The author with a Greenbrier County gobbler taken last May. Greenbrier was the top county in District IV last year. Photo courtesy of Bruce Ingram.

In the February issue of this magazine, I covered recent spring gobbler trends and led with an anecdote of calling in two Monroe County gobblers last May, and shooting the first one that arrived. So with one tag still remaining, I did what many other hunters would likely have done -- returned to that same farm the following Saturday to pursue the tom that had come tardy.

I liked my chances for several reasons: Four days had elapsed, so the tom possibly would have recovered from the "unfortunate" event that had occurred to his running mate, the hens would be incubating, and no one else had hunted the farm. When I departed from my car that Saturday morning, the longbeard was already gobbling in the dark.

I ran across the field to the wood lot where the old boy was roosted and quickly set up in the same area where I had on the previous hunt. Laying down a few yelps, I confidently waited for the proverbial déjà vu to happen. After all, why shouldn't it? I was on the same level as the tom, the field where he strutted was 15 yards away, and I already knew he liked that area.

And 20 minutes after fly down and a period of silence, I heard him again. Cautiously, I gradually turned my head and saw him 50 yards up the mountain and in full strut. My body was facing the wrong way, so when he slowly strutted behind a tree, I quickly pivoted to the side of the tree where I now faced him.

My chancy move successfully accomplished, I stared up the mountainside to observe the tom staring back. The gobbler wanted to see the source of those earlier clucks and yelps. I decided to remain silent, and the tom went back into strut, but he began strolling up the mountain away from me. Chancing a few clucks, I was encouraged to see the longbeard turn around and begin heading down the mountain toward me.

But once again, his pace slowed, but he had come within 35 yards. So, pressing my cheek tight to the stock of my 12 gauge, I fired -- and missed. The last time I saw the tom he was ambling up the mountain.

It's never easy to admit in print that I have missed a very makeable shot at a big-game animal. I even went back to the farm the following Tuesday in an attempt to redeem myself, but this time I did not hear him at all. And why should he gobble after two near-death experiences on that little postage stamp of Monroe County?

2008 RESULTS AND A LOOK AHEAD
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) reports that hunters killed 9,895 toms during the 2008 season, just 1 percent fewer than the 2007 harvest of 9,965 turkeys taken in 2007. The top 10 counties (with harvests in parentheses) were Mason (396), Preston (371), Jackson (319), Wood (316), Harrison (291), Greenbrier (290), Upshur (286), Fayette (279), Summers (259) and Mercer (254). Of the state's 55 counties, 35 endured lower harvests, although in many cases the kill was just down by a few birds.

Around the state, three districts enjoyed higher harvests: District I, northern region (2,150 to 2,184); District V, northwestern region (1,624 to 1,705); and District III, central region (1,331 to 1,372). Three districts endured lower tallies: District II, Eastern Panhandle and surrounding counties (921 to 822); District IV, southern (1,911 to 1,868); and District VI, north-central (2,028 to 1,944).