Originally Posted by
El Caballo Loco
I'd like to go though. Any advice on where to start?
I didn't read most of the responses, but CDOW website is first. get a hunters safety course completed. go to wal-mart and read the regs. lots of different kinds of hunting. small game and big game are the biggest differences. Check out all the species you can hunt in small game as there is a ton.
Big game is: deer, elk, moose, bear, mountain goat, bighorn sheep, mountain lion, and pronghorn. turkey is pretty much considered big game in colorado as well.
I've been spending time reading the regulations and what not but I'd like to hear it from some of you avid hunters out there. The CO DOW website seems a bit overwhelming. I was hoping I could just go somewhere, do some paperwork, pay some money, and go hunt.
There are plenty of places to do some hunts. not sure what kind of money you want to spend but it varies greatly. small game is much cheaper, but the meat yield will be much smaller. anywhere from $75-200 a day per hunter. you can even check out craigslist and there have been several on there people offer up. pheasant, goose, duck are all the most popular.
as for big game, I have seen as low as $500 for a cow elk hunt. price can range from $500-$10000+ for big game in colorado, just depends on what is guaranteed, what class of animal, private property or public land, fully guided or drop camp, what is provided, transportation, horses, lots of variables. As for meat, elk can produce 180-300 or so lbs. deer can vary from 50-150 lbs of meat, pronghorn usually around 40-60. not sure on bear as I haven't taken one and I am saving my points up for the best unit. moose I am unsure as well but I would imagine 350-500+.
I usually quarter my elk out, bring in a lot of scraps and take the backstraps home and take care of them myself and usually end up with around 200 lbs of meat.
All I'd like to do is hunt a deer for some meat. I think it would be more cost effective that going out and buying meat.
Yes, definitely much more cost effective, much better for you, lots of fun, much more rewarding and great for stories/memories. Even if you don't get one, you will still have an enjoyable experience.
I've been reading up on everything I need to do to field dress the deer and pack it home.
lots of different ways to do it. you can gut it and drag it out. You can also quarter it, which is basically taking off all 4 legs as they are really just ball joints and one you cut around them they come out pretty easy (make sure you leave evidence of sex on one of the rears). then saw off the forearms which have no meat on them. cut off the head if you want it. there is also plenty of meat around the neck that is good for burgers. the backstraps run along the spine on both sides and make you best steaks. also some more on the inside of the cavity along the spine. some people eat the liver and tounge but not me.
I am Active Duty Army out of Fort Carson. I have a Remy 700 SPS Tactical as well as some 150gr. and 180gr. Core-Lokt. I have most of the supplies at hand that have been recommended to me but I lack a good knife. I plan on buying that soon.
Yep, get a good knife, a sharpener, game bags, a bone saw, latex gloves, a good pack (i have a backpack and a pack frame (hauling an elk quarter without a solid frame would suck huge nuts).
Is it to late in the year to get a license/tag? If someone gives me permission to harvest a deer off their land do I still need a license/tag?
Do I get to pick where I go or am I sequestered to a random "GMU"?
There are Leftover licenses, but pickings are slim. I would get everything together and put in for deer next year. do some research on the CDOW site about the preference points required for each area. there are really good PDFs for each species. You could get a leftover elk tag pretty easily this year, or an over the counter archery tag but that ends in 5 days, so probably not really the thing to do.
Any advice would be appreciated.
