Green Gobbler

It is turkey hunting time again; notice that I don't say turkey "catching" time?  Every spring for the past four years, my dear husband has vowed that this will be the year that he brings us home a delicious wild gobbler.  Needless to say, we are still waiting.

Who knew that these birds would be so difficult to catch?  Turkeys have the (erroneous) reputation of being dumb.  Common definitions of "turkey" include: a person or thing of little appeal; dud; loser; a naive, stupid or inept person.  While these labels might apply to domesticated turkeys, they are in no way accurate portrays of the wild bird.

Ian's nemesis.  I am not sure he has ever seen one this close.

Wild turkeys have extraordinarily keen eye sight and are cautious animals.  They are hesitant explorers and are quick to turn away from a situation that feels at all suspicious.  Perhaps not surprisingly, up to this point, wild turkeys seem to have classified Ian dressed all in camouflage attempting to mimic the sound of a female bird as suspicious.  They seem to be in no particular hurry to investigate this mystery female turkey (still Ian) at any close proximity making it impossible for him to get a decent shot.  In fact, I think he has only ever fired one shot at a turkey.

Luckily for us, Ian is nothing if not resourceful and he never comes home from turkey hunting empty handed.  A rare spring delicacy called ramps, or wild garlic, grow in the forest where Ian hunts.  He always forages some of these delicious veggies for us on his hunting excursions which we eagerly incorporate into omelets, mashed potatoes and pierogi.

Ramps

Ramp omelet that we whipped up at
Brian and Sarah's house this past weekend.

We will continue to hope for a feathery end to one of Ian's future hunting excursions; however, we promise to remain satisfied with the "green gobbler" (aka ramps) that we have come to expect from these turkey "watching" trips.

Ian's hunting bag.  Sadly not a feather to be seen.

Score so far this year: Turkeys 1; Ian 0