My First Merriams

Oklahoma Outdoors - Sportsmen's Empire

This week on the Oklahoma Outdoors Podcast, John is headed back to Nebraska to chase merriam's turkeys. John hunted Nebraska in the spring of 2023, but was so sidetracked by scouting for deer on the new landscape that he didn't take turkey hunting near as seriously as he should have. Heading into the trip this year though, John had a completely different mindset. He was determined to bring home a merriams, which would be his third of the four subspecies of wild turkey.

This trip brought plenty of challenges, and though John had no problem finding birds, getting one into shotgun range proved more challenging than he expected. Like many western animals, the merriams he was chasing seemed to have no predictable pattern. Simply traveling wherever the wind blew them on any particular day. After three long days and a few disappointments, John finally caught up to a small group of strutters on the last day. However, even with a long beard at fifteen yards, John found out it's never easy!