I'm going on a last minute turkey hunt in CO, and I have some questions...

[ejsto]

Like the title says, I will be in Colorado next week to visit family and I will have the opportunity to hunt turkey for 3-4 days. I have experience hunting easterns on private land in TN, but no experience at all hunting turkey in the west, so this will be a new experience for me, and I have some questions for ya'll. If anyone has any applicable experience or words of wisdom for me, I'd gladly accept.

1. First off, what should I expect in terms of hunting pressure? I'm sure this depends mostly upon where you are hunting. I do have a few years under my belt elk hunting 2nd rifle in CO and have experienced that insanity.
2. At home, I've been moving away from using decoys, but would like to have the option. Would my eastern decoys be ok for hunting Merriam's? Would they notice something being "off"?
3. Is driving forest service roads and finding high points to call from a legitimate strategy? I've picked a few spots that look promising on OnX and figured this may be the best way to cover a lot of ground.
4. I will be hunting mostly piñon-juniper country with deciduous forest mixed in, with elevation ranging from 6500-8500 feet. I'm trying to identify open fields with deciduous forest near water sources. Does this sound like the type of habitat y'all would be looking for?

Overall, I'm just ready to get out there. From my experience, you never really know where they will be until you get out and get boots on the ground, but with such a short prep period, and only 4 days to hunt, any advice that could stack the odds more in my favor would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[westslopelaker]

What part of the state are you hunting? Large portions of Colorado are sparsely populated with turkeys and the spots with lots of birds are usually limited tag areas. PM me would be best

 

[xcutter]

Don't mess with an owl hooter for locating. Use a Coyote Howler.

 

[LongWayAround]

1. There's more hunters than turkeys in a lot of my areas.
2. Turkeys don't know there are subspecies.
3. Yes, they're often not far from the roads.
4. Sounds about right.

 

[dtrkyman]

Pressure in OTC areas has been crazy this year. I haven't hunted them below 8k elevation. Decoys where there is pressure are not typically good. I hate carrying decoys in the mountains and you need to cover lots of ground! I have killed Merriam's with eastern dekes.

Turkey in general are where the Elk are, I killed a bird this morning, 8400 feet. Lots of open meadow mixed with oak brush and Ponderosa pine.

Lots of sign but only heard one bird, he cooperated!

 

[ejsto]

Pressure in OTC areas has been crazy this year. I haven't hunted them below 8k elevation. Decoys where there is pressure are not typically good. I hate carrying decoys in the mountains and you need to cover lots of ground! I have killed Merriam's with eastern dekes.

Turkey in general are where the Elk are, I killed a bird this morning, 8400 feet. Lots of open meadow mixed with oak brush and Ponderosa pine.

Lots of sign but only heard one bird, he cooperated!

Tomorrow is our last day. Have seen tons of hens but no Toms. Had a guy tell me he saw a Tom crossing a road, but other than that, no luck, no gobbles or anything. Tempted to try a new area in the am, but hard to leave an area with so many turkeys. Feel like there has to be Toms here, just don’t seem to be in the right spot at the right time and doesn’t help they seem to be totally silent.

 

[dtrkyman]

I started the morning in a place covered up in sign, old to really fresh, plenty of gobbler tracks and crickets this morning, bird I killed gobbled only a few times early and was across an impassible canyon.

He started gobbling better around 7:30, I made the 5 mile walk back to the Jeep, drove 2 miles and killed him 80 yds from my Jeep! No clue how he didn't bust out when I drove up, he must have been over the lip of that canyon and came up just after I parked?

 

[ejsto]

Have you ever tried just going out and hunting and learning what the woods teaches you instead of expecting others to spoonfeed you everything? Crazy thought i know.

Social media and comfort culture have all but destroyed hunting i swear

Sorry I offended you, old man. Literally nothing about my post could have been taken as inflammatory. I was just seeing if anyone had any words of advice before I left. I did go out and put boots on the ground and learned what I could in the short period of time that I had. Hope your day gets better, bud.