A story to share with you guys about one that got away.

I had been hunting a hollow for a few days and had already taken one out of there. This one bird across the hollow had been gobbling just a few times before shutting up every morning. I decided to make my way around and come in from the opposite side. On this particular morning there wasn't much gobbling on the roost. I waited till fly down time to see if I couldn't find him then. After about 30 minutes I decided to go toward another bird that had sounded off a few times on further in. I walked off the ridge a bit and was surprised when I saw a bird sitting on the ground about 10-12 steps away. My first thought is that this was a hen on a nest. My second thought is that this hen looks nothing like a hen. I wasn't about to shoot the bird even though I'm thinking gobbler. What's a gobbler doing sitting on the ground and not running off?

I thought I would try to sneak around this "hen". The bird had been staring at me for a couple minutes. I took about 5-6 steps to get around it when the bird stood up and had a big full beard! Needless to say the sling kept me from getting a shot and the tom walked off unscathed. He never putted and never ran off. My guess is he was injured and couldn't fly. I kicked myself for not recognizing him sooner. I guess I was shocked by the fact that I had walked that close to a bird that was sitting on the ground.