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I've been itching to get a varmint rifle for so long I can't remember, but have only been held off by a lack of varmints to plug! I'm not partial to prairie dogs, but they seem to be the most prevalent pest out here. I'm ok with anything tiny, furry, and pesky. Anybody know where a good spot/time to do this is? I've heard it's legal as long as it's on ranch land with the permission of the owner. Is there anywhere else where it's legal?
It's legal on most public lands as well. No parks and such though. US and State Forest are OK. Any private land where you have permission and can do it safely. It doesn't have to be "Ranch" land, but there are advantages if it is. You can kill varmints at dark and such if it's on Ranch/Farm land where you are removing them due to damage etc. You can also use most any weapon such as machine guns and silencers, night vision, etc. If you plan on doing anything that is not allowed for regular hunting, just call the Division of Wildlife and make sure it's OK first. [poke] Karl.
you can shoot'em up on private property if they are causing damage, we took out 40+ today at the ranch, below is a copy and paste from the colorado laws page, it is allowed per crs# 33-6-107(9)Quote:
Originally Posted by foxtrot
(9) For the purposes of this section, any person, or members ANY MEMBER of his SUCH PERSON'S family, or his agents ANY EMPLOYEE OF THE PERSON may HUNT, TRAP, OR take black-billed magpies, common crows, starlings, English or house sparrows, common pigeons, coyotes, bobcats, red foxes, raccoons, jackrabbits, badgers, marmots, prairie dogs, pocket gophers, Richardson's ground squirrels, rock squirrels, thirteen-lined ground squirrels, porcupines, crayfish, tiger salamanders, muskrats, beavers, EXOTIC WILDLIFE, and common snapping turtles on lands owned or leased by him THE PERSON without securing licenses to do so, BUT ONLY when such wildlife is causing damage TO CROPS, REAL OR PERSONAL PROPERTY, OR LIVESTOCK. Any person may take KILL skunks or rattlesnakes when necessary to protect life or property. THE PELTS OR HIDES OF any such wildlife MAMMALS taken under this subsection (9) may be TRANSFERRED, POSSESSED, TRADED, BARTERED, OR sold by purchasing ANY PERSON WHO HOLDS an appropriate small game or furbearer license
here is a link to the dow season page there is no season on private land they are fair game jan.1 to dec. 31
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/...tesandFees.htm
And as I stated earlier, you can use MG's, silencers, ets. under those same circumstances. Karl.
i called the dow and was told it was legal to hunt small game with a sinencer but not a full auto gun on public lands. from what i have seen full auto is addressed in the regs but not silencers. please correct me if i am wrong.
That may be correct. I'm not 100% sure of the exact rules as it was a long time ago that I talked to them. I just recall what my particular circumstances were. We were hunting on private property, prairie dogs, getting rid of them because of cattle on the property. We were allowed to use anything we legally owned pretty much. He even made a hand grenade joke. :roll: So as for not using an MG on public lands, maybe not. That's why I emphasize, that if you want to do anything along these lines, you should always check with DOW first. Karl.
if you ever need a hand shooting thoses dogs let me know. i can bring the 50BMG!
i'll see if i can get time to stop by the local office to get it in writting today. i'll also ask the about SBR's as i'm not sure if they are allowed or not. as far as i can recall the regs say full auto not NFA. i'm sure silencers are ok as i already called and they looked it up and said it was no where in the regs so it was legal. i did ask about small game and not big game so i'll see if they can clarify that as well.
Back to the original question, where to shoot prarie dogs. A few years ago I belonged to the Wildlife Hunters Association of Colorado (WHAC). They had a number of places to shoot with agreements with the landowners. I haven't been a member for a number of years, but they still occasionally show up at the Gunshows.