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Colorado Waterfowl

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Chuck99

Member
Joined
May 16, 2016
Messages
31
Location
NW CO
Hi new to the front range area in Weld County. I have been looking at a few of the SWA in Weld. Can anyone let me know if there is a CPW site that shows statistics for the SWA? Whats the hunting like at Barr and Banner Lakes?

thanks for the information.
 
Welcome!

Crazy, tons of people, and most can't keep their fingers off the trigger or blow a call correctly, in my experience. I moved down to Brighton from Loveland and haven't even thought of trying Barr/Banner because of the numbers of people.. :( No bird hunting stats for the SWAs as far as I know.

You may get a bird or two a year hunting the close-to-Denver public places hard and getting there VERY early in the AM. Probably have better luck the farther east you get on public grounds, not as close to Denver and they have reservation systems.

~Mason
 
North Dakota, not sure how far east you want to go but we got some great bird hunting!!
 
Haha! That they do!

Anywhere along the river. You definitely have to adjust your hunting techniques to it a bit and if at all possible have a fast dog with good eyes for floating birds. Those ducks can disappear fast otherwise! Look on the Colorado Hunting Atlas App for one you like the look of then google it for its rules. Not sure where you are at since you mention Barr and Banner but if you are near Brighton I wouldn't mind talking hunting sometime, I got to do some river hunting on private last year and learned a lot about how to do it... and not do it... :rolleyes:

~Mason
 
I would definitely not waste your time on Barr Lake especially! You have to hunt from a blind that sits about 75 yards from the dam and pass shoot at everything. I did it once and will never return! I have since found alternatives. River hunting is particularly good out on the South Platte if you have a fast dog, as mason326 mentioned. Another spot to check out is Jackson Ponds, I think is what they're called. I have hunted these a few times and have killed a number of ducks and geese. The ponds are immediately to the southwest of Jackson Reservoir. I live in Brighton too, and I can make it out there in about 20-30 minutes depending on how tired I am. I have had the best luck on ponds 11 and 12. I like 11 because you can hunt around the entire pond. 12 you have to hunt out of the mandatory blind. For 11 I used a rig on my kayak for concealment and retrieving since I have an upland dog and she doesn't have the coat for waterfowl hunting. The biggest downfall is that reservations fill up quickly and you can only reserve the locations 3 times in a calendar year. On top of that you need to call 2 weeks ahead of when you want to hunt.

After all of that, I tossed in the towel and have decided to lease. I don't know you guys but I'm always up for meeting new people especially over a hunt. I have a lot to learn still, especially in the calling department. So if either or both of you are willing to provide some calling tips I'd gladly take you out to my lease once or twice?
 
Thanks guys for the info! Unfortunately at this time I do not have dog. My shorthair died a about a year ago and have not had time to train a new dog. So the river doesn't appear to be an option right now. I am always open for new hunting opportunities. Send me an PM and we can talk offline.
 
I've got a golden who is a duck hunting fool. If y'all ever want to hunt the river let me know, that's the only water she's ever hunted being only 18mos old. I appreciate the offer PK, I'm not great with geese yet but I'm OK calling ducks. Naturally I lost all my duck calls last season but not my goose calls so I need to replace a couple here before season starts. Biggest thing I've learned is when to just shut the heck up!
 
If you can only hunt public try to hunt during the week, avoid opening day, or go to a reservation only property. That's my advice. Good luck.
 
There are also some places around La Junta (East of Pueblo) that I've hunted early teal on. I would imagine it would hold some decent birds later in the season as well. I've also hunted a lake or reservoir up in the North Central area close to Wyoming that was really nice but due to heavy fog we couldn't get them to come in close enough. I really want take a second shot at that place. I live in the Springs and after 4th elk season, I'm hoping to hit the water. My lab had double ear infections that are in the healing stages. I prefer to hunt pheasant but duck works if anyone is interested. Just throwing that out there.
 
Just wanted to say thanks for the information in this thread...I'm new to the Denver area and have been looking at getting into duck hunting. I'm finding out that anything "convenient" to Denver is far too overcrowded to even enjoy myself so it makes sense that I'll have to drive a ways. I'm really rusty with a shotgun so I'll be spending some time talking with the old timers at the range. Hopefully a little research this year will get me in the field next season. I would have never guessed you had to make reservations to set up on public land!
 
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