NM 2009 Spring Hunt Report

[Gobblerman]

For those of you that might be thinking about trying for a Merriams gobbler, and have considered coming to New Mexico:
 
2009 spring hunt was excellent.  Lots of gobblers and lots of public land to hunt.  Many mature birds and jakes left over at the end of the season.  I'm predicting that 2010 might be the best ever here. 
 
Jim

[Bar X Bar]

I predict the same for Northern NM!  many, many birds left over.  3-6 mature toms per flock, and jakes everywhere we hunted.
In Northern NM we had a very mild winter- but plenty of moisture.  There are tens of thousands of acres that experienced wildfire 8-10 years ago- these old burns are now outstanding turkey habitat!
And we now have an added youth only weekend!!!!

Gobblerman- Did you guys get the foul weather opening weekend?  We had an 8 inch snow storm at 8000 ft.

[Gobblerman]

Hey, Ethan, sorry for the tardy response to your post....my computer went on the blink and it took a few days to get it fixed. 

We did not get hit by that weather system that you guys up north had come through.  The weather was consistently good pretty much throughout the season down south.  We didn't get any significant moisture (although we certainly could use it) and we usually get some very windy days during the season, but I don't recall a single day where the wind was really a factor. 

Good to hear that the birds are doing well up north, too.  I am amazed at how well our turkey populations are doing in recent years, at least in the areas that I hunt.  I would guess the population in the Lincoln NF has as least doubled in the last five years....maybe tripled.  We have had consistent hatches, and good poult survival, it seems, for several years now.   

I'm not sure that the southwest area is experiencing an overall upswing in turkey numbers, but I have also heard some encouraging reports from that area, as well.  It is certainly a good time to be a turkey hunter in NM!

Jim  
PS....it's good to see some activity on the NM page here!

[Bobbyparks]

Hello everyone,
 
I've just joined up here todaqy and saw your post.
 
I've hunted Merriams for 6 years and love chasing them on the beautiful ground they occupy.
 
I have thought about the areas you're mentioning but know nothing about these states so to hear this discussion is encouraging.
 
I just posted photos of our Merriams hunt in the "Photo section"
 
I look forward to becoming aquainted with you all.
 
Bobby 

[Gobblerman]

Hey, Bobby, welcome to the Forum, and thanks for stopping by here in the NM section.  Great photos over in the photo section!  Beautiful!
 
If you decide to come out this way for a Merriam's hunt, let me know...can get you headed right where you need to go.  How's the hunting in Georgia, or that general region, for Eastern's, by the way?
 
Jim

[NMblackgold]

Jim, 2009 was an awesome year in NM, lots of 2 year old birds to be had.  However, we did not see a single jake in 8 days of hunting.  I am actually worried about 2010 and 11.  Hopfully you can ease my concerns...
 
Murray

[Gobblerman]

Murray, what area were you hunting? ....southern part of the state?  ...Gila? ....Lincoln? ...Cibola?    I did see a number of jakes in the Lincoln during the season, plus the number of adult birds that were still left at the end of the season was exceptional.  Of course, those will be some tough customers come next spring, but there should be lots of gobblers around. 
 
My son has been up in the Lincoln a few times in the last month and has been seeing a good number of hens with poults, so I'm hoping we will have good recruitment this year for the two-year-old class of 2011.  ...We will see!
Jim

[NMblackgold]

Jim, I hunted an area near Weed. We were absolutely covered up with adult birds, but they were hard to get close to as it was late in the season.  I don't know if the adult birds were keeping the jakes at bay or what, but we didnt see or hear a single young bird.  Normally you can rub two sticks together and the jakes will come a runnin.   Not this year.   I am praying for a good hatch....

[Gobblerman]

I think possibly the reason the young birds were not gobbling much this year was because of the large number of adult gobblers.  I think they were being more reclusive this year in hopes of not getting a butt-whoopin' by all the adults.  Me and a buddy called in a gang of seven jakes on opening morning, but they were not making much noise and were being mighty cautious. 
 
I'll admit that I never saw any real big bunches of jakes this spring, but it seems like there were always a few with the bigger flocks of birds.  We had about fifty birds hanging around our place this spring, coming into our feeder.  There were about thirty-five hens, both juvenile and adults, eight mature gobblers, and three or four jakes.  ....Not a great ratio, but still some evidence that we will probably have some gullible two-year-olds again next spring!
 
Jim

[NMblackgold]

Jim, I hope you are right on the jake situation.  I think maybe we will no more in Sept during the fall hunt..