NM Turkey

[masonbanta]

Was looking into expanding a little further west during turkey season and trying for a Merriam. Looking North Central, are they as vocal as Rio's? Looking more for advice on how to hunt them in the mountains since most of my turkeys come from a creek bottom or a pasture here in OK. Share your stories if you want.

 

[Chaser96]

I haven’t hunted New Mexico yet but I have chased Merriams a few times. For the most part they are just as vocal as Rios but in my experience they seem to gobble at you without coming more often than Rios do. Have hunted some mountain merriams but not a lot. My basic tactic is find good looking areas on a map (creek drainages and meadows away from roads) and get to a high point where I can cover the ground with my ears. You can hear them from a long ways off if you’re in the right spot. Once you find birds it’s just turkey hunting. Try to decide where they want to be and get at least close to that spot. They will cover lots of ground. Chasing along behind them usually isn’t going to be very productive but they typically will gobble enough to keep you in the game. If you can find birds I don’t think you will have too much trouble killing them. If you hunt them on the roost one day and they run out of the country on you, set up on that side of them the next morning and you will typically be in business


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[masonbanta]

Awesome thanks!

 

[Austink47]

My advice is cover ground until you find birds that are talkative. Activity varies from one drainage to the next. My favorite habitat is burned or thinned Ponderosa, water and small canyons they can fly across are a bonus. If I was making a trip I would look at the last couple of weeks of the season, less people, better weather. When I had a bird working, I would keep him talking and close as much distance as possible without getting busted. They seem to have ADHD but, so do I so I loved it.

 

[masonbanta]

I think my adhd is why I like hunting turkey and ducks

 

[Rogue Bay]

At least where I was in northwestern Montana the Merriam’s were much more vocal than the Rios I grew up hunting. I had an absolute blast with the Merriam’s. But, there also wasn’t nearly as much hunting pressure there as many other areas of the country so take that with a grain of salt.

As Austink47 said, the late season was always the most productive for me. Those big, lonely toms really seemed to let their guard down toward the end. My biggest tom and my wife’s biggest tom both came on last day hunts.

 

[dtrkyman]

Turkeys are pretty patchy in NM. Most of the areas that hold birds get a fair amount of pressure, more than I expected when I moved here.

I tried a walk in only place last year and it was a zoo!

I have enough options for spots that I can get on birds pretty regularly but they are not always left alone, too much road access in many spots here.