Wow. Those are definitely a lot darker birds. Would South Missouri have true Easterns??

Topgun, Here are a few more pics of the Merriam he got this past weekend. Hopefully, no one is going to inform me that this bird in not a Merriam..lol. But seriously, it is a Merriam isn't it?? He was shot outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico.

I denifitely noticed a difference in this bird based on my past Rio kills. There was a lot more "vanilla"color to the back of the bird and tail feathers.