My first trip to SD four years ago we were roosting a flock. There were 2 longbeards, 3 or 4 jakes, and 6 or 7 hens. The longbeards fought each other, they fought the jakes, they just flat out fought all afternoon. The one that was doing the majority of the whipping, hurt his wing something bad. We assumed he broke it/separated something. Because at roost time, he started to break off from the flock. He wandered up and down the little creek looking for a tree. Finally, after all the birds got in the trees, he found him a blow-down. He roosted that night, for the last time ever, about 10' off the ground and he never flew. He walked, jumped, and pulled himself to his roost that night. The next morning he was strutting and gobbling his brains out. He didn't fly down, he hopped down the blown down tree.
A guy with us killed him about 8:00am. The biggest Merriams of the trip, triple beard, with inch spurs, and weighed a hefty 21 and change. They are some resilient, persevering, witty old birds.
