SE NM

[Jet]

Since the Kansas season closes today I'm going to try my hand at chasing some blues down in SE NM next week.
Anyone want to chime in with tips, tricks or must see or do's in the area?
If you have a positive report on bird populations I'd love to hear them but keep the bad ones to yourself! I'm going no matter and don't need that kind of negativity in my life.

 

[dustin mudd]

Since the Kansas season closes today I'm going to try my hand at chasing some blues down in SE NM next week.
Anyone want to chime in with tips, tricks or must see or do's in the area?
If you have a positive report on bird populations I'd love to hear them but keep the bad ones to yourself! I'm going no matter and don't need that kind of negativity in my life.

Good luck hoping you are successful, I have hunted several areas in NM chasing quail over the years! Let us know if you’re having fun and success. Bring boots for the pup

 

[gettinbirdie]

Good Luck Jet. I just got back from a ranch in west Texas. I wanted to go to Kansas for the last weekend but this invitation was too good to pass up. Glad I went-the scalie numbers were good! I'm hoping to head to NM here in the next week or so... Hoping to get into scalies or gambels. Let us know how you do.

 

[TheGreek]

I was down SW of Roswell back in February of 2024 hunting Barbary sheep and flushed a few coveys of quail. One of these days I’ll get back with a shotgun. Did manage to kill a ewe. Better eating than I expected.

 

[Powderhorn Jim]

SE NM was obviously a lot better than SW. I've hunted around Socorro for years with reasonable success. Never anything outstanding, but enough to keep the dogs and I entertained. Mostly Gambel's, with a few Scaled thrown in. This year I hunted for a month and saw one live quail and tracks in one arroyo. BLM has let the grazing permittees graze to dirt. There is brush but zero grass. I moved to Silver City because of the possibility of Mearns. Same story, the USFS and BLM lands have nothing left. I flushed one large covey of Gambel's accidentally on Tyrone Mine land when I let the dog out to air out. Couldn't/wouldn't hunt there. They don't joke around with trespassers. I also found a few north of Silver City on the edge of the Gila NF. I also hunted between Deming and Silver City along the Mimbres River. Zero. Hunted the desert between Silver City and Lordsburg. A few tracks. I did find javelina virtually everyplace I went, which I prefer not to encounter with my dog, but we didn't have any real issues.

They must be someplace. I just didn't find them. Lots of armed dog walking. Virtually everyone I've talked to in Silver City told me they have Gambel's in their yards, but public land was a total bust.