Drought New Mexico

[Swampmonkey]

Has anyone from New Mexico or someone that went this year seen dry conditions that were enough to affect hunting and/or probably affect recruitment? Have talked to some people that hunted out there this year that said it was as dry as they had ever seen and honestly felt like the turkeys were in survival mode. It never even crossed my mind that it could get dry enough to really affect the hunting but then again I only hunt out there every now and again.

[Dtrkyman]

We basically had no snow pack, so run off was non existent!  We had some wet weather recently but not enough to catch up!

Not sure what effect it will have on recruitment, we shall see.

We need a bomber monsoon season or lot's of critters are going to be in trouble!

Have not checked lately, but prior to season we were at less than 50% of total snow fall, several roads were open for season that are typically closed, I drove right up a road to a mesa that typically has several feet of snow on it around the opener!

[Tail Feathers]

I've read where Rios in S. Texas didn't breed during a severe drought over the course of a spring.  Seems like it was the big drought of 2011.  Evidently it is a survival mechanism for turkeys to not reproduce in those cases.

[Dtrkyman]

There was definitely breeding going on in New Mexico and Southern Colorado so we shall see what happens.

Basically have been in a drought for years, 24 spring had tons of snow, however the warm up was really quick and intense and by mid summer that moisture was gone!

[Happy]

I would love to send y'all some of the rain we have been getting. Pretty sure it has rained at least 10-11 of the last 14 days.

[Swampmonkey]

That's a shame. I hunted Arizona this year and it was dry but not to that level. Tanks still had water and most of the draws were green. The oaks with any kind of elevation looked dead though. And there was definitely breeding going on over there.

[GobbleNut]

I've lived in NM all my life and the range conditions are the worst I have ever seen...at least across the southern part of the state.  Our desert areas are like the Sahara. In the mountains, many reliable springs are drying up, and the dirt tanks scattered about the region are all bone dry...resulting in less available water sources for wildlife, a critical element out here.

The turkeys are definitely being impacted. The gobblers our hunting group tagged this spring all averaged three to five pounds lighter than what they would typically weigh. I'm not sure how brood production will be impacted as dry conditions sometimes benefit poult survival here, but we are well beyond what we usually consider to be "dry conditions". Things definitely do not look good.

I'm sure the drought conditions probably have impacted the hunting to some degree, but the biggest thing impacting hunting here has been the steadily-increasing hunter pressure over the last decade or so. Gobbler numbers are way down in a lot of places due to the fact that more of them are getting killed each spring. Combine that with the worsening drought conditions out this way and the prognosis for the future is not good.

[PalmettoRon]

Hate to hear that. Hopefully monsoons bring needed rain, but without a ton of lightning as conditions sound ripe for a terrible fire season ahead.

[Old Timer]

I would love to send y'all some of the rain we have been getting. Pretty sure it has rained at least 10-11 of the last 14 days.

here in the northeast that's  the story rain! Just a wet ,wet season. Toms are still penned up.

[deathfoot]

Someone invite me to New Mexico. Guaranteed rain or snow. Never fails when I travel. As my friends tell me every spring...I bring the rain lol

[Greg Massey]

I would love to send y'all some of the rain we have been getting. Pretty sure it has rained at least 10-11 of the last 14 days.

here in the northeast that's  the story rain! Just a wet ,wet season. Toms are still penned up.

X3 ... Plenty of rain and storms after storms this past spring ... WE have not had 4 pretty consecutive days in months ...

[Dtrkyman]

Getting some storms, but localized and intense!


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