Merriam Down in Nebraska
Apr 20, 2022 12:20:24 GMT -5
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Post by bsutravis on Apr 20, 2022 12:20:24 GMT -5
My son and I have wanted to chase Merriam’s since he killed his first gobbler over 10 years ago. This past summer we decided to go in the spring so here we are! We first were looking at the Black Hills of SD but decided against it after getting some advice from guys who’ve done it before. After some further research we decided on the NW corner of Nebraska. Let me tell some advice to anyone wanting to come out here and chase these birds… the public land birds are tough! The private land birds are wayyy more plentiful and seem easier to hunt. I bet we’ve seen 50/1 private vs public land birds while scouting. We got out here on Mon April 11 so we could scout/door knock for birds. We found out fast the the private land in the area we are in (Crawford, NE) is all leased up. Even trying to get a lease is impossible. The best price we found was $600/3 hunt days and you can kill 3 gobblers. With that knowledge we started scouting the public areas, namely Ft Robinson State Park, Soldier Creek Wilderness area and Peterson WMA. The scenery is amazing! I had not clue Nebraska has such wonderful scenery! The turkeys on the other hand have been a struggle for my son and I along w 2 friends.
Maybe it’s been the -5 below wind chills, 40mph gusts, 25 mph sustained winds but the turkeys are just now breaking up from their winter flocks. We found a group of 4 toms on a hillside on 2 days ago and each morning we came closer to tagging one. This AM we slipped into their bedroom at 4:15am and at 4:25 we were greeted with an unsolicited gobble from the tree we set up just 60 yards from. We could see the gobbler actually going into strut on the tree limb. A hen eventually started yelping off in the opposite direction so I gave a few yelps to let the fellas know that we were waiting for them. Eventually one bird pitched off and flew right past us on its way to the pasture behind us. A few seconds later our bird flew off the limb and landed not 30 yards away. It must have seen the Dave Smith decoy because the moment he hit the ground he started toward the DSD hen. I told my son to take the shot if he had it, instead of waiting for a double up. One shot rolled the 2 year old white tipped gobbler and than the celebrating began. It was a very memorable hunt, one we will remember always!
Maybe it’s been the -5 below wind chills, 40mph gusts, 25 mph sustained winds but the turkeys are just now breaking up from their winter flocks. We found a group of 4 toms on a hillside on 2 days ago and each morning we came closer to tagging one. This AM we slipped into their bedroom at 4:15am and at 4:25 we were greeted with an unsolicited gobble from the tree we set up just 60 yards from. We could see the gobbler actually going into strut on the tree limb. A hen eventually started yelping off in the opposite direction so I gave a few yelps to let the fellas know that we were waiting for them. Eventually one bird pitched off and flew right past us on its way to the pasture behind us. A few seconds later our bird flew off the limb and landed not 30 yards away. It must have seen the Dave Smith decoy because the moment he hit the ground he started toward the DSD hen. I told my son to take the shot if he had it, instead of waiting for a double up. One shot rolled the 2 year old white tipped gobbler and than the celebrating began. It was a very memorable hunt, one we will remember always!
