Experiences near Thedford, NE

[bdirks]

Merry Christmas all,

A quick question, while at a family gathering my cousin's husband and I started talking turkey hunting. I mentioned going to NE and he mentioned that if I ever wanted to go to Thedford, let him know as he has family in the area where we could stay. So PM  me or feel free to share any experiences near Thedford, NE. I know the Bessey Natl Forest is there. I have hunted prairie grouse around there but never heard of anyone turkey hunting around there.

Thanks!

Brian Dirks

[Yoder409]

Never hunted near Thedford.  But have been through there a few times.

One look driving through, you don't think "turkey hunting".   Thedford is Sandhills country...........looks like pronghorn and prairie chicken country.  There's supposed to be a pocket of Merriam's birds south of the Thedford area.   Dunno.  The Bessey is sorta a tree covered part of the Sandhills, so...........  I'd also check the southern Bessey where the Dismal River cuts through it.

[bdirks]

So the plot thickens a bit.

A work colleague of my wife and her husband ranch outside of Dunning, NE. They ranch on a number of acres and have turkeys on their property. My wife and I were talking about hunting in Nebrasaka on the way home from the family Christmas references above, and she, unbeknownst to me, called her work girlfriend about hunting out there. The gal claimed to have turkeys on their land and sent my wife various pic from throughout the year of the turkeys on their place. My wife's friend said "come out any time." So it looks as though I may be heading to the area to give it a whirl.

Thanks!
Brian

[fallhnt]

You can take 4 birds each in the Fall Winter season in NE. It's a good time.

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[bdirks]

So I did a little investigating. The place I am going to is directly south of the Bessey Natl Forest. It is 3 miles south of the Dismal River. This property has a good number of tree groves and shelter belts. This property is the only in the area that isn't just prairie grass for the most part.

Time to learn about Merriams turkeys. According to a friend, they can have a fair large range and the presence of trees is huge. He mentioned hunting a spot in Nebraska that had a couple trees, he said you could count the number of trees on 2 hands, and he consistently kills birds.

If anyone has Merriams Turkey info to share, it would be greatly appreciated.

[HookedonHooks]

According to a friend, they can have a fair large range

Understanding THIS is the biggest key to hunting the NE Merriams that I've chased. Hunting a new property you almost have to spend a day just observing and finding birds. If you're on a time crunch, and you find the birds watch the direction they're heading, and predict where they'll be in about two hours, get there and they'll probably be on top of you within the hour.

From my experience they don't do as much roost gobbling but are pretty vocal and responsive to calls during the day.