03-13-2013, 07:03 PM
I've been hunting, scouting, and learning about the turkeys in Idaho for a little over 20 years. I've hunted a lot of ground from the Boise area up through the Orofino area. I've read a bit about it and talked with many folks (some qualified to talk about it, and some probably not). All of my combined efforts lead me to this understanding of our populations here.
We have/had 3 species of turkey in Idaho. Rio, Merriams, and Eastern. Over time, they have hybridized to the point where in a few areas you might be lucky enough to kill a bird that has mostly Eastern traits (but it is very unlikely) and in other areas you might kill a bird that has mostly Merriams traits (reasonably likely), and still in other areas you might kill a bird that has Rio traits (highly likely, but only in select areas), but overall, most of the birds in Idaho are a Rio/Merriams hybrid with some tending more to the Rio and others more toward the Merriams.
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We have/had 3 species of turkey in Idaho. Rio, Merriams, and Eastern. Over time, they have hybridized to the point where in a few areas you might be lucky enough to kill a bird that has mostly Eastern traits (but it is very unlikely) and in other areas you might kill a bird that has mostly Merriams traits (reasonably likely), and still in other areas you might kill a bird that has Rio traits (highly likely, but only in select areas), but overall, most of the birds in Idaho are a Rio/Merriams hybrid with some tending more to the Rio and others more toward the Merriams.
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