Approximately 30,000 wild turkeys live in Colorado, so while while turkeys get the glory – except from the turkey’s point of view – on Thanksgiving, it’s turkey time here all year long. Wild turkeys are notoriously skittish, but they’re so plentiful that you’ll be rewarded if you devote a little patience and time to searching likely habitats. They tend to congregate in flocks of eight to 20 birds and keep their distance. From the road, a flock of wild turkeys “looks like a bunch of brown rocks in a field,” says state Division of Wildlife public information officer Randy Hampton. Wild turkeys tend to haunt the fringes of fields and meadows, he says, and like ponderosa and piñon-juniper woodlands near hiking trails. Scan steep slopes for fat brown-and-tan turkey feathers – evidence that a flock lives nearby. Bring binoculars or a telephoto lens, and plan your search for the hours bracketing dawn and dusk, when wild turkeys are most active. To visit a state wildlife area, you must buy a $5 annual Colorado Wildlife Habitat Stamp. For more information, go online to .
