Jay and I had ridden his four-wheeler up to the top of the hill behind the farm house. We parked it in the woods and walked a few paces past the first gap in the fence and gave a few sharp owl-hoots. No gobble, then, one gobble. It came from straight ahead about 200 yards away. We crossed a small field and walked the tree line for about 100 yards in the direction of the lone gobble. We sat 50 yards apart at the edge of a hollow. Jay owl hooted again. This time we got double gobbles. They came from the gap where we had just parked the four-wheeler! We jumped up in the still dim light and switched from still hunting to run-and-gun mode!

We quietly hustled back across the small field to the opposite tree line and returned along the fence row towards the gap. Jay slipped to the right and disappeared into the edge of a thicket. I moved another 25 yards ahead toward the gap in the fence and sat down behind the trunk of a fallen tree. We dared not get any closer since we could hear hens and the big gob just ahead beyond the rise. I was wearing a newly crafted ghillie suit that I had put together myself a few weeks ago. I had already been burned and learned that as shaggy as it was and as camouflaged as it may have seemed to me to appear, the turkeys still noticed even the slightest movement. It did look good against the ground and the scaly gray tree bark. I became perfectly still, however, with much discomfort at a rock I had sat on and it felt like it was growing bigger every minute.

Jay was back behind me somewhere using his box call and making some excited clucks and loud yelps from the thicket. There were at least three gobblers within 300 yards of us answering him. I made a few soft clucks and yelps with my mouth call and watched without moving a muscle. The closest gobbler was about 75 yards away and moving to the left through the woods and down the hill slightly.

After what seemed like an hour (really 20 minutes had passed) I saw the shape of a large turkey easing toward us. Then I saw the red of his neck and head. A red-headed turkey with a long swinging beard! Good enough to ride in my truck! He was just beyond the barbed wire of the gate we had loosened and stepped through earlier. I have a new Ring O Fire fixed sight on my shotgun and this gobbler filled the circle! I lined up the sights and pulled the trigger. The gun roared, the bird fell and another bird gobbled at the sound of the shot.

We will be back to the farm in a couple of days for another visit. This bird weighed in at 23.1 lbs and had sharp-as-a-tack spurs. He was tagged at 5:45. The run-and-gun put us in excellent position and proximity to the birds. No more waiting and wishing. This seemed to me like it was a bold and overly aggressive way to approach a gobbling bird, but Jay was right. He said, "Let's go! Let's go get Him!" We did. We were IN the game instead of watching the game!