My last attempt at a Merriam's turkey was in Colorado in 2006. Even though it was a great hunt, I failed in my attempt to take one with a bow. I had a shot at five yards.....only to have the arrow catch the bottom of the blind and foil that attempt.
This year I decided to give it another try. However, I knew I did not want to go back to Colorado. While it was nice, they did not have the number of birds I think that bowhunting them requires. Bowhunting turkeys is a numbers game. That is, the more birds there are, the greater your chances of success.
As I began to research, there was one place that constantly came up as a prime Merriam turkey bow hunting location. That place was Double K Outfitters in Gregory, SD. This place has been used as the "field research" location for the team at DoubleBull Blinds for years.
After talking a number of times with Dave Keiser, the owner, I booked a hunt in February....and off I went on April 13th. I decided to forgo my annual trip to Kansas to hunt turkeys and do this instead.
After spending the night in Yanktown, S. Dakota I arrived in camp about 10 AM. I was met by Dave who encouraged me to get my things squared away and get ready to go hunting. Sure enough...a few minutes later my guide Josh and the videographer Bob showed up. Josh, my guide, is a well known videographer himself having worked for many big names in the hunting industry. Bob, in addition to being a videographer has guided for elk in Idaho for a number of years and is a Field Staff member of Flambeau outdoor products maker of Feather Flex decoys. At 68......he still carries his 80 lb. guide pack around like a young man. In fact, it was everything I could do to stay up with him.
Our first setup was in a beautiful draw full of oak trees. While we never saw anything....it gave me a chance to "get into the mood".......eat a sandwich...and "wind down." The sun was shining, the sky were clear.......and it was peaceful.
After about two hours.....Josh got a call from Dave that he had spotted some gobblers in another field owned by Brooks Johnson (co-founder of Double Bull Blinds). So we headed that way. We met Dave who instructed Josh where to set up.
We set up on the edge of an alfalfa field bordered by a woodline with a small creek running through it. About thirty minutes into our setup......we were greeted by a gobble response from down in the creek to one of my calls. I called again. I looked down to adjust something on my bow and when I looked back up there were three black bodies moving through the tall grass towards the field. Could this be over so quick?? When the turkeys stepped into the field we saw that they were just jakes and therefore were safe with me. Double K allows the shooting of jakes but I was going to pass and hold out for a big tom.
We watched them strut around the decoys until they lost interest and moved off. We sat there for about another hour and half and then decided it was time to move to our evening hunting spot.
Our evening hunting spot was in the middle of a stand of cottonwoods where two big toms had been seen flying down from that very morning. The plan was to simply ambush them on the way back to their roost. Well....you know what they say about "the best made plans." We saw nor heard nothing! However, it was a beautiful evening. Huh!! I arrived at 11 AM and had already put 8 1/2 hours in hunting!!!
We were greeted back at camp with a hearty meal of Swiss steak. I was beat so I headed to bed to get ready for another non-stop day. There is no "coming back to camp for nap." These guides work all day and you hunt all day!!
We were roused from bed at 5 AM. As my guide Josh had a friend coming in to hunt I was hooked up with another guide by the name of Jeff. Jeff told me we would be hunting in a spot where he had put 6 longbeards to bed the night before. Sounded good to me!!
The spot was basically a tree lot right next to a farm house. We parked the truck on the road. When Jeff told me "The longbeards are right in those trees" I couldn't believe it. Should we be parked so close?? Then to top it off.....Jeff had us set up the blind only about 50 yards from the trees. I thought to myself "Man...you would never get by with this at home." But...when I thought about it....it made sense. Roosting next to the farm house they see people moving around all the time.
We got set up....got in the blind....and since we were about 30 minutes from "show time".......we both caught up on a little bit of rest.
When the first gobble sounded off....it sent off a crescendo of gobbles down the tree row. There were obviously more turkeys in the roost than just the six longbeards. This music went on for almost 30 minutes before the birds began flying down. They came in like dive bombers....one after the other. There were somewhere around 30 turkeys altogether......longbeards, jakes, and hens. Problem is....not a one flew down to our set up of 2 hen decoys and a Pretty Boy strutting tom. They all landed in the field next to us.
For thirty minutes we watched a show of strutting toms, jakes chasing each other....and hens yelping out instructions to the flock. The only turkey courteous enough to visit our set up was, of course, a jake. After this, the flock moved into the woods line....to the dirt road to pick up gravel (at which point I realized if I was at the truck I would be filling my tag). Then they moved across the road. It went from pandemonium to silence!!
Jeff put a call into Dave who told us where to relocate. We went back to the field owned by Brooks Johnson. Dave had just spotted a number of longbeards in there.
We set up in a different location than the day before. We followed the creekline to the edge of a woodlot where the turkeys were. Fearful of bumping the turkeys, we set up in a spot that was less than ideal. We paid the price for that. About an hour later a longbeard and three jakes showed up. Though the birds were in my effective bow range.....a shot was impossible due to the heavy brush.
Jeff called Dave and told Dave we were going out to a place he had been wanting to get to. Dave gave him the "go ahead" and off we went. The wind that morning had been blowing between 35-45 mph. Jeff said the birds on this particular farm would be in a shelter belt that was lined with pines. He had gone in a few days earlier and cut out a path in the pines that would allow him to sneak in there and pop up a blind undetected.
Once we confirmed that the birds were in the shelter belt, including at least one nice tom.....we made a big circle and came in on the back side of the shelter belt. We had to walk through a foot of snow to get to our spot!! They had a blizzard the previous weekend that dumped 14 inches of snow.....and what we were walking in was the remnants of the wind drifts. Jeff peeked into the shelter belt and said we we would have to be careful. The turkeys were just down from us towards the road about 50 yards. We popped up the blind and Bob and I crawled in. Jeff said he would wait out by the road in his truck to discourage the turkeys from crossing the road. He told me not to call often but just enough to let them know we were there. He said they naturally walk up and down the shelter belt....so there was no need to un-necessarily arouse their suspicion. We did not put out decoys.
The whole time Bob and I were getting settled, I could see and hear the turkeys chasing each other around. When Bob gave me the go ahead I began calling. I simply would give a series of yelps about every 15 minutes. I didn't "cut loose"......just a few soft...."Hey...I'm over here....come and visit" type of yelps. They would look but never respond. They just kept chasing each other around. So Bob and I decided we would just have to wait.
Some time later I looked up to see deer moving through the shelter belt. There were seven of them just milling around with the turkeys. A few minutes later I see the deer jerk their heads up to look at something. I see it it too. It's a rooster pheasant running through the shelter belt. For some reason, the deer thought they should follow him. I guess they thought he knew where there was a good source of food. So all seven of them paraded by our blind while we prayed they did not wind us or get spooked by the blind thus alerting the turkeys to the danger. When the last one passed by we breathed a sigh of relief.
I pulled out my HS Strut "Cuttin 2.5" mouth call and gave a series. I was cut off by a gobble!! Awesome!! That usually means...."I hear ya and I'm comin." I called again and the gobbler responded.....closer!! I decided to shut up.
A couple minutes later, after hearing nothing, I lifted my head to look above some cedars and sure enough just thirty five yards away and getting closer I saw a full fan heading our way. Showtime!!! I reached for my bow and hooked on the release. Bob turned on the camera.
When the tom stepped out we saw he actually had a buddy with him. I now had two longbeards at 25 yards. Bob whispered....."Hold off a little so I can get some footage." I told him I would draw when they stepped behind a tree that we had ranged at 25. When they stepped behind the tree I drew and waited. The birds continued on their path that took them into a clearing. The clearing was between the tree I had ranged at 25 yards and another I had ranged at 20....so I guessed about 22.5. I just have started wearing my glasses when I shoot and I must admit it made a big difference. The sight picture was clear and as a result I was having no "panic." I settled the pin and let fly at the lead bird who was standing upright. The arrow was perfect. He was slightly quartering away.
Picture of where the turkey was standing when I shot him. The thick tree to the right with all the heavy limbs hanging down is where the turkeys walked behind when I drew my bow. When they walked into the clearing dead center in the middle of the picture is when I shot.
The arrow hit right behind the wing butt, went through the chest and out of the neck. He tried to fly but couldn't because the arrow was still in him. He made a sharp turn right, tumbled and went down just 40 yards from the blind!!
This is a picture from the blind looking at the spot where the turkey dropped. Even though you can't see him he's laying about 40 yards out.
The other turkeys had no idea what happened. They continued to strut around the blind and chase each other around. Not wanting to spook them so that other clients could hunt there, Bob snuck out the back side to go get Jeff to drive the truck up to drive them off....which he did. They all paraded behind my blind. There were probably 40 turkeys including 7 longbeards and 2 hens with eight inch beards. Once they were gone I finally got to go see my turkey.
My bow killed Merriam's!! 25 lbs.....9.25 inch beard!!!
Shot on April 15th.....2:15 PM in Gregory, SD. Gear: Browining Verado set at 56 lbs. Carbon Force Stealth Hunter 300's tipped with 125 grain Rocket Steelhead's.
Me & Guide Jeff
Me along with Bob Mussey, videographer
Jeff not only congratulated me but made my day further by informing us that he filled his tag while waiting for us. Some jakes kept ganging up on a big gobbler and running him off....so Jeff grabbed his bow and waited for the next time they ran him out of the shelter belt. When they did it again Jeff let the air out of him at 30 yards!!
Me and Guide Jeff's turkeys!!
So it was a great hunt in South Dakota. I now have three down and one to go (my Osceola) for my bow grand slam. I'll be going after that next year.
I cannot say enough good about Dave Keiser and Double K Outfitters. If you are looking to finish a slam.....OR....simply want a great place to bow hunt turkeys......check out their website and give them a call.
