Well guys, I headed up north again this year planning on making quick work of a bird in Colorado and then in Utah. In summary, I got my a$$ handed to me on a platter in Colorado and never even made it to Utah. I hunted five days in CO and never had a gobbler work in close enough for a shot. Of course, we only found a handful of gobblers in those five days.
Might have been different if the weather hadn't sucked (two straight days of snow), the forest roads were open (many of the roads are gated and are supposed to be opened May 1, but apparently because of the heavy snow load this year, a lot of them were still locked up), and there might actually be some turkeys to be found.
I have never seen a place where the habitat appears to be absolutely ideal for Merriam's turkeys where there are miles and miles of country that have no turkeys in them. Of course, with the roads locked up and much of the area in wilderness,...not to mention a lot of it inaccessible due to private land blocking access,...there might actually be some places that have good numbers of birds. We just did not find any of those if they are there.
Bottom line is I got whooped big-time. It's over, and in terms of snoods hitting the dirt, the birds more or less won this year. Three birds down for me this spring. Regardless, I proved to myself that i can still get around pretty well in some pretty tough country to hunt. That, in itself, gives me some consolation,...and hope for the future!
I hope the rest of you had the seasons, and hunts, that you were expecting.
