NM Merriams..Best tips ??

[Tomfoolery]

I wanted to try SD as well but girlfriend has friends here and a shorter drive. Plus I get to see mountains. Saw my first two elk this am. Already planning a return.

Will be making first hunt shortly.

Awesome man. I'm from louisiana also. I've been to the mountains a few times chasing mule deer. Love it. But I wanna try the spring. Next spring can't get here fast enough.  Good luck and watch for elk sheds!

[JMalin]

Finding birds isn't too hard (at least, it wasn't for me).  Any area that has reliable source of water will have them and they gobble like crazy from the roost.  Finding a bird that will be receptive to your calls is an entirely different story.  I'd recommend getting high and staying high on a ridge.  Pack some trail mix, jerky, and a two quarts of water and prepare to work for them.  I'm relatively young and in pretty good shape and dropping down from one ridge to get on the next one isn't something I'd recommend.  I didn't feel it was a lack of oxygen as much as it was just the steepness of the faces of the mountains I climbed.  Just stay high and keep pressing forward whichever direction your ridge runs. 

[Crawl79]

Birds roost in different areas and can move from canyon to canyon every day. If sign isn't extremely fresh don't trust it but better than no sign for sure. 

Birds roost 2/3 to 1/2 up ridges. If possible get right above them. Had one hunt where we got too close and setup eye level with 4 jakes. They dropped down right below me and came into setup and looked for me at 10 steps never spooking. They are wary but not as wary as easterns.

Look for ridges that have meadows and water holes. Never seen any birds in low farm pastures but they love eating dandelions in the meadows and normally go straight to water when they come down from roost.

Keep eye out for sheds.

When hunting with guide we messed up a few times by getting way to close. The terrain is open in some areas and thick in others but birds have no problem traveling and fast. Both times we busted birds I had just stopped and told the guide I thought we should stop and get setup.

Birds seem to respond better to sweet calling as opposed to raspy calls. A good box call that is not raspy is a must.  Although I had some luck getting birds to gobble cutting hard on a mouth call.
Crow call is a must. I read on here before I left that birds didn't gobble at owls but that wasn't the case. Wish I would have had one with me. They gobbled at the Owls early and normally with plenty of time to setup.

Probably can think of more tips and post them later. I have been hunting public land out of state for a while but hunting with some locals for first time here was a plus. Learned allot quick.

[Crawl79]

dropping down from one ridge to get on the next one isn't something I'd recommend.  I didn't feel it was a lack of oxygen as much as it was just the steepness of the faces of the mountains I climbed.  Just stay high and keep pressing forward whichever direction your ridge runs.

Totally agree, we tried to get at their level o a little higher and work that level. The one day we went up and down ridges I had the guide stopping to rest. I guess all the time at the gym the last 8 months helped.

We did hunt higher up one morning at close to 9000 feet and I was gasping for air but hunting at 7-8 was not an issue for me as long as didn't have to climb too many canyons and hills.

[Tomfoolery]

Beautiful birds and thanks for the updates.  How was hunter pressure there on public land? I think we are set on south dakota next year but nothing is in stone.

[Crawl79]

Beautiful birds and thanks for the updates.  How was hunter pressure there on public land? I think we are set on south dakota next year but nothing is in stone.

Didn't see many out of state license plates but every forest rd that was still closed due to elk calving had New Mexico trucks parked at the gates.  Locals told me that towards end of season those rds may be opened up and some fresh birds could be available. But at least for now you would have to walk a long ways to get to some birds that haven't had pressure and no set date when roads could open so hard to plan OOS hunt around that.

Competition was high even on private land and besides my luck with the rancher most locals aren't friendly compared to where I am from. Even among the guides at camp it was tight lipped about where to hunt and I could tell that there was some frustration about turkey hunting rights and leasing of property among the outfitters and guides. We were driving 45 miles or more to get to best areas on public and private and we were already lodged in a good area and less than 2 weeks into the season. Had two other guys in camp. One killed two birds, a jake and mature bird and other had zero after 3 days of hard hunting.

Outfitter knew up front that my plan was to learn how to hunt these birds so I could come back on my own and hunt public next year. I told him that the first time we talked luckily he came through and set me up with a local guide and it was expensive for someone who normally hunts public land alone but worth it to me in the long run.

[Texforce]

WOW - Great stuff, and Congrats on a successful hunt. This has been a great thread, gentlemen - & I so appreciate all of the awesome info. Good Huntin'

[cramerhunts]

I'd say that was a very successful trip! Congratulations to you on a couple of dandy birds.

[Crawl79]

Another thing to remember is the weather can turn sour very quick in that part of the country and you will need to be prepared especially if plan on hunting public land and want to get to birds that have not been busted up by hunters yet.