I'm planning on going out some evenings and weekends over the next 3-4 weeks to try to bag my first Turkey. I live in the Ponderosa forests of the southern front range Colorado (Rampart Range & Tarryalls) and I understand that Mountain Merriams range over huge areas and are harder to locate than the Rio Grande's out in the plains.

Any tips are finding good Merriam areas? Then how to set up to call them in -- No blind, so I'll be on the ground in camo. No decoys, but I could pick one up. I've got a box call and a crow call.

Any tips are appreciated.

Find a good high spot in your area and call with your box. When you get an answer, go after them! Once you locate a spot with turkeys, find the good water sources and favorite ridge roost locations. The mountain birds like the leeward side of ridges with open Ponderosas for roosting. I've also found them in small pockets of tall open pines in meadow areas. Good green grass will draw them this time of year.

There are actually quite a few Merriams out on the plains.

Tag

I'm interested in these answers as well. A SD bird is on my turkey bucket list.

I will walk the trails just at dark & owl hoot. I get a shock gobble from birds on the roost. They like ponderosa pines to roost in. I never have seen them in a cottonwood.

When I lived in Colorado my hunting was down west of Pueblo in the Hardscrabble area and further south in the National Forest west of Trinidad. What Colorado bob said worked for me. Last half hour of the day walked the high ridges and listened for gobbles in the bottoms. A yelp will usually get a gobble if there are any Toms around.

I never hunted around Tarryall but used to trail ride in the Rampart. Saw a lot of Turkey there but it was thirty years ago.

Merriams are all I ever ran into on the plains in Colorado. They roost in cottonwoods along all the rivers out east. The Arkansas, the Purgatory, and so forth.

I wouldn't go too high up the mountain...turkeys don't seem to be in the habitats much above the valley floors, at least in my experience. I'd try to hunt the FS boundaries bordering private lands.

Merriams are not as spooky as Easterns (or maybe they're just not hunted as hard) but they can be harder to locate.

I got a pretty good one this year in Montana.