i've never gone hunting but I would like to understand how. Are there places where they'll take newbs out to show them how?
if any of you can suggest how you'd learn, i'd appreciate it.
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i've never gone hunting but I would like to understand how. Are there places where they'll take newbs out to show them how?
if any of you can suggest how you'd learn, i'd appreciate it.
Probably need to start at the beginning with hunters safety class, which is mandatory to even get a hunting license of any kind in Colo., unless you were born before Jan. 1st, 1949 then you are exempt. See link
https://www.hunter-ed.com/colorado/?...unter%20Safety
Once you have your hunter safety card, then you can start by thinking about what kind of game you want to hunt. Small game such as pheasant , rabbit, grouse, coyote, ect., or big game such as deer, elk, antelope, etc. Then you can start figuring out the logistics and tools needed to pursue the game. I wouldn't go into it planning to hunt all species right out of the gate. I think it would be better to concentrate your efforts on one or the other, then expand in the coming years.
There is a lot of public land in Colo. to hunt. Once you get your safety card and then your hunting license, a little research will show you places to go to get your feet wet actually hunting.
Hunting isn't cheap to get into, but once you have the primary tools needed, such as guns, ammo., knives, etc., but it can be very rewarding going to the field and bringing home meat that you can prepare for yourself.
Best of luck
Try hunting with binos. Go online to the cpw website and look up the hunters almanac. There you will find info on where various species in co hang out and migrate through the year. Then pick an area, get up early and hike out there. Find a ridgeline or a high point and do some glassing to see if you can spot anything. If you spot something try to stalk it and see how close you can get.
Do this during the summer so that you don’t add ro the numbers of people in the woods during the season.
All of the advice above is right on target.
My guess is you're interested in hunting big game; especially deer and elk. Understanding the basics and the rules in CO is essential and gets covered in the Hunter Safety Education class. Start by getting signed up for one of these classes - attend in person, not online. Before attending an in-person class, look online for information to help you learn what questions you should be asking. As the course progresses you'll likely form more questions. Write down every question you have. It's hard to know what questions you need to ask until you have a basic understanding of what it's all about. If you get more questions after your Hunter Safety class (and you will), visit your nearest Parks and Wildlife office and talk with them. Meanwhile, REALLY check out the Parks & Wildlife website and talk to anyone you might know who is a hunter.
The initial education and purchasing of gear is just the beginning. You need to know the minimum gear to carry. Always assume a nice day will turn to shit while you're out hunting and ensure you're prepared for it. When you know what you want to hunt and you've done online research & talked with others who hunt you need to decide WHERE and when you want to hunt (according to the seasons and approved locations). Some areas of the state require you to draw out a permit, others allow "over the counter"; this often determines where you'll be hunting.
Once the "where" question is answered, GO to that area as often as possible and, as Def90 said, "bino hunt". Knowing the terrain and how your body is acclimated to it is important. The better you know an area the better your chances of harvesting an animal and less of a chance for getting lost. GPS units are great, but always have a compass on hand as well and know the basics for how to use it to get back to camp. Knowing yourself and your physical capabilities within a given terrain is also important to prevent injury or death.
In between visits to your chosen hunting grounds, determine the best legal caliber to hunt with FOR YOU. Big game has certain minimum caliber/bullet requirements - learn them. Find a rifle (if you're planning to rifle hunt...or bow or muzzleloader if those are your choice) that's right for you. Then, once you've acquired the firearm/bow, get out and practice OFTEN. You need to know the instrument and how it shoots with the ammunition you settle on. You need to be able to accurately and consistently be able to place your shots so when you're in the field you'll know your limitations and be able to make ethical shots. This is critical.
All of this leads up to the harvest. Once you harvest an animal the real work begins. You need to know how to legally tag and field dress the animal (maintaining proof of gender on at least 1 quarter of the animal). Dressing out the animal is time critical to avoid meat spoilage. Heat, whether from the animals internals or outside temp, is NOT your friend. It isn't too difficult to dress out an animal, but gets messy (unless you use the gutless method). Know your legal & ethical responsibilities for the meat & carcass!
Now you have to get the animal out of the field and back to camp or to a processor. This is typically tiring, time consuming and back breaking work. If you have friends who can/will help you'll owe them big time if they do help. If you run into an outfitter you may be able to enlist their help - for a fee...just have cash in your pocket to be able to pay them.
There's more to it, but this can get you headed in the right direction.
The guys I know from work seem to be primarily interested in escaping their wives, getting drunk, and preserving the secrecy of the "perfect" location.
Applying for a tag feels like throwing darts.
It sure seems like a difficult nut to crack for a new guy.
Can't disagree with any of that. Learn archery and get an OTC archery elk tag. You will have a month to fill it and it is valid in multiple units. You can duck In to an area that looks good onlin e and check it out, if it doesn't work out pick a different area or gmu and try again. Cover as much ground as you can.Quote:
Originally Posted by XJ
Thanks for this advice guys.
Start with small game dressing a bunny or a turkey is a lot less intimidating than having 1000 lbs of bull elk sitting in front of you the concept is the same a mammal is a mammal body wise.
makes good sense. never having tried hunting, i have no idea how you'd drag an elk out of the woods.Quote:
Originally Posted by DFBrews
Well, you don’t really drag it out of the woods.. Do a youtube search for field dressing elk, there are plenty of good videos that walk you through cleaning and quartering an elk as well as many other things. Start watching some of the thousands of videos on hunting in general by Steve Rinella, Remi Warren, Solo Hunter, Randy Newberg and a bunch of other guys on Youtube and you will start to figure it out.Quote:
Originally Posted by glocktoberfest
Unless you have an ATV or something like it, and you're in a place where you can legally take the ATV off trail, you have to haul tehhe elk out 1/4 at a time. This varies slightly if you do the gutless method and are just hauling out de-boned meat.
I carry both the gauze type and canvas type of game bags with me. Actually, I have them wrapped up in a pack strapped to my ATV. If I harvest an animal I'll field dress it and open the cavity up nice and wide to allow the carcass to cool, cut out the head & cape and haul those out. Once those are out and I'm back @ my ATV, I grab the pack and head back to start to the carcass. from there I'll quarter it up into game bags and start hauling 1/4 out at a time. I have hunting partners too and we keep in tough with each other via radio. They will each help me haul out the rest of the animal (For their effort it's a tradition in our camp to buy anyone who helps a steak dinner).
For the deer I harvested 2 years ago, I was actually able to just ride my ATV in to the animal, load it onto the back of my ATV, strap it on nice and tight and ride back to camp. Because it was so hot that season I immediately loaded the deer into my truck and took it to a processor in town so avoid any heat damage to the meat.
Don't let anyone kid you. Everything up to the harvest is easy compared to getting the game/meat back to camp.
i watched a video on quartering an elk. that's a lot of work! definitely going to start with a bunny or turkey as DFBrews suggestedQuote:
Originally Posted by def90
Make friends with folks who aren't lazy and you can always give em a call and say, "Elk down. Need help. Location XXXXXXXX" and they'll know they will get some meat out of it :)
Or go hunting with (non lazy) friends and they're already there.
Today we are hauling 20L of water a piece (2 of us) on our backs to cache in place so we have less to haul in when the season starts. Minimum pack weight will be 45 pounds today and we'll be maxing out around 10,800'. Gonna be a breather. I'm also going to experiment w/ strapping down two cases of water to the TW200 and see how it handles that since it will mimic carrying out an elk 1/4.
Too bad you're in the shadow of Denverstan, or I'd invite you to come along.
Have you had a chance to get to the mountains yet and really see what it's like hauling even a 20-30 pound pack at 9k'+, much less the weight of an elk quarter?
And just think, if you're 1/2 mile from your vehicle 1 quarter = 1 mile of total walking, then backstraps/tenderloins = 1 mile, and cape/rack (if you shoot a bull) = 1 mile. So if you're only 1/2 mile away from your vehicle you are walking 1+1+1+1+1+1 for a total of 6 miles, 3 of those total miles with perhaps up to 60-70 pounds on your back.
And that doesn't include the physical output for even getting the elk down, dressed, and hung up while you are making those trips back and forth: hope you're in shape!
As for where to start... hrm. I vote Archery mainly because as others have said, you get an entire month with OTC (or draw). A lot of hunting here is spot and stalk. Some "stand" hunting if you find a well used wallow and want to sit on it. Archery is also a year round sport and very fun. If you do that route, save yourself the trouble and start with a good bow. the difference in quality between a pawn shop rifle and a high end rifle ain't much of a difference for most hunting situations. But bows DO exhibit a drastic difference in quality, ability to be tuned well, and shootability when you compare some $400 package and a $700 bare bow. To go a good mid level, you're looking at somewhere around $800-900.
Do NOT buy a bow which is super heavy on the draw weight -- it will result in shoulder injury and bad form until you build up your muscles and form. This is usually determined by the limbs and a lot of the mid-high level bows have poundage increments for their limbs (50-60, 60-70, 70-80). Start lower. You can always order the next step in limbs once you have maxed out your limbs' ability. I don't care how strong you are, you do not use the same muscles as archery employs unless you are shooting a bow. My buddy is a top 10 Spartan Race for his age group, run up a mountain, works a manual labor job type of guy. Former Marine. He's a genetic marvel. He struggles to pull my bow @67# and only recently was able to graduate to 60#. Yet, I've seen women draw 70-80# bows no problem because their form is good and they shoot all the time. I can draw 67, but my form goes to crap on 70.
You can find your draw length by measuring from fingertip to fingertip w/ arms stretched out in a cruciform fashion, but relaxed: measurement/2.5 = DL. Have the archery shop measure this for you.
Here's a good package which will serve you well for years without having to buy new MSRP style prices. This package with all it has would probably be about 900-1200 new. I'd have to price it out: https://www.ar-15.co/threads/170007-...H-For-Sale-650
If you are higher or lower, check the draw length for that model and order new cams to assist (unless it's an adjustable mod). Have the bow shop set it to 40 pounds. Shoot that way for 2 weeks. Then have them go 50. 2 weeks. Consider stopping at 60# and shoot there for a while.
We've hauled two complete elk cows out of the woods on game carts now. There are usually enough of us that I think we really need to learn how to quarter an elk. I think that will take a lot less work. I took the easy way to learn to hunt by having a family member that's been doing it for years ask me if I'd like to start hunting with him. The locations, season, and even what to put in for has already been established long before I joined the party. This is the east way because you can just show up with your gun and gear and learn in the field. Even though I'm pretty comfortable with where we hunt, I'd still feel very intimidated to go and try and learn a new area by myself. Well, I did that with antelope, but that was really easy.
i haven't been hiking, camping, or doing anything requiring physical fitness other than packing boxes, moving them on/off of a truck, and unpacking them. i figure this is a long term endeavor since i have to walk before i can run. i don't think i'm going to go the archery route since i don't own a bow, but do own a couple of rifles. i do like the idea that it's a bit more natural and probably requires a lot more skill to hunt with a bow.Quote:
Originally Posted by CavSct1983
thanks again for all the advice. i'll keep you guys updated on my progress.
Follow up on yesterday's post:
Hauling the bike out to the hunting area yesterday, I strapped 40 liters (2x Sam's club 40 1/2 liter cases) and hauled them up from 9800' to ~10800' to cache for hunting season. That's 90 lbs, roughly. I can now see why heftier fellows change the front tire for something else. Man alive that was squirrelly. Especially on washed out parts and parts which were sandy. Different story when it's just my 160lb self. Also, had to really dig into the throttle on the steeper grades and stay in 1st and 2nd. Stock jetting. Glad I have the aftermarket oil cooler. But I did it! However it clued me in that the TW will be insufficient/dangerous for hauling out elk quarters. Going up is easy enough, but going down is the scary part. So I will NOT be bringing the bike hunting this year.
Oddly, we were able to get my FWD, 4 cylinder, manual trans Ford Escape with basic tires up to the top of the trail after watching a guy in a 4WD vehicle decide he couldn't handle it and turn around. Hoping that ability holds true through the season.
So we now have a total of 80 liters of water hidden/cached without the huffing and puffing of hauling on our backs. We'll bring more next time.
Are you camping up there with no real way to restock your camel back?
Yes. There are some cattle tanks (on the pockets of private land) and seasonal standing water. But I have no desire to unnecessarily test the 99.9% filtration claim. The effort expended in cached water was negligible compared to the moment of needing it and not having it.
That makes sense. I'm spoiled and hunt out of a cabin so I can just refill every night. How close is your camp to where you hunt?
A few hundred yards to 1 mile.
And you did the hidden cache because you can't just dump your water where you'd like to set up camp a month early? Why not just bring the water when you set up camp? Using it as an excuse to get out there?
It’s dispersed around the intended campsite, 75-200 yards depending. I don’t know if the road will be passable in my vehicle by that time and if I have to hike in a mile, I’d rather do it once with 35 pounds than 3 times with a 45lb minimum.
Going out to scout the area anyway, so I figure bring stuff like water each time and just cache it.
If you can get to Texas before May, I’ll take you pig hunting. I’m on a place that is loaded with pigs and it’s easy hunting. That’s one thing I promote the hell out of is new hunters coming to our sport. You might think about using a guide service for deer also, they will do most of the dirty work for you. I’ve seen guys want to go hunting and then when it’s time to clean the animals they check out for good. There’s a ton of great advice here going your way.Quote:
Originally Posted by glocktoberfest
That's very kind of you Homer. I have seen some of the videos where people are basically mowing down feral hogs in texas. Do they collect all those carcasses or just leave them as they lay? If, by some miracle, i'm able to get down to Texas, you'll be the first to know.Quote:
Originally Posted by Homer
A lot of people will throw the boars away because they are so rank but, I don’t think they’re as bad as a rutted up mulie on sage brush. Also, people take them to “Hunters for the Hungry”.Quote:
Originally Posted by glocktoberfest
Finding a good spot for Elk is tough for a new person. I'd recommend roadless areas, not necessarily wilderness, where vehicles are not permitted. Areas maybe with acess above and below to vehicles, which keeps animals moving during the season. You should find an area with heards, at least 6+, If you see only ones and twos go somewhere else. People talk about hunting the dark timber, they hide in there but feed on grasses so there should be other areas to watch.
You must have a plan to get the elk out as it is a big animal. I estimate quarters are 75lbs+ each. Boned out much less maybe 50.
You do not need as a big a rifle as articles and people tell you, it will be easier to learn with one on the small side like 270 or 7-08 then a 300 magnum.
Good Luck.