Just got back from a trip to the Santee Reservation in northeast Nebraska chasing some Merriams. Had a awesome trip. Three birds in three days with some buddies. The area itself consists of the Missiouri River valley and alot of bluffs. The birds no doubt see alot of pressure, which was evident by how difficult it was to draw the birds into calling. And the fact that when you saw birds they were running with groups of 5-10 hens didn’t help. If you were willing to put in some hiking work and patience, it defienetly pays off.
Monday morning started off with a buddy and myself going into the area blind not knowing anything. We set up in a heavily wooded area and heard some birds but couln’t get them to respond. We were checking several other areas and saw two times out in a field strutting. We moved into position and set up a couple hundred yards out. The birds were with approximately 15 hens. The show we watched for about an hour was unbeleivabe!! With some aggressive dual calling we were able to eventually pull one our way and I was able to put him down!! 
Tuesday we set up in the same spot we did Monday morning and heard alot of hot gobblers and we were finally able to get a bird respond and commit. The bird was taking his sweet time, as they do, and had covered about a mile, when all of a sudden a local farmer came cruising out on his four wheeler!! PERFECT TIMING!! 
So we decided to head back to the area we saw the other gobbler Monday morning. We did some hiking and set up near the area we located the two birds yesterday. And as luck would have it he came out, but with several hens again. We were able to watch a incredible show of fanning and gobbling again for about a hour. The bird finally started drifting our way after his girls really didnt want anything to do with him and my buddy was able to take him!!
We harvested two nice toms and a jake. The toms weighed in at 16 and 18 lbs w/ 9 and 10″ beards, 1″ spurs. Overall a awesome trip!! 
I got to get me one of those! 
