fshafly2,I have learned the hard way too,and I still make mistakes even though I feel like I have tripled my skill level.They will break you down,just when you think you're the man.You gotta love it.

Your story reminds me of onein my 2nd season.Me and my friend chased 2 toms all over for 3 weeks.They roosted in the same area,but would never come to us(I know now they were following hens,that were leading them away from our overzealous calling.)[8D]Anyways,we split up,and got on both sides of the creek,still we wereeluded,we tried every trick in the book.We waded creeks to our belt line,went through briars,belly crawled,got bug bit,and ended up My friend shot both of them with one shot.They were Big 3 year olds with 10",and 10 1/4" beards 1" spurs.Thing is we were walking out when they stepped out of a firebreak,and took off running down it.......60 yds from the truck.

ALL THAT HARD WORK,AND HE GOT THEM RIGHT AT THE TRUCK!!!!It's a humbling experience for sure.It'll drive you crazy.You can work work work,and get nothing then all of the sudden when all hope is lost.One will just come running in there to you.