If you hunt these birds long enough it will either happen to you or come dang close. It came close to happening to me about five years ago, I was set up on a fire lane that ran along the spine of a ridge. It was just after noon and I was cold calling with a long box and eating a sandwich I had just finished calling and put the box down when I hear a gobble off the back side of the ridge. I waited about five minutes soft called with the box and instantly heard several birds gobble. There was more than one bird and they were much closer. I put the box down, placed the gun on my knee and waited. A few minutes later five longbeards stepped out in the fire lane about 60 yards from me and proceeded to line up in full strut like they were in a parade. I couldn't shoot, only had one tag. So, i watched them proceed to walk right by me until they got about 10 yards past me when they all stopped, folded their wings and started milling around. One of them stepped off the fire lane and separated himself from the others enough so I took the shot and he went down. As I approached him, he was not flopping but he jumped up and starting running off the ridge, As he ran, he would try to fly but it was somewhat thick and he kept flying into trees. It was evident that he was blind. He must have heard me walking because he turned and flew right at me and I had to drop to the ground in order to keep him from flying in my face. At that point, he went another 25 yards and settled down long enough for me to shoot him again. That's the one that almost got away from me and he would have been a meal for a coyote for sure.
