The green jungle of the swamp pressed around me, its stillness broken only by the pounding of my heart in my ears and by the rustle of footsteps in the dense thicket to my right. The steps were slow, irregular — one, two, pause — one, pause — one, two, three, but they angled toward an opening that lay in front of me like a narrow lane cut through the brush. Carefully, I placed my 12 gauge Remington automatic to my shoulder, took a deep breath, and waited. Then, suddenly, he stood in front of me, tall, resplendent, every iridescent feather outlined in the sunlight — surely the largest wild gobbler ever seen by man.