Fall turkey hunting is one of the nation’s most underutilized recreational opportunities. Unlike spring seasons, where hunters concentrate on small areas and sitting still, pursuing fall birds in Colorado is much like an elk or mule deer hunt. Merriams roost in traditional locations, allowing you to begin the hunt with birds in sight. After fly-down, they often travel throughout the hills and valleys searching for food. Your best friend in this pursuit is the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, which actively solicits hunters and offers their help making your quest successful. Check out the details in this post from The Outdoor Wire.
The application deadline for fall turkey hunting, September to October, is July 9. Colorado Parks and Wildlife encourages sportsmen of all interests to give this unique challenge a try.
Fall turkeys are focused on food and you’ll find them in flocks.
“Fall turkey hunting offers lots of opportunity to try diverse hunting techniques,” said Ed Gorman, CPW small game coordinator. “Hunters can pursue them in ways that are more characteristic of big-game hunting, like using the spot-and-stalk method or a blind on well used travel corridors and feeding sites.
Another technique, more common in other parts of the country, is purposely flushing a flock of turkeys and calling them back by imitating a lost turkey. Unlike spring turkey hunting, the calling is different because the hunter is imitating a lost turkey that wants to rejoin the flock rather than attract a mate.
Hunters hope to find small bunches of hens with juvenile turkeys, known as poults during this time. These small flocks are numerous when the season starts in September.
Adult male turkeys, known as gobblers, are successfully hunted too. Gobblers tend to segregate into smaller bachelor groups during the summer and fall. These are generally more difficult to locate.
Hunting methods vary between spring and fall, and so do methods of take. Rifles are not legal during spring seasons, whereas some fall turkey hunting units allow the use of rifles.
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