Hi all,
This seemed like a good question for Dave Budeau, who manages the state
upland gamebird program at ODFW. Here is his response on the status and
likely origin of Wild Turkeys in Sherman Co.
On Fri, 2015-04-03 at 16:53 +0000, David Budeau wrote:
Yes, there have been a few turkeys in Sherman Co. for some time now
(Jeremy Thompson or Mike Moore, wildlife biologists in The Dalles
ODFW office, could likely provide more specific information). The
Deschutes River is not a barrier to turkey dispersal and this is the
time of year when birds are on the move. Most of the known turkeys in
Sherman Co. are associated with the side draws on the east side of
the Deschutes R but there are a few around Grass Valley too. No
evidence they have made it as far east as the John Day R in Sherman
Co.
Turkeys in Sherman County are likely the result of natural expansion
from Wasco county where there have been turkeys since the 1960s.
Merriam's were first introduced there (Wasco Co.), followed by Rios.
Due to hybridization with the Rios, there probably aren't any pure
Merriams remaining.
