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New Mexico turkey hunts, merriams turkey hunts, New Mexico merriams turkey guides, Arizona guided merriams wild turkey hunts, merriam's turkey hunting, New Mexico merriams turkey guides, Arizona New Mexico turkey hunts, outfitters, turkey, merriam's turkey, merriam turkey, arizona turkey, hunts MERRIAM'S TURKEY HUNTS New Mexico Arizona Merriam's Turkey Guides and Outfitters
About the Arizona and New Mexico Merriam's Wild Turkey Arizona and New Mexico are home to the Merriam’s wild turkey. Historically, these mountain dwelling birds were only found in Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado, but have been introduced around the country. Our Arizona and New Mexico gobblers are wild and native birds. This is where they originated, so they are pure. There is no hybridization in Arizona or New Mexico like some other areas of the country that offer Merriam's turkey hunting. Merriam's have a creamy white accent on the outer edge of the tail feathers and rump, unlike the Eastern, Osceola, and Rio Grande turkeys. The wing feathers are mostly white with small black accent bars. Mature Tom Merriams Turkeys grow beards averaging 9 inches, although we have taken some over 11 inches. Since the terrain is rough, steep and rocky, the spurs are typically worn down. They usually do not exceed 1¼ inches. Three-quarter to one-inch spurs are the norm on our mature 2 or 3-year old Merriam's males. The colors of these birds will amaze hunters that are only familiar with Eastern turkeys. The first thing hunters notice when a Merriams turkey approaches is the high contrast of white accents on a dark body. The size of our wild turkeys are big, averaging over 21lbs. We have taken a couple near 26 pounds. These are just a few common features among "true" Merriam's. If you want a real Merriam's with no mix of strains and show the pure traits, try hunting with us in the original area they came from, New Mexico and Arizona. This is arguably the most beautiful sub-species of the Turkey Grand Slam. Every Grand Slam hunter should add a "pure" Arizona or New Mexico Merriam’s to his collection. About Our Merriams Hunts
2010 RATES
*This is a 2-on-1 guided turkey hunt. *2on1 means two hunters share a guide or can alternate use of the guide. *You must bring the other hunter to share the guide with.* If you cannot bring another hunter, the 1-on-1 rate is $1,500.00. One-on-one means you have your own personal guide all to yourself!
2010 Turkey Seasons
Additional Information Camo: The best camo patterns for our areas are Mossy Oak New Breakup, Realtree AP HD, Advantage Timber, Seclusion Conifer. Face nets and gloves are required. Weapons: Bows must shoot an arrow with a broadhead diameter of 1" or larger metal cutting edge. The bow cannot have magnifying sights or lenses. Shotguns should be chambered for 3" or 3-1/2" in either 12 gauge or 20 gauge (for smaller shooters). The best loads we have found are the new Hevi-Shot brand with 2 or 2¼ ounces of either #5's or #6's. Choke tubes should be "turkey super full," to produce the tightest patterns possible for your particular gun. It is recommended that you pattern your shotgun prior to arrival. Patterning is well worth the time and money, considering how much we spend on turkey hunting. Use a few different boxes of shells to see which loads produce the most hits. The magic number is 100 hits inside a 10" circle at 40 yards. When it comes down to that one shot on a gobbler's noggin, you want to be confident it will "get the job done" without crippling the bird. New Mexico licenses and tags are OVER THE COUNTER. License and tag fees are not included in our price. New Mexico hunts fill fast. Please try to book early if you are interested in a certain date. Arizona licenses and tags are on a limited draw basis. Contact us before September for instructions on how to apply for AZ Merriam's. License and tag fees are not included in our price. If you already drew an Arizona tag, give us a call or email. We typically hunt Arizona units 1, 27 and 23. For those that own a camping trailer/pop-up and would like to bring it to camp to sleep in are more than welcome to do so, but we cannot discount the hunt any. It must be small and high enough to be pulled on rough dirt roads. If a hunter has not tagged by the scheduled end of hunt, there is an option of paying at a daily rate thereafter. The possible hotel stay before/after the hunt for flying hunters is not included in the price. Non-Hunter Fee: Invite someone as a non-hunter while on your guided turkey hunt for a fee of $500.00. A minimum 50% non-refundable deposit is required to book the hunt. In NM, the deposit is required upon booking. In AZ, it is required only after tags are drawn. The remaining balance is due at least 21 days prior to the hunt. We recommend cancellation insurance for all of our guests. Visit our general info page for more details on cancellations. Be sure you visit our general info page and list of items to bring page. Read our turkey articles for more feel of our hunts.
Latest Turkey Hunting Photos
Larry Hunt from New Jersey and turkey guide Pat Feldt with a big New Mexico Merriam's. This bird has a 10.25" beard, 15/16" worn-down spurs and weighed 20.5lbs. It was called-in and taken at 5 steps! May 2009
PJ Lampros came back to hunt for the legendary "Paintbrush Gobbler" of the Gila National Forest. Thick 9" paintbrush beard and 1-1/16 inch spurs. April 2009
Robert Sandifur with his high-country Arizona Merriam's Gobbler. This bird hung-up for nearly an hour before committing. Once it came to the decoy, the game was up. April 2009
Rick Beach from Ohio took this nice Merriam's Gobbler at 29 yards. Guide Pat Feldt called this 21-pound bird across a 500 yard canyon. April 2009
Visit our favorite turkey hunting websites, the National Wild Turkey Federation and Wild Turkey Zone
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Home | Other Hunts | General Info | Rates | Contact Us | Stories | Links | References | What to Bring This website last updated: June 12, 2009 Copyright © 1999-2009 Arizona Guided Hunts. All Rights Reserved. "Arizona Guided Hunts" is a Registered Trade Name. |
We
are proud to offer quality Merriam's turkey hunts in both New Mexico and
Arizona. The birds we hunt
are primarily in a wilderness-type setting and live many miles from human
civilization. They are wild in their natural habitat with no
food plots, no farm fields, no feeders or other human
influence. Since Merriam's are mountain dwelling turkeys, our hunts take place in the
Ponderosa Pine
forests around 7500 to 8500 feet elevation. Some of our hunting areas
include the Gila National
Forest of New Mexico and the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest of Arizona. Due to this type of mountain terrain, our turkey hunting can be
quite challenging and physically demanding at
times. Since these are guided hunts, the hunters are led into the
field by an experienced Merriam's turkey guide. The guide
will go at your pace, but hunters should be in shape in order to reach the
quality turkey areas. Our guides can either call to the lovesick toms while the hunters
await the turkey's arrival or experienced hunters can call for themselves while the guide
accompanies the hunter. Most hunts are booked 2-on-1, with the option of 1-on-1 guide service
at a higher rate if you cannot bring a partner.
Like Spring turkey hunting anywhere, there are many tactics
we use while hunting these
mountain birds. Primarily, we walk large ridges and set-up when we
strike a gobbler. Calling birds off the roost in the early morning can
also be effective. We also set-up in known corridor areas and "cold call" against pine
trees to see if a weary gobbler will come to investigate. We typically do not use
blinds since it is not feasible to do so in such a vast hunt area. In both New Mexico and
Arizona, we have the
ability to hunt all day, unlike some other states that only allow turkey hunting
until noon. Over the past 10 years, our guided turkey hunters have
experienced 95% rate of opportunity (bringing a legal bird within shooting
distance) with a very high success rate. 
Our
Turkey Hunts Include: Accommodations, meals, courtesy airport transfer
from Tucson, camp transportation, a guide, trophy prep, and many extras. Accommodations are in tent camps with cots and pads or in a small camping trailer,
depending upon the number of hunters in camp. The hunt area has breathtaking scenery and great
temperatures of around 60 degrees in the day
and 30 at night. Meals are provided, which usually consists of a quick
breakfast with coffee, cooked brunch, and hot dinner. If you are
successful, preparation of your trophy for transport will be provided. If
flying, it is easiest to donate the meat to your guide and put the packaged
turkey cape into your luggage. A courtesy airport pickup/drop-off can
be provided for hunters that fly into
Tucson, Arizona. Driving hunters will
meet us at camp or a town nearby. Flying
hunters should get a flight into Tucson on the evening prior to meeting us, get
an airport hotel room, and we will pickup the morning prior to the hunt for a
ride to camp. For example, if your hunting starts on a Friday, you should
get a flight into Tucson late Wednesday evening, get a hotel room, and we will
pickup Thursday morning for the drive to camp. This eliminates
loss of hunting time if your flight is delayed or canceled, which is becoming a
common occurrence. We typically arrive back in Tucson in the early evening
of the last day, so flying hunters should get a flight out the evening of that day or the morning
after the hunt (hotel required). 
