DoneRight
PMA Member
The end of April, I found myself hutning Merriams for the first time in South Dakota. All I can say is wow beautiful landscapes and a ton of birds. Me and a couple of buddies put in to hunt on Rosebud, and it was quite interesting trying to hunt those wylie birds up there. The spot and stalks that consist of 2-3 mile hikes to get at birds just about killed me, but I tagged my first Merriam. I couldn't get the fanning to work up there for anything. Maybe I was doing it wrong. Here are some pics from the trip.
My first bird went 22 lbs, 1.25" spurs and had a 8.5" beard.
I ended up tagging out the morning of our last day but didn't get any pics of the second bird. Everybody was in a hurry to get home for some reason. Overall it was a great trip. The town of Valentine, Neb was a real cool place to stay. If you're ever there, the Rainn Inn has one of the best steaks I've ever had.
Now back to Iowa. I got locked in on one bird that would just give me the run around since 4th season started. If I juked, he'd jive. If I went left he went right. He wouldn't come to any calling and if he saw decoys he would just turn and walk the other way. I decided Wed was the last day I'd try to kill this bird, and then i'd move on. I set up decoys in his every morning flydown zone, and then moved to where he'd been strutting daily between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning. (Thank God for trail cameras or this wouldn't have worked) My theory was, he would fly down and see the dekes and immediatley move away from them towards his strut zone where I set motionless and quiet awaiting his arrival. Well needless to say it worked. I smoked him almost 600 yds from where he flew down at 8:00 AM on the nose. He went 24.6 lbs, with 1 11" beard and one 10.5" beard, and 1" spurs.
This morning I finally got to get out with my dad. He'd only been out the first day of first season, and I always love hunting with the man that taught me how to hunt. We walked in and got set up in the light mist/fog we had, and heard what I guessed was at least 4 toms and 3-4 jakes roosted less than 200 yds from our hayfield set-up. This morning was by far the best morning for gobbling here in Iowa. These boys wouln't shut up. They answered every call until 7:30 when this boy came in to beat up my jake and dad let the hammer drop. His bird went 19.5 lbs, 10.5" beard, and 1 1/4" spurs.
Overall its been a great season, and I've come to the conclusion that I absolutely love chasing and dropping the hammer on these thunder chickens.
My first bird went 22 lbs, 1.25" spurs and had a 8.5" beard.
I ended up tagging out the morning of our last day but didn't get any pics of the second bird. Everybody was in a hurry to get home for some reason. Overall it was a great trip. The town of Valentine, Neb was a real cool place to stay. If you're ever there, the Rainn Inn has one of the best steaks I've ever had.
Now back to Iowa. I got locked in on one bird that would just give me the run around since 4th season started. If I juked, he'd jive. If I went left he went right. He wouldn't come to any calling and if he saw decoys he would just turn and walk the other way. I decided Wed was the last day I'd try to kill this bird, and then i'd move on. I set up decoys in his every morning flydown zone, and then moved to where he'd been strutting daily between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning. (Thank God for trail cameras or this wouldn't have worked) My theory was, he would fly down and see the dekes and immediatley move away from them towards his strut zone where I set motionless and quiet awaiting his arrival. Well needless to say it worked. I smoked him almost 600 yds from where he flew down at 8:00 AM on the nose. He went 24.6 lbs, with 1 11" beard and one 10.5" beard, and 1" spurs.
This morning I finally got to get out with my dad. He'd only been out the first day of first season, and I always love hunting with the man that taught me how to hunt. We walked in and got set up in the light mist/fog we had, and heard what I guessed was at least 4 toms and 3-4 jakes roosted less than 200 yds from our hayfield set-up. This morning was by far the best morning for gobbling here in Iowa. These boys wouln't shut up. They answered every call until 7:30 when this boy came in to beat up my jake and dad let the hammer drop. His bird went 19.5 lbs, 10.5" beard, and 1 1/4" spurs.
Overall its been a great season, and I've come to the conclusion that I absolutely love chasing and dropping the hammer on these thunder chickens.
