Kalispell hunter Josh Clark set out this spring to take a Merriamâs turkey. Little did he know he would not only meet his goal, but pull off a truly unique double harvest on the same day.
Montanaâs two sub-species of turkeys are largely separated by geography, with the Eastern variety concentrated in the northwest and Merriamâs plentiful in much of the rest of the state. While each subspecies has a few distinct differences, most hunters identify the birds based on coloration, with Easterns sporting chestnut-brown tips on their tail feathers and Merriamâs having light to nearly white-tipped tail feathers.