6 lessons turkey hunters can learn from observing hens

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#6 EXPERIENCE

Harvesting a big tom turkey provides a satisfying measure of success, the tangible result of your effort, technique and, often, luck. But Homick isn’t in the camp that thinks filling tags is what it’s all about. “I’ve never felt that way,” he says. “There’s way more to it. Way more.”

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As someone who enjoys sharing his knowledge of turkey hunting as much as getting out there himself, Homick waxes poetic about inserting himself unseen into the natural world before sunrise. He talks about the caustic call of a crow at dawn, the smell of spring, the beauty of a passing fox or the spectacle of a trio of hens dusting themselves. “Being in that moment is intimate,” he says. “You really can’t say it any better.”

Even after 15 years of watching and learning from hens and pursuing toms, Homick says he still finds turkey hunting to be a mystical, challenging, rewarding and, yes, sometimes frustrating experience. “Just when you think you’ve heard or seen it all, something else happens,” he says. “That’s the draw. That’s what keeps you going back.”