[greentrout]

Great read CC. Thanks for sharing as always.

I hope one day will have a collection of turkey stories from D. Joy to add as a must read to any turkey book reading list.

[Paulmyr]

I'm not much for poetry and such and I found this quite pleasing. Sadly, I'm afraid, this reading will be lost on most that venture forward in the quest for what I hold so dear!

[eggshell]

The reason so many of us never write like this about our hunts is that our story telling is leading to the kill as the climax and focal point of the experience, not the experience as the focal point. That is the issue that so many of us subliminally have with today's outdoor media, it is kill focused and not experience driven. Most videos cut out 80% of the experience and keep the 20% that includes the kill and few moment before and all the after. They are only doing this out of demand, experience focused videos don't get views. Human nature wants to stick out it's chest and say, "look at me". It usually takes many years of experience and maturity to learn we are robbing ourselves of so much joy when we are so kill driven. The old saying, "stop and smell the roses" applies to turkey hunting as well. Only I like to stop and listen to the birds and nature while observing the wildflowers. Mix in a gobble and the ensuing exchange of calls and it's a bit of heaven and peace in this troubled world. For those moments we are in a world with no economic stress, social unrest or war, we are home.

[fishr64]

Thank you for sharing this excellent read Chester!!

I agree eggshell, it's very easy to miss out on the small and simple things from our hunts. I make sure and point them out when hunting with my kids (27 and 30), my young niece and multiple kids that a buddy and I have mentored.

[eggshell]

Here's a post I wrote for a blog and news letter of a forestry group I belong too. I hope you enjoy it

You thought I was Just Fishing/Hunting

Anyone who knows me understands I am an outdoorsman and if you're looking for me chances are I am off hunting, fishing or doing something in the outdoors, and that's where you'll find me. My life story is literally defined by my pursuit of everything found in the fields, water and woods. It would be easy to assume I spend too much time hunting or fishing. What so many people don't understand I am not just fishing or hunting. I am experiencing a world of wonder and peace. This is my therapy and what keeps me sane and spiritually well. This is where I recharge my soul's batteries for life back in the social atmospheres.
Come walk with me along a stream. I leave home with the premise I am going fishing and that's what I will indeed do, but along the way I will fill my senses and soul with some sweet observations and experiences. Who knows what unexpected thing or marvel I will find? This day might be the day I watch three Bald eagles' squabble over a fish. It might be the day I watch ospreys dive bomb for dinner. It may be the day I see a river otter pop up out of the water right in front of me. It might be the day I discover a nesting colony of Prothonotary warblers. I might be the day I watch a doe white tail deer give birth and the fawn get its legs. It might be the day I discover a mulberry tree full of ripe fruit to pluck. It might be the day a storm catches me and soaks me, but then passes just as quick and the sun sparks a rainbow. It might be the day I help capture a wounded Osprey to go to rehab. It might be an early morning orchestra of song birds and bubbling water that leads me to say thanks to the creator of heaven and earth and placing me in Eden for a moment.  Yeah, I am just wasting time fishing.
Come and join me on a turkey hunt. Our day starts way before daylight. We leave our vehicle when there's barely a glimmer of light or maybe even full darkness. Not far along the trail I stop as a coyote wails in the valley below. A little later a barred owl blurts out his call. As the curtain of darkness recedes a whippoorwill sounds off. The next character to announce the day is the loudmouth of creation, the crow. Then the noble beast I am in pursuit of sounds off, a gobble comes floating across the forest and hills. I am now in game mode, and we are about to play a game of chess like no other. If I win, he becomes a meal at our table and if he wins he remains to enlighten me another day. I am grateful for both. Even if I manage to harvest him, he get's my respect. I admire the kaleidoscope of his plumage. I give thanks and make good use of his sacrifice. On other days our hunt will cover literally miles of the forest and fields with zero turkey encounters. We will sit and just rest at times and these times are when we see all the hidden things that live in the woods. A chipmuck scurries past, a hooded warbler lands on a limb beside you and sings and deer feed by. Or this might be the day you experience a rare Bobcat sighting; you find a patch of morels, or you find rare wildflower. I often take note of the birds and what new flowers are arriving for spring. There is 30+ warbler species that will be either passing through or staying to nest in the spring and I notice many. There are more days I never bag a turkey then there are I do, but I never go home empty.
Here is my takeaway, there is a lot of wonder to experience when we are in the outdoors. No matter what brought us there we can enrich the day by just being observant and maintaining open eyes and ears. We may be cruising a timber cut, riding our favorite horse or even ATV, we may be out for a hike. Whatever it is, this great creation is full of added blessings, if only we notice. I am not just ....

Dana
6/19/2022