HUNTING -- Steve Solberg of Spokane was grousing in good humor on April 15 that he'd passed given his brother, Jeff, first shot at an opening day gobber then ended up coming home empty-handed himself.

"Seeing your brother finally bag a nice gobbler on opening day after 3 unsuccessful YEARS of hunting – priceless," he said.

"Passing up on an easy shot to let your brother score – stupid?

"Maybe, but it was just great being in the woods again. My bird is still out there.

"My time will come."

Indeed!  This week, Solberg's patience paide off with a bruiser tom.

"I was rewarded," he said in an email with the photo above. "This was my biggest bird ever."

The bird weighted more than 22 pounds, beard was 9 inches. But look at those spurs: 1-1/4 inches.

"Life is good!" Solberg said, noting that he has a placed pegged to take a kid this weekend.