Some ????? about CO hunting

[eyehead]

Well it's looks like i'll be moving to CO for sure in August. Just wondering if you guys could give me some general ideas about the hunting out west as I've never hunted there. Being a resident are the chances of drawing an Elk tag pretty good. Is the Mule and Whitetail hunting out there pretty good and is there any chances of getting into some good mallard and honker shoots. Lastly how is the public land out there (quality, crowded,ect.) Thanks for any info guys!!!

[Jim Bob]

Being a Resident does not improve your odds in the drawings. Only gathering points for not drawing will help. They do sell Bull tags and left over tags over the counter for many areas. Muleys are up in the hills, with Whitetails out east. Lots of National forest available in the mountains. Out east mostly private property. As for waterfowl the state has quite a few properties you can hunt but they do get crowded on weekends. Also Pheasant is available, we hunt mainly in Kansas (only about 3 hour drive) heading out tomorrow for the last weekend of the season!

[Nate McVey]

Eyehead, after living in CO for 5 years, from the U.P., I moved to Duluth a year ago. The elk and mulie hunting is as good as it gets in the country. The elk herd is the largest in the U.S. and Mulies get very big. I still make the pilgramage from Duluth to Avon, CO in the fall for a week of elk hunting. Myself and 6 other guys that I met there and have all moved on meet and set up camp in the Red and White National Forest. We have been succesfull each year since I joined there camp on 2000. I don't want to ramble here and bore everyone so if I can be of any more help shoot me an email shiner2367 at yahoo

[MNRookie78]

Be ready for some of the best hunting this country has to offer, in my opinion. After living in CO for over 12 years (1/2 of which were spent in a small mountain town with elk and deer hunting literaly minutes away) I can say you will fall in love with the hunting there! Here's a few tips I learned or discovered when I was living there.

Invest in a good quality spotting scope, tripod and some great quality binoculars if you don't already have them. These prove to be the most valuable pieces of equipment you will have out there. The country is open and you could spend HOURS glassing from one spot...if you don't mind doing it that way. It takes a lot of patience and learning to pick the country side apart looking for that "little thing that doesn't seem to fit", but well worth it. This always seemed to be my prefered method and then planned a stalk or planned the evening sit based on what I saw in the morning.

Get some practice shooting at 200+ yards as it will be necessary more than you expect.

The weather can go from great to downright miserable in short amount of time, so be prepared for anything!

Get out and get some exercise once you're there even if you think (or know) you're in good physical condition. The elevation there can be a trip killer. I would ride my mountain bike and motorcycle 3-4 times a week throughout the spring and summer and focused on keeping that level of conditioning by all the hiking I did during the hunting season. At times I regret those couple days I "took off" from riding the bikes. You will have a more enjoyable hunt by being in good physical shape.

All in all, expect to have some great times in the mountains...I know I did and miss the heck out of it every day. Good luck!