Hunting Washington Forum

Other Hunting => Turkey Hunting => Topic started by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 12:22:45 PM

Title: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 12:22:45 PM: Checked cams this past weekend, jakes are feeling the urge! Also found a potential target or two for April 15! ;)
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 12:47:10 PM: Nice group. Are these Rio's. I have shot several of both and still can not tell any difference from the birds I get in the NE compared to the birds I get in the SE. From what I have read our Merriam's are a cross and not a true Merriam. Does anyone know this for sure?

Thanks,
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: kevinlisa06 on March 31, 2014, 12:47:41 PM: Looks like its getn to be game time!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: turkeyfeather on March 31, 2014, 01:29:25 PM: I have also been told that the birds in this area are more of a cross and not a true merriam.
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on March 31, 2014, 01:37:22 PM: :tup:
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: oneshot12 on March 31, 2014, 01:44:41 PM: :tup: ok i ready now :bash: oh darn not time yet still got to wait some looks good from here nice pics
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 02:12:34 PM: Quote from: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 12:47:10 PM
Nice group. Are these Rio's. I have shot several of both and still can not tell any difference from the birds I get in the NE compared to the birds I get in the SE. From what I have read our Merriam's are a cross and not a true Merriam. Does anyone know this for sure?

Thanks,

This are in SE, so listed as Rios. Not sure about the WA merriams, but there are not very many places where you can find Merriams that are not crossed. If you ever see guys with a South Dakota merriam, they are usually colored very similar to a rio. About the only places with fairly pure merriams would be their natural range, like New Mexico, Colorado, and parts of Wyoming. The birds there have the pure white fan tips and very black body feathers.
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 02:42:38 PM: Sorry to take over the thread, but I have another question. I'm great at calling and killing, but know little about them other than that. I have three examples here. The first has no black on the center band, second has a little black and 3rd has a distinct black band. Is this due to cross breading or does it have to do with age? All three were good sized birds, but the all white was by far the largest bird I have killed. Maybe I am reading to much into this, but I was always curious about the one with no black. All my other birds had some black band on the center band. These all came out of the same are too.

Thanks,
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 02:54:01 PM: I'm not sure about the black bands on the secondary feathers. I've killed both Rios and Easterns with those black stripes and without. Could be age, but probably just a genetic thing.
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 02:58:39 PM: Thanks. I've always been curious about the one with no black. It's the only one I have seen with none. Funny thing is he taste just like the rest of them. :)

Thanks again,
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 03:02:21 PM: This doesn't show as well as I hoped, but the Missouri bird (Eastern) has some black bands while the Oklahoma (Rio) and Kansas (probably a Rio/Merriams Cross) do not.
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 03:07:11 PM: This is probably a better picture, these are all Kansas birds from 2013 killed on the same trip within probably a 40 mile radius from each other. The two outside birds have the bars and the three in the middle do not.
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 03:09:03 PM: Nice. That's why I was asking. I thought I had read one time that the Rio's did not have the band. The one I have is definitely from NE. The Rio's I did get in the SE have black in the band also. Just wondering if the birds we have in WA have been cross bread and are no longer one or the other. I need to get out of state and get some birds to see the difference I guess. Definitely need to add an Eastern to the wall. Thanks for the information! I do love hunting turkey!

I posted to soon. Looks like that black really means nothing then. It must vary by bird.
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 03:14:02 PM: Good luck with your season!
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 03:17:06 PM: Quote from: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 03:09:03 PM
Nice. That's why I was asking. I thought I had read one time that the Rio's did not have the band. The one I have is definitely from NE. The Rio's I did get in the SE have black in the band also. Just wondering if the birds we have in WA have been cross bread and are no longer one or the other. I need to get out of state and get some birds to see the difference I guess. Definitely need to add an Eastern to the wall. Thanks for the information! I do love hunting turkey!

I posted to soon. Looks like that black really means nothing then. It must vary by bird.

Yeah, I've always thought it was just a normal difference between bird. I assume anywhere the ranges would overlap that they cross. I bet a Rio gobbler would not be too picky to jump on top of a Merriam hen!

The nice weather we are having here on the eastside ( and those game cam pictures) have me completely distracted and ready for the 15th!
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 03:17:25 PM: Quote from: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 03:14:02 PM
Good luck with your season!

you too!
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: Mfowl on March 31, 2014, 04:07:27 PM: Hey JBlackburn, is that a bearded hen closest to the 3 strutting jakes in your top picture?
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 04:46:51 PM: Quote from: Mfowl on March 31, 2014, 04:07:27 PM
Hey JBlackburn, is that a bearded hen closest to the 3 strutting jakes in your top picture?

Crap! I didn't even notice that! I looked at a couple other pictures from that set, and it sure is! On another cam I had a different bearded hen with a 2 or 3 inch beard, but this one look more like 6 or 7 inches!
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: Mfowl on March 31, 2014, 05:02:32 PM: That's pretty cool! I have yet to actually see a bearded hen while out in the woods. I don't think I'd put my tag on one but it would be interesting to see one. Good luck bunting this year, looks like you got a good spot lined up!
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: jblackburn on March 31, 2014, 05:06:27 PM: I'd like to kill on with a nice beard, I think it would be a cool mount. After one, I would let them all walk. But, there are a couple nice longbeards down there, so I'm not really sure if I would or not. Maybe I can meet her next fall!
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: JKEEN33 on March 31, 2014, 10:25:54 PM: First Tom I killed came in with a hen. I dropped him and she stood there and looked like she was lost. I kept looking at her because I new she was a hen, but she had a good 6" beard on her. I was new and had no idea what she was. I did some reading after that and figured it out. Since then I have seen two others and have let them walk.

A couple years back I was running around with Campmeat from this site doing some deer hunting. A flock ran across the road and there was a white Tom in the flock. That's the one I wish I had the chance to get a shot at. I will probably never see another.
Title: Re: The jakes are ready . . .
Post by: turkeydancer on April 01, 2014, 08:05:45 AM: Coloration can be genetics, but can also be affected by the diet and change as the diet changes .... not necessarily anything to do with cross breeding (which does happen).

As far as hens, approx 10% actually have beards ... which would make them fair game in the spring.