Every turkey hunter (and heck, plenty of non-turkey hunters, too) has heard of the turkey Grand Slam, the pinnacle and crown jewel of our community. 

The turkey hunting grand slam involves a hunter successfully harvesting and registering with the National Wild Turkey Foundation all four of the North American wild turkey species: the Eastern, Rio Grande, Merriam’s, and Osceola. 

All these different turkey species live in various parts of the United States, in vastly different terrain — naturally. You didn’t think this would be easy, did you? 

There are no set rules about how long a hunter has to complete his turkey grand slam; it can literally be within his lifetime. 

However, many ambitious turkey hunters set their sights on completing their slam in one spring. My personal advice is to not put that pressure on yourself. Knocking out a turkey hunting grand slam all in one season takes a tremendous amount of free time and resources…that most hunters do not have. 

Instead, take your time and spread it out over a few years, maybe one subspecies per spring. Trust me, from my experience, trying to cover that many states and hunts in one season makes for a very exhausting spring that can lose its luster quickly. 

Hybrids & the Turkey Grand Slam

As with anything else, there are some gray areas when it comes to what officially constitutes a true subspecies. This is mostly due to “hybrids” being created as a result of certain management practices and relocation of turkeys to areas that originally lacked a huntable population. Many states, like Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska, produce a fair number of hybrids every spring. 

Typically, hybrids exist in regions where two different turkey species cross paths. Several years ago, I remember calling in three longbeards in northern Nebraska. One bird was definitely a true Merriam’s, while the other two were Rios. It was definitely a sight to see!

Importantly, hybrids are not recognized by the National Wild Turkey Federation and do not count towards your grand slam.

Different Turkey Species for the Turkey Hunting Grand Slam

The first step in pursuing your turkey hunting Grand Slam is knowing the four subspecies. This means not only identifying them, but also learning about the states they live in, their habitat, and general characteristics of each turkey. 

Eastern Wild Turkey

The Eastern wild turkey is one of the most abundant subspecies. Because of that, and with no shortage of places to harvest them, they’re perhaps the easiest to obtain. Unsurprisingly, many hunters start their turkey grand slam with an Eastern.

Their range covers most of the eastern half of the US, from Florida to Maine, west to the Minnesota-Dakotas line, and south along the edges of the Plains states to east Texas. There is, however, also a small huntable population in western Washington state. 

Easterns are definitely at home in the thick forest of the eastern and southern states, and a familiar symbol of the outdoors in many states. I remember harvesting my first Eastern longbeard at a very young age while hunting the Alabama river bottoms near Monroeville with my father. Hearing the gobble of an Eastern break the morning silence while the mist rose off the river edge will always be a cherished memory of mine. 

A male Eastern wild turkey is easily distinguished by his dark iridescent plumage and the unmistakable chestnut coloring on his tail fan and feather tips. The wing feathers on an Eastern are very similar to other subspecies, white and black barred feathers. 

Rio Grande Wild Turkey

The Rio Grande, most commonly called simply a “Rio,” is the second most abundant of all the different turkey species. Their range covers all of Texas up through the panhandles of Oklahoma and Kansas, west to New Mexico, and Oregon and parts of western California. 

Several wild turkey relocation projects have had great success specifically with the Rio, which is part of why you see them in somewhat sporadic areas — like the Pacific Northwest, but nowhere between there and Kansas. Due to major relocations of this subspecies, this is a perfect example of where hybrids come into play. 

Rios cross-breed with Merriams in parts of Nebraska and western states, along with Easterns in eastern Oklahoma and Kansas. In the late 1950’s, Rios were introduced to the Hawaiian islands and the introduction was extremely successful, ultimately resulting in a very huntable population. 

Can you imagine how magical hunting turkeys in Hawaii would be?! Definitely one of my bucket list adventures! 

I remember my first Rio, while hunting the cactus-filled South Texas Senderos. The way that longbeard seemed to just float through the mesquite trees and cactus while strutting was an unforgettable sight! 

Male Rio longbeards are easily recognizable due to their green-coppery plumage and light tan coloring on the feather tips, lower back, and tail fan tips.

Merriam’s Wild Turkey

Merriam’s wild turkeys, often called “Merriam,” comes in third on the list of different turkey species as far as population abundance and huntable areas. 

Their range covers the Rocky Mountains and surrounding prairies of Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. There are also huntable populations in areas of New Mexico and Arizona. 

The Merriam’s are a favorite among turkey hunters due to their size and coloring. They’re sometimes referred to as the “snow balls of the west,” due to their bright white feather tips being visible from long distances across the open areas of western terrain. 

My first Merriam came from a super short hunting trip, just 1.5 days, in Chadron State Park in the northwest corner of Nebraska. It was my first trip hunting Merriams and honestly, the 15-hour drive each way made me wonder if the trip was really going to be worth it.

But the moment I set eyes on my first Merriam’s longbeard strutting his way up out of a creek bottom, I was hooked. 

Every single year since that trip, I’ve traveled back to Nebraska just to fulfill the urge of simply seeing Merriams in the wild. It has to be prettiest, in my humble opinion, of the four turkey subspecies, with their black-tip breast feathers and plumage along with solid bright white lower back feathers and tail fan tips.

I’m not alone in this, as many hunters aspire to check a Merriam’s off their turkey grand slam checklist ASAP.

Osceola Wild Turkey

Finally, we have the Osceola wild turkey, hands-down the hardest to obtain of all the different turkey species in North America. The Osceola is the least abundant of these subspecies, simply for the fact that they only live on the Florida Peninsula. 

They’re known for being significantly harder to call in and fool, plus there isn’t a whole lot of public hunting ground to harvest them on. This results in having to hunt Osceolas privately or with an outfitter. 

All these factors make for an extremely hard turkey to obtain for the average turkey hunter, which is why most hunters hold out for the Osceola as their last turkey to harvest on the Grand Slam journey. But with the right planning and budgeting, it is definitely doable!

One of the beauties of the Osceola turkey is its hunting season. It’s the first turkey season to open up every spring, a good month or so before most other state’s seasons. This gives hunters the ability to plan a specific Osceola turkey hunt without interfering with their normal spring season and routines. 

I’ve actually been in the process of budgeting for my very own Osceola hunt, and can’t wait for the day I can seal the deal on my own Grand Slam!

Whether you’re interested in the turkey Grand Slam or not, I highly recommend getting out and experiencing firsthand the great numbers of wild turkeys we have right here in the United States. 

Each subspecies hunt is a unique, memorable experience, due to the different landscapes and terrain you’ll get to enjoy. I’ve been very fortunate to hunt in some magical places and meet some amazing people on my travels chasing longbeards across this great country of ours.