earlyspur
Senior Member
Went back out west for the 2nd time on public land. Now that I knew a little more about Merriams behavior and tendencies, the trip went a little smoother. Took a different hunting partner this time who was a bit more adaptive to the extreme terrain and colder temps. Having already wrapped up my grand slam, I made sure he got his shot first. Unfortunately he missed one the first set of birds we worked in, and then 30 minutes later missed AGAIN on a different pair of gobblers we called in. I took over from there and got our first of 4 tags out of the way. He got his first Merriams the next day. We worked out of the alpine and back into the ponderosa for a couple of days and had a lot of birds gobbling just couldn't seem to be in the right place at the right time. On the last day we agreed to go back into the mountains and try our luck in the alpine forest again and I filled my 2nd tag that morning, giving him the option to fill his tag that afternoon. He was satisfied with the trip and only having one, so we packed up and headed back to the heat and gnats. Great trip though. Lots of birds talking, not so easy to work (yes Merriams can be and most of the time are just as stubborn as easterns), great weather, great views. All around good trip. Just wanted to share some photos. All 3 birds harvested higher than 9000 feet.
