merriam turkey

[midwesthunter]

I have yet to harvest a true Merriam. I have shot some in western Nebraska but they are considered hybrids. What state would you hunt CO, WY, SD? I had a CO connection but he moved.

 

[jrabq]

NM has them also, just fyi, not recommending anything.

 

[cedahm]

WY/SD around the Black Hills are probably 'easier' Public land hunts for merriam's. Bonus that you can hunt both states on the same trip/from the same base.

FWIW - Depending on where in NE you were, it may or may not have been a hybrid (i.e. the birds in the Pine Ridge/Ft Robinson area are true merriam's)

 

[onX Hunt]

I have yet to harvest a true Merriam. I have shot some in western Nebraska but they are considered hybrids. What state would you hunt CO, WY, SD? I had a CO connection but he moved.

To plug the free NWTF layer within the onX Hunt app (found in the Nationwide layers section), you can filter the layer by "Sub-Species Distribution" to get a general idea of where there are merriams.
The layer distinguishes the different species by color so you can get a good picture of the areas that hold that specific species.

 

[Topgun 30-06]

I've hunted the Black Hills of SD a few times in a radius of about ten miles around Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park and that would be my pick for a Merriams tag with lots of public land to hunt on to fill it.

 

[madtom]

A lot of good advice here that I can't add much to other than encouraging you to pick a state and go. One thing to remember is that even in "pure Merriams" country, expect to see some gradation in the tail fan colors from dirty cream to snow white. From my handful of years hunting Wyoming and Nebraska, I've seen that birds in far NW Nebraska tend to be whiter on average than most I've seen in the black hills. I also think the emphasis on hunting the different subspecies should be placed on experiencing the hunts in the different landscapes/terrains rather than solely on the fan color.

 

[JDH]

I wonder how the NWTF decides where the birds are distributed. The county I live in isn't colored and I see turkeys 2-3 days a week on my commute.
It's also interesting about the variation of colors...most of the ones we saw in the Pine Ridge area in NE were more of a cream color than white.

 

[madtom]

I wonder how the NWTF decides where the birds are distributed. The county I live in isn't colored and I see turkeys 2-3 days a week on my commute.

My guess would be from data they receive from state agencies...? Seems like turkey ranges are expanding in many areas, so distribution data may lag behind real distribution in some places.

 

[JDH]

My guess would be from data they receive from state agencies...? Seems like turkey ranges are expanding in many areas, so distribution data may lag behind real distribution in some places.

Makes sense..by the time it trickles down to OnX the data is probabaly 4-5 years old.

 

[pointingdogsrule]

WY/SD around the Black Hills are probably 'easier' Public land hunts for merriam's. Bonus that you can hunt both states on the same trip/from the same base.

FWIW - Depending on where in NE you were, it may or may not have been a hybrid (i.e. the birds in the Pine Ridge/Ft Robinson area are true merriam's)

What this guy stated. He's right on in every fact

 

[1_pointer]

A lot of good advice here that I can't add much to other than encouraging you to pick a state and go. One thing to remember is that even in "pure Merriams" country, expect to see some gradation in the tail fan colors from dirty cream to snow white. From my handful of years hunting Wyoming and Nebraska, I've seen that birds in far NW Nebraska tend to be whiter on average than most I've seen in the black hills. I also think the emphasis on hunting the different subspecies should be placed on experiencing the hunts in the different landscapes/terrains rather than solely on the fan color.

That last sentence is my interest. I greatly enjoy turkey hunting, but it's always playing second, third, or less fiddle to other commitments/pursuits. The country your hunting can greatly change the flavor of the hunts. The hunts in ID were vastly different than what I've done in IN.

 

[hobbes]

This idea that Merriam's are all snow white or they aren't "pure" is incorrect. Merriam's range from buff to white the same way that rios and easterns all have a range of color.

 

[midwesthunter]

Thanks everyone, I like the idea of a black hills two state hunt. I also like the idea of the scenery around custard state park.

I really could care less if its a true Merriam or not, pretty sure the last one I took in NE was. I love chasing these stupid birds, I like the challenges presented hunting them in the western states vs here in the midwest. I treat them more like big game hunting out west and spot and stalk, and try and call them in for the final distance.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[onX Hunt]

I wonder how the NWTF decides where the birds are distributed. The county I live in isn't colored and I see turkeys 2-3 days a week on my commute.
It's also interesting about the variation of colors...most of the ones we saw in the Pine Ridge area in NE were more of a cream color than white.

The NWTF layer is from user submitted data. So if there haven't been people submitting their birds to them, that is why it might not be showing up.
You can get a full readout on how the layer came to be here https://www.onxmaps.com/blog/onx-and-the-nwtf-bring-turkey-hunting-layer-in-time-for-spring

Ideally, more and more people will submit their information to further improve the information that is available!

 

[pointingdogsrule]

The NWTF layer is from user submitted data. So if there haven't been people submitting their birds to them, that is why it might not be showing up.
You can get a full readout on how the layer came to be here https://www.onxmaps.com/blog/onx-and-the-nwtf-bring-turkey-hunting-layer-in-time-for-spring

Ideally, more and more people will submit their information to further improve the information that is available!

Call me selfish..... i'll keep my birds out of the books and the places I hunt a secret (for the most part as I do share on this website)

 

[JohnCushman]

One thing you might want to take into consideration is that the NWTF has transplanted Easterns into some areas where there are Rios and Merriam's with low numbers. So, there might be hybrids in a lot more places than first thought. If memory serves me right, I believe Colorado was one of the Eastern transplant areas. I got my two Merriam's in NW Montana.

 

[madtom]

One thing you might want to take into consideration is that the NWTF has transplanted Easters into some areas where there are Rios and Merriam's with low numbers. So, there might be hybrids in a lot more places than first thought. If memory serves me right, I believe Colorado was one of the Eastern transplant areas. I got my two Merriam's in NW Montana.

True. The variability I see across Nebraska is really interesting. I figure you could almost shoot a grand slam (genetically) with one shot in the hybrid zone.

 

[brymoore]

One thing you might want to take into consideration is that the NWTF has transplanted Easters into some areas where there are Rios and Merriam's with low numbers. So, there might be hybrids in a lot more places than first thought. If memory serves me right, I believe Colorado was one of the Eastern transplant areas. I got my two Merriam's in NW Montana.

Idaho has had three subspecies introduced into the state - Merriams, Rios and Easterns.

 

[hobbes]

No offense intended, but Colorado does not have easterns. CO has native Merriam's in the mountains and transplanted Rios in the eastern plains riverbottoms. As far as the NWTF goes, they may do some habitat enhancement and buy a few boxes but the state game agencies have done the transplanting.

Merriam's are native to CO, AZ, and NM. You can kill Merriam's in those states or in popular areas like the Pine Ridge of NE, Black Hills of SD and WY In addition, they are in Montana (except the flathead valley has some Easterns that were illegally transplanted by a private party years ago), Idaho, northeastern Washington. The northern mountains of CA has some Merriam's also.

Washington has some isolated Rio and Eastern populations. Idaho may have some rios also.

 

[CampRipleyLF]

Nebraska has some, they have more hybrids than anything but in the far western side you can find some pure merriams