This jake was shot in northern Minnesota this morning. If I hadn't watched it get shot, I'd of guessed it was a picture of a Merriam's. We get the occasional bird around here with a fan like that. I'm not sure if there is some domestic influence, or maybe at some point some subspecies other than Easterns were released somewhere and their genetics got mixed in. I know that some birds a few hours south of here used to occasionally have very similar fans. Anyway, I thought it was interesting.

Here we call them Merriam's. Looks like one I know Eastern are close in looks, I guess anyway they are. I thought the Eastern have more of a buff color tips. Some of ours have a buff not snow white tips also.

This is what I'm used to seeing in an Eastern turkey fan.

Yep that’s not an eastern in the first pic. Probably some domestic mixed in. Cool looking bird no matter what it is.

Domestic mixed in is my best guess too. The kid that killed it was very happy that it looked different. Its his first turkey, and he's proud as a peacock.

Use to see those colors in Arkansas alot when I saw a few Merriam's in a flock. Saw lots of turkeys and hogs when trapping there years ago.

Aaron Proffitt just killed one that looked like that. I thought it was a Merriams but he said it was a Rio Grande. The one in your picture could be an eastern with domestic influence though.

Dead turkey. The best kind for eatin'.

I used to hunt the reservations in Nebraska Santee and Winnebago we would kill turkey's that looked like that, they called them Merriam but talking with the Chiefs, they also on both tribe's said they were cross bred hybrids that both Merriam and eastern were stocked and I don't doubt a bit if Rio's weren't hiding in the wood pile as well.

That is a merriams or a domestic that is very close to a merriams. That’s all we have here and that is exactly the color pattern of our merriams.

Interesting Merriam's factoid.

It is our only wild subspecies that originated from domestic stock. It is beloeved to derive from a semidomesticated population in central Mexico that got to the southwest via native american trade long before Columbus. They are also the last remnant of a "lost" subspecies as the central Mexico subspecies was domesticated out of existance and is the source stock of all modern domestic turkeys.

Looks like my neighbors turkey that lives in my yard.

Merriams or a cross

Congrats