Bell Mountain itself resembles a three-headed dragon, with peaks to the north, east and south. The southern peak is in Reynolds County and a part of Johnson Shut-Ins State Park, where thousands of acres of land are closed to hunting.

The turkey that responded to the howling coyote gobbled again when I blew a few soft notes on my Palmer Hoot Tube. I hooted one more time to get a fix on its location. The bird accommodated my wishes by sounding off again, this time far to the east. I cut across country staying just below the crest line of Bell Mountain. Vegetation proved sparse, making for quick traveling. Scrubby oaks and red cedar crowded the glade openings.

I soon determined that the gobbler exhibited a fondness for the far end of Bell Mountain, off of a steep northwest-facing slope. Once above the gobbler, I scratched out a few soft notes on an H.S. box call. The tom fired back from 200 yards.

Haste often makes waste. Rather than set up to call the bird to my location, I advanced slowly downhill, hoping to close the distance. Tall pines, mixed with hardwoods and scattered huckleberry bushes, gave me ample cover for undetected movement. I could easily see 75 yards ahead.

I paused often to study the steep terrain below me. I decided to move 20 more yards to a fallen shortleaf pine and use it as breakup cover. Just as I stepped into the open, the unmistakable colors of a turkey fan cleared a hump 60 yards downhill. A bright red followed, and the jig was up. Busted! That tom had covered more ground than I had -- and much more quickly.

Disgusted with my foolishness, I backtracked a half-mile and caught a spur ridge leading to a ridge top to the south. A broad saddle separated the two peaks. From my earlier scouting trips I knew that the saddle held a post oak flat, a favorite feeding and strutting area for Ozark gobblers. Too, I had found plenty of sign there.

Once I was set up against a broad oak, I began calling softly. Minutes later, I cackled on a mouth call, and a tom cut me off with its lusty gobble. This time I stayed put.

My next call, five minutes later, had not left my lips when the tom double gobbled. It had closed the distance considerably.

The wild area surrounding me heightened the enjoyment of the adventure -- alone with a wild turkey gobbler on the side of Bell Mountain. The ultimate challenge in wild turkey hunting played out like the perfect drama.