I have shot three of these in western Montana. I was hunting Merriam's but this was the color of all three bird's. I have looked in book's and searched the web for pictures of Merriam's but the only one's I can find have white bar's similar to the Rio Grande turkey. The only turkey I can find with these color's is the Eastern turkey. I can't make any scent's of it.

What do yall think?

Looks like an Eastern to me.

Not to say Eastern's can't be transported, but the area I shot these bird's in was far away from any people that might own them.

I was thinking it might be some kind of rare gene in the Merriam's that ran heavy in this group, really I have no idea. I only lived in Montana for 4 year's. The people I knew up there kept turkey hunting spot's a secrete and did not help me at all when I set my sight's on one.

I spent two day's driving the country knocking on farmer's door's until a guy told me I could hunt his 1,200 acres. Killed a nice one that year, sent him a thank you card and he invited me back every year after that until I moved back to Texas.

The smallest of the 3 had a 10" beard. The other guy's I knew that kept their spot's to themselves hunted public land and the biggest beard I saw they had was 7".

I know there are some hybrids between eastern and merriams in sourthern Montana and north eastern Montana. Maybe NWTF has tried stocking some easterns in some of the western parts of Montana...who know's but those definatly look like eastern. I have a merriams fan that buff from new mexico and a rio that's almost snow white from the grasslands in Decatur TX. I also shot at and missed a rio that was as dark as an eastern e few years back...some turkey's just have different color phases.

Maybe this will help clear it up.

http://www.avianweb.com/wildturkeyspecies.html

DEAD.

Eastern or osceola.