As I mentioned in last week’s post, I spent a few days in Kentucky towards the end of last week to partake in the spring turkey season. Measured in terms of harvest, the trip was unsuccessful. On less tangible metrics, though, it was a metaphorical shot in the arm. There is something calming and peaceful about sitting beside a field as the darkness fades into a clear dawn. It is made better when you hear an owl calling in the fading darkness. Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo in their distinct rhythm. And there was an owl on the first morning. It’s also nice when you’re in a spot without cell reception, though that was only the case on one of the four mornings. It’s even better when the stillness is broken not just my tweeting birds but also by the distinctive gobble-gobble-gobble of a tom turkey, but that was a rarer sound than I’d hoped it would be.

I didn’t raise a shotgun to fire during any of my four mornings in the field. The birds weren’t very vocal once on the ground and the only birds that I could legally harvest that I saw never came close enough to contemplate a shot. On the first morning I did have a couple of deer walk between me and the decoys and a hen walk past at close range, but all I did was watch. I was with Dad for most of the mornings, with him having already taken a bird on opening morning. We didn’t talk much; you never really do when you’re in the field. But those times have always been some of my favorites, going back even to my childhood. It’s probably that more than anything else that gets me riled up whenever people disparage hunting. They just don’t know what they’ve missed.

In returning back to North Carolina, I was forced to take a detour along winding roads I hadn’t driven in many years. It was a fitting end to a few days in Eastern Kentucky to traverse those roads and go through the Cumberland Gap. I won’t take that route with any regularity if the interstates are all open, but having a little more time directly in those hills was good this time. Then it was a short turnaround with laundry and the like before I left again, but more about this current trip next week when it’s through.