CO turkey opening day. Who's with me?

I won't be out opening day but my work schedule this time of year gets real flexible so I'll be out on Monday. Went scouting yesterday, two spots had too much snow on the road to get back into where the turkeys hang out, but they usually don't head up there until later in the season. The other spot we found some sign but the road was so muddy and greasy we didn't hike in as far as we wanted. The dog and I came back out with about 10lbs of mud each.

I will be hunting on Ft Carson. Depending on the weather I will be knee deep in the clay of the tank trails or be blowing dust out my nose for a couple of weeks.

I wonder if the hens will be in a romantic mood. Since I have not been scouting I will go to a favorite spot, set out a decoy, sit quiet and let the birds dictate my course of action.

I think water is going to be a major issue this year.

JL

I was just on a little road trip in Northern NJ last week. I decided to stop by the farm where my dad taught me to hunt about 20 years ago. It turns out that it is now state owned and managed for hunting. I will be able to hunt there the 2nd week of the season, and I will be carrying one of my dads guns thanks to you. It will mean that much more if I get a bird with his gun in a place that holds so many memories. Good luck in Colorado.

Hey JL,

Found a flock of 40+ birds with at least 4 nice toms in the group. All within 40 miles of Colorado Springs.... in a place you would never think you'd find turkeys. It's public land too.

I was out there last weekend and watched the flock go to roost late Sunday. I hope they are there Saturday morning.

Something is not right. I went out to my area yesterday only to find just a couple of traumatized jakes. Not the huge flock that was there just one week ago. No hens and no mature toms to be found. It's like the entire flock was taken out in one week. There was no sign of recent flock movement. They were just gone. However, in one of the spots where the birds roost there was recent sign of vehicles and people walking around. This is all fenced in BLM land but I've never seen tire tracks in this area before. My gut feeling is that the DOW came in and trapped a bunch of birds to relocate them.

I'm calling them tomorrow. If I find out this is true I am going to be pretty PO'd. I spent way too much time and expense scouting around to find these birds for them to haul them away!! :tz

Well I almost hate saying this (almost). I GOT MINE!!!! 8in beard, 3/8in spurs. My biggest turkey to date. Of course I have only gotten 3 in my whole life.

Just goes to show that even someone who is dumb enough to leave their call in the garage #-o can get very, very lucky.

Will write the whole story later and post a pic if I can figure out how to do it. :-k

Congrats man! :thumb Maybe I should still go through the hunter's orientation to get on base?

It almost started snowing were I was hunting... very cold and drizzly. I'm going to try the same area next Saturday. But this time I'll spread out my search for the birds a little more if need be. I was smack dab in the middle of 40+ birds there just two weekends ago. Some were only 10 feet away from me. It was pretty cool. At least I know my camo is doing it's job. And my calling doesn't scare them away. But after not finding much of anything this past weekend I'm pretty frustrated. ](*,)

As far as not having a call. One time I was working at the Air Force Academy and there was a big flock of birds near our job site. I made a call out of a comb and piece of paper. It worked quite well.

Hey RLL

Have you gone back out yet? I don't think the DOW would trap birds during the mating season and that close to hunting season. If you want to attend the "Recreation Briefing" for Fort Carson it is held at 5pm the first and last Wed. of every month. The permit is good from 1 Jan to 31 dec of each year. I think they are considering having the permit effective dates match that of the hunting licenses. That is they could be valid until March 31 of each year. There has not been a change yet, but will keep my fingers crossed.

I went back to the same area last Saturday. I came in from the extreme south end. Lots of deer tracks but no sign of thunder chickens. I did see lots of quail though. Since the ground was wet it made tracking real easy. I found one set of tracks that were less than a day old. I explored new areas and hunted way beyond were I had seen the birds that one day. Nada... zip... zilch.

When I was coming back home I saw some birds down near the burn area along 115. Looks like they had just crossed from the west. Can you hunt along that stretch near the highway? I will try to attend the briefing next Wednesday. We have a project on base (Smith Dental Clinic) that we have a contract to do the EIFS system on. Maybe next Wed. will be a good day for a job site visit.

How far to the south of the base is hunting allowed? How is it all the way down near Pinon Canyon? Any birds down there? It sure looks like good elk and deer country.


Pssst. I'm still waiting for the invite to shoot a .50 cal. :222 lol

hey
i seen you guys are real into turkey hunting and know a few great spots. well im currently deployed in iraq and from ft. carson. never been turkey hunting and just lookin for some pointers and maybe a little help. dont know how to call them, dont know what to look for, or even how to get tags. co is way different form NC there u got to walmart get your big game which includes everything state wide and u go no zones no points no lottery no limited and unlimited draws it easy. big game 2 antlered deer 2 doe depending on what the season looks like on does, 1 bear 2 turkeys me its free life time sportsman licence but normally its 55 bucks. so its a lot different from what im use to. please some one mind helpin me out. [-o<
thanks
jon

Hey Jon

When you get close to redeploying let me know. I will be happy to let you have as much info as possible. By the way I work at the simulation center on FT Carason.

hey JL
oh ok thanks. are you at the roll over simulator or the shooting simulator? well i should be back before the beggining of next month so i will talk to u more when i get home soon. =D> thanks again and im looking forward to meeting up with u and learning something new and maybe getting some good hunting in.
thanks again
jon

hey jl
its me jon. well just wanted to say hey nd that im back home. if you want you can get ahold of me via e mail or phone. causeyj86@yahoo.com or 719 559 5017. thanks again jon

hey jl its jon i was woundering if you can give me a call again i lost my old phone and i dont have your number so if you can call me or hit me with a e mail with your number that would be great im ready even got a new turkey gun and a new full chock that drills target at 50 ft with a spread pattern of about a .50 cent piece. so im ready for opening day or for when you are so let me know whats up thanks a gain
jon