May 2, 2015 4 min read

We often call them the sounds of spring. The chirping of the birds increases, and the liquidy song of the red-wing blackbird is the true harbinger of spring. The robins have been around all winter though in hiding, but the grackles and other undesirables arrive with warm weather.

The grackles will look skyward and call with that terrible grating sound, “Graaack.” Though the European starling is among the undesirables, it is the innocent appearing cowbird that I dislike the most.

This parasite never builds its own nest but lays eggs in other bird nests and its young hatch first and dominate the food allowing the other hatchlings to starve. In reality, the cowbird is the cause of low numbers of other songbirds.

The adult cowbird doesn’t even need to feed its young for the builders of the nest unknowingly feed the young cowbird hatchlings.

While the sounds of spring are nice to hear, there is the sound of one bird that attracts our attention. It is the gobble of a breeding Tom turkey that makes the hair on the back of the neck stand at attention.

As a Tom exits the tree roost, it usually gobbles to attract his harem. The sound will explode through the otherwise quiet woods and is the key to turkey hunting. It is the gobble that is really the attraction to going turkey hunting.

The bagging of the gobbler can be secondary to the thrill of yelping and having a Tom answer. As he approaches, stopping to gobble every 20 yards or so, the thrill increases. A silent bird shot by accident offers far less excitement.

It is the gobble that causes grown men and women to get up at 5 a.m. and to be in the woods before daylight. Why else would a sensible person arise so early when it wasn’t necessary?

I have shot long beards much later in the morning and yet something is missing for they quiet down a bit as the sun gets higher. I know I have called in a bird after 10 that talked all the way to his demise. But it is those early morning sounds that are special and it is that vocal bird that is remembered best.

When hunting turkeys, it is the eyesight of the bird that has to be neutralized. They can see colors. I believe one can get away without camouflaged pants for the bottom half of the hunter can be kept behind some cover.

On the other side of the coin, a camo shirt or jacket is all but a necessity. It’s the top half of one’s body that moves when raising a shotgun or any other normal human movement.

It helps if the shotgun is camo or at least is covered with a dull finish. There are black things such as wet tree limbs in the woods but very few things that give off a shine.

Whether we notice it or not, people tend to move their hands quite a bit and gloves should be worn. Most noticeable of all is the human face. This means camo paint or a face mask are necessary.

I often find myself with both. While I do not think of turkeys as smart, they definitely have excellent eyesight. It has been said that a deer thinks every person in the woods is a stump while a turkey thinks every stump is a person.

I sometimes think they can see the hunter blink his eyes at 76 yards. It is surely the eyesight the hunter must overcome.

It is also the time of year to visit the wildflowers along both the Enlow and Templeton creeks. I include Templeton, because while not as well published as the Enlow, one can view a good variety from the window of the car.

The Templeton can be traveled easily though one has to be careful while staring at the flowers that he or she doesn’t run into another car along the narrow gravel road. I haven’t been to either since my wife, Eileen, passed away for it was her favorite place. But if my memory is correct, the Templeton was the home of bluebells, trilliums, bluets and a favorite of mine that is not as common, larkspur.

There are many others that can be spotted by the alert traveler and makes a good entry point to the larger flower vista of the Enlow. Believe me, it is worth the trip. Maybe this year, I’ll work up the courage to go visit the flowers again!

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.