Couldn't seal the deal. I don't get to roost them in the evenings, so mornings for me is always a crap shoot. So, I go where I was last Saturday when I heard 6 different birds, and today, nothing. So I wait, thinking maybe they will start gobbling later. Then I think I hear one way off in the distance..........well, he was way way off.....I walked for what seemed like an eternity to get to him......he was so far away, I couldn't pinpoint his location, so I had to walk a few circles, up and over a few steep hills, etc. I think I crossed the same creek 4 times....Anyways, as I get closer, he's gobbling his head off....thought it was a jake b/c it was soft and sounded short. Then he just quit gobbling. I moved another 100 yards, kneeled down and yelped, and BANG, he was about 75 yards away....and then he didn't sound so small. He had a long, soft, deep, gobble. One gobble from him was about this long: gobbleobbleobbleobbleobbleobbleobbleobbleobbleobble

no joke....I could tell this was a smart bird. He was very responsive for about 20 minutes, but he just wouldn't move. I was on one ridge, he was on another. He didn't want to come over. I waited and waited, scared to move b/c we were so close. The ridges are very very steep, so the top of mine was only 75 yards from top of his. Well, don't know what happened, but after he quit gobbling, and a couple hours later, no turkey. I did hear him drumming for a few minutes when he first went silent, but i never saw him. I didn't know if he snuck up around behind me, saw me, and left, or what.....just never saw him or heard him again.

Not sure what I'm supposed to learn from this hunt.
lol

You learned alot. You waited for a closer bird to gobble that didn't happen. You used your woodsmanship to move within 100 yards of a gobbling bird. You got close enough to hear him drum and to enjoy a unique gobble or two. You've opened a chapter in your turkey hunting book that may offer you another encounter or two with the same bird. When TScott and I manage to take Ol' Reliable last year, it was with some regret. We'd heard that bird gobble in the same spot at the same time on opening day for quite a number of years. We could set our clocks by it. Once we made the decision to go after him and it took several hunts to close the deal, it was like we had closed a chapter in our book of hunts together. No more 'ol Reliable to listen to on opening morning. So, you've opened a new chapter and we eagarly await your next move, even though it may be a season away!