Colorado Fall Turkey Advice

Bagabaga

FNG
Joined
Apr 10, 2022
Messages
6
Hey all!

Had a pretty successful first year turkey hunting. Spring was so much fun, we got in on a tom and missed him by a hair with our shot. (crossbow). He was hanging out near a gully and came around a rock and I was so pumped I took aim at the base of the neck and fired and missed because I forgot the week previous when we were going home my crossbow fell on it's scope and knocked it out of alignment. Luckily we were able to locate my arrow stuck in some mud down in the gully. It was hilarious, I saw his beard and took the shot and when my arrow whizzed by his back just mere inches he gobbled right at me and took off to our left into a thick of trees. How exhilarating!

Unfortunately another hunter came by with a shotgun and killed the Tom we were chasing. Kind of a let down but exciting and after talking with some more experienced hunters and getting on a bird in our first year. We drive around the Denver Metro area all the time and see turkeys all over private land which is also kind of a bummer but also exciting to see! I even stopped off on a private lot and asked if we could hunt a strutting tom on their property. Rightfully so the spouse of the owner said no hunting on their property, I thanked her for her time and went on our way.

This fall has been the most difficult, We find Spring evidence of turkeys in the area but we are so inexperienced that we can't distinguish old sign from fresh sign. We know that more fresh droppings means the birds were there recently but how long will a feather take to deteriorate? What sign should we be looking for in fall?

Should we be going around doing kee kee calls? Should we even do gobbles? What about crow calls will they still be effective?

it's been really hot this summer too and now the temp is dropping do Rio birds generally roost later into the day? Do they hang out near water or do they wander pretty far from the roost? I read somewhere that Rio don't go too far from the roost but I don't know how too far is.

Because it is getting into muzzle loader and rifle season should we start to wear orange?

If anyone has a general idea of where fall turkey might hang out in the Colorado plains (because west of i-25 is closed) would you be able to send us in the right direction? I don't expect anyone to give us a guaranteed specific zone but may someone can collaborate with me on my ideas to tell me if I'm on target or way off base? Any help is super appreciated!

All of you have been so helpful the past! I really appreciate this forum and the people on it.

I hope to hear from some of you and hope that my wife and I can have a successful harvest in our first year!
 
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