THPL Field Staff

Name: Gary Meinke

Location: Greeley, CO

Turkey Hunting Experience: 20 Years

About: I am married with no children and have owned my own one-man tree service since 1981. I keep my business small so that I can easily take extended time off to go hunting and I do manage to escape often each spring and fall. I'm primarily a bird hunter and use bird dogs for my upland and waterfowl hunting. I usually own 2 bird dogs at a time and sometimes 3 to cover the age spectrum. The German Wirehaired Pointer has been my breed of choice as of late, especially for ruffed grouse and woodcock hunting in Wisconsin. I travel away from home for all of my turkey hunting and usually I am camping for most trips. I do hunt a little for big game, mostly achery, but also pursue big game with a muzzleloader or rifle. I've hunted whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, antelope and bighorn sheep but only actively hunt whitetail deer regularly now. Ruffed grouse and wild turkey hunting are my passions.For 12 years I banded bald eagles all over Colorado as a volunteer with the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Since I am a professional tree climber, my job was to climb up into the eagle’s nest and lower the flightless chicks to the ground in a bag using ropes. The eaglet was then measured and banded with state and federal bands. Then the eaglets would be relayed back up into the tree for me to release them back into the nest. It was quite the experience, and I got back much more than I gave in time and effort. Over the 12 year period, I lowered almost 200 bald eagle chicks, built quite a few bald eagle and osprey nests, released an injured golden eagle into a nest, and rescued a newly fledged ferringous hawk that was stuck in the top of a tree. I also currently organize the “Travel Call” on the NWTF forum.

Occupation: Self Employeed Tree Trimmer

Organizations: National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, Colorado Division of Wildlife Volunteer

Advice For Novice Hunters: "Know the bird. Know the biology, the different flock structures, their habits and preferred habitat. Try to figure out how the bird views their world."

Articles by Gary: Click Here

Contact Info: info@turkeyhuntpublicland.com