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Hunting Turkeys In Washington

When most hunters think about turkeys, they think the South East.  Mostly easterns populate the area, and most hunters head out of state to get a grand slam under their belts.  Fortunately, you hunt turkeys in Washington and we have a secret not widely known to turkey hunters across the country - three of the four species of wild turkey needed to get your grand slam reside in this great state.  Use the "Washington Turkey Hunting" menu at the bottom left to get information unique to Washington turkeys

West side turkey hunters chase the hardest of the three species the Eastern Turkey.  Call shy, and not as populated as the Merriam and Rios found east of the mountains, they are the hardest to bag.

Central Washington (like along the Tucannon River) are home to a plethora of healthy huntable Rio Grande flocks, guaranteeing you an opportunity for a great hunt.

And of course, the mother lode of turkey in Washington State, the Merriam residing abundantly in Steven, and surrounding counties.  When hunters say they are going turkey hunting, most of them are talking about Stevens County.

Currently, the Merriam’s subspecies occupies portions of Ferry, Klickitat, Pend Oreille, Skamania, and Stevens counties. Rio Grande turkeys can be found in Asotin, Columbia, Garfield, Kittitas, Lincoln, Okanogan, Walla Walla, and Whitman counties. Turkeys of the eastern subspecies can be found west of the Cascades in Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Thurston, and Wahkiakum counties. The Eastern The eastern wild turkey is the most widely distributed, abundant and hunted turkey subspecies of the five distinct subspecies found in the United States. It inhabits roughly the eastern half of the country.

The eastern wild turkey is found in the hardwood and mixed forests from New England and southern Canada to northern Florida and west to Texas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota. It has also been successfully transplanted in states outside of its original range including: California, Oregon and Washington.

L.J.P. Vieillot first described and named the eastern subspecies in 1817 using the word silvestris, meaning "forest" turkey.

Since the eastern wild turkey ranges the farthest north, individuals can also grow to be among the largest of any of the subspecies. The adult male, called a gobbler or tom, may measure up to 4 feet tall at maturity and weigh more than 20 pounds. Its upper tail coverts, which cover the base of the long tail feathers, are tipped with chestnut brown and tail tips with dark buff or chocolate brown. In contrast, the breast feathers are tipped in black. Rich, metallic, and copper/bronze iridescence characterize other body feathers.

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A mature female, called a hen, may be nearly as tall but is usually lighter, weighing between eight and twelve pounds. Females are similar in color to the males but more brown, and the metallic reflections are less brilliant. Feathers of the hen's breast, flanks and sides are tipped with brown rather than the black and white tips of the male.

The Merriam

The Merriam's wild turkey is found primarily in the ponderosa pine, western mountain regions of the United States. It was named by Dr. E.W. Nelson in 1900 in honor of C. Hart Merriam, the first chief of the U.S. Biological Survey.

Within its suspected historic range in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, the Merriam's was relatively isolated from the other subspecies of wild turkey. Current evidence supports the hypothesis that it was a relative newcomer to western American wildlife when the Europeans discovered it.

The Merriam's wild turkey has been successfully stocked beyond its suspected natural range in the Rocky Mountains and outside of the mountains into Nebraska, Washington, California Oregon and other areas.

Merriam's are found in some habitat areas that, if altered by timber harvesting overgrazing or development, populations may be lost. Their normal range receives annual rainfall amounts averaging between 15 and 23 inches.

Adult males are clearly distinguished from the eastern, Florida and Rio Grande by the nearly white feathers on the lower back and tail feather margins. Merriam's closely resemble the Gould's turkey, but its tail margin is not usually quite as pure white nor is the lighter margin of the tail tip quite as wide.

Its size is comparable to the eastern turkey, but has a blacker appearance with blue, purple and bronze reflections. The Merriam's appears to have a white rump due to its pinkish, buff or whitish tail coverts and tips. These tail feather tips are very conspicuous when the strutting gobbler appears against a dark background. The males exhibit black-tipped breast feathers, while the females, or hens, have buff-tipped breast feathers. The white areas on her wings are more extensive giving a whiter appearance to the folded wing.

The Rio Grande

The Rio Grande wild turkey is native to the central plains states and got its common name from the area in which it is found - the life giving water supply which borders the brushy scrub, arid country of the southern Great Plains, western Texas and northeastern Mexico. This subspecies was first described by George B. Sennett in 1879 who said it was intermediate in appearance between the eastern and western subspecies, hence its scientific name.

It is similar in general appearance to the other subspecies of the wild turkey and similar in body size to the Florida Turkey, about four feet tall, but with disproportionately long legs. The Rio Grande turkeys are comparatively pale and copper colored. They are distinguished from the eastern and Florida subspecies by having tail feathers and tail/rump coverts tipped with yellowish-buff or tan color rather than medium or dark brown. Although there has been more variation in the shade of buff/brown in the tail feathers among Rio specimens, the color is consistently lighter than in the eastern or Florida birds and darker than the same feathers in the Merriam's or Gould's subspecies.

Adult females, called hens, are smaller in size compared to the males, called gobblers, and similar in color but duller. Hens average 8 to 12 pounds while gobblers may weigh around 20 pounds at maturity. Feathers of the breast, sides and flanks are tipped with pale pinkish buff.

The Rio inhabits brush areas near streams and rivers or mesquite, pine and scrub oak forests. It may be found up to 6,000 feet elevation and generally favors country that is more open than the wooded habitat favored by its eastern cousins. The Rio Grande is considered gregarious and, nomadic in some areas, having distinct summer and winter ranges. They may form large flocks of several hundred birds during the winter period. It has been known to travel distances of 10 or more miles from traditional winter roost sites to its nesting areas.