Turkey Season

May 17, 2026

The maple leaves always unfurl in time for J’s birthday, just as they did this year.

I just got a call from a fella I know. He’s a few years younger than I am. It’s turkey season. Mating season. We’re over-run with birds strutting their stuff, and he wanted to come down here and hunt. I couldn’t and wouldn’t deny him because he grew up in this house on this land, and probably knows it better than I do. Also, turkey hunting takes a skill that most hunters don’t have: you need to be able to “talk turkey”,literally, to coax them in. There are all kinds of calls one can buy, but the old timers used to simply suck on a wing bone. One’s heart thumps when from somewhere in the forest that big bird answers back. It’s really quite astonishing to see them all fluffed out as they break into a clearing to prance and dance. When that tail fans out it’s a thing of wonder.

I don’t know the reason, but its importance is visceral: I’ve always had a strong sense of survival. I like to think it began with the Marine Corps although I suspect it started before that. My ideal was to be able to survive alone in the wilderness with only a knife. At my peak I came close. Hunting was a big part of the equation because to survive you need to eat, right? And so I have no quarrel with the notion of ethical hunting, that is, you eat what you take. Those guys who come up from Brooklyn for the season are the ones who worry me. Shootin’ irons on their hips. I mean, who the hell do they think they are? But the locals who hunt span generations, so hunting takes on a different aspect. There is no need to squeeze the trigger until it’s time. There is no need to worry you won’t get yours. You’ve got all day. Actually, you’ve got all year, for a good hunter really never stops hunting. Way before the season opens there are so many signs to consider: where they sleep, where they water…The air actually smells different when they’re around. Your footsteps are different, too, carefully placed flat so as not to make a sound. Your ears are open to sounds you haven’t heard before. If a body can be alert and at peace all at once, this is the time.

Meat prices have gotten so high that even at my age and physical condition I’ve been considering getting out there again. Neighbors said they would help with the butchering, so I’m thinking about it. Problem is nobody in our family loves venison. I don’t think they even like venison although, my guess is, given a hamburger or hot dog, they would not know the difference. We’ll see. Who knows if I’ll even be able to walk by then?