Merriams vs easterns?

Turkey hunting tips & tricks that have worked & can help others.
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Southern Sportsman
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Re: Merriams vs easterns?

Post by Southern Sportsman »

One other thing I remember in Nebraska. Terrain similar to your picture. I killed a bird on a high ridge one evening. Stayed put to listen for roost gobbles. Before dark one started gobbling a LOT on a scrawny tree line in the valley two ridges over. I had to walk towards him going out (not close enough to bump him). As I dropped off the ridge going out I couldn’t hear him any more. Thought he just went quiet. Realized I left my rangefinder by the tree I killed my turkey from so I started back up the ridge. Got to a certain height and he was still steadily gobbling. He was plenty close enough to hear the whole time, but with me in one low spot and him in another (maybe 250 yards away) I couldn’t hear him at all. This may be turkey 101 for those who hunt in hills and mountains. But coming from cypress flats and river bottoms, it was strange.
I go stubbornly into error by myself, and reach my own fallacious conclusions using my own faulty data. ~Tom Kelly
Dtrkyman
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Re: Merriams vs easterns?

Post by Dtrkyman »

Hunting pressure dictates how they respond to calls imho, I watched Nebraska change over the years from zero to high pressure, and the birds act different.

Used to be if you wanted to call to strike a bird you better damn well be close to a place to hide because they were coming! Last few years in a heavily pressured area those birds act just as ignorant as any birds in the country!

FYI the turkeys I hunt in north central Nebraska love to roost in dead trees! One tree I can glass from a mile away, looks like ornaments on a Christmas tree from a mile out!
cutt down
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Re: Merriams vs easterns?

Post by cutt down »

Realwarrior wrote: March 5th, 2020, 11:26 pm The mountain birds that I've hunted sounded farther away than they really were. Be aware of that. My first couple of hunts I bumped birds because of that.
This is very true! Heed this advice. I figure the terrain & altitude make them sound louder & closer. If you don't hear any then get to a clear spot where you can glass the area. I hunted New Mexico last year & watched one with my binos from about a mile away gobble every time I called & I could barely hear him if hear him at all. He finally broke down & came on in! They can cover a lot of ground real fast. I ditched the snake boots & went with hikers & gaiters. You need to be very mobile.
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Southern Sportsman
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Re: Merriams vs easterns?

Post by Southern Sportsman »

cutt down wrote: March 20th, 2020, 12:15 pm
Realwarrior wrote: March 5th, 2020, 11:26 pm The mountain birds that I've hunted sounded farther away than they really were. Be aware of that. My first couple of hunts I bumped birds because of that.
This is very true! Heed this advice. I figure the terrain & altitude make them sound louder & closer. If you don't hear any then get to a clear spot where you can glass the area. I hunted New Mexico last year & watched one with my binos from about a mile away gobble every time I called & I could barely hear him if hear him at all. He finally broke down & came on in! They can cover a lot of ground real fast. I ditched the snake boots & went with hikers & gaiters. You need to be very mobile.
Agree. I’ve never hunted “true” merriams, just Nebraska hybrids. But their gobble just isn’t as loud or long as an eastern’s. Spend your whole life coursing easterns by the sound of their gobble, and your brain has to recalibrate to those birds. It’s easy to think a bird is 2 ridges over then bump into him 50 yards into your move.
I go stubbornly into error by myself, and reach my own fallacious conclusions using my own faulty data. ~Tom Kelly
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