Four of us are planning to bow hunt Merriam turkey in the Crawford, NE area this coming April.  I'm planning to do some deer scouting as well hoping to find a new destination for my adult son and I in the fall of 2019.

Anyone hunted or live in that area?

Bow hunted the area once. We were after antelope. Saw some Turkey closer to town. Lots of muleys and some whitetail. Didn't see any huge deer but if we were deer hunting, all 3 people in our group had opportunities

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I hunt up in that area every year, there are birds spread out from Harrison east all across the pine ridge.

Thanks! That's encouraging.  I've gathered a bunch of intel and am excited about the hunt.

I just got back from there on a training wheels mule deer hunt. We didnt see many muleys, but tons of whitetails.  Saw quite a few turkeys on the pine ridge NF, as well as some on the soldier creek wilderness. Absolutely beautiful country and well worth the trip. I've been tossing around making it again in the spring to chase merriams as well.

Colby,
Thanks for this information!

My three buddies are going to be joined for a couple of days by 2-3 NE Parks and Wildlife fellows. 

Good to know about the deer.  Ultimately I'm hoping to establish a new tradition of going to NE every year for turkey and/or deer. I'd prefer mule deer because I have whitetails here, but hunting with my son, brother and friends is the objective.  I might be able to get some Mule Deer intel from these agency pals.
Thanks
Roy

Oh, I'm completely cool with the compound.  I hunt turkey with my compound and big game with my recurves...when I'm not recovering from some type of shoulder or finger issue.
Roy

Happy to share the info! We only saw muleys in the pine ridge NF, and had i had a Turkey tag, I absolutely feel confident I could have filled it. At soldier creek wilderness I saw fewer turkeys, less mule deer, and far more whitetail. We probably saw 150 whitetail in the area around Crawford on the road or while hunting, but only 1 mature buck. From what I saw the day before rifle season, I would say it gets hit very hard then.

If your willing to hump back in off the road, I think you'll find animals and have a good hunt. Bring a fishing pole because soldier creek is crawling with wild brook/brown trout

Heres a few pics.