Mudranger1
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Awesome you can take me on the eastern slope if you want lol...I headed out yesterday and didnt hear a peep...headed out east with son this weekend
2018 Colorado Turkey Thread
- Thread starter vanish
- Start date
I wish I knew how many turkeys were in that area. I don't feel like it can be that many, so I haven't even offered to take my buddies in there, but they mostly live on the private land next door, so I really don't have any idea.
Thanks kansasdad! It was as much fun as having my own tag.
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Well done Vanish!
Excellent Work!
If you fancy a long hike, there is still 1 leftover tag available for the James John SWA
If you fancy a long hike, there is still 1 leftover tag available for the James John SWA
If it weren't for the drive! I'm still watching that list. Missed out on a second season platte river tag the other day.
Come on folks, someone else out there must be hunting these birds!?
JohnCushman
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3855WIN
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Full fan, so a grown bird. Congrats.
Reverendekim11B
Member
Ive got a tag in james m john. But not been there for that 10 mile hike yet.
Mudranger1
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We went out on the Platte with my son's youth tag ...he let
One get away at 10 yards... thought there was too much brush...I was like shoot it!!!! Big old thick beard. Was a shame..people were out in force. Lots of gobbles but nothing coming to my sweet calls
I was able to tag out Friday (opening day for the tag I had) despite the ridiculous weather in SE Colorado this weekend. The wind was blowing upwards of 35 Thursday night, manhandling the big tent solo was interesting to say the least. There is still red dust on everything I own. I managed to get it up and staked down right at dark, which left me without a check of the area I've known them to roost in before.
Luckily, when I got down to where I wanted to be an hour before light, there were clearly birds roosted. In fact, closer than I had expected, putting me only 70 yards from the nearest bird. The birds flew down away from me (as always seems to happen), and immediately shut up. This has also been a BANNER year for tumbleweeds/wild sunflowers down there and they are thick enough where visibility and mobility on the ground is severely limited.
Not being able to call one back, I circled WAY out along the creek bottom and came up through some cedar/juniper scrub to one potential strut/feeding zone that they could have gone to. If they hadn't, I could continue north to a few other spots along the creek up to the confluence with the big river. About 8:00 I got to the first spot and there were 2 gobblers, 1 Jake and a few hens feeding in a little flat below the bluff. Some belly crawling through the mud and cactus I got setup in front of a huge cedar and this 2-year old made a mistake and didn't listen to the boss hen that I named 'old b*tch' (she was our nemesis on Saturday/Sunday taking gobblers away from my friend's wife twice), but came to the new girl on the block instead (a friend of mine makes these calls in his woodshop - many of them using excess wood from all the trees he lost during Katrina). Notice he's missing 3 tail feathers where you can see my shirt through them. The bigger gobbler in the bunch must have beat the snot out of him at some point recently.
Then, the weather got worse. Friday night started to clear up when my friend and his wife (she had the tag as well) arrived, but around midnight, the wind and rain were back. Saturday was more of the same all day. Wind/Rain/Hail/Sleet in a rotation all day. We got a few birds working but had two hang up at 75 yards or so only to be called away by 'The B*tch', and another couple that we just messed up trying to get down into a position to call. Those two are planning to go back next weekend and hope to get her tag filled (that will be the last weekend of this particular season).
Now time to go check on my super frustrating here-today/gone-until-next-year 'home' birds in the Ramparts.
Luckily, when I got down to where I wanted to be an hour before light, there were clearly birds roosted. In fact, closer than I had expected, putting me only 70 yards from the nearest bird. The birds flew down away from me (as always seems to happen), and immediately shut up. This has also been a BANNER year for tumbleweeds/wild sunflowers down there and they are thick enough where visibility and mobility on the ground is severely limited.
Not being able to call one back, I circled WAY out along the creek bottom and came up through some cedar/juniper scrub to one potential strut/feeding zone that they could have gone to. If they hadn't, I could continue north to a few other spots along the creek up to the confluence with the big river. About 8:00 I got to the first spot and there were 2 gobblers, 1 Jake and a few hens feeding in a little flat below the bluff. Some belly crawling through the mud and cactus I got setup in front of a huge cedar and this 2-year old made a mistake and didn't listen to the boss hen that I named 'old b*tch' (she was our nemesis on Saturday/Sunday taking gobblers away from my friend's wife twice), but came to the new girl on the block instead (a friend of mine makes these calls in his woodshop - many of them using excess wood from all the trees he lost during Katrina). Notice he's missing 3 tail feathers where you can see my shirt through them. The bigger gobbler in the bunch must have beat the snot out of him at some point recently.
Then, the weather got worse. Friday night started to clear up when my friend and his wife (she had the tag as well) arrived, but around midnight, the wind and rain were back. Saturday was more of the same all day. Wind/Rain/Hail/Sleet in a rotation all day. We got a few birds working but had two hang up at 75 yards or so only to be called away by 'The B*tch', and another couple that we just messed up trying to get down into a position to call. Those two are planning to go back next weekend and hope to get her tag filled (that will be the last weekend of this particular season).
Now time to go check on my super frustrating here-today/gone-until-next-year 'home' birds in the Ramparts.
Congrats cedahm! That's some cool terrain for turkeys.
Good luck to your friend's wife!
Haha ... next year I'll just probably just be telling stories as I'm going to take the bow. Or at least, that's what I tell myself now. I might have told myself that last year? I haven't learned to self-handicap yet.
I've got a couple of friends who have tags that I might join ( no, I'm not taking them into that spot ) and my Dad still has a tag as far as I know so I may not be done with turkey stories this season.
We did FireTiger's bird with a brine and bacon wrap and wow, that was really good.
I also never thought I'd use trekking poles on a turkey hunt, but thank goodness for them. I don't think I'd have knees left without them The foothills where we hunt them are steeper than most places I elk hunt!
Good luck to your friend's wife!
Haha ... next year I'll just probably just be telling stories as I'm going to take the bow. Or at least, that's what I tell myself now. I might have told myself that last year? I haven't learned to self-handicap yet.
I've got a couple of friends who have tags that I might join ( no, I'm not taking them into that spot ) and my Dad still has a tag as far as I know so I may not be done with turkey stories this season.
We did FireTiger's bird with a brine and bacon wrap and wow, that was really good.
I also never thought I'd use trekking poles on a turkey hunt, but thank goodness for them. I don't think I'd have knees left without them The foothills where we hunt them are steeper than most places I elk hunt!
I've been there 3 times (2X on my tag and once on buddies) and it never fails to be just surreal to see turkeys (ntm wood ducks, herons and whitetails) in the creek bottom right by the petroglyphs in the red cliffs and amongst the cholla. The ONLY good thing about the cold, wet, windy weather is that you don't need to be as mindful of rattlesnakes.
vanish said:
OMG, That looks awesome. I plucked this one and planning to brine and smoke half of it. Brine/Bacon and roasted seems like a good call on the other half.
D
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Love this thread!
Had a question I wanted to pose to the group as well... last year I backpacked in and killed a tom about 4-5 miles from the truck... couple of weeks later I saw this post from FL on instagram and thought, hey that's a cool way to field process a bird... especially if you are back where I was hunting (just to cool down the meat and save yourself from feathers around the house). I showed the post to my brother-n-law and he said that was illegal in CO... we pulled out the regs and it seems like in CO you can pluck a bird in the field but essentially have to take it out whole?? I'm curious if anyone has ever asked a warden about this or had any issues.
Had a question I wanted to pose to the group as well... last year I backpacked in and killed a tom about 4-5 miles from the truck... couple of weeks later I saw this post from FL on instagram and thought, hey that's a cool way to field process a bird... especially if you are back where I was hunting (just to cool down the meat and save yourself from feathers around the house). I showed the post to my brother-n-law and he said that was illegal in CO... we pulled out the regs and it seems like in CO you can pluck a bird in the field but essentially have to take it out whole?? I'm curious if anyone has ever asked a warden about this or had any issues.
I asked someone very experienced in this as he backpacks in every year for them, and I found his answer lacking. He mentioned keeping the breasts cool in a snow bank, but that sounds to me like he's breaking down the bird in the backcountry, which as you pointed out in your image, would be against the regs. I'll see him in person in a couple of weeks and ask him if I misunderstood, because he's definitely not the kind of guy to knowingly break the rules.
We skinned ours at home, hence a second reason for the bacon wrap.
We skinned ours at home, hence a second reason for the bacon wrap.
Does Colorado do an electronic check-in like Kansas?
Photo of the bird with beard showing, photo of your tag attached to the leg, and log in with the electronic registration via smartphone. Regs still require beard to remain attached to one of the breast pieces until you reach the processor or home. The picture above would not be legal here (beard detached).
http://ksoutdoors.com/Hunting/Hunting-Regulations/Turkey/Electronic-Registration-of-Turkey
Photo of the bird with beard showing, photo of your tag attached to the leg, and log in with the electronic registration via smartphone. Regs still require beard to remain attached to one of the breast pieces until you reach the processor or home. The picture above would not be legal here (beard detached).
http://ksoutdoors.com/Hunting/Hunting-Regulations/Turkey/Electronic-Registration-of-Turkey
No checkin required in CO, kansasdad (with the small exception of harvest reports required on RFW properties).
I have generally hauled them out whole, plucked/skinned them at camp (and removed fan and beard) or the truck, and left the lower legs on until home with tag affixed. Didn’t know I was potentially in violation, I always assumed spurs were adequate proof of sex. Good to know. Next time I see a warden, I’ll ask.
Not looking forward to leaving the beard attached in transport since there is that big fat cap above the breast that you really want to get off the bird quickly.
I have generally hauled them out whole, plucked/skinned them at camp (and removed fan and beard) or the truck, and left the lower legs on until home with tag affixed. Didn’t know I was potentially in violation, I always assumed spurs were adequate proof of sex. Good to know. Next time I see a warden, I’ll ask.
Not looking forward to leaving the beard attached in transport since there is that big fat cap above the breast that you really want to get off the bird quickly.
Thanks for the info cedahm on Colorado, and I wasn't trying to imply that this is a requirement to check in in Kansas. It is offered as a courtesy to folks wanting to transport turkey or deer that is not a whole animal. (I suppose this could also apply to antelope and elk as well)
With a hunting brother in law just moving to FoCo, I'm hoping to come visit with more than a fishing rod.
Took a friend on his first Merriams hunt into a new area yesterday morning. We had intended on getting in deep, probably 3 miles to where I expected to find the birds. Under a full moon, we had made it about 1.5 miles and gained 1400 feet of elevation, when a bird sounded off about 300 yards back down the ridge. At first I was annoyed, but then I was very happy there was at least one turkey in this canyon, and that we wouldn't have to go deeper. Two additional toms confirmed that we wouldn't need to press farther.
We closed the distance, but while they would gobble, they would not gobble in response to either my crow or hen calls. While I'm certain we had been within 100 yards of that first bird, we never did see him. We dropped the 800 vertical feet down into the canyon following that tom, but to no avail.
The early morning had been extremely noisy with animals, but by 7am everything went silent, including the turkeys. We made our way towards where we had heard other gobbles, but just could not strike a bird. We called uncle at 10am, but extremely happy to have found another place to hunt turkeys here on the front range.
We closed the distance, but while they would gobble, they would not gobble in response to either my crow or hen calls. While I'm certain we had been within 100 yards of that first bird, we never did see him. We dropped the 800 vertical feet down into the canyon following that tom, but to no avail.
The early morning had been extremely noisy with animals, but by 7am everything went silent, including the turkeys. We made our way towards where we had heard other gobbles, but just could not strike a bird. We called uncle at 10am, but extremely happy to have found another place to hunt turkeys here on the front range.
