Turkey Areas Colville

[br8kitoff]

So I had some friends take me out for the later part of the spring opener this past year.......HOOKED!!!  With that said, they moved and are no longer in the Mt. Spokane area.  My father -in-law lives by the old ALCOA plant in addy.  There used to be tons of turkeys....and deer.  I know that the snow over the last few years have really hammered the deer.  I usaully hit Colville for the late hunt if I don't connect during the opener but don't know the area that well.  Are the trukey areas around Iron Mountain overrun with hunters/  have the turkeys suffered the same demise as the deer.  I'm just trying to narrow the scouting search area down as I could'nt live much further west from there and would prefer to limit the "extra" milage.  Thanks guys

[Bigtine96]

Turkeys from colville to spokane lots of public and private land, turkeys will be in the woods and the fields, most people don't mind if you hunt, just ask

[270Shooter]

I saw a bunch of turkeys in the iron mountain area.....

[MtnMuley]

Instead of seeing 50 to 100 in my area, we were seeing 20-50. 

Exactly what I noticed in the NE last spring.

[BLKBEARKLR]

Iron Mountain used to be great, I stopped hunting it in 2005 because of all the hunters, kind of bad when you are set up and a guy comes sneaking in on you and tries to jump shoot the bird I had been calling...

Joe

[Birdguy]

Turkeys are all over that country. Get out and see what you can locate. The season is long and if the weather holds like it has been it maybe a little later on that the birds get going. There is also a good deal of fishing in the are that will slow the number of hunters later in the spring. I know all to well the distance our party has guys from all over the Kitsap peninsula that head that way every spring. Good luck, and be sure to post your success pictures  .

[Whitenuckles]

We were killing birds up by Alladin last year. It was the first time I had been that far NE.. But it was some really cool country!

[bearpaw]

So I had some friends take me out for the later part of the spring opener this past year.......HOOKED!!!  With that said, they moved and are no longer in the Mt. Spokane area.  My father -in-law lives by the old ALCOA plant in addy.  There used to be tons of turkeys....and deer.  I know that the snow over the last few years have really hammered the deer.  I usaully hit Colville for the late hunt if I don't connect during the opener but don't know the area that well.  Are the trukey areas around Iron Mountain overrun with hunters/  have the turkeys suffered the same demise as the deer.  I'm just trying to narrow the scouting search area down as I could'nt live much further west from there and would prefer to limit the "extra" milage.  Thanks guys

My Opinion - I estimate our birds at 20% to 30% of the previous population highs in most areas, but we still have more birds than any other part of the state. I beleive there were also less hunters last year, so crowding on public land wasnt as bad.  

I should also add, while out cougar hunting this winter, in areas where we used to see large flocks of 100+ wintering birds, I am seeing a half dozen to a dozen birds. There are a few large flocks but nothing like the past, the good old days have definitely passed.

[Lunatic Fringe]

I haven't been turkey hunting over there in a couple years.  In the past I've see lots of turkeys in both Sherman and 49 degrees north units.  I've noticed that they show up in different places on different years so You'll just have to do some scouting to narrow down your options.  I've found the largest numbers around kettle falls or on Hwy 2 around crescent lake but like I said things change from year to year.  

[br8kitoff]

Thanks for the info guy's!  I will definetly post our adventure.  Good luck to all, maybe even see some of you out there.

[BushMonster]

I'll also be heading out that way for the opener.  Plan to get over at least once or twice prior to do some scouting.  I don't know the area so getting over there is a must for me.  Coming from Kitsap too and does equal lots of gas burned.

[sneakyjake]

I agree with all of the posts above only to add that the birds still have not repopulated the higher elevation areas with late snow that I hunt.  I'm not sure, but it may  have something to do with the predators rebounding quicker then the birds.  Maybe the hens do not go into those areas to nest because they have not been able to feed in there during late winter/early spring.  Go hunt with Bearpaw, he will put you on birds. 

Hey, I made a turkey post.  I guess I should finally go put my deer and elk gear away. 

[Phantom Gobbler]

I agree with Bearpaw.  The birds are down from what we were seeing 3 years ago.  In some areas there seems to be a reduction in the number of Jakes and two year old Toms.  That said there are still good numbers of birds in some areas, but as stated the areas from Colville and Kettle Falls and south to Hwy 2 and Spokane are best to spend your time scouting and getting permission to hunt.  With 12 weeks to go, its a great time of year getting geared up and ready for one of our greatest hunting opportunities.

[bearpaw]

Yesterday I was coming back from Cougar hunting. In a location where most winters there would be 50 to 100 birds flocked up and wintering, I saw 7 birds... 

In the winter over here the birds come down to low elevation and flock up around farms with food sources (cattle operations, etc.). I used to be involved in a winter turkey counting survey which has been dropped by the WDFW. One of these days I will go run one of the old routes and report the turkey numbers here on the forum.

Now there are some areas where the bird numbers are still fair, but there are far fewer of the big flocks than there used to be.

Sneaky, some of those higher mountain flocks really suffered, some were almost totally wiped out. I wished we could get an organized turkey effort in this state again.

[bearpaw]

I forgot to add, it is pretty much a waste of time to go scouting too early, unless you might want to do some coyote hunting.

Here is my advice, come a weekend or two before season, better yet, come a few days before season so you pin down the birds that you will hunt. In the week before the season opens, the birds move around a lot as they break away from barnyards all over NE WA. Now this depends on how late that there's snow here. If snow leaves early birds will move up the mountain before season. If there is still a lot of snow on the opener, the birds will still be close around the farms where they winter.