A buddy and I just returned home from Long Pine, Nebraska as guest of Buck Jones and Scott Brinker at Great West Outdoors.  The purpose of the trip was to have a good time and to bring home a few of the beautiful Nebraska Merriams.  Neither the fun nor the turkeys were hard to find as our guide, Buck Jones, went above and beyond what we had expected.

     This was our first trip to Nebraska and after the 15 hours of driving in the rain, we were greeted at the turn off by Buck and a beautiful pine and spruce lined canyon.  Shortly after unloading our gear and changing into our hunting cloths, Buck had us overlooking a canyon that had a couple of birds feeding in it.  We closed the distance to the birds, but the hunt was interrupted by torrential rains and hurricane force winds.  At least that is how it seemed.  The weather was not cooperating on the first afternoon of the hunt, but the birds were still there.  After the rain moved out and the skies briefly cleared, Buck and I made a drive and got to watch 30+ birds roost along the side of the road.  There were some of the biggest gobblers I have ever gotten the chance to see.  That evening was spent telling stories, talking about the days events and feasting on buffalo steaks, green beans and some of the best bread on earth.

     The second day started off with a hard-headed Merriam that just wouldn't come our way.  He answered the calls a few times, but like a ghost, disappeared into the cedars.  Later in the day we were able to locate a lonely gobbler working the side of a small canyon.  Brandon and I were able to get out in front of the gobbling bird and after a few calls we had our first Merriam gobbler on the ground.  An absolutely beautiful bird and Brandon's first Merriam.

     If you have ever been to this portion of Nebraska, you know that nothing is close to anything else.  While driving from one piece of ground to another, we spotted three longbeards crossing the road.  Buck wasted no time finding the landowner and didn't hesitate for a second on going up to the door and asking for permission to hunt the property.  We were granted permission and Brandon and I headed off after the birds.  We spotted them crossing a grassy area, but they would not even look up at my calling.  These birds were headed somewhere and there wasn't much that was going to chance their mind.  Brandon and I sprinted out in front of them only to watch them walk across the only shooting lane I had just out of gun range.

     We headed back to the truck and found that while we were hunting, Buck had located a gobbling bird just down the canyon on the same property.  Brandon and I took off and closed the distance to within 75 yards of the gobbling bird.  This is when I realized that the birds were not going to be able to resist a Prairie Game Calls Poplar box call.  After some repositioning and the bird being within 10 yards of Brandon, I was finally able to pull off a clean shot on the gobbler.  Just about three hours after our first bird, we had the second on the ground.  A mature Merriam gobbler.

     The rest of the day was spent getting tags, resting and looking for more birds.  Although we saw plenty of birds that evening, we failed to get anymore in gun range.  We relaxed at the lodge and had some pork chops and potatoes for supper.   This evening, we got to watch several hens, jakes and a longbeard roost within 50 yards of the cabin.  Even though we tried our hardest, Buck wouldn't let us hunt them the next morning....lol

     Saturday started out a cool 29 degrees.  We heard around 10 gobblers at one of the first places we stopped, but due to the open terrain and steep canyon, we made the choice not the attempt to get to them.  From our position on the other side of the canyon we had a hen pretty fired up and several of the gobblers answering us.  We heard two birds on the other side of the road and decided to go after them.   After Brandon and I hiked almost a mile and a half back along the canyon, the birds decided not to gobble anymore.  We set and enjoyed the scenery for a while and then hiked back out to the truck.  We headed to another spot and Buck shock gobbled a bird with his goose call.  He was a long way off, but we decided to give it a try anyway.   We couldn't hear the bird from the bottom of the canyon where we were traveling, but when we got to the area we walked up the canyon side to a small knoll that was sticking out.  From there I hit the Prairie Game Calls box again and had at least one jake answer me from about 75 yards.  I called to the birds a lot, since every time I called, they would cut me off and we were more or less just having fun with them.

     We were moving over towards Buck when a gobbler answered my call.  He was on the trail that led out of the canyon and headed our way.  Buck could hear the bird the whole time and thought that he was the bird that I was calling to.  Brandon and I could not hear the bird answering my calls each time I called to the jakes.  We scooted back along the side of the knoll, found a tree that gave us good shadows and got into position.  A couple of calls later and we could hear the bird strutting up the trail.  He came out and I took him at around 30 yards.  Our third Merriam.   After looking over some fresh mountain lion tracks, we hiked out of the canyon.   I think all of us were happy to see the truck by this time.

     With rain the first day, heavy winds the second day and a beautiful third day, we managed to fill three of the four tags Brandon and I had with us.  Buck put us right in the middle of birds each day out and if they were not were he expected he did more than he needed to find them and get us on them.  Scott definitely spoiled us with his great cooking also.  Other than the weather, I don't know of anything that could have made this trip any better.  Both Buck and Scott have a great sense of humor and go out of their way to make sure that you are happy while hunting with them.  I know that Brandon and I can not wait to make a trip back to Nebraska and hunt with Great West Outdoors next spring.