View Full Version : 2019 Spring Turkey
I'm going to try some turkey hunting this year. The plan is to do an OTC tag and go scout Unit 33 for OTC bull in the fall. Anyone ever spent time in GMU 33 and seen a turkey there?
Spring Turkey hunting is brand new to me, but I'm interested. Before I posted, I searched for and read all of the past spring turkey threads and there hasn't been one for a few years.
Turkey numbers are growing statewide, and I've seen them numerous times in GMU 33, mostly in the Gambel oak and juniper area along FR 245, the Newcastle-Buford Road. I regularly see herds of them in GMU 23, when driving along the White River from Meeker to Buford, again in the oaks and grassy pastures. During elk season I've been seeing them more and more into the spruce-fir and aspen forest adjacent to the oak and juniper habitat. I think you have a fair chance in 33 if you can call them in to a blind.
Thanks. I know that turkey populations have greatly grown since the time of European contact (Turkeys found in 39 states) and now turkeys can be hunted in 49 states. I've heard that recently there has been a not insignificant decline in turkey populations, supposedly due to disappearing habitat, but I don't know how that is manifesting in local areas.
All that to say that I also see turkeys when I elk hunt each year and it seems like they are present in the same areas that deer and elk live. I just have very limited experience on the western slope so I appreciate your, and any other input. Thanks again.
T. B. Turner
01-08-2019, 13:54
There's definitely getting to be alot of them around:)
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I have similar pictures of them standing on cars in people's driveways. I didn't spend much time in nature as a kid and didn't see a live turkey until I was in my 30's. So it tickles me pink to see them just roaming around suburbia.
hunterhawk
02-08-2019, 11:57
Did i miss the deadline? Had 2018 book that said February 8th... clearly that wasnt correct for 2019.. went to put in and said it wasn't available.. guessing i missed it AGAIN. Im terrible at putting in for turkeys
Can't you get an OTC for most of the state though?
5th was cutoff this year. You can still just grab OTC and get after that Tom!
hunterhawk
02-08-2019, 16:12
Ugh i figured i missed it. Usually go back to Michigan... maybe ill go back to NE... never shot one in Colorado. Have a good spot but its a draw unit.. i could try OTC again... went to rampart one year and didnt hear or see any... if anyone has a spot and wants to chase some with blinds or i suppose wothout let me know. Have to double bulls that work great for the plains but i am not lugging them up and down hills :-)
Can't you get an OTC for most of the state though?
Yes.. there is a cutoff for a tag for a specific unit, once that happens you can buy an OTC. I believe how it works is that Getting an OTC gets you 1 turkey, getting a tag for a specific unit gets you a second turkey.
I?ve seen turkeys off Peak to Peak Highway for what its worth.. Always see them along the river bottoms on float trips along the Colorado and the Gunnison as well. I?ve waken up many times in a tent along the Colorado with a flock of turkeys around my tent.
I filed for a specific unit and it gave me an option that if I didn?t draw that unit that they would just send me an OTC tag.
Results are out. Got my first choice for limited licenses!
I got turned down for my limited pick and was giving an OTC.
whitewalrus
02-28-2019, 09:38
I got my 1st pick as well. In past years it seemed to have taken more pref points, hopefully the fee increase for the draw also lowers the points needed for my big game tags :)
hwy1strat
03-13-2019, 19:33
Can't wait to get out there. The OTC tag works in some good areas
whitewalrus
04-13-2019, 11:16
Good luck to everyone!
whitewalrus
04-23-2019, 20:54
Anyone bag a Tom yet?
My brother in law and sister in law both took turkeys a week or two ago.
ChickNorris
04-23-2019, 21:40
I saw some on private property out by Kiowa just a few weeks back. Big girls too.
Havent had a chance to get out yet. :(
Got my OTC but now I need to find the time.
whitewalrus
04-23-2019, 22:15
I haven?t had the chance to get out either. Hope to get out this weekend.
whitewalrus
04-23-2019, 22:16
I saw some on private property out by Kiowa just a few weeks back. Big girls too.
Smart as well for being on private land during the season.
whitewalrus
04-23-2019, 22:17
My brother in law and sister in law both took turkeys a week or two ago.
Congrats to them!
Got invited on a wheeling/camping trip and doing that instead.
hunterhawk
04-24-2019, 17:02
Heading out the next two days with the bow
went back to the family farm in KS. and arrowed two jakes. Seemed like turkey numbers are down this year. Didn't see many mature toms, but with my archery gear, I'm not picky.
went back to the family farm in KS. and arrowed two jakes. Seemed like turkey numbers are down this year. Didn't see many mature toms, but with my archery gear, I'm not picky.
Meateater.com just posted an article which based on the headline insinuates that turkey populations in general Nationwide are dropping, haven't had the time to read it yet.
Went to the Highlands Ranch archery range today and got dialed in for 30, 40, 50yds...Headed to Nebraska next weekend for a 3 day Turkey hunt.
ChickNorris
05-07-2019, 08:18
Anyone else have any luck?
Went out for a few hours Sunday but didn't hear/see anything. Hoping to get out earlier a few times before season ends. Was nice being back in the woods with a bow, though.
whitewalrus
05-07-2019, 09:21
Went out for a few hours Sunday but didn't hear/see anything. Hoping to get out earlier a few times before season ends. Was nice being back in the woods with a bow, though.
You get an OTC tag in CO?
You get an OTC tag in CO?
Yes, OTC.
Little Dutch
05-07-2019, 10:24
I haven't even tried yet this year. I am not seeing very many on my game cameras this year either. There were a lot of coyotes running earlier and I think they were hard on the flocks. I may try for this weekend though.
The other side of the coin is that I am pretty sure the Morels will be popping up in the high country and available for the picking this weekend. Searching for mushrooms sounds like a lot less work than processing a bird...and I can take my 2yo son with me to pick mushrooms.
ChickNorris
05-07-2019, 10:31
I haven't even tried yet this year. I am not seeing very many on my game cameras this year either. There were a lot of coyotes running earlier and I think they were hard on the flocks. I may try for this weekend though.
The other side of the coin is that I am pretty sure the Morels will be popping up in the high country and available for the picking this weekend. Searching for mushrooms sounds like a lot less work than processing a bird...and I can take my 2yo son with me to pick mushrooms.
For the last few years Morels have been growing in one of my flower gardens. How lovely & lucky is that?!
Imagine my surprise when I saw the first... & the 30th +
Little joys
I haven't even tried yet this year. I am not seeing very many on my game cameras this year either. There were a lot of coyotes running earlier and I think they were hard on the flocks. I may try for this weekend though.
The other side of the coin is that I am pretty sure the Morels will be popping up in the high country and available for the picking this weekend. Searching for mushrooms sounds like a lot less work than processing a bird...and I can take my 2yo son with me to pick mushrooms.
This is pretty much where I'm at.
For the last few years Morels have been growing in one of my flower gardens. How lovely & lucky is that?!
Imagine my surprise when I saw the first... & the 30th +
I've got mushrooms growing out of the base of my raised bed gardens (I packed a lot of dead branches in the bottom when I built them), but I don't know how to identify if a mushroom is safe.
EDIT: Just looked up pictures. That's not what I have.
ChickNorris
05-07-2019, 10:45
While not Morel, what you have could be edible. There are a few varieties that grow in those conditions. (Ive seen the raised beds in your chicken pics)
I see turkeys all the time driving through longmont on the way from Boulder up to Windsor.. unfortunately none of the land I see them on is huntable.
I spent a few hours this past weekend at a place in the foothills where I have seen them in the past, no sightings and no response to any calls. Need to find a place to hunt down on the flat lands.
ChickNorris
05-13-2019, 06:22
How about now?
I'm hoping for a picture too. I haven't seen a wild Turkey up close since I was a little girl. Used to go with my Grandpa in southern Arizona.
I haven't even tried yet this year. I am not seeing very many on my game cameras this year either. There were a lot of coyotes running earlier and I think they were hard on the flocks. I may try for this weekend though.
If your not finding any in the woods, maybe check a little closer to home. These guys showed up, this morning, a block down the street.
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ChickNorris
05-13-2019, 19:23
Hehehe
Mini dinosaurs. Mrs. Hummer sees them several times a week now commuting the Peak-to-Peak and down Lefthand Canyon to Boulder. This morning off Lee Hill Road she watched a flock of ~20 hens and Jakes with one magnificent displaying Tom. Unfortunately they are almost always on private land or county land which is closed to hunting.
We'd like to attract turkeys to the yard but if we put out cracked corn it will ensure more bear visits. A week ago we were visited at 4:20 a.m. by a big bear standing against the kitchen window. The next day I reconnected the electric bear fence. Too bad that it also keeps out turkeys, grouse, deer and moose.
Mini dinosaurs. Mrs. Hummer sees them several times a week now commuting the Peak-to-Peak and down Lefthand Canyon to Boulder. This morning off Lee Hill Road she watched a flock of ~20 hens and Jakes with one magnificent displaying Tom. Unfortunately they are almost always on private land or county land which is closed to hunting.
We'd like to attract turkeys to the yard but if we put out cracked corn it will ensure more bear visits. A week ago we were visited at 4:20 a.m. by a big bear standing against the kitchen window. The next day I reconnected the electric bear fence. Too bad that it also keeps out turkeys, grouse, deer and moose.
Mirrors my experience this year. Have seen turkeys but they have all been on unhuntable land.
Mirrors my experience this year. Have seen turkeys but they have all been on unhuntable land.
I meant to quote your earlier post. Boulder County is a tough nut to crack for hunters given the checkerboard of private and public lands. It's made worse by the continuing (theft) acquisition of larger properties by the county, particularly in the mountains and any agricultural land. Unlike the original laudable goal of parks and open space purchases to protect riparian corridors, the bureaucracy is further eating up private properties wherever they can be taken and using public tax money to take them. The landowners are either pushed out to sell or into "conservation easements" through excessive taxes and regulation. If you look at many of the recently acquired open space properties they are not in sensitive habitats. They are scattered everywhere throughout the checkerboard where they will eventually dominate. These open space properties add to the prohibited access lands the county overseers now own, and a result is that the properties are no longer on the tax rolls, adding to the tax burden for any remaining county landowners.
The goal of the communist state is to be the sole possessor of property and life itself.
whitewalrus
05-14-2019, 09:47
I haven't even tried yet this year. I am not seeing very many on my game cameras this year either. There were a lot of coyotes running earlier and I think they were hard on the flocks. I may try for this weekend though.
Guess you need to have a coyote hunt then
hunterhawk
05-17-2019, 12:18
Tuck Furkeys! Im giving up for the spring! Couldn't get the suckers to come in close enough! Dude would not leave his 3 hens and only one tom was heard this morning. He hung up at 70
Tuck Furkeys! Im giving up for the spring! Couldn't get the suckers to come in close enough! Dude would not leave his 3 hens and only one tom was heard this morning. He hung up at 70
Bow?
hunterhawk
05-17-2019, 22:46
Yup bow, I have shot lots of turkeys with my bow in Michigan and Nebraska but I am having the worst luck with Colorado turkeys. I will admit i probably haven't hunted in the best spots Colorado has to offer but I have been on birds everytime I just can't get them to seal the deel. Im thinking its a combination of always henned up and always seems like twice the amount of hens per toms/jakes so not much competition or I just haven't found the fighters yet..... i dont know. Frustrated!
In general where are you hunting? I’m new to turkeys in Colorado as well but my experience is that so far this year I have seen turkeys all over down in the flat lands mostly along river/creek corridors, haven’t seen any up in the foothills.
I’ve seen them in various places in the past in the foothills though this year now that I am hunting them I have not seen them in those places. Wondering if the amount of snow we had this year has been an issue.
I got overzealous and bought as many tags as I could this year, including OTC spring turkey for the first time. The reality is that I've seen them while elk hunting, but really have no idea what I'm doing and am not actually going to be able and get out this year. That's okay. There is always next year.
I got to go turkey hunting 2 weeks ago in Nebraska. Saw hens for days...saw several big toms, but they wouldn't cross the river no matter how I called em.
Had 3 jakes come right up to my blind and decoys, but I missed high....did get some feathers off one of the jakes back tho....grrr
I might be a able to squeeze in one more hunt next week, but no idea if I'll see any....
TheSparkens
05-19-2019, 21:44
I got one! Friday in northern Kansas, I will post picks tomorrow.
I got one! Friday in northern Kansas, I will post picks tomorrow.
Yay!
ChickNorris
05-19-2019, 22:59
I got one! Friday in northern Kansas, I will post picks tomorrow.
Nice!
TheSparkens
05-21-2019, 20:14
7-inch beard, by the spikes, looks like about a two-year-old.
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buffalobo
05-21-2019, 21:57
Great looking bird. Well done.
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