It doesn’t take much to get Wayne Carlton going when the subject is turkey hunting, what with the start of the Colorado season barely a month away and an eager audience hanging on every word.
So here he was, the old master caller himself, yelping and gobbling away, filling the rafters at Denver’s Bass Pro Shops and hunters’ hearts with the magic of the forest in springtime.
“There’s not a better time to be out in the woods. The birds are chirping, the grass is green, everything seems new,” the Montrose resident crooned, warming to the occasion.
Oh, yes. Did we mention all those tom turkeys out there just waiting to be called inside gun range?
A ventriloquist with a diaphragm call, Carlton enchanted the crowd with the complete turkey songbook, belting out all that rhythm and range that makes the difference between a bird in the oven and bittersweet memories of a tom strutting just a little too far away.
“The closer they get, the less you want to call,” he advised. “If you get them fired up, they’ll just keep coming in. Too much calling makes them shy, reluctant to come.”
For the many Coloradans who are just warming up to a sport that presents a growing opportunity and plenty of access on public land, Carlton offers these snippets of advice:
* Pattern your gun so you know precisely where it’s going to shoot. Shoot at different distances: 10, 20 and 30 yards.
* Use size 4 or 5 shot and aim for the neck.
* Always be ready for a second shot. Tough old birds have a way of jumping up and running away.
* With a box call, don’t use heavy gloves or grip the sides of the call. Both dampen the vibration of the box and lose the resonance.
* Master different types of calls. “It’s the same if you went fishing with a single lure. They may not bite it,” he said.
* Expect to kill most of your toms between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when hens are on the nest.
* Try to set up between a roost and where birds go to feed.
* On windy days, try to find sheltered places such as canyons or draws, which is where the birds will be.
* Try to ensure that nothing is between you and the turkey, such as a barbed wire fence, which they often will not cross.
More turkey talk
If you missed Wayne Carlton’s presentation, don’t despair. Several other seminars are upcoming along the Front Range, most aimed at the beginning hunter. Bass Pro Shops will offer a lineup of instruction Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. with a Bob Hix discussion of basics, followed at 1 p.m. by Mark Campagnola’s advanced course. Randy Olson will give a rundown of state prospects at 3 p.m., and Campagnola and Hix will tell where to find turkeys at 4 p.m. The Colorado Division of Wildlife has scheduled a Tuesday workshop at Fort Collins (970-472-4300), and a March 27 session in Denver (303-291-7545), both from 6:30-9:30 p.m. A Colorado Springs event will be 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on March 31, (719-227-5200). Events at the DOW offices are free; reservations are required.
Charlie Meyers can be reached at 303-954-1609 or at cmeyers@denverpost.com.
