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MileHighShooter
Posts: 4,997 Senior Member
Alright CO guys you've had a few weeks to see the manual.....
MileHighShooter
Posts: 4,997 Senior Member
Where are ya going and whatcha huntin?
Very unlikely I'll hunt CO for goats this year, I don't have any points, and more importantly, I don't have any land access. A buddy from Gander is talking about going to WY and frankly, we can make it there faster then we can make it to goat country in CO. Only 10$ more for a doe tag.
Deer, unless I pick up something from the left over rifle tags, I will only be banking points. I dearly want to get back up to another timberline hunt and it'll take at least 4 points. If I can find a spot in the North East corner of the state I might buy a white tail only doe tag for December.
Elk, well that is the adventure this year! Got my point last year, so I should be able to draw a muzzle loader tag this year. Really looking forward to this one. It'll be a whole new experience hunting during the rut, using open sights, and being limited to shots under 100 yards. Going to start working on my calling here soon to help bring them to me for once, instead of chasing them for 10 miles a day.
Very unlikely I'll hunt CO for goats this year, I don't have any points, and more importantly, I don't have any land access. A buddy from Gander is talking about going to WY and frankly, we can make it there faster then we can make it to goat country in CO. Only 10$ more for a doe tag.
Deer, unless I pick up something from the left over rifle tags, I will only be banking points. I dearly want to get back up to another timberline hunt and it'll take at least 4 points. If I can find a spot in the North East corner of the state I might buy a white tail only doe tag for December.
Elk, well that is the adventure this year! Got my point last year, so I should be able to draw a muzzle loader tag this year. Really looking forward to this one. It'll be a whole new experience hunting during the rut, using open sights, and being limited to shots under 100 yards. Going to start working on my calling here soon to help bring them to me for once, instead of chasing them for 10 miles a day.
Replies
If I don't get drawn for either NV's or CO's buck hunt, I am strongly considering a WY doe myself, if only to get in a practice run for my eventual buck antelope hunt on the cheap. Gotta learn how to chase them somehow, and I'd rather make my mistakes on an inexpensive doe hunt than burn my first buck tag on a major screw-up of some kind.
I've already talked to several local farmers about the over the counter whitetail only tags. The season runs from mid November to the end of the year. One of the landowners I talked to owns the largest organic farm in the state, and his land is all river bottom (Arkansas) just a few miles away. He said probably, and to check back in the fall.
More later. Gotta run.
[edit]
Now for the rest of the story.
When I moved here in '94, I got permission to hunt on a nearby dairy farm. At that time, it was ran by two brothers, and the place was strictly a dairy farm. You saw either cows, flies or alfalfa fields. It borders the Arkansas, too. I was hunting elsewhere then, and never really took advantage of hunting that farm.
Now, it's mostly two big gravel pits. One has been dug out and filled with water, and the other is still being worked six days a week. Because of that, there aren't a lot of deer nearby. Still, I thought I'd check. Strangely enough, the brother I talked to about a week ago remembered me from nearly 20 years ago. He said he would check with his brother, but I think I'll probably get permission. And, it borders about a section of BLM land, with straddles the river.
Even better, he told me that he and his brother run an elk and deer outfitting operation about 100 miles south of here. I told him I would love the opportunity to help out in any capacity I could, and that I would work cheap. He took down my name and number, and I have my fingers crossed that I might get to work in a hunting camp this fall. No doubt it will be hard, long days, and I would be champ grunt, but it's something I'd like to try at least once. If that works out, I might not even get to hunt until the late whitetail season.
I also hope to go with Mike and Paul, and perhaps Luis, to chase goats. I won't apply for a tag, but will be glad to help them.
If anyone is interested in hunting whitetail, there are some public land available. First, there's the Pueblo Reservoir State Wildlife Area. It runs on both sides of the Arkansas River just west of Pueblo Reservoir. Hunting is limited to shotgun and archery gear, but there are supposed to be some deer and elk on the property. The bad news is that it will probably see a lot of hunting pressure.
There's the BLM land I mentioned earlier (Blue Heron), just off of HWY 115 between Florence and Penrose. And, there's the Beaver Creek State Wildlife Area. That area looks more like mulie country, but the department of wildlife guy I talked to said there were some whitetail there. It's about 20 miles northeast of Florence.
I'm also still open to the possibility of hunting GMU 54 where JB, Scott, MHS and JB's dad hunted last year.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Dan, I don't want to sound like a broken record, but take a day, head east, and start knocking on doors. I think you'll be amazed at how easy it is to get permission to hunt antelope. I remember one year that I learned the week before season that the place I was planning to hunt would not be available. I already had a tag, so I did just what I'm recommending to you. Within a half day, I had permission to hunt about 12,000 acres, and got a nice buck later in the week.
It's really not that hard, and a lot of the land owners out east don't like antelope. Give it a try.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
cpj -that's one thing I am so grateful to have back: over the counter deer tags. Sure, Ohio has no rifle season, but I couldn't care less about the form I use to hunt as long as I get to hunt. That's been one of the most painful elements of my current (soon to be past) duty station. The West has some incredible big game, but only getting to hunt a fraction of my adult life for any given species is like ritual torture for a guy who simply wants to get out and do it.
Can be a bit hard on the bottom wires of a fence, especially in their favored crossing spots.
I've also been told they spread weeds, which ranchers don't like for some reason.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Deer are pretty bad about spreading weeds around also.
Luis, that's a hard question to answer. The number of tags available for a given GMU or set of GMUs is set by the DOW after taking population counts. I'm not sure when they do this, but the information will not be available before you have to apply (April 1 this year). Then, you have to factor in the number of applicants and how many of those have more preference points than you do. Again, that is information not available until all applications are in. The DOW's web page has some historic data on how many preference points were needed to draw out in previous years, which might prove helpful.
There have been years in which I drew a buck tag with a single preference point, and other years in which it took two. Most years, even without a preference point, I could get a doe tag as a second choice, and not lose my accumulated preference points. Last year, though, I think that Linefinder tried this and didn't draw anything.
I think that chances are pretty high that you can draw a doe tag if you make it your first choice. The problem with doing that is that you will lose your preference point and have to start over next year. If you're dead set on taking a buck, apply for a buck tag as your first choice and a doe tag as your second. You might get lucky and get one of them.
One other thing you may want to keep in mind is that if you do draw a tag, and later decide you can't use it, you can turn it back to the DOW, get a full refund, and get your accumulated preference points reinstated.
It's a crap shoot. There have been years during which we saw goats all over the place, and tagged out by noon, and years that we went home empty handed. It seems to be mostly a matter of how many goats were left over from the previous year, and how much moisture an area has got during the current year.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
This^. To you easterners, bindweed is morning glory and the wild variety spreads like a brushfire. Something about an antelopes gut chemistry really ignites the seed potency.
Mike
N454casull
Great info, Jerry. Sounds like I at least have a decent chance of seeing a tag this season. I should ask: what unit(s) should I be looking at for historical data and to apply for? I want to do some digging.
I keep saying one of these years I'll do that lol. I have to talk to my buddy some more about the WY hunt. Over all it'll probably end up being cheaper and easier due to the driving.
good to go
Man, that's what I always dreamed of doing, learning how to bugle with a mouth call and getting drawn in Colorado and calling in a big bull during Muzzle Loading season. That has been in my mind for 30 years since I saw a video of this guy I know's cousin bugling in bulls during bow season. He didn't kill one in the video because he didn't see what he wanted. He had killed several through the years and wanted a big 6x. All that showed up in his video were a couple of 5x and one 5x6 which he chose not to shoot.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Luis, the GMU that Mike, Paul and I hunt is 121. This year, GMUs 120, 121, 125 and 126 are lumped together, but I don't know any places to hunt in that group other than 121. I also know a landowner in 113, but 121 has proven to be a better place to hunt.
I did bump into a guy from El Campo several years ago who invited me to come hunt on his property. He claimed he had a lot of antelope. That's in the southeastern corner of the state, and a pretty far drive from where I live. Also, I'm not sure which GMU he would be in, as there are several centered around that little town. If you're interested, PM me and I'll give you his name and number. I don't know anything more than that about this guy or his property.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Opposite direction hermano. You want 55. 561 is on top of Marshall/Monarch pass.
Isn't the Red Desert still struggling a bit after the droughts?
I'm going to put in for deer, somewhere. I just want a meat deer, preferably a doe. Still don't have a good place to go in mind.
I don't think I'm even going to put in for elk this year.
Mike
N454casull
Shouldn't you put in just for a point?
Oh, yeah, I'll do that. Just not really planning on hunting elk this year.
Mike
N454casull
Good, I thought you were slipping, like Wambli, some Moderator affliction:jester:.
N454casull
54 is Crested Butte. Glens place is on the border line of 55/551. If you went 551 you'd hunt from his place and east. My only concern with his place is that you really need snow to move them down since that area is lower in elevation. Unless you went up the backside of Tomichi
Paul (Mosseybuck) called me this weekend about goat hunting. He will be applying for the same area, so we may have a good bunch of hunters.
There's some BLM land (about a section) between Florence and Penrose that borders both sides of the Arkansas, and has two ponds on it. It supposedly holds whitetails, so an either sex otc whitetail tag might be good. There's some other public land that I've been told holds whitetails, too. I'm still working on other plans, so stay tuned.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Roger that, my friend.
I go over 4 years at my present job in June, and that entails a substantial increase in vacation time. Around hunting season I'll be hitting that "use it or loose it" wall. Which is exactly where I wanted to be.
Mike
N454casull