Rio Self-Guided Turkey Hunt - Recommendations?

frick if I know. I been trying to win a draw for years.

Let me know what you find

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Looking to get my dad on a Rio this year. Looking for recommendations on a self-guided trip in Texas. Don't need anything special, just an opportunity at a place that has birds. What y'all got?

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Not disparaging Texas but I would suggest keep driving until you reach New Mexico. Portions of the Pecos River Valley holds Rios and there is a HEAPING pile of area open to the public. The area around Bottomless Lake State Park was, 6 years ago, pretty lousy with the damned things. I am not sure what the regs are now but at that time it was an over the counter tag and a VAST area that could be hunted and not a lot of people doing so....its pretty damned isolated (about 20 miles east of Roswell). There is some pretty rugged terrain but there are miles and miles of oil field roads that will get you close to the river. 20 Miles west of Roswell is arguably the best and easiest DIY Merriams hunting in the US, Rios are not as numerous but some of the Pecos Valley is crawling with them.....I duck hunted the Bottomless Lake area quite a bit and hunting geese and cranes a LOT in the surrounding area and Rios were always present. Did not always see them alive but never failed to find one that had made a nice dinner for a coyote.

There is also a sizeable population in Tucumcari or just north of it in the Canadian River Valley. I don't know a lot about that area but I have been told its about the same as the area around the mid Pecos Valley. May be more private land in that area but I do not know.

There are also Rios in the Rio Grande Valley south of Albuquerque but most of the Valley south of ABQ is private or a NWR....areas open to the public, at least for duck hunting, get crowded. I suspect it is the same for Turkeys but do not know.


There is a MASSIVE population of Rios in a very small area (small for New Mexico, a couple of hundred square miles) between Carlsbad and the Texas State line in the Black River Valley. I also hunted ducks, dove and quail in this area and scouted for Barbary sheep for people with tags a LOT and this area is CRAWLING with RIOs. At the time it was closed to hunting however. I suspect it still is BUT there was talk of opening it up 6 years ago....if it has opened in the last few years and its possible to get a tag for the area it might be very good. I do not know if it is opened up or if it ever will be but I know for a certainty it is crawling, literally having to stop the truck for the frickers to get out of the road, with Rios. I have seen very few Rios in the Pecos Valley in this area also, especially toward the north end of Red Bluff Lake, but they were very rare....the state says they don't exist at all but they do. This area is WIDE open to hunting anything you have a tag or license for so I would assume if you ran across one in the area with a tag and in season it'd be fair game but I would make sure first LOL.

New Mexico is unique in that private land that is not posted in a visible manner is open to hunting. It is, at times and in some areas, hard to ensure you aren't on private land BUT most land owners who care in an area that would be worthwile make it well known that the land is private. There are massive areas of public land that are inaccessible due to private land and the land owners tend to be deadly serious about keeping people off that land BUT there is PLENTY of open area to hunt. In my experience onX works pretty good in New Mexico....but all of my hunting was limited to ducks, geese, cranes, pheasant, quail and doves so even when I did mess around and trespass no one really cared. I suspect it'd be different for Turkeys.

Finally....the same areas that hold Rios also have more Pheasants than anywhere I have ever been...damned things are like chickens in a commercial chicken house. The season is, or was, only open about a week (they are all released birds). The cover is IMPENETRABLE for the most part and the mud is the wickedest shite anywhere in these areas (seriously, I know about gumbo and coastal mud....manageable New Mexico mud makes the worst of it look like pavement). I don't know if the seasons are open at the same time or not but if they are it'd be a good opportunity to thin the herd....they are, in some areas, shoulder to shoulder....it is IDEAL habitat for them and even with some serious pressure when the season is open there are massive areas that nothing but a pheasant can penetrate. Most of them are killed by running the roads and catching one in the open. They are thick as cordwood. There is also some amazing duck hunting in the area that goes completely untapped except for a very few people.

I referred someone on here a few years ago and I believe theyve been back every year.

4K Ranch in Brady, TX. Self Guided, Guides will drop you off in the morning and pick up after. A good buddy manages the ranch and I've helped guide in the past, really cool place with alot of birds and around 10k acres to hunt. You can look them up on instagram @ 4kranchhunting. Call/Text Cody at 325-215-3630, tell him DuckSausage sent you.

Dunno about a place, but anywhere around Junction Texas is going to have tons of turkeys. I saw a flock there that was over a hundred birds one time. Looked like that scene from Jurassic Park.

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20 Miles west of Roswell is arguably the best and easiest DIY Merriams hunting in the US

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What area(s) would you suggest to research/hunt for Merriam’s?

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hold the drawn bow for 8-9 minutes

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That’s the most impressive thing I’ve heard today

Thank you for taking the time to provide all the great info. Will do some research and reach out with any questions. Appreciate it!