I had a shot at a gobbler in a tree just like that a few years back. Several years ago I heard a gobbler sound off down in a long flat holler just before daylight. I snuck down in there and got close to where I thought he had gobbled from. I was sitting against a tree waiting for daylight and heard a noise above me in a tree a few yards to my left. I figured it was an early rising squirrel. I heard it again and took a peek up and was surprised to see four hens roosted within ten yards of me on my left. Of course they were all staring straight at me. I swing my eyes around and saw the gobbler roosted about fifteen yards off to my right and a little in front of me. And he was also staring straight at me. In the early dark I had slipped right into the middle of those roosted turkeys.

I could have shot him out of the tree but that's not how I wanted to kill my bird. The hens flushed and flew to the ground about 100+ yards away and the gobbler followed immediately. They walked off and I could hear him gobble off and on for the next hour or so and then it got quiet in the woods. I checked my topo map and they were headed toward a big long flat top ridge. I went down the holler about a mile and slipped across and up on that ridgetop. I sat up there quietly for about thirty minutes and then started giving a few clucks and soft yelps every twenty minutes or so. At 11:00 after a soft cluck or two I saw my bird strutting about 80 yards away. That old bird had not gobbled once coming in but he knew he was close to that "hen" and was sure putting on a show. I shut up and shot him about 20 minutes later at around 25 yards as he slipped along looking for that hen. I had a 3.5 mile hike across some up/down steep Ozark timber to get back to the truck but it was all good. It was a satisfying hunt in the Ozark's National Wild and Scenic Rivers wilderness area.

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.