Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

Have some experience hunting eastern's, looking to begin my work on the slam, live in northern IL, would like to try get a rio or merriam's this spring. Without having to pay an outfitter, does anyone know of some good quality public land, I was thinking in either MO or SD. Or perhaps someone who is willing to let a father/son go after a turkey or two?

What's a turkey hunt going for these days anyway?

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

From where you live, Kansas would probably be your best bet for a Merriams.A Merriams hunt in Kansas is pretty reasonable. You can find a semi guided hunt easily for under $500. You can also get your Rio in Kansas.You can find reasonable prices in Texas for a Rio. I found a top notch place for $350. This is a 2 daysemi guided hunt for one gobblerwhich includes lodging, but not meals. You can find 2 day huntsin Texas where you can take two gobblers and lodging for under $500. I even found one where you can take 3 gobblers and lodging for $500. If you want an all inclusive hunt for 2 gobblers, you will probably pay anywhere from $600 to over $1000 in Texas. Don't know much about Kansas, but I doubt in either state you are going to find a whole lot ofpublic land to hunt, especially Texas. I'm probably going back to Texas this season to get a couple of Rios. I haven't been since 2005.

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

KS has plenty of birds, and plenty of access. Their State DNR website has all you need as far as maps, contacts, etc goes. Showing up a day early for some door knocking may provide good results. With the right leg work and research, getting your two rios should be no problem there. A group of 3-4 friends are heading out for the bow only season this coming April, but I likely won't be able to make it.

If you want a slam for personal reasons, try NE for your Merriams. Most of NE is a hybrid turkey though, and may not count with NWTF, although the NW of the state is still a pure strain. SD has plenty of Merriams with plenty of access. If you aren't against flying, or driving alot, CO, AZ, and all the other rocky mtnstates have alot of public access to a VERY pretty high country merriams bird population. You can't beat a high country pine merriams for beauty IMO.

I am in the same process as you, working on the details to start in on my slam. Right now, I am looking at KS, or possibly OK for my Rio. SD or NE for my Merriam. FL for osceola obviously. I want to try an AZ turkey hunt one spring in the next few years, to double as a deer/elk scouting trip. I try to hunt 2-3 states each spring, and eventually want to knock the majority of the lower 48 off the list.

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

Iwant to avoid hybrids, the slam is a personal quest, maybe I'dconsider registering it at some point later on but that's not the reason I'm pursuing it.

When it's gone right for me, I swear it's been the best hunt I've been on, after viewing the other varieties I just think the eastern is one of the least colorful, I really like those white tips, which is why I want to go after a rio or merriam's next, also that they're closer to where I'm at, someday I figure I'll have to fly to FL, and AZ/NM/Mexico for a gould's ? and then the yucatan perhaps? hunting a turkey in mexico is a long way's off though.

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

I don't mean to hijack the thread.....but I am still new and this may be a stupid question. What is the slam?

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

There are 6 sub-species of turkey, 1 of each...

Eastern
Merriam's
Rio-Grande
Osceola (florida)
Gould's
Ocellated

http://www.nwtf.org/all_about_turkeys/

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

it depends on which slam you are goin after. There are 3 the "grand" "royal" and "world".
• Grand Slams
Eastern, Rio Grande, Merriam's and Osceola (Florida) birds
• Royal Slams
Four subspecies listed above in addition to the Gould's bird
• World Slams
Five subspecies listed above in addition to the Ocellated wild turkey

There is also a Mexican and Canadian Slams
• Mexican Slams
Mexican Slam consists of the following birds harvested in Mexico only: Rio Grande, Gould's and Ocellated.
• Canadian Slams
Canadian Slam consists of harvesting the Eastern and Merriam's bird in the following provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Mantoba, Alberta or British Columbia

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

how are KS walk in areas for turkey? crowded? how's the turky hunting on these state lands?

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

Those are what I was referring to. From my research so far, there is enough of it that you can get away from other hunters. Going in the bow only season before shotgun gets in would help as well. Don't overlook the smaller parcels, they may hold less birds, but this equates to less hunters as well. Once you figure a general area of the state, a quick call to a wildlife biologist/officer out there and they would point you in the right direction as well.

If you want the world slam, I think Mexico is about your only choice for both the Goulds and Oscellated. The AZ Goulds tags are EXTREMELY limited, and not much of an option really.

Without getting into hybrids, your best bet for a drive to hunt would be SD for Merriams and KS for Rios.they are closest to you, and both have public access, with a good chance of scoring a spot by door knocking still. Im not sure how to get ahold of a list, but I know in SD there isa HUGE number of ranches available for small tresspassing fees during deer season, they would surely allow spring turkey hunters as well..maybe even for a smaller fee. Like I said, not sure of how to get a list, but definately a possibility.

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

I was fortunate enough to find my rio, merriams, and osceola hunts all from this website.I did a swap hunt forthe rio and merriams and found an outfitter for the osceola hunt. Good luck in yourquest!

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

Little side note on the Slams listed. Manitoba is not open to non-residents. Therefore Canadian Slam is only possible for someone from Manitoba. Go figure EH? :eek:

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

Salukipv1,

You have already received some good advice for ways to achieve this but I will add that I have a contact in TX for Rio's, all inclusive (food & lodging & transportation to hunt but NO guide) that I can turn you on to, 550.00 for 4 days and you can take 2 birds.

Also a contact for aDIY (you are just paying a trepass fee of 500-750 bucks/ 4 days and would be responsible for lodging and meals) for Rio's in Southern OK.

Also a contact for what are likely Hybrids (Rio/Easterns) in Kansas 100 / day plus 100 for lodging (food not included but the lodging is right on the property (750 acres). You can do a 4 day hunt for 500 there and its a GREAT place with lots of turkeys.

Also a contact for Merriams in NE, again a trespass fee of 350 / 4 days of hunting, you are responsible for food and lodging here also.

I have found all of these contacts but just calling around, visiting these sites, and asking folks for leads or suggestions. The good thing about this site is that most folks are nice enough to let you talk to them about thier experience (good or bad) at a particular place and I have not been steered wrong yet. I will say that what one man finds is sufficient is certainly NOT sufficient to another, but thats just the way it goes sometimes, but its always good to talk to someone else about thier experience IF you can before you pay to hunt.

Then there is always public land, which is, of course the cheapest way to go but the most work and then least unreliable as far as who else might be there when you are there and such. Again, many many guys have great luck with these sort of hunts on this website. To get started here, one option is to call some wildlife officiers in the area you are interested in after you have explored things online with maps and such and find out what they have to say. I have had great luck with this in WY 2 years ago.

Finally, I have even gone so far as to call some outfitters and ask them about public land options or suggestions in thier areas. Now you have to obviously talk to the right kind of outfitter to get this sort of help but I was blessed to meet such a gentlemen last year that hooked me up with the names of several ranchers in SD that were just glad to have me visit thier place and hunt for Merriams - and the birds were there!

So, in the spirit of passing it on, drop me a PM or give me a call, 262 880 5012 and I'll be glad to tell you what I know if you are interested.

The one thing to remember that MOST folks on this site understand, is that not everyone likes to do things the way they do. We have public land hunters only, those that will not consider going somewhere out of thier backyard without a guide, those that favor the full package (and can afford it) and those that just want to pay a tresspass fee and DIY, some that want free access because thats what they want or because they cannot afford to pay, some folks that are trying to get a slam, shoot a bird in every state before they die (my personal goal), and some that are just plain happy with hunting only in thier own state or a neighboring one.

Nevertheless its a turkey huntingADDICTION for me, and eventhough its only December 19th I'm getting AWFUL fired up about the spring already!

On that note - I am lining up a hunt in extreme north-eastern AL for March and was wondering if anyone out there knows of a good place I might try for a paid-to-hunt in Southern Tennessee? I know there are lots of good birds there but I'd like to find something in the lower Southeast so I wouldn't have to travel as far. Anybody have any ideas there?

One final suggestion - I know that there is a swap-hunt forum and an Outfitters forum on this site but would anyone else be interested in having a thread at the top of this forum for state jumpers that would consider sharing thier experiences about places they have been or leads they might have to help out others that are new to the sport or that are interested in stepping out of thier own state to chase turkeys? Let me know what you think (one way or the other :))

Good luck with whatever you choose but dropme aline if you wish,

Robert

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

YES. I was thinkin about how cool that would be just the other day.

That post was a wealth of knowledge.

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

The panhandle area or north central part of Nebraska holds true Merriams and there is a lot of public ground available to hunt.

RE: Access or Suggestions to hunt a Rio or Merriam's?
 

We have ranches in Montana and South Dakota that we can put you up in bunk houses and let you and your buddies have the run of the place. We have alfalfa, barley, oat, and corn fields as well as some food plots. We charge $350 per peron for 3 days. Food is on your own as this is a DIY but we have plenty of birds. The South Dakota ranch is 5500 acres and we have 4,000 acres in Montana.