Is the early season or Late season better to turkey hunt New Mexico and why?
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.
Thanks gobblenut! But why do you avoid the first two weekends?
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.
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...
Quote from: WW on February 18, 2018, 10:29:39 AM
Thanks gobblenut! But why do you avoid the first two weekends?
See "zoo" comments from others above.... ;D