Last Day for Old Tom
The earth resurrected after a long cold winter. The snow was melting leaving the streams billowing with runoff. The finches were exchanging their ashen plumes for their auspicious honeyed pompon. Spring had finally arrived bringing with it the spring turkey hunting season. For weeks, I had been sifting through my expansive collection of turkey hunting gear, setting aside my most reliable shotgun and shells and my favorites of camouflaged attire, decoys and turkey calls. Hunting a wild turkey requires the savvy use of a turkey call that mocks a sound that will draw a turkey to the hunter. Calling a male turkey or gobbler may mean sounding like another male, wanting a confrontation. It may also mean mimicking the sound a female looking for a mate. For many years prior to this one, I had spent many hours trying to hone the “art” of calling. Little did I know all of my practice for the hunt, my perseverance and patience were about come to fruition.
As the birds began their first blush melody and dawn peeked over the horizon, I sat out on what would become the most exhilarating hunt of the spring. The crisp, cool forsythia scented air met me at the front door as I left the house, carrying with me all of my necessities for a successful hunt. After filling my camouflage embellished Jeep to near capacity, I had thought of one more thing. Although I had never tried it before, I decided to pack my tree stand in the Jeep as well.
Tranquility and serenity filled the paths of the freshly hued forest. The leaves on the trees twinkled from the heat of the morning sun like lights on a Christmas tree. As I drove farther into the woods, contemplating the perfect spot to set up, I noticed a few sure signs...
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...ast that distinguishes it from a female turkey. Very rare are the gobblers that have two or more. To have killed a gobbler with these adornments was like catching lightning in a bottle. I continued to examine him and noticed that his spurs, bony spikes on the back of his lower legs, were that of a three year old bird.
My breathing was returning to normal and the rush had peaked as I packed my hunting garb back into the Jeep. With my head held high and pride in my gait, I returned to my finest fowl and slung him over my shoulder to take him home to weigh and check-in. I have found it difficult to put into words all the emotions I felt that memorable spring day, but I delight in fact that I earned the bragging rights of the 24 ½ pound gobbler. Today, the masterpiece decorates the wall of my den and I will forever enjoy recounting the story of Old Tom’s demise.
To Mr. Rainsford, hunting is like football to a NFL player. Hunting plays a huge role in his li...
The Mother is among a family of four who lives on a small farm and takes immense pride in what interests her, however her passion does not particularly lie in her two children; James and David; nor in her husband and their interests; but instead lies within her chickens. Though chickens bring the most joy to the Mother, they are not the sole animals that live on the farm. The animal that draws the most interest from the father, James and David is their horse, Scott. At a young age, Scott was used as a working mule for the family and grew up alongside the Father and two Sons. To the father, Scott was like one of his own sons, and to James and David, Scott was like their brother; but according to the Mother, “He’s been worthless these last few years”(Macleod, 267). Ever since Scott was young, he was a burden on the Mother’s lifestyle; she never took a liking to the horse even when he served as a source of profit for the family. The Mother had never appreciated the sentimental value that Scott possessed because he had never been a particular interest to her. Once Scott had aged and was no longer able...
Pheasants are one of the most popular game birds around South Dakota. A lot of people are known to have pheasant farms because they are so populated and are worth quite a bit of money. The pheasant is native to Asia and has widely introduced itself as a game bird. The ring-necked pheasant is a species that can be found anywhere in North America. It gets the ring neck name from the white ring around its neck separated a blue or black color on top and a light brown color on the bottom. Some of the other game birds that people hunt are geese, ducks, grouse, and some people hunt quail. Geese are a bigger game bird and most game birds are usually shot with a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun. All of these animals have a certain date for their season for when they can be
Mascarenhas, Cheryl. “Bird Symbolism and Their Meaning.” Buzzle. South University. 13 Feb. 2012. Web. 20 March 2015.
Birds are a prevalent symbol throughout the novel, but one of the most memorable mentions occurs Thanksgiving when Melinda’s Mother attempted to prepare a turkey meal. Unfortunately, this turkey doesn't get its moment to shine on a spinning platter because “she [boiled] the frozen turkey” (Anderson, 59), instead of defrosting it. The situation is only
Starting off with its physical appearance, the Peregrine Falcon is a medium-sized raptor with a stream-lined body measuring 34 to 58 cm in length, and a wingspan measuring 74 to 120 cm. Plus, as well as other birds of prey, the Peregrine Falcon is sexually dimorphic, meaning female ‘Duck Hawks’ may be up to 30% larger than the male! Just compare 424 grams and 910 grams; clearly there’s a big difference in size! In addition to their size, they also have hooked golden beaks and talons, used to crush spines and clutch prey. Generally speaking, most people can recognize the Peregrine Falcon when they see a bird soaring through the air with a black feather-covered head and ‘moustache’. Needless to say, with all of those champion-worthy features, and that barred, steely look, having a Peregrine Falcon glare at you is definitely something you don’t want!
The sun disappeared behind the trees in the west as we sat in sloped tan lawn chairs. The weathered wood of the house matched the brown and gray of the trees from which it came. A stream rushed through the trees behind the house, sounding off the mountain. We looked into the woods where his memories came to life so clearly.
When chickens get a taste of blood they won’t stop pecking until the other is dead, so when they are kept in such close confinements, they kill each other. About 238 million turkeys are raised in the U.S. for meat annually, most of these being raised on a factory farm. On factory farms turkeys are housed in groups on the floor of a long shed where there is no fresh air, sunlight, or pasture. This causes them to breathe in dangerously high amounts of ammonia caused by their own
The Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is the largest members of the Phasianoidae family in the United States. The Sage-grouse is a ground-dwelling species living predominantly in Sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) step habitat (Connelly et al., 2004). The Sage-grouse is a polygynous species where, one male will breed with multiple females, further, they exhibit a clumped polygyny where Sage-grouse migrate to breeding areas called a “Lek”. The males exhibit several courtship displays during a short period in the spring; inflate two yellow sacs that are quickly deflated making a popping noise, the head is thrown back as air is released, and tails are fanned out. The longevity of Sage-grouse varies by locality with adults living three to six years and annual survival of greater than one offspring per female, surviving to age
I make my way through the woods; I am familiar with my path that I don’t even mind that the towering trees have blocked out the sunlight from seeping in. I know exactly where I am going. The trees are endless and lost in the sky above. An outsider would have been lost here for days. I walk on through until the towering trees stop being menacing and the sunlight becomes more and more apparent with each step. The sky above is no longer shards of indecipherable green leaves but the soft and inviting blue of the cloudless sky. I am now in the light completely, the sunbeams washing over me. I just need to walk another mile to reach my destination.
“They do what?? Then stuff what into where??? OH HELL NO… I AM OUT!!!”. Eating a turkey is like eating your pet dog or cat. We turkey's help humans, we are raised for food produce 130 times as much excrement as the entire human population. They’re turkeys from all around being eaten, and we turkeys are no “bird brains”.
I was nearly finished with my cigarette when behind me I heard the sound of something moving through the grass. I quickly but quietly extinguished my cigarette in the palm of my gloved hand and turned around. My eyes scanned to see exactly where the sounds had come from, and I only hoped that the smell of my cigarette hadn't spooked whatever was walking behind me. After about ten seconds I saw the ears of a deer sticking up above the tall grass about thirty yards from me. I slowly reached to my right to remove my bow from a hook in the tree. The deer was now moving towards me through the long grass, and behind it was another deer. I knew that the rut (the peak mating season) was well under way and this second deer may be a buck. After what seemed like an eternity the second deer came into view. It was a buck, as I had thought, but it was bigger than any deer I had ever seen.
"USDA ERS - Poultry & Eggs: Media Resources: Turkey Market." USDA ERS - Poultry & Eggs: Media Resources: Turkey Market. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2013. .
It was a bleak summer’s evening with the shadows deepening on a path that ambled down between bitternut hickory trees, and then cut sideways across a field of tiny green grapevines. There was a wind beginning, small gusts that rattled the fence posts and set the dandelions dancing in unison on the broad expanse of lawn. Rain spotted our shirts and glistened on our nylon backpacks.
The sunless sky covered the woods over the treetops which created a canopy over my head. The crimson and auburn foliage was a magnificent sight, as this was the season known as Fall. There was a gentle breeze, creating the single sound of rustling leaves. The leaves appeared as though they were dying to fall out of the tree and join their companions on the forest floor. Together with pine needles and other flora the leaves formed a thick springy carpet for me to walk upon.