colorado turkey

[feanor]

Anybody hearing more consistent turkey gobbling out in the mountains?

 

[LongWayAround]

Anybody hearing more consistent turkey gobbling out in the mountains?

I killed one a week ago that was going pretty good mid-afternoon, but he was giving me the "gobble and walk away" play. So I moved in and blasted him.

 

[justinspicher]

I see the all the time, but I rarely hear them. If I do hear them and call to them, they go quiet immediately.

 

[crazygrizz]

Turkeys won again this weekend. Never really hunted them so I'm assuming I'm just not in the right kind of habitat. Been finding all sorts of other birds like grouse and ptarmigan. Next weekend going to try a different region and if that doesn't work, then maybe just getting out of the front range entirely.

 

[RickH]

Turkeys won again this weekend. Never really hunted them so I'm assuming I'm just not in the right kind of habitat. Been finding all sorts of other birds like grouse and ptarmigan. Next weekend going to try a different region and if that doesn't work, then maybe just getting out of the front range entirely

I see a lot of grouse where I hunt but I think if you're seeing ptarmigan your probably too high. I would drop downhill a bit. They like ponderosa pine country, although I have found them higher in the spruce/aspen. You'll see sign if they're around.

 

[Poser]

My experience is about exactly the same every year in SW CO: first 3 weeks of the season are great, with the first 2 being the best. During the first 2 weeks, birds gobbling like crazy, often difficult to decide which bird I want to go after as I'll have 5-6 of them gobbling at me and each other.

By the end of the 3rd week, many of the hens have been bred, but you can still get gobbles and reasonably work birds, though noticeably less of them. After the 3rd week, you start calling in hens, gobblers are difficult to find, non responsive, no longer seem interested in hen calls. I just hunt the first 3 weekends and then call it good and move on. I expected the timeline to be expedited this year due to the early green up, but my interactions in the field mirrored previous years almost exactly. It is fun, though, as animals in general are very visible this time of year. On Saturday, I saw a lynx, 2 bears out in the open, 2 herds of elk and probably 2 dizen mule deer. oh, and like almost every time I go turkey hunting, came within inches of killing a bird after playing the "who can get the high ground" circle game for a couple of hours.