Well guys, I got back from hunting the prairies of SD. a couple of days ago,and it was a tough hunt compared to what I'm use to out there.I did manage to take a tom that I called in the first day there,but the remaining 3 days it was very tough. The number of birds seemed to be way down from previous years that I have hunted out there,and I only saw 2 Jakes in 4 days of hunting so it doesn't look real good for next year either.The birds would gobble fairly decent from the roost, but once on the ground,they just about shut up. Later in the day, I could get some gobblers to answer back,but they would not come in,just keep on a trucking. Frustrating!The bird I did get is a decent Merriam's. 8 1/2" beard,both spurs at 5/8" ,and weighed in at 19 lbs 5 oz. for a score of 48.8125.
I'm off to WI. Thursday morning to see if I can get an Eastern.