Last spring, Cheryl Howard and I traveled to northeastern Wyoming to hunt Merriam's turkeys with my good friend Ralph Dampman of Trophy Ridge Outfitters (307-756-9776; www.trophyridgeoutfitters.com). There we ran into typical unpredictable spring weather for the region. One day it snowed, and then two days later it was warm and nice. The one weather constant was the wind. That never stopped.

The author took this dandy Arizona Merriam's bird last spring on a very windy day by creeping along a sheltered area, locating birds, setting up in front of them, and then sweetly calling them into range. Photo courtesy of Bob Robb.

If there's one thing that can make western turkey hunting tougher than too much hunting pressure, it's a strong wind. Fortunately, Ralph has been dealing with this nightmare for decades. That experience and the fact that his area is literally crawling with turkeys helped keep our confidence levels high.

Because Ralph has lived and hunted this area for more than 20 years, he knows the usual haunts of the local turkey population. Thus, on our first hunting morning he took Cheryl and I into a tight little canyon that was both protected from the north wind and that was a favorite roosting location. We set up about a half hour before first light, and as dawn began to break the gobbling from who knows how many roosted birds was almost overwhelming!

By and by they began to fly down, and soon we could see dozens of birds feeding along. Ralph had set us up right in their travel path, and so when they got within 100 yards he seductively began working his box call. On occasion I would add a little to the party with my diaphragm and a little push-pull call that purrs like a kitten. It wasn't long before three big toms headed our direction. 30 minutes into her hunt, Cheryl had her first Merriam's gobbler, taken at about 15 steps.

LESSONS LEARNED
"You have to remember that in the wind it's hard for you to hear, but it's also hard for the gobbler to hear," said Dampman. "That being the case, you have to ask yourself, 'Where can I hear best?' In the rolling hills, you can hear best down low, in the hollows and along the creek bottoms, because the wind is blowing hardest over the top of you. Also, the turkeys are probably in these sheltered locations or on lee hillsides getting out of the wind. So that's where you want to concentrate your efforts."

Instead of walking along the ridge tops, on windy days you want to spend a lot of time slipping along the bottoms, both in and out of woods, Dampman said. "When you're hiking along and out of the tree cover, be sure to stay along the edge of the trees or brush, where you have some concealment, to avoid being seen by turkeys that may be moving along the hillsides," he counseled. "Also, you want to try and anticipate where the turkeys might be, so that when you call you can have the wind carry your calling to the bird. That means calling with the wind at your back. The downside of this is when the bird responds, you may not hear him right away. For that reason, I plan on staying in each calling location at least five minutes to give a bird I may not have heard a chance to get to me."

Dampman also said you have to be more patient about soliciting a response with your calling on windy days. "On a calm day, you can hear a bird respond to you maybe 300-400 yards off, but on windy days when you finally hear the bird respond he might be right on top of you," he said.