Hello,all. I'm very pleased to be among such fine company. I'm from Michigan and my son and I are starting the first leg of our slam in a few weeks. We're headed to New Mexico to hunt merrimums. It's a guided hunt on private around the apache sitgreaves. We've never been to the southwest before and ate super excited. Any advice or tips would be appreciated.
Get in shape and hydrate. The southwest is a different animal than Michigan.
Good luck!
At 76 years old did a WY Merriam hunt. My avatar is the result. The merriam is a beautiful bird. Enjoy the scenery and the experience. Hunt areas a hundred acres at a time and don't let the vastness overwhelm you. Good luck.
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Merriam's are what you are after. Not merrimums, it's a guys name. AKA Spring Whitetails. :)
Roost them in the evening so you know where to start in the morning. Use a crow call or coyote howler, I prefer the howler but others the crow. A barred owl doesn't seem to work as well.
They can roost in the same area but IME most times they don't. Some of that can depend on the cover in the area. I like to say...If you know where they roosted this morning, your know where the won't roost this evening.
Contrary to what you hear about easterns, I like to set up just below roosted birds.
Sometime between 8:00 and 10:00 the flock is very likely to head to water, that usually means downhill or a guzzler. Not a hard and fast rule but a good bet..
The Indian's would not even waist lead or arrows on them turkeys out there. They would send the village children to kill them with rocks :D Should be no problem. :fud:
Sorry tree rooster, I didn't explain very very well. I'm not a new turkey hunter, I'm a new western turkey hunter,lol. They tell me the hardest part is just finding them in that huge country.
Quote from: Up Hill on March 24, 2024, 04:28:38 PM
Sorry tree rooster, I didn't explain very very well. I'm not a new turkey hunter, I'm a new western turkey hunter,lol. They tell me the hardest part is just finding them in that huge country.
Tried to be light hearted but still trying to educate a bit. See that name butcherd often.
Yes they are thin in wide open country, that's why I suggested roosting. Pretty country in the Ponderosa Pine habitat where you are likely headed. They can travel fairly fast too at times so being at least close to them in the morning is an advantage.
Quote from: Up Hill on March 24, 2024, 03:25:47 PM
Hello,all. I'm very pleased to be among such fine company. I'm from Michigan and my son and I are starting the first leg of our slam in a few weeks. We're headed to New Mexico to hunt merrimums. It's a guided hunt on private around the apache sitgreaves. We've never been to the southwest before and ate super excited. Any advice or tips would be appreciated.
If you are on a guided hunt on private ground, I would not worry about having to do any of the work usually associated with finding gobblers to hunt in this western country. You will most likely be put right where you need to be. :icon_thumright:
Figured we'd go guided first and learn how to hunt them there then go back and give them a go ourselves in the Gila or Apache Sitgreaves
Quote from: Up Hill on March 25, 2024, 02:11:41 PM
Figured we'd go guided first and learn how to hunt them there then go back and give them a go ourselves in the Gila or Apache Sitgreaves
Private land hunting and public land hunting are two entirely different critters out here, and especially in that area. It will definitely be a different ballgame when you come back and hunt public. Public birds are usually way scattered out and way pressured. Unless someone tells you exactly where turkeys are in that country, it most often takes some very specific locating tactics and covering lots of country to find them. ...And then the ones you find are usually so willing to gobble that you will be lucky if nobody else is hunting them.
GobbleNut speak the truth on that!
Never would have figured that public would be so pressured out there. Maybe hunting during the weekdays would help. Here in Michigan, it makes all the difference
Quote from: Up Hill on March 25, 2024, 04:20:25 PM
Never would have figured that public would be so pressured out there. Maybe hunting during the weekdays would help. Here in Michigan, it makes all the difference
Week days and later in the season should definitely make a difference in terms of the pressure. Unfortunately, the "suicide gobblers" mostly have been killed, and the rest have been scared out of their wits on a pretty regular basis by too many folks that don't have a clue what they are doing. ...Like everywhere else, I suppose.
The newfound "fad" of spring gobbler hunting by the masses has taken its toll wherever one hunts...on public land, at least. You made a wise decision to try to get your first Merriam's on private stuff. :icon_thumright: :)
Sounds like merriam's have more in common with elk than easterns,lol
Often finding elk will find you some gobblers!
I've only been hunting out here a handful of years and am shocked at the pressure, but the birds are not everywhere and lots of folks know where they are.
I always manage to call in my share though.
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I've hunted for many years in both AZ and NM and often both states. The Gila NF and the Apache Sitgreaves NF are the same country, but the hunting in AZ is better in my opinion as it's a 1 bird draw hunt whereas NM is a 2 bird over the counter hunt.
You will definitely need to cover a lot of country and use locator calls to find birds.
I will say there seem to be a lot of guys cruising the logging roads with a buddy literally riding shotgun on the passenger side. I've even witnessed twice guys stopping to shoot off the blacktop US 191 as I was headed into town.
Locate birds and be willing to hike in after you've found them away from the numbnut road hunters and you can have a very rewarding hunt in some beautiful country.
I've seen several bears, one mountain lion, tons of elk, Coues deer, a few wolves along with sheep.
Merriams hunting in the mountains of CO, NM and AZ is pretty special and especially rewarding when you find the birds, do some strenuous hiking and get to take one of those beautiful birds.