buckpasser
Senior Member
I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but beginning last year I started noticing some very different looking turkeys on the plantation I manage. We took one last year on opening day that was basically a Kansas Rio by color pattern with very much a raspy “Deep South” toned gobble.
Today I was fortunate enough to guide another successful hunt that included a group of five Toms finally breaking away from the hens and coming into my hunter. The lead Tom got shot and was a nice one (1 3/8 Spurs), but the two that we watched beat his lifeless carcass were as Rio colored as any I’ve ever seen anywhere. One was mostly buff tipped with a little on the rump and the other was completely colored buff all the way up the rump with bright buff primary and secondary fan feathers.
Two other Toms came to the gun for other hunters and they were normal chestnut coloration, so it’s not yet a majority by any means. Has anyone else experienced this?
Here’s one example.
The one from last year.
Today I was fortunate enough to guide another successful hunt that included a group of five Toms finally breaking away from the hens and coming into my hunter. The lead Tom got shot and was a nice one (1 3/8 Spurs), but the two that we watched beat his lifeless carcass were as Rio colored as any I’ve ever seen anywhere. One was mostly buff tipped with a little on the rump and the other was completely colored buff all the way up the rump with bright buff primary and secondary fan feathers.
Two other Toms came to the gun for other hunters and they were normal chestnut coloration, so it’s not yet a majority by any means. Has anyone else experienced this?
Here’s one example.
The one from last year.