New Mexico quail tour!

Quailnerd

Quailnerd

Well-known member
Tomorrow my brother and I are starting a quail road trip in New Mexico. Starting in the central part of state and moving south as far as it takes.
 
Hopefully you have OnX, Huntstand or some other application that will allow you to identify private and public lands. In the areas we hunt there are lots of unfenced, unposted private lands mixed in with public lands. There often isn't a house within miles to (try) to ask permission to hunt. My understanding of NM game laws is it is up to the hunter to know the difference. Good luck!
 
I have been In New Mexico hunting most days. Haven’t been chasing mearns however . Just desert birds . It’s been. Tough year. Hope you find some!!!! Best of luck. I’ve mostly hunted south west
 
Powderhorn Jim said:
Hopefully you have OnX, Huntstand or some other application that will allow you to identify private and public lands. In the areas we hunt there are lots of unfenced, unposted private lands mixed in with public lands. There often isn't a house within miles to (try) to ask permission to hunt. My understanding of NM game laws is it is up to the hunter to know the difference.
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dustin mudd said:
Been here 3 weeks
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I’m starting around i40 which is definitely my home turf… this year has been tricky for sure. Not finding lots of coveys but man once a day I run into a giant. And I’m sure you know IF you can stay on them it can make a whole day. I’ve leaned on a few friends with experience further south and ready to roll the dice!
 
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
I'm headed to the southeast part of NM today to hunt blue quail this weekend. Was there for a weekend in Nov. Way more cover in that part of the state this year compared to the last two. They got tons of rain in that area in the first half of '21. (general area between Carlsbad and Hobbs)
 
I did stop for a day on my way to the south west part of New Mexico. I walked an area that in 19 was loaded with scaled quail. In an 8 mile walk I saw no birds, 4 tracks!
 
Little update after three days on the trail. Day one was a blast, we set multiple pins on blocks of land we had interest in. At the end of the day we only needed one. We moved 2 large coveys of blues on a 4 mile push. God blessed the desert the day before with an inch of fresh snow. We were able to stay on their heals both times finding the core group twice and a few singles after that. Saw best dog work of the year due to ground moisture and a steady north wind, multiple points and a retrieve from my old dog that went under 2 barbwire fences and across a county road.
Day 2 was better, we moved 100 miles south to a large block of state land. Total miles for the day came to 8. We moved 5 coveys 3 blues and 2 bobs. Traces of snow stuck to the ground until noon, and we chased every bird as far as we could until our legs turned to jello. Then replaced our energy fried quail and cold drinks.
Day three was a travel day although we saw one spot we had to investigate. After a 200 yard march from the truck we bumped a large covey of blues that sailed with the wind out of sight. We didn’t have the legs to pursue. Trip has already been a success and I can’t wait to lace up the boots in a bit.
 
What a trip but it’s good to be home. We ended up continuing to move south where the weather warmed up but the birds played out. No doubt there are quail in se nm all across the landscape but we ran into a few issues. First of all we needed more dogs or more days on the calendar for rest. One dog went down with a bad ear cut from barb wire that was not threatening health wise, but just would not quit bleeding. Had a porcupine dog meeting with another that sidelined for 2 days. We never had a day that we never saw birds that was dedicated to hunting. Will definitely do this again with a more realistic timetable and schedule.
 
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