Here in Colorado we have a 41 day turkey season that runs from April 13 through May 23rd, that seems long enough to take your time and get a bird, right? However, that doesn’t help the urge to hunt early and hunt hard, even if the birds may not be ready for action. After months of reading magazines, watching “King of the Spring” on the Outdoor Channel, and scouting in the mountains for several weeks, I’m just ready to get into the flock. The other major motivation for me to get on the birds is to hopefully help Megan get her first turkey this spring.
About four years ago when Megan was 8, she came to me and told me she wanted to shoot a turkey…I said “shoot a what?” She continued to explain that not only did she want to shoot a turkey but that she wanted to do it with a bow – “Really?...Yes.” – she couldn’t have chosen a smarter, more elusive prey if she tried. And so began our multi-year mission to stalk and hopefully take one or two of these beautiful birds. In the process we have learned to be patient and more persistent than these birds are smart. April begins our third season together and this will be our first Spring hunt, which we hope will bring us better opportunity to bag a “distracted tom” looking for love in all the wrong places.
About the photos: Picture 1 - Where's Waldo? The turkey is off to the right in the center. It was amazing how hard they were to spot at 20-yards, they totally blend in. Picture 2 - Here's a much better image of the turkey. I believe that this was a Jake, otherwise known as a young male turkey.Picture 3 - A parting shot before exiting stage left. | After two seasons of Fall turkey without even seeing a bird, our luck finally appears to be changing. Last Friday, a week before the season opened, I was scouting a public land area West of Fort Collins along Buckhorn Road and came upon three hens on the road. I quickly popped out of the car and followed them quietly. Upon further inspection I found that there were somewhere between 8-10 birds in total and three really large toms…YES! I was able to get some pictures of the hens but the toms were up under some brush and not within iPhone range. This was a major milestone for us to finally "see some birds" and to have a lock on a roosting location. Megan and Lucas both joined me for a second scouting trip to the same area the next day and we covered much more territory to locate a good spot for our ground blind. This Saturday afternoon I returned for a solo opening day bow hunt and to lay the ground work for my daughters shotgun hunt Sunday morning. I first headed about ¾ miles to the North, and up about 400-feet, to a beautiful open field full of green grass and fresh stuff to eat. We had found this spot on the previous trip and we thought it would be good because five draws dump into the area from above and below, it looked like a classic strut zone. I got to business getting the blind in place and brushing it in with tree limbs. |
After I staked the blind in I set off with my Infinite Edge compound bow to try and find some birds and hopefully figure out where they were roosting for the night. I worked my way around the mountain a bit stopping and calling occasionally and finally heard a rooster gobble…that was awesome! He was a ways off but seemed to be across the road from where I had left the blind, I made a mental note and moved in his direction. I looked around a bit but was never able to find him or get him to respond to my calls again.
I turned my attention back to the area where I had seen the turkeys a week before. The spot seemed to be a high traffic trail and used fairly often on the way to a roosting spot. I climbed up the slope and setup an ambush for them, unfortunately they took a different route home that evening. I left encouraged and excited about what would come the next day and hunting with Megan. More on that soon. |
Getting there - find it yourself :) Sorry, until I bag a bird with my daughter I'm not posting my location. It's not that hard a place to find if you have access to the Colorado Hunting Atlas and some awareness of good ground. | Equipment used Bow - Infinite Edge by Diamond Hub blind - Big Mike Blind by Barronett Small blind - Mad Max Blind by Flambaeu Decoys - By Cherokee Sports |