I'm a relatively new Colorado pheasant hunter. I went out last weekend with no prevail, in fact me and my hunting partner didn't even see a trace of a bird, hen or rooster. I was just wondering if any of you guys we're headed out this weekend. I'm originally from ND and there is no where near the amount of good looking crp out here, plus in ND if land isn't posted or marked its free game to hunt. I hunted walk in land from sun up to sun down without seeing anything except old shotgun shells.(do hunters out here not pick up spent shells? I could of reloaded a whole box using just shells I saw on, in and around public land, on top of that 2 Walmart bags full of pop cans, water bottles and other trash. For a state that's huge on environmental protection I'm really disappointed.) Do you guys have any tips for a new Colorado hunter? Do I have to knock on doors? BTW I've been hunting around Akron, sterling and Holyoke.
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Anybody Going Out Tomorrow?
- Thread starter deeryd
- Start date
Here we go again with the "trash everywhere" rant...
Pheasant hunting in Colorado is poor as compared to other pheasant states. Finding private landowners with good pheasant hunting willing to let everyone hunt is very difficult.
Lately, mild weather is to the bird's advantage.
Hunt the walk-in properties, mid-week if possible, and when conditions are more winter-like. You are not the only Colorado hunter who goes hunting and sees nothing...except trash. Thanks for picking it up...
Pheasant hunting in Colorado is poor as compared to other pheasant states. Finding private landowners with good pheasant hunting willing to let everyone hunt is very difficult.
Lately, mild weather is to the bird's advantage.
Hunt the walk-in properties, mid-week if possible, and when conditions are more winter-like. You are not the only Colorado hunter who goes hunting and sees nothing...except trash. Thanks for picking it up...
Welcome to CO deeryd. Sadly, finding trash in the fields and reading the "trash rants" in here is about 20 times more common than taking a shot at a pheasant in CO. But, we spread the word, pick it up and lead by example when we take others to the field with us. Pheasant hunting is getting better here though, with better cover, better land to hunt and a gradual increase in numbers.
Finding good land to hunt is in fact the "hunt" itself when it comes to Colorado Pheasant Hunting. Because if you find good land with good cover and a nearby food source, you've got birds, I'll guarantee that. But they are few and far between and when you do find the pot o gold, mark it on your maps and take care if it like it was your own.
Public land/WIA here is absolutely nothing like ND or SD, so lower your expectations. If you've been out on WIA parcels already, you'd see that maybe 1 out of 10 are huntable with some cover and out of those 1 out of 5 will produce a bird. For example if you're looking at the Phillips County WIA Map, I have two fields marked on that map that I would return to and hunt again next year. Drive by the rest just to see if there is a slight chance they've improved. I've been keeping maps back to 2005. WIA gets hit pretty hard here and farmers are more and more reluctant to "donate" quality land to the WIA program.
Hunting private land in CO takes some serious effort, work, research, small talk and socializing. While some farmers will give you permission to hunt if you go knock on their door, I would say 80% won't and sometimes it's a firm no. While the season goes on and we get deeper into winter, those numbers change as farmers are slowing down and not as busy. One thing I like to do out of season - In mid April, I head out to Yuma and Holyoke for a weekend to scout and visit some of those "annual" WIA spots. I'll spend an hour walking them and picking up trash in parking areas. I've met a lot of farmers this way who have driven up, said thanks and then shoot the breeze with them for a bit and then you've got some private land to hunt next year. Eating and socializing at the local restaurants always produces some birds too.
My advice, although broad because hunters can't be specific, is to head east in CO. Yuma is about as far west as I'll go and rarely am I south of Burlington.
PM me your email address and I'll send some of my maps with annual hot spots.
Finding good land to hunt is in fact the "hunt" itself when it comes to Colorado Pheasant Hunting. Because if you find good land with good cover and a nearby food source, you've got birds, I'll guarantee that. But they are few and far between and when you do find the pot o gold, mark it on your maps and take care if it like it was your own.
Public land/WIA here is absolutely nothing like ND or SD, so lower your expectations. If you've been out on WIA parcels already, you'd see that maybe 1 out of 10 are huntable with some cover and out of those 1 out of 5 will produce a bird. For example if you're looking at the Phillips County WIA Map, I have two fields marked on that map that I would return to and hunt again next year. Drive by the rest just to see if there is a slight chance they've improved. I've been keeping maps back to 2005. WIA gets hit pretty hard here and farmers are more and more reluctant to "donate" quality land to the WIA program.
Hunting private land in CO takes some serious effort, work, research, small talk and socializing. While some farmers will give you permission to hunt if you go knock on their door, I would say 80% won't and sometimes it's a firm no. While the season goes on and we get deeper into winter, those numbers change as farmers are slowing down and not as busy. One thing I like to do out of season - In mid April, I head out to Yuma and Holyoke for a weekend to scout and visit some of those "annual" WIA spots. I'll spend an hour walking them and picking up trash in parking areas. I've met a lot of farmers this way who have driven up, said thanks and then shoot the breeze with them for a bit and then you've got some private land to hunt next year. Eating and socializing at the local restaurants always produces some birds too.
My advice, although broad because hunters can't be specific, is to head east in CO. Yuma is about as far west as I'll go and rarely am I south of Burlington.
PM me your email address and I'll send some of my maps with annual hot spots.
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