Finally put the hurt on a Merriam this morning. I hunted hard for three days, but kept setting up in the wrong location. Lots of miles, ticks and tight turkey lips. The birds were vocal in the morning and pretty much silent 15 minutes after flydown for the rest of the day. I gambled that this tom and his buddies would be roosted in this particular area, so I eased in at 3:30 a.m. in the pitch dark, picked a good spot and waited until he gobbled at 4:25...in the next tree over! I had a front row seat to a gobbling, spitting and drumming show on the roost!
As my luck would have it, he pitched down around 4:45 behind a mound and started heading the other way. I couldn't believe he was so close and within a few seconds was hidden and walking out of range! I started getting loud on the diaphragm call, but he wouldn't turn around or answer me. A minute later, his buddy came running in from a hundred yards away (you can hear him in the video, too) to find me, but this guy cut him off and ran back to my tree. 10 seconds later I had my choice of two gobblers at 5 yards. Mr. "Hard-to-Get" was greeted with a face full of #5s.
I shot a little video during the gobbling session. It was so loud being so close to him. Typical 2 y/o bird, with 0.5" spurs and a 9" beard.
That's the season for me - all tagged out now.
Merriam Wild Turkeys Gobbling on the Roost
