HuntnMa Posted May 8, 2010 Report Share Posted May 8, 2010 Darren, my hubby bought me a new Remington M-887 12 guage...named her "Ugly Betty" as soon as I saw it...ordered a new choke , kept the box of winchester extended elite that I didn't use other than to see what my new gun was capable of and a few days later...Met Tom at Toso. and we're off The first day we flew into Omaha, drove to where we were to meet Mike and Andy on Sat.,we checked out a wma or two, decided on the one, I had jakes around me, Tom and tried to put the sneak on them, we sat and called but nothing,so the next morning I went to where I thought they may roost, I was in the calling and something told me to look out by the road, there they were, this time with two hens...they took my boys across the other ridge which was private so i just took pics I saw mule deer( I have never seen so many deer tracks in my life), antelope and buffalo that day too. A nice buck The winds were horrible and it was cold, wish I had brought some more warm clothing, lol.The ticks were downright aggressive and I thought Florida had a problem with them lil buggers, doesn't even compare, the one day I must of plucked 20 or more off of me.We met Mike and Andy, they took us to this other area...Mike and Andy were hunting private land and Tom and I got to hunt a wma close by, was under the impression before we left that Mike was going to get us on the private land to, but to tell you the truth I dont think he even asked but that's ok, we didn't care, we were hunting turkey in Nebraska scouted that evening a lil, Tom found a shed...wooohooo.Didn't find much sign, but we were willing to give it a try...we got back to the hotel and Mike and Andy were being detained by the local law enforcement and the dnr officer, someone turned them in for shooting birds off the road, but they had shot their birds on the private land, just saw a tree laying there that Mike wanted to get pics with their birds on it , so they pulled over...we were suppose to have prime rib that evening but we settled for subway, lol....they owe us a prime rib dinner damn it, lol.... the next morning, we heard gobbles all over, all on the private land of course, but we kept at it, I found this huge racked buck's skull in the bottoms and another shed on top of the ridge I'll edit for the stats, scoring him on Monday This mountainous stuff is for the birds......but I did handle it alot better than I thought I would, lol.That afternoon, we left them and headed west, we had too.....the birds aren't on management land, at least not the ones we hunted and we hunted HARD....as always We went to this one wma and it looked like a bird wouldn't live anywhere on it but come the next morning we were there......OMG,there was a gobbler gobbling, told Tom to "go get him" , he said " No" and told me to "go for it",he didn't have to tell me twice, I was off.....I went down then I went back up and up and up, lol...he was right there , I tired to get him to come to me, he gobbled his head off, but then then hens came in and stole him, the next thing I knew they were on the next ridge over, I was screwed, no cover, everytime I'd call he go into strut and then he'd continue his journey with the hens,so I just asked God for guidance and wisdom and off I went, I stopped calling......decided I'd try to pattern them for tomorrows hunt....I stayed about 100 yds. behind them for what seemed to be forever, up and down , up and down, finally they were at the top going over the edge, so I hauled butt once they went over, got up there and I see a jake and hen about 10 yds. from me, I froze, started shaking, the good ole leg shake, lol...thank God I had a fallen tree to stand behind, they fed on down and to my left....I was going to shoot the jake but then I saw that the gobbler was coming into range, he looked at me, I pulled the trigger, it was then or never......he dropped and flopped and flopped and then he fell off the side down this ridge....OMG, thought he was going to run off, or fly way, something,I didn't know what had happened, but I knew his head was down so he was probably dead but I couldn't see him so I put my safety on ,dropped to my butt and off I went a sliding down the mountain, praying I wouldn't hit a catus on the way down, lol.....I slid to the terrace, ran about 10 yds. hit my butt again and down I went again, got to a barbed wire fence (still wma property) my legs went under, I lifted that wire , slid under, never missed a beat, lol.....got to the bottom, no bird,walked around the bend and there he was, Thank you God!!! we did it picked my bird up, and said to myself "oh damn, he's heavy, really heavy, lol", I'm used to these Osecola's....I'm screwed again,lol.... I looked up to the top and wondered , now what ????lol...it was so steep, I'd walk sideways upward, for every step or two I'd get, I'd fall five, finally I started making headway, my heart was pounding out of my chest, seemed like there wasn't enough air around me to breathe in, lol...I started climbing some more, got about 20 yds. from the top and my legs just gave out, they burned so bad,I had NO strength left in em... I had to crawl the rest of the way....got to the top and I took a short video, left a voice text messages for everyone and I was off again.... back on top( the pic doesn't show it like it really is, lol l my bird was on the far ridge when I started Got Got to the mini cooper and collasped in a lil ball and laid there shaking from exhaustion, i pushed myself like I have never pushed myself and my body was letting me know I needed to stop and relax.....so I did, then the adrenaline rush was over, I puked like I do from all of the excitement, like always after a kill, it was just delayed about an hour, lol...Took some pics, called a few friends, then I found where the shade and sun were meeting ,put my bird in the shade and me in the sun, closed my eyes and I was on my way out, then I heard a camera, looked around, couldn't see anyone, then Tom spoke, scared me to death, lmao.....he had walked the road back to the turkey mobile instead of the mountain way, he saw me and my bird laying there half asleep and put the stalk on, lol......he said the only thing that would of made that pic better is if I had my arm wrapped around the bird, lol.Tom got on a gobbler that day and the next, but never got any closer than 100 yds. and it was wide open, so with the 25 mph winds and gusts up to 60 mph, he decided to leave the bird until the following day...the next day , he just couldn't do it, the hard hunting was catching up to him and the winds sucked again, so we left, took 2 days to get back, we did alot of sight seeing, so our trip was a fun-filled packed 8 days.We both fell in love with Nebraska...it's a sportsman paradise. Ugly Betty and her first kill Gobble the Gator and my bird...."Gotcha" Your score is 22 + 10.625 + 10 + 16.5 = 59.125 I learned that pressured birds are pressured birds , regardless ...don't listen to the hunters that hunt unpressured ,private land birds (Mike, lol)....he said to call and call and call some more, but that didn't work, but they did respond to aggressive purrs, they'd poof up and strut but they kept going and going and going, lol Nebraska might have alot of birds. but I still say " It's the hardest turkey hunting one can do"..Virginia doesn't hold a candle to here and I thought I would die out there, lol....that was a piece of cake compared to Nebraska..at least Virginia has trees to help cover you, lol. I am so proud of myself and of Tom, two flatlanders went out west , did our homework and conquered I have a whole new respect for westerners, lol.Tom would of killed his bird the 3rd day of hunting, i'm positive of it,he patterned it, but his body and the winds decided it was just too much....so sight seeing we went....it's not all about the killing ya know Home Bound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bowhunter56 Posted May 8, 2010 Report Share Posted May 8, 2010 WOW, Great turkey, great hunt and great pictures, thanks for sharing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond Archer 01 Posted May 8, 2010 Report Share Posted May 8, 2010 Great turkey. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Great Turkey and Pictures. Nice shed and skull too! congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruttinbuc Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Great account of your Nebraska hunt, Ma! Congrats on your success! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintlock1776 Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Very cool, nice pics & story. Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointing_dogs_rule Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 congrats!!! great story. Good luck to all the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Nothing like a western Merriams! Dakota Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccwhitey Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Gotta love the colors of Merriam I hope some day to go out west and get one of those white tail feathers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goinghuntin Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Limbhanger Sweet pics, and congrats on a great hunt! Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest outdoorgirl Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Congrats on your turkey Sounds like a nice trip and those mountains are killers climbing them...great pictures and story glad you broke in ugly Betty....lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted May 9, 2010 Report Share Posted May 9, 2010 Congrats on the merriam limbhanger HuntnMa. Sounds like you enjoyed it & sure earned that bird! If huntin those Nebraska hill gobblers bothers ya...try those merriams hangin around the Rockies of New Mexico next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntnMa Posted May 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 I'll be planning another trip next year, lol.......got to get a rio too ya know, lol.but I think we'll go back to the same area next year, the following year may be rio's.Thanks for sharing in my hunt with me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHISKEYSWAMP Posted May 10, 2010 Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 great pics and nice bird... congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntnMa Posted May 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2010 Thanks again..............Got the rack scored today, after deductions, it scored a 124 3/8''...woohoooooo....my best find to date Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maytom Posted May 13, 2010 Report Share Posted May 13, 2010 Awesome pic's!!! WTG on your merriams!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntnMa Posted May 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2010 Thanks Maytom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorden Posted May 23, 2010 Report Share Posted May 23, 2010 Congrats!! Great story and pictures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adjam5 Posted May 24, 2010 Report Share Posted May 24, 2010 Great story and pics too! Dang...I'd have thought for sure that rack would have went over 130. Neat find none the less. Glad you had a great time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobwhite Posted May 26, 2010 Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 Great hunt, Way to close the deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbeard Posted May 29, 2010 Report Share Posted May 29, 2010 Awesome pics, such beautiful country. Many congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntnMa Posted June 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2010 Thanks y'all, it was so much fun...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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