what can we say! with the start of our journey for a grand slam, we had decided to go with nelson outfitters in sheridan wyoming. jay gregory and the wild outdoors had filmed some amazing footage there and a lot of research lead me to beleive the hype. boy did it all pay off
we arrived in sheridan friday apr 26 and got license and rooms and all that good stuff..then on to check equipment. after a little troubles there we got it all sorted out and then the fun began.
we headed out to where we would start our hunt. the scenery and wildlife made the hunt totally worthwhile. that evening alone we probably saw 6-700 deer in the alfalfa fields. as we drove up to the general area we were hunting we were greeted by a huge flock of turkeys with a lot of mature toms and jakes with plenty of ladies. all was looking promising
we stated the hunt early saturday the 27th. we set up a blind in an open field where the birds would fly down. immediately we had a bird work in from behind us and i got my wife ready for the shot as he came around the blind from our right directly to the dsd jake and submissive hen. as he approached, she drew back and let him come on in. she shoots as he gets to the decoys..but hits the hub rods. huge bummer and a lesson learned. we got good footage of it though!
that evening we set the blind up where we had seen them the evening before on their evening travel route. a group came in from our left, but wouldnt come by us..it was a nice set up between two big dirt mounds..it was my calling that turned the hens. henned up toms can do some weird things. as we were watching them another group came over a little rise in front of us and fed around. the hens fed right, then under the fence, headed left and fed perfect by us..but the gobblers stayed to the right a bit. i had a shot at one and took it as soon as i could. a little impatient you can say..first shot i had and i jumped on it. at the shot he jumped and limped a bit. i could see a lot of blood coming out but put another one in him and he went out of sight. i got out to confirm he was down and saw several other toms flogging him on the side of the hill. down. one problem though..the second shot i hit him directly above the drum stick..and it cut the entire drumstick/leg off the bird completely.
beautiful bright white triple beard! thats right..3 of em!!! he was a 2 yr old..but i cant be happier
the next morning..apr 28.. we set up a little bit closer to the pasture that the birds were using but they wouldnt come to us. later we made a great stalk on the group but ran out of ground and my wife just couldnt get up for a shot.
that evening found us back in the same spot i had killed mine in..the travel corridoor to roost. very little action and we were confused. late that evening we finally saw the group headed to roost and got to watch a great show of fighting and strutting and chasing..but they all fed to our right out of range and still wouldnt work to calls or decoys...later we found our from our guide that a golden eagle had swooped them 3 different times as they were close to us and sent them back ..we actually saw the eagle high atop the hill in front of the blind but was unaware of the swoops on the flock
the final morning..apr 29..we moved in to the pasture in a horse blind and popped up the double bull and set up a killer b with several dsd hens. the birds were on the ground early and we had a lone gobbler stroll in alone, but didnt seem to want to come check out the decoys..later we find out he had his own little party across the driveway from us. several big toms work in, but out of range, with a group of hens..putting on a show! as the hens worked all over feeding, i managed to get them upset with my calling mocking them and they came to check it out..and you know who followed them..the 2 big toms. they worked from our right and i was sitting on the left in the blind so i could see it all. as they got close my wife drew back and waited for them to come on in to the decoys. as they got on the decoys i told her to get on one and shoot when she had a shot. she had been at full draw for a little bit and i was worried about fatigue..she did great. she made a phenominal shot and the bird went down immediately. we got a great show then with some flogging and dominance displays. we sat there for a long time afterwards watching them as they never left. we got some great footage of all this as well
http://youtu.be/b4DKPNmZ3n8
well we were both tagged out! what a trip. we finished out that day with some sigt seeing. being from s ga, this was a whole new world. my dave was gracious enough to take us up big horn mountain and we got to play in some real snow! it was all truly amazing. the abundance wildlife blew out minds..we got to see, thousands of white tail, mule deer, antelope,elk, buffalo, rock dogs,golden eagles, pheseant and hundreds of beautiful merriams turkeys. a truly great experience...first time flying too!
for anyone looking for a great merriams hunt..i highly recommend nelson outfitters. killing a trophy with them is very likely...the amount of turkeys we saw was unthinkablw for me..and this was just one spot. we saw other places he hunts and every time we went byt them..turkeys were plenty. he has many thousands of acres of land and does deer, bear, elk, mountian lion and more. he runs very high success rates on all. nelson outfitters is the real deal..i have video to prove it as well and will post up some hunts soon. we will definitely be back with them.
here are some other pics of the hunt
