BH hunt

[Gopherlongbeards]

Way to go Royce! that's a HEAVY bird for the hills!

[roycefromrc]

thanks,he was a monster.i took him out at 50 plus yards.hit him in the neck,he dropped like a ton of s%&t.hows team 2 doing? we only have one team member that hasnt scored yet.

[dewey]

Congratulations on the big gobbler Royce! Nice looking fan mount as well.

Dewey

[turkey junky]

congrats royce on the stud gobbler!!! i guess i should of went to SD with you as the WY area we picked looked like high desert county so we said skrew this & went to our NE stomping grounds wear there is always plenty of turkeys!!! wow there was turkeys but tons & tons of people in the woods in each and every area we went to hunt/scout! the 1st area had 2 guys from WI hunting write off a forest road with in site of the road with strut n decoy out bad situation if a road hunter would of seen him as i did 65 yrds of the road & stoped thinking it was a real gobbler but then noticed his eastern fan & it wasnt move n!!! then we go up the road a ways & set up 2 other guys from MN drive up while im in the woods & my dad is in the van & jump out & run into my hen calling i crow call to get there attention & when they see me the turn there back to me & jog/fast walk on past me & down into the canyon i was hunting!!! instead of maybe talking to me & or just walking back the way they came??? no they ran deeper into the canyon & thus shafted me out of a hunting spot as i was not going to be hunting around that area any longer to many dumb out of state hunters doing crazy things it was not worth the trouble to hunt around game hog & self fish hunters like that!!! i still cant beleave they parked with in a stones throw away from our van & ran into my set up/calling & then kept on going deeper into the canyon like i wasnt even there was game hogs!!! i had to write them a note telling them it was un-called for to park so close to & stumble into other hunters with THOUSANDS of ACRES of forest to hunt/roam in the area!!!
i left the note under there wind shield man i wanted to do more then leave a note!!!

left that area & drove 7-12 miles out a forest road to a nice area with cattle & plenty of woods & just as we broke out the BBQ grill we hear dirt bikers off in the not to far distance they cant drive on that road but they can drive all around the area so i was pissed of to say the least & with no gobbles herd that nite eat n dinner 2 more out of state hunters pull up at our camp & start un-loading so i went down & asked if they plan to hunt the area they said yes & i said u can have it & walked off... they soon changed a tire & putted up the road & we never seen them again but we to left the next morning as i was so mad & heated about the people pressure in the region!!!

any way we left the hole region & went to another area not on the forest maps for the over crowded area & drove up the dirt road to the public land we get to the entrance & what do you know somebody is parked there but at least its a local NE plates so we drive on & with in site of his car was a big ol hen bug n so we drove the land & seen he was the only other hunter so we went to the farthest parking area from him & got out to hunt it was 2:00 pm & around 6:00 we were back at the van have n a snack i was in the van & herd a gobble then a hen yelp i told my dad get ur gun & head over near the calling then out steps a gobbler across the public land boundery & across a dirt road then hen steps out & shes on public but yelping & heading to the gobbler she spots the van & beats cheeks to the gobbler we figure we are done!!! but my old man goes over to the last spot we seen the hen near the road & fence line & starts calling & in less then a half hour the gobbler had crossed 2 fences a dirt road left a hen & was standing at 40 yrds from the old man & he up & missed the long beard merriams i had time to put the binos on him & he was the most beautiful merriams gobbler i have ever seen... any way the 98 degree temps put the hush mouth on them birds & we left for greener pastures
else wear in nebraska... long story short my dad missed another turkey out there a jake & we ran into 2 more groups of MN hunters i had a gobbler fly up & walk by the next morning at about 55-65 yrds just out of my range & 1 nice MN hunter we met showed my dad a good spot & then shot a gobbler on his last day there & went home so there was turkeys in the area we just didnt connect!!! the birds in the new area we pretty but HYBRIDS at best but there was some merriams looking birds & they put out a good spur!!!

any way the merriams hunt out west was a major let down & up set & really bumbed us out as it was a fav hunt of ours & now just a maybe as the area is just to well known after to many major magazines T.V. shows on-line posters & GUIDES
mentioned the exact town/area/region we were/have hunted & if there was that much hunter pressure on the 2nd to the last wk of the season when the weather was 89-98 degrees every day & or 50+ mph winds im scared to even think about going out that way for the nebraska opener next year to try & get on some un-pressured birds B4 the armys of out of state hunters hit the woods to scary!!! then you also have to deal with the weather of the area witch can change by the hour out that way... snow is not un-common in late march - early may out there so??? i may do a last few days of the early archery season opening of the shot gun season hunt next yr ??? the new area we found is close to home & has some decent white feathered turkeys so i may hunt there more next season & skip the hole western merriams hunt as it is get n way to popular to chase them merriams i guess!!!??? plus there numbers are down in almost any pure strain merriams sub species range in the west so maybe mother nature will give us a break & the numbers across merriams country will improve some by the next yr or 2??? plus my dog got bit by a wasp & had a reaction so the trip was kinda of a flop!!!