I want to learn to hunt!

[MarkCO]

Small game and bird hunting is pretty easy if you have decent marksmanship. SAFETY, as with any gun activity is the goal. I just finished working a fatal hunting accident that occurred due to violating the gun safety laws.

Big game, totally different. I start people out on Antelope, maybe coyote or deer and make them go along for at least one season. A mistake with a high powered rifle is pretty much irreversible! Then I make them shoot 100 rounds in a variety of postions and a variety of ranges to establish their range limits, over 3 or 4 range trips. Spending several weeks in the woods in the summer and fall with no tag to fill will allow you to practice your spotting, stalking and woods skills. Obviously fieldcraft is for some people and not for others. If you want to hunt, that is one thing. Filling the freezer is another, road hunting yet another and Trophy hunting yet another. I spent 3 weeks in Mt. Zierkel Wilderness followig elk herds around one autumn, living off the land, learning the animals. Now, 100 head of big game later, that was still the most productive time I may have ever spent on anything.

[cowboykjohnson]

I spent 3 weeks in Mt. Zierkel Wilderness followig elk herds around one autumn, living off the land, learning the animals.

One of the nicest places i've ever been... mostly due to the lack of people.

[Mtn.man]

Practice walkin, walking walking walking and then walking..
You will do alot for birds small game and ELK,,,
My guns love to go walking.

[GunTroll]

I like it^ walking! My wife would call it "armed nature walking" when I showed up with nothing. Best damn nature walking I've ever done that showed no results!

And for the OP....you need a buddy. Books and mags and even videos only go so far. You'll see what I mean when you try to field dress your first big game kill! But if you don't have a friend to show you the ropes don't let that stop you. Take MTN. Mans advise and just go walking. Luck might make up for the other part that you lack.

Now trying to figure out the regs book...good luck! Bout time I figured out CO rules I moved to yet another difficult state to figure out. You need a lawyer to interpret the regs. Especially if your a newb.

[Irving]

TADA!!!

http://wildlife.state.co.us/NewsMedi...p?PressId=6274

[sniper7]

start hiking in the mountains if you want to do big game, take a pack with you.
also look in the survival forum. some it that will apply.

think about the kind of hunting you want to do...if you want to take a camper with you and return each night (but be prepared to stay out in case you get lost or get an animal or too dark to get back etc.)
or maybe you want to pack a tent in, and stay more local in a more remote area.

for small game, get out and walk...you will walk miles and miles for pheasants, maybe look into getting a dog.

for ducks and geese start buying decoys, find people with property or look into leases. they will vary in price. be prepared because decoys are expensive!

go to walk mart and get a big game and small game hunting booklet and read through the rules. there are not that many, but understand them, and follow them. you do not want to be made an example of by the DOW.

practice shooting, be it clays or targets. also be prepared because when you go to pull the trigger at a big animal it is a whole lot different than shooting at a black or red dot.

[gnihcraes]

remember too that the hunt might not be successful. Some people hunt for years and never get the shot or miss and just never are successful at getting the animal. Doesn't mean the hunt and being out in the woods wasn't worth it. Enjoy just getting outside, the hunt is a plus to that.

I buy my licenses and usually don't "hunt" that much. I just go wander around in the woods, see some animals and scenery.

[theGinsue]

I haven't harvested a big game animal since 2007. I went to the last day of my 8th full season befire harvesting my FIRST elk.

In 2008 I had an elk and bear license. In 2009 (last year) I had an elk, bear, and deer license. Both years I got nothing.

Even with spending my first three days in the woods sick, I had a great time last year.

It's great to harvest an animal, especially if you are doing it to put meat in the freezer, but you have to be able to enjoy the HUNT or, whether you harvest an animal or not, it isn't a successful season.

Keep in mind that the work actually starts when you pull the trigger.