New Mexico Merriam

[Vaturkeyhntr]

Just returned from a trip to the Lincoln National Forest with a couple others and man I have a whole new respect to anyone who hunts out west or regularly hunts in the mountains.  Long story short I found this guy, another gobbler and 2 hens hanging out in a old forest fire area that had some green grass coming up at about 8,000 ft elevation around 8am.  I was able to get in front of the birds which seemed to be the ticket since they were so henned up.  This bird made it to about 15 yards uphill from me and finally gave me a shot.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Marc]

Beautiful country and beautiful bird!

Does not look like a typical Merriam as I have seen though?  Rio or eastern hybrid???

[GobbleNut]

Congrats on your NM success.  That background looks real familiar.  Your gobbler is a bit darker than the typical bird from this area.  We killed one a little farther north than where you were that was even darker than that one.  Our Merriam's vary a bunch in coloration in the Lincoln.  Glad you had a good hunt!

[JMalin]

It really makes it rewarding when you have to work just to get to them, much less get one to play ball.  Congrats on your bird.  It's a totally different ballgame and it took a lot of struggling before I felt confident hunting those mountains (been hunting the Lincoln four years now and I'm still humbled by those birds each time I go).

[tomstopper]

Congrats on a nice one

[joey46]

Congrats!  As much as I'd like to get out there the altitude scares me a little.  Beautiful bird and country.

[Yoteduster]

Congrats on a really nice bird and am glad you broke the ice on high country merriam's

[Rapscallion Vermilion]

Well done.  Definitely a challenge to score on your first trip out here.  When people think of the typical Merriam's they are most used to the Gila or SE Arizona birds with the whiter tail band.  The Gila and Lincoln Merriam's have been separated for 10s of thousands of years, so coloration differences can be expected.  I've seen a couple of Merriam's in the Lincoln that were as dark as yours. 

[Vaturkeyhntr]

Yea between 5 of us in camp all of our birds ranged from the bird I got to your typical white tipped Merriam.  The other gobbler that was with mine had white tips, but at the time of the shot I wasn't too worried about his coloring haha.

[makestomstremble]

Congrats on a beautiful bird. Great pictures too.

[nebgoosehunter]

Congrats!  Great pics!

[FL-Boss]

I just got back from NM. Killed one at 9,000 feet - there is nothing like it. 
But my lungs are happy to be back at sea level in Fla