I started turkey hunting in 1981 and I’ve learned a lot of things in the 27 years of chasing these birds, but I don’t think there has been anything etched in my brain like the little bit of wisdom I’m about to give you. And it’s free!

THERE IS NO BETTER REMEDY FOR A SORE BUTT THAT’S BEEN KICKED BY EASTERN LONGBEARDS THAN A TRIP OUT WEST TO NURSE THE WOUNDS WITH A LIL’ MERRIAM's BEAK BUSTIN’!

Man! It was Awesome!

Michael Waddell and I headed west April 25 with our buddies and cameramen Dan Johnson and Phillip Culpepper, along with Coach Hugh Nall, a new member of the Realtree Turkey Patrol!

Hugh, a rabid turkey hunter, is the Offensive Line Coach at Auburn University and the only reason we allowed him to join us was the fact that he played football at THE University of Georgia and, in fact, was the center on the 1980 National Championship team.

We landed in Rapid City, SD, rented vehicles and headed straight to Sundance, WY to hook up with Jeff and Deb Smith of Seven J Outfitters for the first part of our trip.

The first morning we were greeted with freezing temperatures, wind and SNOW! It snowed off and on all day and the conditions were tough but true to their reputation, the Merriam's gobblers cooperated for Hugh as Phillip videoed him taking a great bird that morning. The next day, the morning temperature was 21 degrees, but clear and no wind! And boy did the birds gobble!

Hugh had a front row seat as Dan Johnson videoed a strutter working his way into close range as he followed two hens into my calling. It was an awesome hunt! With Michael left to fill his WY tag, Hugh, Dan and I split the scene and headed up the road a few hours to the Powder River in southeast Montana where we joined my buddy Bill Perkins of Perkins Outfitters.

My son Harman and I had the privilege of hanging out with Bill last spring for a day and saw real quick that he had turkeys and lots of them! And the best part about hunting gobblers in Montana is you can buy two tags each!

After Dan, Hugh and I roosted about 15 longbeards Sunday night, we couldn’t wait until the next morning! Well, it was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen while turkey hunting. After fly down, I counted, at one time, 20 full fans strutting under the cottonwoods.
Hugh ended up putting the hammer down on a huge bird that morning. Meanwhile back in WY, not only did Michael fill his tag, but Phillip also videoed Jeff and guide Kenny Morga kill turkeys!

We were starting to get even on these birds and and our confidence, which had been severely damaged by the birds back home, began to recover.

Michael and Phillip hit the road to join us at the Powder River and things would get even better!

Hey, if you are looking for the perfect Merriam's turkey hunt, call Jeff and Deb Smith at Seven J Outfitters at 307-283-3443.

On the next blog, we continue the Merriam Madness Tour!

Hey everyone-
I just wanted to post a quick blog saying thanks for your support of Monster Bucks. Realtree has the best fans in the industry and we work really hard to produce a great product for you each year. Please keep the comments coming on your opinion of MB XVI!

I just wanted to let everyone know that Monster Bucks XVI is out! We worked really hard on this DVD and it's one of the best ever! There are three bucks over 200 inches taken, and some really massive mule deer as well.

You can pick up your copy at your local sporting goods dealer or order it from the Realstore.

I'll be posting about my Merriam's trip soon.

And once you get the DVD, please let me know what you think about it.

This is an awesome hunt from Realtree Pro staffer Sam Klement. Sam is a phenomenal bowhunter and that is what he does all spring, at least when he's not at his day job.

As you may remember from earlier blogs about my sons, my middle son, Alex, who is 15 years old, loves and plays baseball. He is currently playing on the JV team and his time is consumed with baseball, friends, SportsCenter and sleeping. Pretty typical huh?

You may also remember that he has enjoyed going on hunts with me in the past but it has always been more about the “social” aspect of going on a road trip with Dad, and I think that’s pretty cool. Is Alex a hardcore hunter? Nada.

So you can imagine my surprise a couple of weeks ago when, on a Saturday night, Alex tells me he’d really like to go turkey hunting in the morning, before church. My response was, “I’m sorry son, we’ve got a bad connection. Say that again.” Harman, my oldest son who was within earshot, laughed out loud which in turn made Alex laugh.

“I’m serious,” said Alex. “Let’s go hunt in the morning.”

When I went to get Alex up the following morning at 5:30, I was totally unprepared for what happened next. HE GOT UP OUT OF THE BED!

We got dressed, left the house with Alex driving (another story for another day), swung through the McDonald’s drive-thru at his insistence, and with daylight breaking, drove 5 miles out of town, pulled off the highway, parked, got out of the truck still chewing my sausage biscuit and almost choked when the tom gobbled!

The turkey wasn’t 200 yards from the truck and he kept gobblin! Alex and I were fired up!

We set up on the turkey and had a blast listening to him gobble on the limb, heard him fly down and continue to gobble. We made a couple of moves on the turkey, being careful not to spook the bird. This was easier to accomplish since we did not have a camera or a cameraman with us. At this point in the hunt I was kind of kicking myself for not bringing a camera!

Finally, we changed position and I felt like the bird would come in. We set up on adjacent trees about 5 yards apart and I started calling. The gobbler was coming!

I whispered to Alex to get ready which he did by shouldering the Benelli and pointing it in the direction directly in front of us. The bird gobbled again and I knew we may have a dilemma. The tom was circling around to the right putting me directly in line with Alex and the approaching bird.

He gobbled again, I cut my eyes over to the right and there he was in full strut walking directly toward me. When he walked behind a big oak tree, I looked back at Alex who had not moved the gun at all (thank goodness).

Alex whispered, “I can kill him!” My response, “Don’t even think about it!”

Alex just smiled and we enjoyed the show as the bird continued to gobble as he strutted directly behind us. Eventually, the bird gave up and gobbled his way over the ridge. What an incredible morning! What a show!

Even Alex was fired up and we had a good laugh about me “messing up” his turkey hunt by getting in the way. We bagged no turkey, hence, the picture of Alex playing ball. Maybe next time!

Hey boys and girls, Bill Jordan here interupting Blanton's Blog for a special segment. I hope everyone knows how important family and friends are to us at Realtree, and if you have ever watched Realtree Outdoors, you know that I close every show with a challenge to take a kid hunting or fishing so they too can enjoy the outdoors. Having said that, I wanted to share a special essay I received from a friend of mine.

I hope you enjoy it and have a great spring in the woods.—Bill Jordan

My Dream
By Kyle Cox

When I was little I always went hunting with my dad and we would sit and wait for deer in the woods. When I was 3 we killed our first deer so when I was 6, I killed my first deer. My dream when I grow up is that I want to work for Realtree so I can film different hunts like deer, turkey, ducks, and other things, and I can make hunting cloths and hats. My other dream is to have a deep-sea boat to go out in the ocean to catch big fish. I will have a life like whale that holds the fish you catch in the boat, so when I catch minnows I can put them in the whale to keep them fresh so when I go out I can catch bigger fish like marlins and sail fish.