2024 Spring Turkey Hunt
- Thread starter gimruis
- Start date
boomerdawg13
Member
any of the western hunters on here know how to distinguish a hybrid bird in the field? Last year I hunted and bagged a merriam on the western slope, got some access just east of Denver and I know there are both Merriam and Rio's. I would like to bag a rio this year - but are there any indications on what a hybrid looks like?
Munster927
Well-known member
Hybrids are almost impossible to tell in the wild. Main thing to look for when targeting a Rio in country where a Merriam can also be found is the tail fan and the wings.
The fan on a Rio will be more buff colored. Cream/tannish. Whereas a true Merriam will have that snow white fan. The wing markings of a Rio are also darker than that of a Merriam. In the picture, top is a Merriam and bottom is Rio. It's hard to tell those differences in the wild when trying to pick out a bird. So main thing to look for is the tail fan color.
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GetTothePoint
Well-known member
I'd like to get a nice Merriam one day, they're pretty cool looking. I wish I'd have done the slam when I was younger, but probably didn't have the funds. Now time is the issue until retirement one day.
Munster927
Well-known member
I'm just an Osceola away from my slam, don't know if I'll ever get to Florida for one. Maybe some day. I need to get a Tom Merriam. Only Merriam I shot was a Jake. It counts but it's like shooting a spike buck, it's a deer but not something to brag about or put on the wall haha
birddude
Well-known member
Looks like an Eastern. Is there a difference? And were the Easterns transplanted or migrated there?
AKSkeeter
Well-known member
Yes NW Montana has Eastern subspecies unlike most of the west which has Meriam's or RioGrande.
I think they were originally transplanted here.
birddude
Well-known member
Nice three year old. A little shy of 22 pounds. Inch and a quarter spurs. Not much to brag about on the beard 9 1/4. It had two buff colored tail feathers.9 yards with an old single shot 20.
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Congrats birddude! Nice Tom!!
GetTothePoint
Well-known member
Pheasant hunting is my all around favorite but nothing gets the adrenaline going for me like those last several yards of a vocal Tom battle.
gimruis
Well-known member
I filled my tag on day 1 of season B here in MN. It was only the second day of April with winds under 30 mph. I went out in the morning and saw a nice group of turkeys about 150 yards away. After they went over the horizon around 9:30am, I moved my blind a little, hoping they would return later in the day along the same path.
That plan worked. Around 7:15pm, when they were returning to their roost, 5 hens, 2 jakes, and a tom came walking back from over the hill. I had a hen and a jake decoy out. I didn't even need to use a turkey call. Both jakes and the tom immediately focused on that lone hen and nearby jake decoy, and headed for that. I dusted the tom at 25 yards.
Its only the second time in 17 years of spring turkey hunting that I've filled my tag on the first day.
That plan worked. Around 7:15pm, when they were returning to their roost, 5 hens, 2 jakes, and a tom came walking back from over the hill. I had a hen and a jake decoy out. I didn't even need to use a turkey call. Both jakes and the tom immediately focused on that lone hen and nearby jake decoy, and headed for that. I dusted the tom at 25 yards.
Its only the second time in 17 years of spring turkey hunting that I've filled my tag on the first day.
