Gobbler Nation

What is the hardest bird to kill? Also what bird gobbles the most?
(Osceola, Eastern, Rio, Merriam)

Welcome aboard man.

Hey I use to know the answer to this but now I don't know. They are all hard to kill lately.

The one in your sights is usually the easiest, the one gobbling across the road and property line is normally the hardest.

What little experience I have I'd say Eastern, Osceola and Merriam in that or from hardest to easiest. But there are exceptions with all of them.

For me Easterns are the easiest if they haven't been work a lot.
Osceola hasn't been to tough but I hunt private land.
Rio sound off a lot and are often in bunches with lots of eyes to watch you.
Merriam has been the hardest for me because I hunt the mountains in Idaho. They sound like you are on top of them, only to find they are on the other mountain side. So you wait for them to fly back.

I finished my grand slam. from easiest to hardest
1.merriams
2.rios
3.osceolas
4.easterns

I hunted all private land. theres gonna be several different answers im sure here. The merriams gobbled more than any bird ive ever hunted

Eastern (Especially MS.--Heavily hunted and the ones I kill never gobble much.)
Osceola (Talk well on private- Not any different than Easterns)
Merriams (Easy to spot and stalk --Come to calls well)
Rios (Never seen one that I couldn't kill--They
Don't shut up!!!). LOL

(Assuming private land)
I would say Merriams are prolly toughest
If in the Rugged Mts out west tho.
But day in day out the above will be
The most common reply.

A West Virginia District 2 public land Eastern! 90% of them are dead from poaching before the season comes in and the 10 % still alive are hiding under rocks and down groundhog holes. If your lucky enough to get one to work with you a little you had better know what your doing or be very lucky. Also expect company, I swear guys around here can hear one gobble from at least 20 miles away. You`ll have pickups and every idiot that bought their calls and shotgun at walmart the night before the season opens running you over to get to him when he sounds off! When it comes to these birds, educated is an understatement!

easterns are all i`ve ever hunted but i can tell you that they vary with region and even one tract of land to another. we hunt one 80 acre tract at the intersection of 2 highways that i have only heard 1 bird gobble. they also rarely respond to calling. 10 mile away the birds behave completely differently.

A public land Florida Osceola gobbler is without a doubt the toughest bird to kill.
Many of the toms wont even gobble before flydown or when they fly up at night.

Willy

All of em!! Turkeys are like a box of Chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

Easiest the last one. Hardest the next one.

One turkey can be both. Even on the same day!

Easiest- the one that walks towards my gun.
Hardest- the one that walks away from it!

You just killed the easiest! And you just spooked the hardest!

I called in a gobbler and spooked him 3 times one spring and he got almost inpossible to call. I spooked him on purpose that first year he was a two year old. Made some great hunts after that.

God Bless, Louis

Easterns in the Southeast where they have been hunted for 200 + years are the hardest .

Osceolas have not been terribly hard . but I'd rate them 2nd .

Merriams would be #3 . God they gobble and walk at a jog for most people . just have to get in front of them , then you can stear them towards you . merriams have an itinerary and they may ease off corse but not much . Keep movibg and get in front of them then steer them close enough !

Rios ... My favorite . gobble hard in the dark in the morning. Get close and call away . then about 5 pm here they go gobbling again all the way to the roost if you can't intercept him you know where to start tomorrow !

But you could call that limited experience since ive only killed 2 Royal slams , and 10 Grand slams . with 9 and 10 Lifetime achievement being finished this year . ive done it 2 times single season just to prove to myself it could be done by a poor ol country boy .

Easiest are non pressured, hardest are heavily pressured, sub species doesn’t matter.

SE eastern birds tend to get the most pressure though.


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Easiest to hardest
Merriams
Rios
Osceolas
Easterns

Easiest to kill - any of them that come running to a call ... Hardest to kill - one that comes running to a call and gets shot at, but not killed

Jbird22 wrote: ↑February 15th, 2022, 12:28 pm Easiest to kill - any of them that come running to a call ... Hardest to kill - one that came running to a call and gets shot at, but not killed

Easiest to kill is land that no one can hunt

Which in turn makes it also the hardest

hoobilly wrote: ↑February 15th, 2022, 1:54 pm

Jbird22 wrote: ↑February 15th, 2022, 12:28 pm Easiest to kill - any of them that come running to a call ... Hardest to kill - one that came running to a call and gets shot at, but not killed

Easiest to kill is land that no one can hunt

Which in turn makes it also the hardest

That's some wisdom right there! You sure you're not from South MS?

I’ve read a few articles that claim easterns are the most difficult. Since we’re into one liners and quotes I’ll offer mine. A Tom with several hens is damned near impossible to kill. That same Tom on the same day is easier to kill when he’s alone.


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One in the late morning or middle of day is sometimes easy. You usually won't hear a lot of gobbling but, if you can get one to gobble and figure out where he is. It will be a lot of times an easier bird. I call it putting a puzzle together. You just got to get all the pieces to fit together.

I’ve only killed Easterns. Seems from reading multiple replies from all over, guys out west claim their Merriams are harder than an Eastern. And.. the guys out east claim Easterns are harder than a Merriams. Lol

I hunt in GA mostly. The hunting in my neck of public woods has become a **** show over the past 5yrs or so…. The crowds are extreme and the birds are becoming more and more sparse. It’s tough hunting. I’ve had access to land in the Midwest for quite some time. I’ve only gone up to deer hunt. Never had an interest until last season to hunt turkeys up there. I just wanted a change of pace and to get away from the 2am wake ups to drive 20 min to beat the masses to a gate BS.. I drew a permit up north last season.

Well… those Easterns were the easiest turkeys I’ve ever hunted. Tagged out with my one bird easily. He was a dandy too. Big bodied rascal. Hard gobbling like home, but.. not pressured out the you know what. It was like taking candy from a baby compared to what I’m use to hunting at home.

Jbird22 wrote: ↑February 15th, 2022, 2:02 pm

hoobilly wrote: ↑February 15th, 2022, 1:54 pm

Jbird22 wrote: ↑February 15th, 2022, 12:28 pm Easiest to kill - any of them that come running to a call ... Hardest to kill - one that came running to a call and gets shot at, but not killed

Easiest to kill is land that no one can hunt

Which in turn makes it also the hardest

That's some wisdom right there! You sure you're not from South MS?

I’ve yet to hunt Mississippi
Hopefully soon enough

hoobilly wrote: ↑February 16th, 2022, 9:01 am

Jbird22 wrote: ↑February 15th, 2022, 2:02 pm

hoobilly wrote: ↑February 15th, 2022, 1:54 pm

Easiest to kill is land that no one can hunt

Which in turn makes it also the hardest

That's some wisdom right there! You sure you're not from South MS?

I’ve yet to hunt Mississippi
Hopefully soon enough

You've got the right mindset for it..lol