Robin's 26.5 lb NE turkey
A five day trip turned into 2500 miles and only 3.5 days of actual hunting for spring turkeys in Nebraska with our Elite bows. We started the week off in north central NE hoping to be far enough west and north to run into Merriam’s turkeys – the last species I need for my turkey grand slam by bow. We secured permission on a nice looking piece of property and heard lots of birds the first evening. By the second evening we thought we had figured them out and hoped that the drastic temperature drop and high winds wouldn’t hurt us.
Just about the time I thought I was going to have to leave our blind to get more clothes from the truck, a big flock of turkeys moved in behind the blind. Some calls brought the boss gobbler running in while in full strut and after he beat our tom decoy up I made a good shot on him at about 10 steps. Not a pure Merriam’s but a nice hybrid that weighed in at 26.5 lbs!
Just before these birds showed up, I was checking the weather on my phone and found that a winter weather advisory was in effect for the next day. High winds and snow were forecast and the area we were in was to be hit the hardest by 50 mph winds! We decided a move would be in order the next day before the weather moved in. So that day was spent in the truck headed west for a better forecast and to be into pure Merriam’s turkeys.
What we found though was snow coming down and plenty of it. Again though, we lucked out and secured some private ground and set up a blind hoping the forecast was right and the next two days would bring good weather.
Is this spring?
The morning brought several suprises. 6 inches of snow on the ground, mountain lion tracks in the snow 50 yards from our blind, and turkeys gobbling! We figured out that we were not in the right place and the snow ended up being a huge plus for us. Some walking on a mountainside where we heard birds on the roost showed us all we needed to know. That afternoon we were set in the blind on a somewhat level bench waiting for turkeys to return. When Eric’s call was cut off by a gobble very close, we knew what was next. I could see them coming from behind the blind and we could hear the tom drumming he was so close to the blind. Next thing we knew he was beating our decoy up and Eric made a perfect shot putting the bird down withing feet of the hit.
Eric's NE Merriam
The lost day of hunting to move paid off with a pure Merriam’s turkey.
We came close to completing my slam with a bow our last day but not quite. I will be back someday to try again…maybe soon! We met some great folks and saw some great scenery. Here are some pix from the last day.
Some good ones in this bunch!
Some not so easy walking!
Another hunt maybe?
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