A week earlier, on opening day of the season, this big ol' tom flew down about 80 yards from my decoy spread in a little opening near the trees.

I could see him out of the back corner window of the blind as he strutted proudly and gave a loud gobble, cracking the stillness of the morning air. But he was a wily old bird. You can tell a tom who has some age because they are very cautious and smarter than younger birds.

I always love it when I get to go up against one that's hard to get. I guess it's more of a challenge. And I have a lot of respect for an animal that can out smart me and get away.

Well, this big boy did... The first time.

The next time, I used everything I knew about him to get him to come close to me. Last time he came out, he wouldn't come to the decoys and he wouldn't even follow the live hen that fed out into the larger field nearby. All he did was strut around for a few minutes before turning tail and disappearing into the woods.

This time, I set my decoys off to the left to try to cut off one of the paths and funnel him in front of my position if he would want to enter the field. Check out my field journal at huntingnet.com and scroll down to contributing authors to read the full story. He was 22 lbs with 1&1/4" spurs and a red beard. It is a magnificent bird.