Western Merriams hunt recap

[trkykilr]

I wanted to give a quick recap of the Western hunt, and more so thank Birdhunter2 for his generosity and care for Jacob.

After having to delay the trip one day due to a work obligation on my end, we hopped a plane headed west. The group we were meeting got a great head start, and had several birds down by the time we pulled into town. Seamless travel, and all luggage is always a good thing.

We set out hitting different spots that have produced in the past, along with spots from folks who had been before us. We found lots and lots of gobbling turkey, which is not uncommon for Merriams country.

After what seemed like endless close calls, we dialed in an incredible morning hunt with tons of gobbling, excited hen talk, and a gobbler strutting to the barrel inside 10 yards at one point. Birdhunter2 made a great shot, and he had his first mountain Merriams gobbler. Lots of celebration and pictures, and we set out to find another. We spotted a bird that we had messed with twice previously who had one of those hens that is just tough to deal with. Calling to him sent her the opposite way with him in tow. Birdhunter2 was able to keep his attention while I slid into position, and I collected the second of the day.

That afternoon we found a mountainside gobbler who was more than willing to play, but we somehow bumped his hen. We got on him again the following day, a little smarter than we had been the day before, and yelped him gobbling and strutting all the way to 15 yards where Birdhunter2 was able to kill him.

We moved states and had more close calls/screwups/miscommunications/dumbassery, but had tons of gobbling and strutting action. We felt like it would never fall our way, until we were able to spot some birds loafing (it got up to 90 during the day and the birds were inactive from 11-4). We used the terrain to get in position, and a gobble at thunder gave them away. Before we could call, they had heard us walking in the brush and came to investigate. I was under attack and had to defend myself at 4 steps.

All in all, I felt like a pretty poor turkey hunter. It seemed like every move I made was wrong, and I regret not making better decisions. The competitive side of me was pretty frustrated at times. My running mate is an awesome individual, and even when I was kicking myself, he was having a great time, and in awe of the amount of gobbling. This was his first real hunting adventure outside of his comfort zone, and I appreciate his generosity, and trust in me. I feel it safe to say that we each have a new friend.

All in all, it was a gorgeous piece of the world, with beautiful gobbling birds, and great company. Birdhunter2 is a private person, and I certainly respect that. I truly appreciate his generosity and friendship.

ETA: Not to be outdone, when Birdhunter2 shot his first western bird, he had received a text from his bride. She had completed an incredible quest, that morning, to identify 50 species of birds in each of Georgia’s 159 counties on public land. That simply blows my min, and I thought it worth mentioning.