# Utah Turkey Info



## jc3000 (Feb 9, 2015)

I have a few questions about habitat and habits of turkeys in Utah. I just moved here in August so I am in the learning phase once again. I did a ton of turkey hunting in eastern WA and CO.

Are most of the turkeys in UT merriams? It didn't seem like there is a ton of river bottom habitat for rios. 

I have been reading that there is decent hunting in the souther portion of UT and on one of the distribution maps it looks liked the mountain ranges along I-15, south of Utah county had turkey population. Do you have to get to high enough elevations to find them, like where the pines start? I had to drive down to St. George for work last weekend and was checking out the landscape on my drive. All I saw in the hills were the smaller juniper trees. Seemed way to small for roosting, which is why I was guessing they would be at higher elevations.

One last question. I am going to start getting out on the weekend (since chukar hunting is over soon) to scout. Is it worth looking into areas in Northern UT, or should I head south. Driving a few hours is not a big deal -- we drove 3 hours to hunt turkeys in CO and 6 hours to hunt them in WA. I would rather drive a little farther and get into more birds.

PS - I really like what I have seen so far (archery elk and chukar). It is much easier to get away from people compared to WA and CO. Just my opinion.


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## polarbear (Aug 1, 2011)

Where are you located up north? I know there are quite a few turkeys in the Wellsville Mtns. and surrounding areas near Logan. There are also plenty in Utah County if you don't want to drive terribly far. PM me, and I'll share a couple areas. I'll shut up now because there are some REAL turkey experts on here that will give you way better answers.


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## polarbear (Aug 1, 2011)

PM Sent.


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

I'm definitely not one of the self proclaimed experts, but Merriam's usually tend to be in mountainous areas anywhere from 6,000' to 9,000'. Their typical hang out areas are where there is oak brush and ponderosa pine. You will also find them in the spruce elevations as well. Hens generally like to nest in the higher elevations.

There are some Rio's in UT, some will argue there are not any pure Rio's or Merriam's anywhere in the West but are really all hybrids. Probably true in some areas but there are some places in UT where Rio's and Merriam's do exist.


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

We have the same turkeys as WA and CO. No, they are not mostly Merriams. We have a very few Merriams. The habitat is about the same as CO but a little different than WA. The thing to remember is that turkeys are turkeys and you hunt them the same way. Although there are turkeys all over the state...not so much in the dry Western mountains...the southern half of the state has a MUCH larger population and much more public land. Just do your scouting and you'll find some birds to hunt. Good luck.


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## jc3000 (Feb 9, 2015)

The habitat here in UT is completely different than what I hunted in CO. We were out in eastern CO hunting the river bottoms. The birds there were very easy to locate and did not move much. I'm guessing the birds here in UT are similar to what we experienced in WA, which involved a lot more "hunting."


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## BPturkeys (Sep 13, 2007)

Sorry about the "habitat in CO being about the same as UT" comment, I was only thinking about Western CO for some reason. 
But as I said, head south. More birds, more public land to hunt them on. Might take a few trips to get to know the areas but in the long run, you'll have much more success.


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## jc3000 (Feb 9, 2015)

That's how it was in WA. We could hunt them about and hour or two from the house, but we would see way more birds if we drove five to six hours. 

Can anyone that is familiar the southern regions PM me? I am trying to plan some scouting trips down south in the next few weeks.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Just follow the creek bottoms up to the snow line and you should find birds. Buy the time that the season starts most of the snow will be gone in the southern regions and the birds will be in the high mountain meadows strutting their stuff.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Critter said:


> Just follow the creek bottoms up to the snow line and you should find birds. Buy the time that the season starts most of the snow will be gone in the southern regions and the birds will be in the high mountain meadows strutting their stuff.


Pretty good advice for the east side of I15, on the west side of I15 and south of highway 56 they stay in the cedars and sage, they will roost in the bigger cedars, look for canyons with cottonwoods, they like to roost there too.


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