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New Digs in New Mexico

by Brian Lovett, editor

I’ve stayed in some pretty offbeat places during turkey season.

But teepees in the mountains of New Mexico?

That’s what I experienced this past week, when I joined some folks from
Mossy Oak, UnderArmour and Browning/Winchester Repeating Arms to hunt Merriam’s with Steve Jones and the crew from Backcountry Hunts in northern New Mexico.

Our retro camp was ready when we arrived May 4. However, with three hours of daylight remaining, no one stuck around to inspect the digs. We switched from travel clothing to camo and hit the parks and canyons of the
surrounding mountains.

I joined veteran guide Charlie Cockerell at a small pasture across from
camp. Within minutes, we had spotted two longbeards along the tree line.

Several gobbles, some tense silence and a 15-yard shot later, the hunting
portion of my trip was finished. We soon learned that writer Joe Byers had
also shot a gobbler minutes after we dropped him off.

The next three days, I got to play caller/observer while tagging along with
other hunters. Did we get more turkeys? Sure, but the real highlights
included numerous elk, pronghorns, mule deer and even a cinnamon-phase black bear.

Oh, and there were also snow-capped peaks and stunning mountain parks along the way.

Many folks say turkey hunting isn’t always about killing a bird, and that
was especially true in the mountains of New Mexico.

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