turkey grand slam

[skimerhorn]

I've decided to try for the grand slam. I'm from va and have an eastern turkey, and am heading to Florida for a Osceola this spring. Does anybody have any advice, or anything that might help? I've never been out west, do the Rio Grande and merriams respond like an eastern? Any info would be great. Thanks.

 

[mdunc8]

Hunting Merriam's out here is 100x easier than hunting turkeys in Virginia. Find a couple trees in the eastern half of Montana and you'll find birds.

 

[Carrion Carrier]

mdunc8 is right on. If you can hunt easterns Merriams and Rios are easy. The osceola on the other hand

 

[skimerhorn]

What are the differences between them I'm not sure I could tell the difference between a eastern and a Rio or Merriam?

 

[Hem]

I've had easterns run in and merriams hang up,.... its hogwash easterns set the standard.I had a friend from South Carolina scoff at the difficulty of hunting easterns, as he put it, just go out and wait in your yard and the birds will show up. After twenty years of hunting Montana I still haven't found turkeys everywhere there are trees.There are easy ones and hard ones,that is what makes it so much fun.Go for the slam,good luck.

 

[hardwoods]

Im sure anything can happen no matter what species depending on pressure, weather, time of season, etc... but the general rule is merriams and rios are supposed to be a little easier. Ive found merriams gobble more throughout the day than easterns and that alone can make them easier to hunt. Ive only hunted rios once and it was a tougher hunt than I had expected. But still alot of fun. Hunting them is basically the same concept just in different types of terrain. Most likely more open terrain than you are used to hunting turkeys in Va. Are you hunting one of the public wma's in Fl? Ive been researching a hunt down there also. Several wma's to pick from.

 

[drthornton]

Easterns are considered harder to hunt because they tend to live in the more populated areas of our country and get pressured more. 5 guys hunting 1 Eastern = 4 guys complaining how hard they are to hunt. 1 guy hunting 5 Rios = guy saying how easy Rios are to hunt.

I don't think General tactics are different for any of the sub-species. If you know how to locate and set up for Easterns you'll do fine with the rest.

Osceola are the most difficult IMO simply because they can only be found in FL.

We are headed to NE this year to complete my buddies slam with a Merriam.

 

[Hem]

drthornton,

haha, i like your analogy,..it rings true.

 

[Carrion Carrier]

I will admit to not having tons of experience with merriams outside of near my home. In my area anyway, merriams always live near houses/ranches. They live in people's yards and are often fed by them. They frequently have domestic genes and are not especially hard to hunt. They are not those tough Iowa gobblers that made me pull my hair out. They come running to a call unless they are pressured. Then they stay in the yard and eat their bird food.

What makes Rios "easy" is that they use the same roost trees every night because there just aren't many trees around. Osceolas are tough because the are desirable and the best land to hunt them is locked up or overrun with hunters.

 

[DIY HUNTER]

Osceolas can be difficult due to the access. Easterns are by far the hardest to hunt and do set the standard! If you can kill an Eastern you can surely take the others.

 

[Hem]

Plenty of easterners wouldn't last fifteen minutes running after a Merriam gobbler hell bent on checking out the next county.I've chased gobblers 2-3 miles, and still not caught up.I'm still not convinced,....apples to oranges.

 

[HUNTMAN]

I think it just depends on the bird. Merriams in E MT will travel long distances and run after they hit the ground. I grew up in GA hunting easterns and some where smart and some not so smart:}

 

[mdunc8]

It probably does have a lot to do with pressure. I've never run into another turkey hunter in the few areas I hunt in eastern Montana. Therefore, the birds are dumber than bricks.

 

[ARO]

I am headed to Big Cypress mid March, to try and bag a dark winged, long legged, tree chicken. Some things I have learned about Ocseola' are.... trying huning south as possible if you want a true blacked wing bird, Lake Oc or south. Dont wait for a long bearded 20# Ocseola, a true Ocseola will prolly have a 7 or 8 inch beard, and weight 13-17 #'s. If your hunting public land, be prepared for crowds and fourwheelers. I like hunting the Big Cypress because not alot of other hunters, 500,000 acres of land, and true black winged birds

 

[DIY HUNTER]

Hem you must not get out of your own little dream world often because every place I have ever turkey hunted, not to mention the dozens of people I have encountered that have taken the slam have all stated how the merriams is a much easier bird to hunt. They will allow you to get away with a lot more and seemed a lot easier to call in to me. Just speaking from experience...

 

[HUNTMAN]

Diy Hunter. Dream world really. I bet Nate spent as much time hunting merriams as anyone has. They can be easy and so can elk. But they can also be damn near impossible to kill at times

 

[DIY HUNTER]

So can easterns osceolas and rios...silly to think that merriams are the absolute toughtest ever known to man is all I was trying to point out

 

[hardwoods]

Bottom line is they each have their unique challenges and they all are a lot of fun to hunt. I cant wait for spring!

 

[skimerhorn]

When I try to do the slam how do I get the turkeys recorded so I get credit for it? Do I go thru the naff?

 

[skimerhorn]

I meant nwtf