If you say so ! I have shot Rio's in central Kansas that where almost white I guess they were Merriam's . I have also shot Merriam's in the mountains of New Mexico that were beige this is an isolated population and is from supposed true Merriam stock but I guess they were Rio's. I have shot some in Nebraska near the Rio crosses and they were almost all more the white color in if fact shot two in the same valley where one had the darker beige tail and lower covert tail feathers like a Rio and the other the almost white like Goulds I wonder which was which.In fact while in Nebraska I saw the whitest colored tail feathers strutting along side the highway where its supposed to be easterns/merriam's crosses! And to add even more confusion I hunted in the middle of Texas where they are supposed to be pure Rio's and guess what shot one that had way more white coloring to it.HarleyRiders97 wrote: ↑February 10th, 2018, 4:37 pmA true Merriams is not buffed color but rather more white, like a Goulds. The buffs are a mixture of Rio Grande and Merriams. Hold out for the whitest one you can find!timbrhuntr wrote: ↑February 6th, 2018, 10:31 pm Not sure if gobblenut on here and his son still do Merriam hunts but if he does he has great spot in the new Mexico mountains with true buff colored Merriam.
I would still hold out for the whitest one I could find and not because that means its a true Merrian's but just that the white looks cool !