Hen Pecked

April 20, 2009

This past weekend I didn’t have much luck trying to fill one of my two turkey tags and to be honest this is shaping up to be a tough season. I was hunting our lease in Alamance County which is mostly fields so we have to utilize blinds rather than running and gunning. I was sitting in the blind with some decoys out when I called a hen in to the spread.
She came in real quiet and caught me by surprise coming through some high grass. Not knowing if she was a hen or a gobbler I first grabbed my gun but when she came out it was clear to see she was a hen. There was nothing else with her so I picked up my camera but not fast enough to catch her surprising move.
The hen ran up to the Jake decoy and pecked him a couple of times in the head. Not getting the reaction she expected she seemed confused by the decoys. She never got near the hens and she slowly turned and left the field.
Kind of a funny experience and something I’ve never seen. I’ve seen gobblers go after the Jake decoys but never a hen.
Hopefully I’ll find her boyfriend real soon.