Hardest bird to kill???

[Fire652]

Osceola is the hardest.
Eastern is next
Rio was the hardest for my slam but there are plenty of birds and they do respond to calls well
Miriam's are the easiest that I have hunted. Respond well to call and they will cross anything to get to a hen

I joke all the time about eastern s getting hung up on a rock in a hay field. But during season I begin to wonder if this is a joke


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[davisd9]

Southeastern Eastern then Osceolas.

Have hunted a Rios and they were just fun. Have heard Merriams are the easiest.


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[TRG3]

I've only had the opportunity to hunt the Eastern turkey and the most difficult one to take of that species is the dominate bird. For most part, in the first four Southern Illinois seasons (spread through April 3-April 26 this spring), he has his subordinates to do his bidding concerning confronting other gobblers and available hens want to cuddle up to him for breeding. In these seasons, he can become almost untouchable. Very late in the breeding season, he becomes more vulnerable when fewer hens are responding to his gobbles. At this point, the sound of a willing hen coupled with that of an intruder gobbler often will overcome his reluctance to stand his ground and he may come on in. In Southern Illinois, the 5th and final spring season (April 27-May 4 this spring) is the most likely time to produce an opportunity to take a dominate gobbler. While it's my favorite of the five seasons to hunt, if the breeding is over there's no activity and hunting is extremely difficult.

[darn2ten]

I grew up hunting public land Osceolas. I now live in Tennessee and have hunted easterns here, in Georgia, and Alabama. By far Osceolas are tougher.

[Lucky_Strutter]

Mississippi Public land easterns get pretty tough to hunt around April, they become ghost after being hit by the Arkansas horde.

[Tomfoolery]

Mississippi Public land easterns get pretty tough to hunt around April, they become ghost after being hit by the Arkansas horde.

Had some arkansas boys driving around down here saturday. Talk about educate some birds!!

[GobbleNut]

Depends a lot on hunting pressure, population,and the experience level of the hunter.
All things being equal and on public land I'd say
1.Osceola  fragmented habitat and limited public land.
2.Eastern hard hunted public land easterns are as tough as anything in north America.
3.Rio depending on state you can find huge populations in some areas making them easier just by numbers.
4.Merriams no offense to the bird or his home area but I've found them to be some were between a wild turkey and a tame turkey not overly cautious and willing to come to call from a distance, also the open habitat makes seeing them easier.
These are generalizations any one of the 4 could leave you dazed and confused given the right circumstance.

Good summary.  I agree for the most part, especially with the last statement.  There are so many factors that influence a gobbler's willingness to cooperate with a turkey hunter, regardless of subspecies, that making comparisons is nothing more than good conversation. 

If we could put equal numbers of birds in equivalent conditions,...that is, similar habitat, same weather conditions, same time in the breeding season, same hunting pressure exposure, and same hunter ability,...it would indeed be interesting to see what the results would be in such an experiment. 

Until that time, the question of which is hardest to kill is nothing more than rhetorical. 

[Spitten and drummen]

Mississippi Public land easterns get pretty tough to hunt around April, they become ghost after being hit by the Arkansas horde.

well said and spot on. If you can kill a Mississippi or Alabama public land bird consistently , you can kill birds anywhere.

[joker]

Maryland public land eastern. For my first md public land hunt I went to the WMA the night before season to roost one. I was the only truck there. The next morning (the first day) I got there an hour early and there were 10 trucks in that parking lot!! Good luck hunting there.

[Tomfoolery]

Maryland public land eastern. For my first md public land hunt I went to the WMA the night before season to roost one. I was the only truck there. The next morning (the first day) I got there an hour early and there were 10 trucks in that parking lot!! Good luck hunting there.

10 trucks. That would be a pleasure down here lol. More like 50 trucks

[BB30]

I would tend to agree with most everything above... That being said I think it would be a tie between a Southeastern Eastern primarily LA,MS and Bama and an Osceola. Private vs public changes everything too. I do think hunting pressure plays a huge role in this as birds out west seem to get less pressure and it is easier to find places that haven't been hunted as hard. But, catch any subspecies on the right day and they can make you look like a fool or a magician.

[dublelung]

Mississippi public land Easterns can cause sleepless nights and irritable bowel syndrome. 

[stinkpickle]

Both the easiest and the hardest birds I've dealt with have been of the same subspecies.  In fact, they were from the same county, so I refuse to generalize.

[Happy]

The one that ain't dead yet.

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[HawkeyeGobbler]

The limb hanger that gobbles his head off on your neighbor's farm but refuses to budge an inch.