Another new guy from Colorado

Hi all,

I recently moved back to Colorado after 5 years away... (Alaska and Louisiana) and I'm really anxious to get out in the field now that I'm back.
Before heading up north I lived in the state for 7 years or so and didn't go out once. "Too busy with work and life," was my excuse. What a waste of time that was...
I grew up hunting in Alaska and now that I'm back in Colorado, and living in the mountains, I intend to fix things. Even in the 2 and a half years I was in Alaska this last time around I only went out one time.

The biggest problem is, these Colorado regs confuse the Holy Heck out of me... I have no idea where to start. I missed putting in this year but even so, all the talk about preference points, second choices and leftovers makes my head hurt. There are draw hunts in Alaska, too, but I never had to put in for any of them... I was always able to make it work with over the counter tags. Looks like I'm going to have to try and do the same down here, at least for this year, anyways...

I also plan on getting out and finding a place to hunt coyotes. Yet another thing to try to figure out...

Anyways, enough ranting... I've browsed a bit through the forum and learned a few things even in the short time I've been here... hopefully I'll get it figured out before too long.

Cheers!

Welcome aboard.

ShortMagPirate said:

The biggest problem is, these Colorado regs confuse the Holy Heck out of me...

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Welcome aboard! ^^ This cracked me up Alaska's regs are like the all western states regs smashed together, depending on where you are there are different rules about; hunter's ed, meat salvage, tags(registration, harvest tag, draw, etc.) season dates, hugely varying bag limits, antler point restrictions, whether drawing blood on an email constitutes as a harvest, it goes on and on. I think once you get the hang of it you will find CO is pretty easy. There will be left over deer tags, OTC elk, and unlimited bear with caps so don't let missing the draw keep you from hunting this year.

Welcome. As someone also trying to wrap my head around Colorado, I agree that there is a lot of info. Make sure you understand what you need to do to be a resident (asap) and get that taken care of so you can at least hunt this year. Also, remember that you have to take your uhnter safety card to the fish and game office to have it verifiied or you have to carry it with you in the field.

I'm sure I'll gt the hang of it eventually... it's the whole drawing scenario that confuses me. I think that is a big reason why I never bothered to hunt the first 7 years I lived here.
The Alaska regs can definitely be complex, but I guess since I grew up with them it all made sense. But in reality, it is really simple. You buy your license, select your harvest tickets (tags) and go hunting. In all the years I lived there I never once participated in a draw or registration hunt. Never had the need to. I'm a meat hunter, so I never cared about things like bagging a 72" bull moose (and still don't.) All of those variances you mentioned between the different units is mostly due to the widely remote areas... things like bag limits, season dates, methods of take and other restrictions are looser out there because it's a subsistence lifestyle, and when you're living in the middle of it, it all just seems to fit... in my mind, the draw hunts were/are more for the over pressured units near more densely populated areas, and areas with easy highway access... again, I never hunted those areas. I just picked up my moose, caribou and bear harvest tickets every year and that's all I needed.

Well, I appreciate the tips, and I'm sure I'll be looking for more advice as the season(s) get closer.... might even pick up a bow again, too....

Cheers!

utahminer said:

Welcome. As someone also trying to wrap my head around Colorado, I agree that there is a lot of info. Make sure you understand what you need to do to be a resident (asap) and get that taken care of so you can at least hunt this year. Also, remember that you have to take your uhnter safety card to the fish and game office to have it verifiied or you have to carry it with you in the field.

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Yeah, there's another difference... I was able to take the online test (veteran) and won't have to actually take a course, which was a good thing... and I am a resident now so we're good there.
I do plan on hunting this year, I just need to figure out where I want to go. I still have to figure out how the leftover tags work and all that, so I am sure I'll only be going OTC for elk this year.
I live in Teller County, so I think I'm in a pretty good spot to travel reasonable distances if needed, and there are some areas closer in that I might try.

Going by your username, I'm assuming you are or were in mining, or am I way off?

Welcome from Pa , @ thank you for your service!

Welcome!
Being a new hunter, best thing I did was read the big game brochure cover to cover... then go to the local CPW office and ask a hundred questions.
Teller county has some good hunting! I'm probably going to get an OTC Elk tag and hunt over by Saguache.

Welcome!

welcome

Welcome from Minnesota! Wish I could say I'm just another guy from Colorado!!!

welcome from PA!