Best time to hunt New Mexico

[WW]

Is the early season or Late season better to turkey hunt New Mexico and why?

[GobbleNut]

My rules:
Avoid the first two weekends, but go as early in the season as you can. Why:  more vocal and callable gobblers out there that haven't been messed with yet.
Plan on a minimum of three days for your hunt,....and more is better.  Why:  weather can really screw things up, especially the wind.  It also may take at least that long to figure out how to hunt these birds.
Late season:  always still plenty of gobblers out there for those that know how to find them.  Allow more hunting time:  it may take several days to figure them out and/or find callable birds. 
Get in shape:  most Merriams hunting (public land) occurs at high elevations and in mountainous country.  Being able to climb mountains is pretty much essential.

[WW]

Thanks gobblenut! But why do you avoid the first two weekends?

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

I'll second what GobbleNut said.  Our season is relatively short, running a fixed 26 days from April 15 to May 10 every year, and New Mexico spans a pretty large latitude.  Think southern Georgia to the Kentucky and Virginia borders.  So where in the state you hunt, the kind of winter we've had, and the elevation can be a big factor in the conditions in the different National Forests.  The first full weekend will be a zoo, especially near any of the National Forest roads where the annual parade of road hunting ATVs is taking place.

[mightyjoeyoung]

This sounds like the PA season exactly, save for the cactus,  snakes and heat.  First 2 weeks on public land is an absolute ZOO.  You're competing with more hunters than birds sometimes it seems...

[GobbleNut]

Thanks gobblenut! But why do you avoid the first two weekends?

See "zoo" comments from others above....