PICTURE-PERFECT MORNING

I've always said one of my favorite sounds in the world is a turkey's gobble. It elicits all kinds of emotion and on a perfect spring morning it does wonders for the soul. Saturday morning was good medicine as I shared it with one of my twin boys, Cody.

Only seconds after exiting the truck into the darkness I heard them gobble. Birds all up and down the drainage were making their presence known at 6:15 a.m. A raucous gaggle of geese on a nearby pond had the turkeys shock gobbling at every honk. The only bad news was there were no birds on the property where I had permission to take my kids during the youth season.

But a gobbling serenade echoed until daylight and I'd already considered the day a success. My son sat in front of me with his little 20 gauge propped on shooting sticks. It was peaceful. Cody dozed off against my chest and I enjoyed the moment knowing soon he'd be too big and too cool for moments like that.

I kept calling and it wasn't long and I had some interest from the other side of the river. By now Cody was awake as the birds gobbled, getting closer but coming from behind. We could hear them walking in the leaves, spitting and drumming. Three jakes popped out into the field and eased towards our decoys gobbling every few steps in full strut.

I told Cody to be patient and the birds would walk right into his gun's line of sight less than 15 yards away. I could tell when he picked up a bird as his gun started to move. I asked if he was on it and reminded him to keep his cheek on the stock. When he answered "yes" I told him to shoot and his aim was true.

Rather than immediately retrieve his bird, we sat for another 10 minutes or so and continued to soak in the sights and sounds of a picture-perfect morning. Turkeys gobbled in the distance and the sounds of spring were indeed therapeutic.