A West Virginia hunter's frustration with an unpredictable turkey ultimately turns into a grudging respect for that bird.

This story, “Ghost Gobbler,” appeared in the May 1986 issue of Outdoor Life. He materialized one April morning out of the fog that hung heavily on a western Arkansas mountain. That wasn’t so unusual.

What once looked like a tiny sandwich proved to be rather mighty. One might expect a sandwich with the word "Gobbler" in its ...