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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. Merriam's have been transplanted from these three states to all parts of 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. This is arguably the most beautiful sub-species of the Turkey Grand Slam and every Grand Slam hunter should add a "pure" Arizona or New Mexico Merriam’s to his collection!
About Our Merriams Hunts
2011 Turkey Seasons/Licenses/Bag Limits
2011 RATES
New Mexico Hunts: add 5.125% G.R. State Tax *This is a 2-on-1 guided Merriam's turkey hunt. *2on1 means two hunters share a 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 a personal guide all to yourself! Our turkey hunts are nearly ALL-INCLUSIVE! Turkey Hunts Include: a complimentary airport transfer from Tucson to camp and back, accommodations, meals, transportation while hunting, a guide, trophy prep, and many extras. Since we hunt many miles from civilization, accommodations are either in a camping trailer or in outfitter tent camps with cots and pads, depending upon the number of hunters in camp. 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 complimentary airport pickup/drop-off can be provided for hunters that fly into Tucson, Arizona. This is the closest airport. Driving hunters will meet us at camp or a town near the hunt area. 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 cancelled, which is becoming a common occurrence. We typically arrive back in Tucson in the late afternoon or 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). The possible hotel stay before/after the hunt is not included and is the hunter's responsibility.
Additional Information Booking Info: 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. Non-Hunter Fee: Invite someone as a non-hunter while on your guided turkey hunt for a fee of $500.00. Camo: We hunt Ponderosa Pine forests, which are primarily dark brown and dark gray in color. Therefore, the best camo patterns for our areas are Mossy Oak New Breakup/Infinity, Realtree AP HD or APG, Advantage Timber, or Seclusion Conifer. Face nets and gloves are required. Weapons: Only shotguns or bows can be used. 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. Set up a paper plate at 40 yards to test the pattern. The magic number is about 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 or missing the bird. Bows must shoot an arrow with a broadhead diameter of 1" or larger metal cutting edge. The bow cannot have magnifying sights/lenses or any lights. Our Success Rate: Averaging-out the past 12 years, our turkey hunters have experienced a 90% shot opportunity (calling a bearded gobbler to within shooting distance) with a very high success rate! We are proud to say that many seasons have been 100% success! Unfortunately, due to the nature of turkey hunting, some seasons have been as low as 70% success. Bad weather (snow storms or high winds), "henned-up" gobblers, or just "plain missing" were usually the limiting factors for the few unfortunate hunters. Putting all statistics aside, you can be "rest-assured" that we will do our best and work very hard to ensure that you have an enjoyable and memorable hunting experience! Please feel free to contact our references and view testimonials. Our Guides: We utilize three turkey guides throughout the Spring season: Pat, Eliot and Bryan. Each has many years of experience guiding Merriam's turkey hunters. Your main turkey guide for our New Mexico hunt is also the outfitter, Pat Feldt. Even though he is a big game guide throughout the year, his true passion is turkey hunting. He is a 40 year-old turkey hunting fanatic who has been pursuing wild turkeys his whole life. Pat is very experienced in all calling methods, but prefers to use ceramic, crystal or slate pot calls because of their realistic sound. Occasionally you'll see him using a "raspy old hen" mouth diaphragm or a box call when nothing else seems to be working. Pat is also a firm believer in the use of hen decoys to aid in enticing a gobbler (if given ample time to set one up). He has taken dozens of Merriam's gobblers himself and has hunted various states for the other subspecies. Pat is proud to say that none of his turkeys were ever taken using a blind, but rather by using aggressive Spring turkey hunting strategies and calling techniques. View some of the outfitter's personal turkeys recently taken. The outfitter also enjoys crafting turkey calls in his spare time. He has combined just the right components to produce some excellent Merriam's Turkey pot and peg calls or slates. You can view or purchase the calls from this site. Be sure to view our general info page, list of items page and references page.
Latest Turkey Hunting Photos
James Lentz of Ohio was very happy to get this big New Mexico Merriam's gobbler.
Craig Davisson with a high-country New Mexico Merriam's turkey. This bird was taken on the edge of a beautiful canyon in the Gila National Forest.
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!
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, 22.5lbs.
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.
Visit our favorite turkey hunting websites, the National Wild Turkey Federation and Wild Turkey Zone
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Home | Hunts | General Info | Rates | Contact Us | Stories | Links | References | What to Bring | Video This website last updated: August 26, 2010 Copyright © 1999-2010 Arizona Guided Hunts. All Rights Reserved. "Arizona Guided Hunts" is a Registered Trade Name. |
Characteristics:
The bright colors of the Merriam's turkey will amaze hunters that are only
familiar with the other turkey subspecies. 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 and rocky, the spurs are typically worn or rounded. They usually do
not exceed 1¼ inches. Three-quarter to one-inch spurs are the norm on mature 2 or 3-year old
mountain Merriam's. The size of our wild turkeys are big, averaging
over 21lbs. Typically, the mature Toms we harvest will weigh from 20 pounds
to 25 pounds! Another
interesting feature, the Merriam's tail fan is much larger than the other three
U.S. wild turkey subspecies. These are
just a few common
features among "true" Merriam's. If you want a real Merriam's
turkey with no hybridization and shows pure traits, come hunt with us in their
native habitat of New Mexico and Arizona. 
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. These are truly "wild turkeys" since they live in their natural habitat with no
food plots, no farm fields, no feeders or other human
influence. In fact, the turkeys in most areas we hunt have never seen a
human! Since Merriam's are mountain dwelling turkeys, our hunts take place in the
Ponderosa Pine
forests at elevations around 7500 to 8500 feet. The hunt area has breathtaking scenery and great temperatures of around 60 degrees in the day
and 30 at night. Some of our hunting areas
include the infamous Gila National
Forest of New Mexico and the Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest of Arizona. The two forests are not small tracts of land,
but rather millions of acres of prime hunting grounds. These are guided hunts,
which means the hunters are led into the
field by an experienced Merriam's turkey guide. The guide
will hike at your pace, but hunters should be in fair shape to reach the
quality turkey areas. Our guides will either call for the hunters or the hunters can call for themselves
or join-in with calling, whichever
is preferred. Turkey 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 to use while hunting these
mountain birds. Primarily, we walk large ridges and set-up when we
strike a gobbler. We also set-up in known corridor areas and "cold call" against pine
trees to see if a weary gobbler will come to investigate. Calling birds off the roost in the early morning can
also be effective. 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.
