Poll
Question:
Which one and why?
Option 1: Eastern
votes: 90
Option 2: Merriam
votes: 25
Option 3: Rio
votes: 11
Option 4: Osceola
votes: 7
Option 5: Goulds
votes: 3
Option 6: Ocellated
votes: 0
This is a question that comes up from time to time in camps so I thought I'd ask it here. Mainly because I'm bored and turkey season is a ways of yet!
Mine would be Merriams mainly because of the terain they live in, always love running those hills.
Neal
I picked Eastern's because of the diversity of their habitat. I've hunted them from the swamps of the South, to the mountains in NH and Vt. and across the huge farmland of the Midwest. They've got it all covered.
Merriams act like "dream turkeys" more often for me, that coupled with the places they call home and those white tips- they have my vote.
Since I'm always up to my ears in our native osceola's...guess it would have to be my pick although I hunt four subspecies every year.
I have hunted Easterns my whole life and by far they are my favorite. I love hunting them in river swamps under huge cypress trees one morning to a fire break on a pine plantation the next to a a big ridge with 150 year old oaks the next. I would love to Osceolas though. Another dream hunt is the Black Hills and chasing merriams!
Being I'm from Georgia I would have to say Eastern.
Easterns bc that all I have hunted so far. Love chasing them through the mountains of tn. :turkey2:
All I've ever hunted are easterns.
I've only hunted Eastern s and Osceola's and by far I'd rather hunt Eastern s.
I've lived where both of them live and just don't like dealing with the mosquitoes, water and thick jungles that Osceola's frequent.
Of the species I like to kill just one good one of would be Merriam...like those white feathers.
Quote from: Covehnter on February 24, 2012, 11:31:40 AM
Merriams act like "dream turkeys" more often for me, that coupled with the places they call home and those white tips- they have my vote.
:agreed:
Merriam's as they are the only ones where I hunt.
Missouri-Eastern,...big rumbling gobbles
Since I have only hunted eastern turkeys I will go with the eastern
I have only hunted Easterns and Rios but I chose Rios because of the terrrain in which I hunt them. However they are both alot of fun.
Ive only hunted rio's and easterns but I'm from Rio country and I guess when you grow up doing certain things, you tend to be partial to them. I live in Alabama now but I plan on making trips west every spring cause I miss it.
Also, if you love gobbling like i do, its hard to beat a hot Rio... :icon_thumright:
I would want to hunt goulds in northern mexico. There still some places there where they havent see anyone,so I guess its more of the adventure type hunt for me.
Quote from: I-55Bandit on February 24, 2012, 12:21:01 PM
Missouri-Eastern,...big rumbling gobbles
This. By far the loudest gobbling/drumming birds I have hunted.
Although I started with Easterns and love those hard gobbles, I don't want to give up the locations these western birds call home.
Easterns are all I've hunted
I love hunting easterns in the fields here in Ohio, but South Tx Rio's are a close second
Eastern's because they reside in the Southeast and that is where I live!
Quote from: pseshooter300 on February 24, 2012, 12:25:37 PM
Since I have only hunted eastern turkeys I will go with the eastern
yeah that
it would have to be Eastern for me as well i love chasing these hard gobbling birds in my home state of Alabama,and it's not an easy task ,but for a lot of gobbling it would have to be the Rio
Quote from: dirt road ninja on February 24, 2012, 11:55:06 AM
All I've ever hunted are easterns.
same here when i get some extra dough,and time im going to go get me all of the other 3.
Eastern because that's all I have to hunt
Love me some merriams and the landscapes they populate.
Eastern in a hardwood river bottom.
:smiley-patriotic-flagwaver-an voted.. Merriam's ;D
Easterns in the btm. Cant beat it.
Shane
Easterns for SURE!!
ask this question after the 10th of March 2012 the only bird I haven't hunted is the Ocellated and I start hunting it March 3rd but up until now I would have to say the Osceola.
Quote from: deadhead on February 24, 2012, 05:39:36 PM
Eastern in a hardwood river bottom.
This gets my vote and I've hunted all 5 subspecies.
TRKYHTR
Another vote for an Eastern in a hardwood bottom.
I voted for Merriams. Those Merriams love to hear themselves gobble, and the weather is generally awesome during the season, and the terrain is absolutely beautiful. Hands down, the bird I'd want to hunt!!
nothing like a cypres swamp waking up to the thunderous gobble of a big ole eastern
Rio's. I like the TX Hill country as much as the bird...
eastern
Easterns because that's what's in my area.
Quote from: socalturkeyman on February 24, 2012, 12:48:22 PM
I would want to hunt goulds in northern mexico. There still some places there where they havent see anyone,so I guess its more of the adventure type hunt for me.
Hunting for the Gould's in the mountains north of Durango is all that is advertised ! Probably the best hunting trip of my life..
My favorite subspecies is the Merriams.
They live in the prettiest country, and do it right!!
I love seeing one of those white tipped fans top the crest of a mountain ridge... I have killed many Easterns and the Merriams shake me up...they are a purely fun bird to chase..
Love my Rios!
Anywhere there is a turkeys I guess , I have become quite accustomed to hunting Florida , and prefer it best most of the time, the big detractor is the insane crowding and the ever shrinking available areas to hunt - some times I wonder if it will go belly up one day , The whole state is being urbanized like mad , we get challenged by anti hunters and other like minded yuppies like horse people and bird watchers at the game commission meetings , it will be a matter of time before they take control of the state by sheer numbers -I would be very surprised if I can get another 10-15 years of Florida turkey hunting before they pull the rug from under us
Guys don't take what you have for granted , prey you don't end up like us
I will ad that after hunting South Dakota the place is a hunters Paradise , the Black Hills ......man I want to go back but don't have the free time - God Made that country for sure
I have never hunted any subspecies but the Easterns. I really don't have to hunt the others, the Easterns are fine with me.
All about the swamps of Florida....Oscees for me! Roll Tide!
Easterns hands dowm. Out of the three I've killed Osceolas, Easterns, and Merriams, the Eastern provides the biggest challenge. Plus you can hunt Easterns in just any type of terrain you want to, deep south swamps, hardwood bottoms, fields, pine plantations, rolling hills and even mountains.
Quote from: guesswho on February 26, 2012, 02:49:01 PM
Easterns hands dowm. Out of the three I've killed Osceolas, Easterns, and Merriams, the Eastern provides the biggest challenge. Plus you can hunt Easterns in just any type of terrain you want to, deep south swamps, hardwood bottoms, fields, pine plantations, rolling hills and even mountains.
X2
Eastern...that's all I hunt now and all I've ever hunted so I wouldn't know what I'd be missing
Easterns but I'd like to kill a Oceola
Easterns because of the wide range /diversity of habitat.
Something about the Meriam just strikes me. I have hunted Elk in southwestern Colorado a couple times and have thoroughly enjoyed the eye opening hard times I have spent in that part of the country. Will one day get that way to hunt turkeys.
Has to be Merriam's for me, or hybrid Merriam's, or whatever the heck we get in Nebraska on my road trips ;D
That being said, there is something so regal about a big Eastern, that he is just about an equal target. I shot a large Eastern in Kentucky a few years ago. Loudest gobble I have ever heard. Worked in perfectly. It was a hunt I'll never forget.
mudhen
I've only hunted Eastern and Rio. Rios will do alot for your selfesteam (is that how you spell that) but anyway I find it most enjoyable to blow a big eastern's head off.
I have tried to vote on this at lest a dozen times . I quit, I'm not voting ,every time I try I remember a hunt Ive taken or one I want to take and change species . SO I'M NOT VOTING !! :fud: :newmascot:
South Alabama Eastern's for me.I have hunted Rio's and Merrim's also a few Hybrid bird's.The Eastern's down South seem to be the most wary and tough to hunt.Love the challange,it's what makes turkey hunting special for me.!!
Eastern clost to home :fud:
Osceola. Don't really know why.
I guess I would have to pick the Eastern if I could only hunt one but I hope I never have to make the choice of just that one.. :anim_25: to everyone chasing those long beards this spring..
It's more about the hunt for me than the subspecies. I want to hunt turkeys that will gobble. They don't have to gobble a lot, but at least enough to let me know they are there. I want birds that will verbally react to my calling, and preferrably, when I have done my part skillfully, come to my calling strutting and gobbling. If I have not done my part correctly, I want the gobblers I hunt to be wary enough to let me know that I have not.
Having hunted all of the subspecies on a number of occasions, I know that all of them will fit that bill,...at the right time, place, and circumstances. The subspecies that fits that description most often, though, has been the Merriams. This is not to imply that they are the hardest subspecies to hunt. They are not, but they play the game the way it is supposed to be played if the hunter does his part.
I love to hunt them all, and hope I never have to chose just one subspecies, but if I did, it would be our high-mountain Merriams,....with Easterns being a close second.
Quote from: Sherrell on February 24, 2012, 11:38:15 AM
Since I'm always up to my ears in our native osceola's...guess it would have to be my pick although I hunt four subspecies every year.
You really know how to kick a man while he's down, don't ya? :deadhorse:
The only subspecies I've never had the chance to hunt, and it absolutely kills me every spring. Had a few offers that never pan out. Even had a gent from Florida up for a goose hunt who said I could come hunt any of his orange groves (he managed a few). In between day 1 and 2, there was a bad winter storm and he had to rush back to Florida. Of course, I never got his contact information before he left. Had a second Florida resident scheduled to come up who's flights got cancelled. That all fizzled too.
To top it all off, I'll be in Osceola country IN TURKEY SEASON for work this year. Hopefully I can find a few to see while taking a drive, because I'd at least like the chance to watch them do their dance.
As for the others, I can't really say I prefer one over the other, because they all have their great traits, they can all be easy hunts under the right situations, and they can all be miserable SOBs.
Pressured Easterns can be some of the most frustrating birds in the world to hunt, but find one that isn't, or wants to play the game that day, and look out! That booming gobble will haunt your dreams.
Merriams love to gobble, are absolutely beautiful and inhabit some of the prettiest terrain on earth. Catch them when they are flocked up and its more of a deer hunt than turkey hunt. Or, have one working the call perfectly only to set his wings and sail across a valley that defines the statement "you can't get there from here" and you will know frustration on a first name basis.
Rios unpressured will run you over trying to get to the call, and sometimes it seems like the hardest part is not shooting the first bird that comes in, but give them a try on pressured public land and you'll swear you're hunting public land in Alabama.
Guess my answer to that question would be I prefer to hunt the "unpressured" birds.
without question,the easterns of the deep south
I love hunting Easterns here in the mid-Atlantic, but if I only could chase one it would be the Merriam. The time I hunted them they were extremely vocal and the terrain made hunting them a blast! That being said I'm sure glad I don't have to decide!
easterns like the challenge
I voted eastern, but only if I can hunt them back home in central MO!!
I also love chasing Rios in KS and OK, but nothing like the thundering gobble of a good old Missouri tom!
Nothing like a big beautiful Rio.