Live in Colorado and want a great hunt without the expense of guides, outfitters or access fees? More than a million acres of prime private wildlife habitat is open to the public on a limited basis under CPW’s Ranching for Wildlife program. Licenses for these private land hunts, available only to in-state residents, cost the […]
News
Access Alert: Roan Plateau restriction affects revenues in Rifle
While hunting and fishing continue to be premier recreational sports in Colorado, unlike the ski and rafting industries, access issues — from water rights to private property concerns —murk the waters in getting that trophy. In Garfield County, that reached a crescendo recently as the battle for access on the Roan Plateau came to a […]
Train to Hunt
Benn Conner stopped to catch his breath and looked up the mountain. His face told it all. A long uphill trek remained for the 33-year-old from Fruita. With his compound bow in hand and 50 pounds in his pack, he grimaced and trudged onward. At a flat stretch, he trotted toward the next target area. […]
Born to bugle: 7-year-old takes fourth (in division) at World Elk Calling Championships
Ava King is looking forward to when she’s old enough to go hunting. For right now, the Fruita 7-year-old tags along with her dad sometimes, but when her time comes, she’ll be prepared. Calling in an elk is a skill that many elk hunters have mastered. Getting that precise pitch and tone of a bull […]
What’s New for 2018
What’s new for hunting in western Colorado this year? Plenty, affecting everything from license sales to youth hunting options and GMUs. We checked in with Colorado Parks & Wildlife for changes to put on your radar. Licensing changes: CPW transitioned to an integrated licensing, pass and reservation system in January 2018. All customers will need […]
Hunting with E-bikes
It’s 6 a.m. and archery hunters Ed Watson and Matt Hammer are approaching their destination after a 2,000-vertical-foot climb in the Park Range. They’ve arrived quietly — no animal-scaring noise from the likes of an ATV — and are barely huffing and puffing. The secret? They used E-bikes, in particular electric bicycles from Vail, […]
Letter from Colorado Parks & Wildlife
Welcome to Colorado and the 2018 hunting season. You are hunting in one of the country’s premier big game hunting areas and we’re glad you chose Colorado as your destination. We look forward to helping you have a great hunt. Colorado offers hunters what few other states can: some of the largest big game herds […]
Colorado’s wildlife agency looks to hunters to manage chronic wasting disease
In an effort to keep deer, elk and moose herds healthy and reduce human exposure, Colorado’s wildlife agency is preparing to renew efforts to track, then tackle, one of its greatest wildlife management challenges — chronic wasting disease. “About half of Colorado’s deer herd and about a third of Colorado’s elk herd are infected,” says […]
Hunting Outlook for 2017
By Dave Buchanan Country singer Kenny Rogers once cautioned us that a wise gambler “knows when to hold ’em” and “knows when to fold ’em.” Far be it from me to suggest big-game wildlife biologists are gamblers, but there must be time they feel the deck has been stacked against them. The winter of 2016-2017 […]
Abetting Vets: Base Camp 40 Warriors in the Wild program
By Dave Buchanan On a recent frosty fall morning somewhere on Glade Park southwest of Grand Junction, Kenny Crowley lifted his head from the task at hand and looked around him. “This is my first buck and I’m very humble” for the opportunity, Crowley, a former U.S. Army captain, told his guide, Chance Graham of […]