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Colorado Public Land Rio 2019

Ryan2388

Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2014
Messages
44
Hey Everyone,

I was lucky enough to get a first season 96 turkey tag this year. It was a lot of fun chasing turkeys this year along the South Platte. Opening weekend was a tough one for me. First day was spoiled by a bunch of teenagers running around the SWA scaring every turkey in the area. The second day I switched to another spot that holds turkeys and had another gentlemen hunting there as well. I told him of an area that was always good and I would go to another section. Walking in I heard one lone gobble from that gentlemen's location, lucky him. Before shooting light I found a nice open area I have seen turkey's in. After setting up I finally heard some gobbles 150 yards away on the property line. About 20 turkeys flew down around 6:15 with about 4 toms strutting around. At 6:30 I heard a shot from the other hunter, who got a nice tom. I was mostly quiet just giving friendly yelps to the hens trying to get them to check me out. Finally, at around 7:30 I had a lone gobble coming my way, and it was a nice tom at around 50 yards I finally saw him. Unfortunately, he was on the side of the brush I could not swing around to get a shot, so I let him go. At 9 I had to call it quits for a family function.

The next weekend I was out in the same area, and had the whole place to myself. Grabbed all my gear and decoys and started walking in an hour before sun up. I reached my first calling station and gave out a loud howler call. Right off the bat I had a turkey call 70 yards from me. I circled around and set up in a big open space about 70 yards in front of the roost site. Around 6:00 I heard gobbling all over the place probably 8 turkeys gobbling all around the area. I could finally see a big black object in the trees and could tell he was alone. This was the weirdest turkey I have ever hunted. I waited and waited but he did not want to fly out of his roost at all. He clearly was not a morning turkey. At around 8:20 he finally comes down on the other side. I do some calling to bring him in to my side. About 5 minutes later I see a turkey head in the grass coming into my decoys. I get ready and see that it is a lone hen walking in and no tom in sight. Another two hours go by and nothing, so I call it a morning.

After lunch I am driving around checking out fields and see what the turkeys are doing. One of the fields I can hunt has probably 3 toms and 5 hens moving around and feeding. I park and watch them and about 30 minutes later they go back into the woods. So from there I made the decision to go setup on the field and see if I could get one of those toms. After setting up I see turkeys coming back out into the field. Great I spot two hens and three toms coming out at 200 yards. The hens are doing a lot yelping and the toms are all puffed up. I do some light yelping to the hens, and I get them coming right to my decoys with one tom in tow. When the turkeys are about 60 yards from my setup I had 3 jakes bust out of the tree line and run right at the tom and he took off scared for his life. It was fun to watch, but again another missed opportunity and all birds disappeared. After that I relocated to a brush pile I was seeing the turkey's exit and entering from. For the next few hours not much happened and I was almost ready to leave for the evening. Around 6:00 PM I hear yelping 20 yards behind me and look and see 10 hens with one giant tom in the back. With about 20 minutes of feeding behind me at 10 yards they were preparing to leave. I turned around very carefully and put my gun up on a branch and waited for a clear shot on the tom. When only the tom was in the field I was ready to shoot, and then a cow stepped out behind the turkey. So, yet again I let the turkey pass as it was not a safe shot and went home empty handed.

For the last week of the season I had 4 days off and I planned on hunting everyday. I had to work in the early morning the first day though, then I was off. I reached my same hunting spot from my previous trip around 2:30 and saw a nice tom just strutting by himself in the field. Once he left I quickly grabbed my gear and got setup on the same woodpile. I was sitting for about 5 minutes when I heard a gobble 70 yards in the trees. I started calling and then more toms started gobbling all around me. I could hear that first bird getting closer and closer. All the birds were really fired up more than I ever seen that season. When I finally think this tom is going to clear the brush. I hear a gobble behind me. I look and see nothing and think its some echo from another bird. One minute later I hear it again, then look and behind this big branch blocking my view is a Tom coming right in. I turned my body around into a shooting position, and when that tom gave me a shot I dropped him at 45 yards. My bird was down at 3:30 and only sat for 30 min into a four day hunt. It was a very fun hunt. Thanks for reading.106592106593106594
 
Very nice! Love the spurs! I've often wondered tho. Is that 1st season worth the double points of the 2nd ? Ive always had tremendous action 2nd season up there. Congrats
 
Way to go, superior turkey ninja skeeelz!. Older birds don't get old by being stupid.

I commend you on your decisions to refrain from shooting when unsafe.
 
Congrats! Early season was tougher calling than I would have guessed, too.

Very nice! Love the spurs! I've often wondered tho. Is that 1st season worth the double points of the 2nd ? Ive always had tremendous action 2nd season up there. Congrats

Similar thought has been running through my head.
 
Sitka Gear Turkey Tool Belt

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