SpurIA

Hey guys,

A friend and I are planning a merriam hunt in the Black Hills this spring and I was just looking for some tips on hunting them. I live in Iowa and killed Easterns but I have never hunted another sub species. How do Merriams repond to calling? any tips?

paintbrush

In my opinion,merriams are a lot more talkative then easterns.They will gobble a lot,but if they are with hens,they will act just like any henned up eastern will.
Merriams also cover alot of ground,so keep on the move until you get on one, if they don't come to the call at first light.

ranchand99

I'll start off by saying I have never hunted a merriams,but I have watched a ton of video footage,and have heard from several different hunters on these videos that you have to call alot more to them than an eastern.They need to stay fired up in order to come in.Hope that helps.

hawglips

More walking, more gobbling. That's the main difference.

Hal

ultimag

take acouple of good sounding BOXCALLS that seems to get the fired up in the hills coyote howler by Quaker Boy for locating

Borch

Ditto what Paintbrush said. They do cover a lot of ground so don't get too hung up on hunting fresh sign. You may have only missed the birds by a couple of hours. But they're often miles away.

That was my biggest mistake my first year out there.

turk2di

Adhering to the fundamentals should work for both species, but i would ask the locals as many questions as i could think of about local tendencies.