I think my nephew invented it for my benefit yesterday!

I took him out for his first turkey hunt ever on the youth weekend here in MS. We got on a gobbling bird right off and set out for him. I quickly realized that he was a stubborn old bird that I had hunted before. He' s one of those that will gobble his head off on the roost then fly down and go the other way. NO ONE in our camp has EVER been able to call him in. He often roosts at the head of a big hardwood hollow where he can see down the whole length of it. And he won' t start gobbling til well after daylight. You can' t move in on him without him seeing you and you can' t come at him from anoter direction. Yesterday morning was foggy. I told my nephew that we were after a real trophy and we were going to try a tactical manuever. We used the fog to creep about 250 yards up the holow to within 150 yards of him (I told you it was a big hollow.). I stopped and gave a couple of clucks along the way as if a hen was moving to him. He answered each time. We got set up against a big ol' pine and I started calling in earnest. Well I heard another hen calling to him and agressively called over her yelps. He answered both of us then went silent. I told my nephew to get ready. About 20 minutes later, I looked over to my right and THERE HE STOOD! About 30 yards away. He was HUGE! Well over 20 pounds with a THICK beard about 11 inches long and some of the longest hooks I' ve ever seen! He had just materialized out of the fog. I never heard a sound at his approach nor did I see him working his way in. ( guess he was behind a tree on his approach.) I whispered " There he is" and waited for the BOOM. Nothing happenned! The turkey got uneasy and putted and turned and started walking away. I told my nephew to put it on him and pull the trigger! He said he didn' t have a shot. He felt helpless and shocked and disappointed at letting me down and said something to that effect as we watched him walk away out of range. I just told him that he just got his first lesson in humility in turkey hunting. I felt like the hunt was a roaring success! I had called in the " uncallable bird" . He felt bad that he didn' t close the deal, but I just told him " That' s turkey hunting!" and that that just means I just get to call him in again in a couple of weeks. I think he' s hooked now and I might have just made another huntin buddy.

When do you call a hunt a success?