What outfitter for a great Merriam Hunt?
Turkey
Hey guys..... I am a huge turkey fanatic that has only killed easterns as I live in Ohio. I've always wanted to do a Merriam hunt in NE,SD,WY, or anywhere out west and with a change of jobs I have a week to try to squeeze something in during the month of April. The scenery is just as important to me as quality action packed hunt. I am looking to bow hunt only. Can anyone point me in the right direction with an outfitter they have hunted with and had success or have heard great reviews about. Thanks!
If you come to Colorado and just buy an OTC tag and hit the woods you will have a good time chasing Turkeys! i hope you have a good time. Bob.
I've heard a TON of great reviews and things about Nelsons Outfitters in Sheridan, WY. They're archery only and run an extremely high success rate on pure breed Merriams. I'm probably going to go with them next spring.
Another awesome place is "Double K Guide Service" from Gregory, SD. These guys run 100% on archery birds, so you can imagine what their gun rate is, as they allow bow or gun to be used. The downfall to these guys lies in their geography. They're in a part of the country where hybrid birds are more common than pure bred Merriam's.
I might have a spot for you,
As Horace Greeley said, "Head west, young man," if you want a pure Merriams., and the true Merriams experience of hunting the birds in the hills or mountains, amid the tall pines.
Prairie hunts won't cut it because of hybrids, though you can shoot a hybrid that looks like Merriams probably.
I assume you'd want the bird mounted, so you might take a look at what hunters have killed in the past with the outfitters.
Glad you're getting out and sampling America!
Come to the Black Hills of SD. Beautiful country, beautiful birds, and 90% public land. No need for an outfitter. Hit the backroads in the mornings and listen for gobbles. Put a plan together and take your Merriams.
Zebra...great scenery! What state did you take that bird in? I'm still researching areas. Do alot of the public lands out west get hammered with hunters for turkey?
Westerns Colorado is a hard hunt! But also very doable OTC and public ground. The birds that are easy to get to are hammered, but there are also birds that are so remote when you get there they gobble at a bird fart and come running in so fast you will not have time to set up!
It might take some research but with work and research you could prolly come up with a good plan for DIY and OTC in Colorado...
Black hills but On the Wyoming side , We sometimes do both wyoming and south Dakota on same trip
Writer is correct. BUT, you can tell the hybrids from the pure Merriams. Hybrids have buff colored tips to the tail feathers and the purebreds are white tipped. Unmistakable.
I'd go with Gobble & Grunt in northern NE. I did some guiding for them and it was insane. By noon every day there were a pile of toms on the garage floor. I've had clients kill 4 in a single morning.
"Our Guarantee" "If you do not get a shot opportunity at a mature gobbler while on a spring shotgun turkey hunt with us, you come back, on us for a one bird hunt within two years."
I realize it says shotgun but still.... they have never had to give away a free hunt. If you book tell them you want Will Cushner for your guide and tell Will I sent you.
I too was looking for the "pure" Merriams experience, so I am headed to the White Mountain Apache Reservation in Arizona in two weeks. Will post pics and a review of our trip. Taking my 15 year old and we are super excited.
DNA tests say that's not true, Mule Power. It's possible to shoot a genetically hybridized turkey that has the fan colors of a pure bird.
And the fan tips tell you not nearly as much as the feathers at the base of the fan, the ones where the back meets the fan. We've always called them the saddle feathers.
We've seen what looks like Merriam's, eastern and Rio poults all following the same hen. You think she got bred in the Black Hills, Oklahoma and the Ozarks? Busy girl, that spring.
The White Mountain would be cool.
Check out the colors on this bird. Looks like a heck of a Merriam's, huh? It's a Rio/Eastern hybrid from Butler County Kansas.
Even where there are pure strains, you will find some variation in tail fan colors. Some are just brighter white than others.
I've killed Merriam's in both NE WY Black Hills and South Dakota Black Hills that had tail and saddle feathers like a Rio. The body feathers reflected the blue and purple that Merriam's do. I have killed them there that had pure white tips/saddle and everything in between. The biggest looking Merriam I killed was in south central Nebraska. The saddle and fan tips where as white as white could be but his body feathers reflected green/chartreuse, red, gold, no purple or blue coloration. All my WY and SD hunts were DIY on public land. Much like Zebrakiller we hunted both sides of the border to maximize our hunting experience. It is a blast.
You may want to research if you plan on hunting Colo for pure merriams. There are a lot of rios scattered on the eastern plains and southern Colo. The Front Range has pure merriams but it may take quite a few trips to even see a tom on the Front Range. I've lived here for over 30 years and hardly see any turkeys other than on a few scattered parcels of private land. There is a lot of national forest along the north front range without any turkeys but you can have fun trying to find one!
The first Merriams I shot in the Black Hills back in, gulp, '85, looked like a Rio from SW Kansas as per tail and saddle feathers. Spurs sure weren't like a good Rio, though.
I'd hunt tame turkeys in the Black Hills and love it, though.
