Tough Turkeys

[nwhuntinman]

Just back from a week over in the Northeast corner with my oldest son.  We were able to fill two tags a piece but it definitely took a lot of time/work/effort to do so.  Was still a great trip, even if we hadn't been successful, I just love to hear those birds gobble...  If I found a pocket of birds on the west side, I wouldn't even hunt them, I would just go there to drink coffee in the morning and listen to them do their thing.
Ok well I'll show one more pic of another that we called Easterns. Tips are not white like other birds I brought over a buddy from Missouri that has killed them for 40 years and was convinced mine were easterns copared to the others we killed. This is why I brought it up tho. I want to be informed. Thanks for the input.

[baldopepper]

Nice bird what ever it is, but there are no easterns east of the Cascades.  WDFW says there is no where in the state where easterns intermingle with Merriam's. No big deal, as I stated it's a nice bird regardless of species.  Well done on your hunt!

[nwhuntinman]

Nice bird what ever it is, but there are no easterns east of the Cascades.  WDFW says there is no where in the state where easterns intermingle with Merriam's. No big deal, as I stated it's a nice bird regardless of species.  Well done on your hunt!
That's great information. Appreciate that. Just tells me how much they differ in color variation. I'd assume age has a lot to do with it. Good to hear all the other stories and success.  I love having something to hunt in the spring.

[baldopepper]

Nice bird what ever it is, but there are no easterns east of the Cascades.  WDFW says there is no where in the state where easterns intermingle with Merriam's. No big deal, as I stated it's a nice bird regardless of species.  Well done on your hunt!
That's great information. Appreciate that. Just tells me how much they differ in color variation. I'd assume age has a lot to do with it. Good to hear all the other stories and success.  I love having something to hunt in the spring.

I think if you look online you'll see the various color differences. Eastern WA has a mix of Rios and Merriams and many appear to be a mix of the two.  I think the further north you go the Merriam's are more common while the southern parts of the units feature more Rios. We've taken many birds that I'm pretty sure were mixed species.  Unlike whitetails and mule deer, turkeys seem quite willing to inner breed. Your first bird really does look very characteristic of a true rio. All I know for sure is their calls all sound the same and they're fun to hunt in the spring!

[brokentrail]

I pretty much say actually white tipped tail fan feathers = Merriams, anything else, buff, tan, etc, are Rio's or mixed in NE. WA.  Eastern's, at least ime, usually have more rust or chesnutt colored secondary tail fan feathers and then the main tail fan feathers are either colored the same as the secondaries or can be lighter, more buff/tan.

I think your picture is of a Rio but no matter, every bird is a nice bird!  Love me some turkeys!

[ShedHead20]

Just back from a week over in the Northeast corner with my oldest son.  We were able to fill two tags a piece but it definitely took a lot of time/work/effort to do so.  Was still a great trip, even if we hadn't been successful, I just love to hear those birds gobble...  If I found a pocket of birds on the west side, I wouldn't even hunt them, I would just go there to drink coffee in the morning and listen to them do their thing.
Ok well I'll show one more pic of another that we called Easterns. Tips are not white like other birds I brought over a buddy from Missouri that has killed them for 40 years and was convinced mine were easterns copared to the others we killed. This is why I brought it up tho. I want to be informed. Thanks for the input.

100% a rio or a Merriam/rio hybrid. No Easterns around North Central WA for 150 miles and high country in the middle of that. Easterns are dark. No white, no cream coloring at all. Just black and brown.

[ZagHunter]

Weren't there easterns released in Idaho near the Dworshak Reservoir years ago that made their way into WA? I read rumors of that on another forum.

[baldopepper]

Weren't there easterns released in Idaho near the Dworshak Reservoir years ago that made their way into WA? I read rumors of that on another forum.

It's my understanding that easterns were released in that Area in 2012 or 2013. Supposedly they didn't do well and there are no verified harvest reports on them for a number of years.  I suspect they inner breed like Merriams and Rios and there are probably very few, if any at all, true easterns left.  It seems to me every year we harvest fewer and fewer true Merriams or Rios with most being hybrids. Of the over 30 birds our group harvested last year only 4 or 5 appeared to be pure rio or merriam.The rio traits seem to be the dominant.

[ZagHunter]

Weren't there easterns released in Idaho near the Dworshak Reservoir years ago that made their way into WA? I read rumors of that on another forum.

It's my understanding that easterns were released in that Area in 2012 or 2013. Supposedly they didn't do well and there are no verified harvest reports on them for a number of years.  I suspect they inner breed like Merriams and Rios and there are probably very few, if any at all, true easterns left.  It seems to me every year we harvest fewer and fewer true Merriams or Rios with most being hybrids. Of the over 30 birds our group harvested last year only 4 or 5 appeared to be pure rio or merriam.The rio traits seem to be the dominant.

Interesting. I appreciate the context!