the Manzanita and Manzano Mountains to the south. I had my bottom barrel sighted for 25 yards with a modified choke, and my over barrel sighted in at 40 yards with a full choke. For listings of NYS DEC- and NYC DEP-managed lands, go to dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7844.html. The upper valley near Frances, Lebam, Holcomb and Menlo is rumored to hold turkeys, as is the land west of the Wynoochee River. The birds gobble constantly the whole time. His featherless neck looks like a shard of turquoise jewelry. I set up a blind near a little water hole. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. By keeping a ridge top between you and the turkey, you will be amazed at what you can get away with on a move. Hopefully you can set up on a narrow bench that is often found on the mountainside. Heres a list of potentially productive public properties across the country, courtesy of state turkey biologists. Ryan Chelius started freelance writing during college and landed a summer job as an editorial intern with Field & Stream in 2019. Bottles & 12-oz. Hunting turkeys in open country means putting miles on your boots and keeping up with gobbling birds. RALEIGH, N.C. (March 18, 2021) - Wild turkey hunting season opens in North Carolina on April 3. They definitely clammed up after opening weekend. If they repeatedly encounter something thats dangerous, they avoid it.. There is a profound sense of freedom that comes from hunting public land turkeys unlike anything else I know. Try to cover a lot of ground during that 30- to 40-minute window when the turkeys first start gobbling before they fly down and the gobbling might cease. Fair enough. As I peek over the rise, I see the jakes on a mad dash for us. We roll down the driveway of Trophy West Outfitters in pitch dark and drive 40 miles to the property that everyone was crowing about last night. Thats no joke. Turkey Vultures make up the majority of the current count, sitting at 59% of the total . Turkeys are often found in forested areas interspersed with edges and fields. manzano mountains turkey hunting. Heres how to avoid the poseurs and choose the right one. $12.00. Time with my friend Gary and my daughter, who is growing up way too fast, is time to be treasured. I yelped and he cut me off. Wild turkeys own the keenest sight and hearing. Later that morning, there was also some incessant yelping along a nearby road. The spring turkey hunt opens March 27 and continues until May 2 with a daily bag limit of one bearded bird, three for the season. HWI began standardized, annual migration counts in the Manzano Mountains in 1985, followed by a banding project in . If Im not in the woods hunting, Im driving and scouting.. Windswept and lovely, the spring is a romantic time at Manzano Mountain Retreat. Turkeys have excellent eyesight and hearing, and are extremely wary. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. First day turkey hunting, and this was pretty much the only shot I took. Utah: Federal lands and walk-in program properties. Theres a gobbler right here, he whispers. Posted by callsofthewild on May 3, 2013. https://callsofthewild . Forget What You've Been Told About Turkeys Coming DownhillWe have been told a gobbler will never come down hill to our calls, but turkeys walk up and downhill every day in this country. Checkout Time 2:00 PM. A tom heartily gobbles from down the ridge. We pass through a flat meadow with last summers brittle grasses the color of a deers pelt laid low by wind and a few deep winter snows. The Butler Creek Featherlight sling has a soft shoulder foam pad for comfort and can easily be adjusted. At the first safe spot past the intersection with NM 333, reset your trip meter to zero. Dont be one of these typical knuckleheads. Site Reserve Type Site-Specific. Its two birds in two days for the ace high and seven of spades. X-Vision Optics long-range ImpactThermal Scope (TS300) boasts a 640 x 480 thermal sensor that can detect big game well past 3,000 yards. Its arc technology accounts for terrain angle, giving you true distance to target on uphill and downhill shots. Were back the following day at the same spot, and its Matts turn. The money raised from these permits is utilized exclusively for the management of Goulds turkey in New Mexico. Willow shoulders her 20 gauge, stock-still. Check regulations for 2021. That prompts an obvious question: Whats the best approach for hunting pressured public turkeys? Day 4 Youll hear a lot of people talk about how you have to call less or be timid with your calling, and I dont buy into any of that. B066 for 9 miles up to the Capilla Peak Campground. Forin depthhunting and license information, reference theTurkeysection of the New Mexico Hunting Rules & Infoin publications. Shotgun Range is All You NeedTurkey hunters love to watch a big gobbler walk in from afar, strutting all the way. An Emory oak that I cannot see rakes my face when I walk right into it as we move uphill. They only have a couple of months to reproduce, and they do the same things anywhere. At the same time, I pay close attention to the toms behavior and where he tells me he wants to be, and if needed, Ill reposition in trying to up my odds. Nestled in the wooded foothills of the Manzanos, this park provides a quiet retreat and is a nice family get-away. View photos, research land, search and filter more than 56 listings | Land and Farm Successful applicants must purchase an over-the-counter (OTC) turkey license with tags unless the E-Tag option is chosen. Based out of Elka Park, rates start at $200 for a one day, one-on-one guided hunting trip. Owens has taken a U.S. Super Slam (shooting a bird in each of the 49 states that have seasons) and chronicles his public-land obsession12 to 14 states per yearon his wildly popular online Pinhoti Project videos. Nex Mexico Ranch for Sale! Males will gobble to attract females and strut with their tail fanned. Throughout the Sandia/Manzano range Precam-brian crystalline rocks are overlain unco nformably with marine sedimentar y roc ks (c hiefl y limesto nes and . by Craig Springer | May 2, 2017 | BIRD HUNTING | 0 comments. California: Low-elevation national forests and areas along major rivers in the Central Valley. PROPERTY FEATURES: Hunting . Hunting turkeys in open country means putting miles on your boots and keeping up with gobbling birds. bP|]Sh#_3Dy?L3X20- w"D@ sZ. endstream endobj 70 0 obj <> endobj 71 0 obj <. Turkey hunters should also check out the Turkey Hunter Access Program, in which private landowners open their property to spring turkey hunters. A luxury that you dont get with a single-barrel turkey gun. I waited another hour or so, but never heard him fly down. . These permits are allocated through a raffle and an auction. Most of this area is still dry and brown this time of year, but there were a few green spots. Some of my most memorable turkey hunts haven't been in areas where you drive to a likely spot, park the truck, walk out, and start calling. Despite the accoutrements of modern firearms, camouflage clothing, and believable turkey calling, we are here on the animals terms. Yet another beautiful, relatively uncrowded area of New Mexico. The Cibola also has four wilderness areas: Sandia Mountain, Manzano Mountain, Withington and Apache Kid and administers four National Grasslands: Black Kettle, McClellan Creek, Kiowa and Rita Blanca covering 263,261 acres in northeastern New Mexico, western Oklahoma and northern Texas. We cant complain though, since we were among the weekend warriors. Colorado: Abundant opportunitiesbiologists couldnt pick just one. He seeks spots other people will probably avoid or even asks private landowners if he can cross through their property to access public land. We interviewed three turkey-hunting experts and a few wild-game biologists to give you an edge this spring, By But thats not necessarily because of where they live. This is just the price of admission; tighten up your boot laces, take off that jacket and go for ityou may be rewarded for your efforts, or you may not. Owens stays in shape during the off-season and makes sure hes consuming enough calories and water during physically demanding hunts. A turkey diet varies between and throughout years depending on forage availability. This year, a friend let me in on their turkey hot spot, so I hunted it exclusively over the season. Length: 3.9 mi Est. Required fields are marked *. B. We slip into the timber, and its not long before Terry hits the deck and throws the fan up, working it slowly back and forth. Full disclosureExperts agree that turkeys on public ground are generally tougher to kill than their private-land cousins. Since being reintroduced with the release of nearly 300 birds in 1993, San Diego County has become a turkey hot spot, with both spring and fall seasons allowed. Sure enough, as soon as I had put everything in the car and slammed the hatch, I heard a gobble. W, turn right onto Raven Road (for the previous 120 meters, there . They are what Ben Franklin lore says Americans should be: wily and suspicious. With that, we decide to change gears and head over to a new property to see if we can find some fresh birds for Matt. The best times to visit this trail are May through November. We took along the new decoy, which a friend of mine had named Bubbles. Alas, she saw no action today, Your email address will not be published. Well find one, he says. Observers in the Manzano Mountains of New Mexico counted 4,248 migrant raptors of 17 species in the fall of 2012. The specific habitat types vary by wild turkey subspecies. I dont do anything different, he says. Visit my Facebook and Instagram pages for some great pictures of the property! Its usually a quota hunt, although it was open to everyone in 2020. A lot of our public lands include ground that was simply too rugged and steep to be turned into farm ground anyway, and if you want to see whats way over there on that next ridgeline and beyond, youve got to be able to handle the rigors of getting there.. The typical landscape here is often a high ridge with numerous smaller finger ridges running off of the highest point. In northern Utah, turkeys can be found in Box Elder County on the north side of the Raft River Mountains up Clear Creek, One Mile, Johnson and Wildcat canyons. This is an ancient endeavor, and there's a moral message to be discovered in harvesting your own local, free-range organic food. As we pull up to the gate, I offer to jump out and open the fence. I watch their silhouettes fade in the morning light as they stot off. Further, the greatest public grounds Ive ever hunted pale in comparison to the greatest of private grounds. Even worse, shes my oldest daughter, and Ill have to go through these feelings again with her sister. They inhabit brush areas near stream and rivers that contain large trees for roosting. In hunting turkey, Gary resurrects how the mountains of northern New Mexico have been used by Native peoples since about the time the wind began to blow. Setting high expectations for a hunting spot has its downsides. You'll pass small farming villages that date back to the Spanish Land Grants. New Mexico: Merriams turkeys are mostly found in New Mexicos mountain ranges, where land management is primarily through the U.S. Forest Service. Terry decides we should set up in an open meadow that he knows birds like to work through. Hunters continually find success in the Long Pines and Ashland areas of Custer National Forest in the Southeast (though wildfires moved through the upper . Before dawn, I crept up to the roosting spot, in hopes of catching the turkeys after flydown. The drastic landscape of the mountains sometimes calls for drastic measures. This week Luke and Larry are talkin camo! The feature service includes both wilderness polygons and non-wilderness lands found within wilderness (private, state government, local government or tribal inholdings and edgeholdings from the Bureau of Land Management's National Surface Management Agency Area Polygons - National Geospatial Data Asset). Required fields are marked *. 2h 11m. Learn More Echo Amphitheater As the bird spots the decoy, I am staring down the barrel of a CZ Reaper Magnum over/under at a gorgeous Montana Merriams at 35 yards. Join F&S+ to read exclusive stories by your favorite writers. Then head back to your Hunting HQ at night to kick up your feet and admire the natural beauty of this New Mexico mountain region. Spend your days exploring the outdoors and enjoying all that nature has to offer. Turkeys are ground nesters, and will scratch a shallow depression on the ground to use as a nest site. I dont think I spooked him, because he was still gobbling. I waited a few moments, and yelped with a different call. Consistently, successful turkey hunting for toms requires a high degree of skill. And generally, the private property will have far fewer hunters to compete against. Wildlife viewing, birding, and photography are great activities at this park. Discover 11,510 listings of land for sale under $200K. Access. Manzano mountains, New Mexico, USA. Wildlife viewing, birding and photography along the many trails are great activities at this park. Parent: Manzano Mountains 1567 miles away New Mexico, United States, North America davebobk47 Big Block, 5.7 - 5.12a Parent: Manzano Mountains 1568 miles away New Mexico, United States, North America davebobk47 Point 6860 Parent: Manzano Mountains 1 Saves 1573 miles away New Mexico, United States, North America Garon Coriz Mosca Peak Wild turkeys are extremely . We hike a big loop around to get in a better position and use the rolling terrain as cover to move within 100 yards. Take NM 337 south through the pinon and juniper-dotted hills of the Manzanos. Manzano Peak at 10,098 feet is the mountains' highest elevation point. Couldnt blame him! Turkey Draw Permits The deadline to apply for turkey draw permits is February 9, 2022. Just $1 per month , The secrets to tagging open-country Merriam's turkeys are strong legs and a tail fan, By Here's his full story. This trail is great for backpacking, camping, and hiking, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. It is lightweight, breathable, and secure to make sure you are comfortable and ready to go in the field. After some debate about shuffling, Dalley puts the cards on the table and mixes them all upjust like how a kid would shuffle a deck. They do circles around a tree in full strut, not leaving each others sides, and the turkey merry-go-round lasts minutes before Matt finally gets his opportunity and doesnt miss. When the bird stops at 60 yards and gobbles behind some big trees, I reposition myself for a more comfortable shot. The most distinguishing feature of adult male and female turkeys is their breast feathers. While a turkey may be a turkey to the. Vermont: The Connecticut River (wildlife management units M and O), White River (wildlife management units J1 and J2), and Lake Champlain (wildlife management units F1, F2, and K) valleys are traditional turkey hunting hotspots. She kept yelping, but no toms were answering, so I decided to yelp back at her, see if any toms would chime in. He had been in the area the day before, and heard two toms gobbling. Nestled in the wooded foothills of the Manzanos, this park provides a quiet retreat and is a nice family get-away. This tom could not be moved further; after a few tantalizing minutes of watching him skirt us, he issued a pep-pep,wobbled a few steps, and melted ghost-like back into the ponderosas. Male turkeys are well known for their spring courtship displays. An ideal scenario can be the turkey located below you under a steep slope. Hes puffed up, displaying his worthiness to the hen that he thinks is talking to him. Site Details. In retrospect, I probably should have waited to call until after hed flown down. It got quiet again. Level ground can be almost nonexistent in some areas, and when you get out of the truck, that old gremlin known as gravity climbs on your back and whispers in your ear, How bad do you want to get to this turkey? Setting up on a gobbling turkey in the mountains usually entails a gut-wrenching uphill climb. South Dakota: The Black Hills and state walk-in program properties. | Take the advice of Owens, Weddle, and Budz, and chase turkeys at the countrys largest hunting club: state, federal, and other publicly accessible properties. Lovett is a freelance outdoors communicator who started working with Field & Stream in 2016. | She piddled around, clucking and yelping, getting no response at all. New York: The New York City Department of Environmental Protection allows hunting on many of its watershed lands in the Hudson Valley and Catskills regions. Day 1 The youth season is April 3 - 9, and the statewide season is April 10 - May 8. Virginia: Big Woods, Cavalier, Clinch Mountain, Dick Cross, Gathright, Goshen/Little North Mountain, Thompson, Phelps, Turkeycock, and Fairystone WMAs. Brush your hand against the breast feathers to find new growth. Some people will tell you that its bittersweet to tag out in the first two hours of a hunt, but in the moment, at least, its just sweet. manzano mountains turkey hunting. They have longer legs, larger feet, and larger center tail feathers than the other New Mexico subspecies. Males will have black-tipped breast feathers, Females have buff-tipped breast feathers. So we went back to the same area, arriving just before daylight. The decoy is 25 yards out, and just behind it is a small drainage with pines and brush. Matt and Terry are in hysterics again and all I can do is accept it. Although the day was supposed to be calm and clear, the wind had started to pick up, so we decided to climb a bit higher in hopes of being heard, or of hearing something from a neighboring valley. Description Don't let this area deceive you. Kansas: The state has more than 759,000 acres of public access during spring turkey season, including more than 328,000 acres through the Walk-In Hunting Access Program in 2021. Check the muddy bottoms of seeps for turkey tracks and strut marks. The imported wild birds quickly adopted their new home . I wait for the tom to come out of full strut, and he drops at the sound of the shot. You put him right in my lap. He nods in a way that tells me this wasnt the first time hes delivered on that promise. As Theodore Roosevelt said, "The wild turkey really deserves a place beside the deer [and elk]; to kill a wary old gobbler by fair still-hunting, is a triumph for the best sportsman." Teddy Roosevelt harvested his own food. hbbd```b``V djm &,n Get away for a weekend, or make us a stop on your road trip. 2. Find Moriarty, NM recreational land for sale, under contract and sold properties. Activities and Amenities Directions Contact Information Additional Information There are no water hook-ups at campsites. As you peruse your maps, check for hard-to-access public areas at the lowest elevation you can get to without trespassing. Public-land turkey guru Dave Owens with a great spring tom. Matt howled about one guy he hunted with who actually did it twice. This spring, dont fret too much about securing a lease or knocking on doors. Also, the Gila, Santa Fe, and Carson national forests, and the Smokey Bear and Sacramento ranger districts in the Lincoln National Forest, support decent turkey populations. Louisiana: Kisatchie National Forest, in western Louisiana. 1. Montana: Southeastern Montana has many public-land opportunities for turkeys, including national forests, Montana State Trust lands, and Bureau of Land Management properties. The tradition here is to be on him fast, if the turkey flops over the brink of the hill you may in for a long retrieve of your prize. If you only have time for one of the sites, Gran Quivira is the best, but it is also the most remote. Seeps provide turkeys with green forage, tubers, insects and aquatic invertebrates. I swung south, loosely following him, but didnt hear anything else that morning. America's Top Public-Land Turkey Hunting Destinations Here's a list of potentially productive public properties across the country, courtesy of state turkey biologists. The crest of the mountains in the wilderness varies from elevations of 8,200 feet (2,500 m) to 10,098 feet (3,078 m). We listen intently for the tell-tale sounds of a tom. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. Once the excitement died down, I waited for a half hour or so before calling again, but got no response. Hes taken 37 Grand Slams (one of each of the four most common United States subspecies) and three U.S. Super Slams. He wasnt close but wasnt that far either, and was definitely coming in. Manzano Mountains HawkWatch is located on USFS Cibola National Forest public land, and was established to to learn more about raptors and their migration through the southern Rocky Mountain Flyway and this central New Mexico range. 4. I used a bunch of new products on my hunt in Montana. Owens pointed out that turkeys on heavily-hunted private properties can become increasingly wary and difficult to hunt, but birds on lightly-hunted public groundlarge tracts in the West, for exampleoften behave like turkeys in relatively unpressured spots. I am standing there like a kid who knows he is about to get in trouble, and there is no way out. Were good.. From Hwy. Gary clucks and whelps ever so softly on an assortment of calls that he artfully crafted from local native woods or a turkey bone from a bird he previously killed. Hunters can also find turkeys in the Bear River Valley along the Bear River Corridor, as well as along the Wellsville Range from Deweyville to Willard and around Mantua. This little depression held water at some point, but not recently. Its bright enough that the bill of her camouflage cap casts a shadow over her eyes in this pre-dawn dark. Whether you harvest your turkey in spring or fall, you may have questions about the turkey you shot. The guides had discovered a piece of property loaded with gobblers the morning before. Massachusetts: State forests and wildlife management areas in the central and western parts of the state. N, 106 deg. The hunter tipped off his local game warden after tracking down the poached deer's gut pile deep in Idaho backcountry. Im now that guythe guy who locked himself on the wrong side of the gate, twice. Box calls, slate calls, wooden peg yelpers, gobblersnothing provoked a response. First some generalities. Experienced mountain hunters have learned they may only have to move a short distance to hear a gobbler that had gone undetected. Easily find farms for sale at FARMFLIP.com. And how many guys do you know who are going to stay in the woods all day? The majority of turkey travel is by walking or running, but they will make short flights when startled. The toms shut up as soon as that yelping started. 69 0 obj <> endobj 94 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<4480FDB74DC749338B993B3CA45CA7B1>]/Index[69 56]/Info 68 0 R/Length 121/Prev 279575/Root 70 0 R/Size 125/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream