The bird couldn’t get to me fast enough. Merriam’s have a reputation for being dumb — birds that gobble their heads off and come anytime a hunter slides a chalky lid back and forth.

It’s not true. Merriam’s get the “dumb” label because the West is vast, and turkeys are more spread out. Wandering gobblers cover lots of ground searching for hens, and if you tickle one’s ears when he’s on the prowl, he will gobble, even if it’s from a very long distance.

Enough with the history lesson. This bird came to 18 yards, Jackie Chaned my jake decoy, and my Browning Maxus II put a load of #5s in his face. It was Colorado's opening day.

The reason for my success was simple. I'd scouted. I'd covered miles and miles of untapped wilderness using boot power and my mountain bike. I'd sat and listened and glassed. I knew there were nine gobblers in the area. Sweetening the pot was the fact that I'd only put glass on two hens.

Each time I saw the ladies, a pair of older birds were in tow, and several two-year-olds were always nearby.

That was my play: I’d set between where the birds roosted and where I’d seen many toms go to strut. This two-year-old ran in.

The trick to tagging out on opening day is doing your homework beforehand. Of course, life is busy, and this isn’t always possible. If you can’t hang trail cams or spend a few mornings and evenings watching birds, you can still hit opening morning pay dirt.

Here are five tips to ensure your bead or red dot sits between the caruncles and the top of the head on opening day. 

The early season is one of my favorite times to hunt birds. However, spring weather is vastly unpredictable, and often, birds are still in wintertime flocks. Some hens have been bred and will move to nests, but not before snagging a quick bite. If large groups of hens are together, gobblers, often several, will follow the group until the flock starts to break up mid-morning. If you know where the hens are feeding, I suggest setting up a ground blind and being there long before the group’s arrival.

I like the ground blind for added warmth and the benefit of concealment. Whenever possible, especially if I’m sitting and waiting on birds, I prefer to hunt from a hub-style ground blind.

If hunting is legal after noon in your state, legendary turkey fanatic Scott Haugen suggests you get out there.

“I love the early season,” said Haugen. “The birds haven’t had much pressure, and if you know where the birds may be in the afternoon, get around them. This could be a strutting zone, mid-day loafing area, etc. Too many hunters ignore afternoons in the early season because they think not enough hens have been bred, and toms won’t break off.

“This isn’t true. Research shows hens in most areas have been bred by early April. Get out, set up a ground blind, and use your calls. Don’t get frustrated if nothing happens right away. Lots of times, it’s 45 minutes or more before I get an afternoon tom to fire. Other times, a tom or three will be silent. Suddenly, you look up, and they’ll be moving toward your decoys. If you have time to get out and hunt, the afternoon is a great time to pull a bird into shotgun range.”

I realize the effectiveness of a jake decoy. I’ve killed many turkeys with a jake set over a laydown hen with a feeder hen off to the side. I call this my “triangle of death” decoy set. Still, I love a strutter decoy, especially during the early season.

Typically, not every two-year-old in the woods has taken a beating yet. Often, two or more younger birds are running together. While one two-year-old might be a sissy, three two-year-olds are a gang and will usually take their chances.

Plus, I love the visibility a quality, top-end, ultra-realistic strutter decoy provides. If a boss tom with some hens is skirting you, some calls can snap his head to attention, causing him to see at least the tip of the tail fan of the intruder.

“There are many states that allow hunters to harvest multiple birds,” Haugen said. “If you live in one of those states and have an area to hunt, especially if that area is small, getting one bird down early in the season is essential.”

“As more hens go to nest, gobblers spread out. You want to kill the birds while they’re around. To do this, you need to be ultra-efficient. Pay attention when you’re moving around the woods. You don’t want to bump and spook birds. I like getting to an area, sitting down, setting up my decoys, and using calls. This way, I’m not spooking birds.

“When I get my chance, I make a one-shot kill, let things calm down, get my bird, and get my butt out of there. You can take pictures anywhere. Don’t hoot and holler. Shoot once and get out of the area. Then, don’t wait. Get right back in there, even the following day, and keep hunting.”

Brad Fitzpatrick is a hunting machine, and if you follow his early-season roadmap, you’ll earn an encounter with a gobbler.

Fitzpatrick says, “Your turkey hunting roadmap doesn’t have to be a physical map. However, with digital mapping technology and apps like onX, you can construct a map containing all the pertinent features in your hunting area. Begin by determining roost sites, and do so with as little disturbance as possible. If you’re familiar with the property, you probably already know where the birds like to roost, and this is one of the key elements in constructing your map. Other important features are strutting areas and feeding grounds.”

“Next, you must understand where the birds travel between these areas. Turkeys tend to favor trusted travel routes that they know are safe, and if given the opportunity, they will use these same travel corridors to key habitat features within their range. I prefer to focus on travel corridors rather than strutting or roosting sites. The goal is to intercept the birds on the move, and setting up on favored travel routes is an excellent tactic for intercepting a tom.” 

Browning’s All-New A5 Hunter is on dealers’ shelves and ready for spring. If you’re a sub-gauge turkey goer who also loves slinging pellets at waterfowl and upland, the A5 Hunter in 20 Gauge is an excellent choice.

The lightweight, autoloading 20-gauge sports a compact receiver with the legendary humpback design to ensure right-now eye-to-bead alignment. You’ll appreciate this when your heart is in your throat, and you’re trying to settle in on a red, white, and blue head.

The Kinetic Drive System cycles shells flawlessly, and the Inflex II Recoil Pad soaks up felt recoil. Using motion energy, the Kinetic Drive System harnesses recoil energy and converts it into the mechanical motion needed to operate the action. The design is simple and effective.

Browning stamps its latest sub-gauge with a 5-year/100,000-round guarantee, and you'll find the Invector-DS full choke that comes with the shotgun is all you need to jelly heads. 

Fitted with a removable Picatinny rail for easy red-dot or scope mounting, the Maxus II All-Purpose Hunter, cloaked in uber-popular Mossy Oak Bottomland, is a gobbler-getter.

Rubber over-molding on the forearm and in the grip boost fit and feel in any weather condition, and the composite stock, which is shim adjustable for cast, drop, and length of pull, features the cheek-welding SoftFlex cheek pad.

The Power Drive Gas System is perfectly tuned and handles everything from light 2-3/4-inch loads to 3-1/2-inch heavy hitters. If you remove the Picatinny rail, you’ll cheer the ivory mid-bead and front fiber-optic. Even in low light, the fiber-optic front sight glows without creating a halo, allowing you to put more pellets on target.

The Maxus II All Purpose Hunter comes with an Extended X-Full Turkey choke tube and Invector-Plus choke tubes in full, modified, and improved cylinder. With this shotgun, you’re out-of-the-box-ready to mix it up with a springtime noisemaker. 

Like the Maxus II All-Purpose Hunter, Browning's Cynergy Ultimate Turkey is covered stock-to-barrel in Mossy Oak Bottomland, helping you disappear in the turkey woods.

The ultra-low-profile receiver is designed for turkey hunting, and the Marble Arms® Bullseye rear sight and fiber-optic front sight ensure you’ll bust more beaks.

Multiple (five) chokes, including the Ultimate Full Turkey and Spreader, let you switch from one barrel to another depending on the bird’s distance and desired pattern. The comb is height-adjustable for top-end shooting precision, and the Reverse Striker Ignition System offers a clean, crisp break with minimal overtravel.