Pheasant Hunting Just moved

jatorres

New member
Hello all,
Just joined the board but have been lurking for a good amount of time. I just moved to Denver about a month ago from Florida (not much great hunting over there other then OK quail) but I am a pretty avid pheasant hunter. I am used to going in the North East and SD but don't have any experience out here in CO. I have been doing a lot of my own research and have it down to mainly 2-3 counties for WIA's but was hoping I could get some help. I am looking to do some scouting with my pup (she is 18mo) here in October before the season opener on the 9th of Nov. I am relatively young (23) so although I have been hunting for the better part of my life I don't have the most experience ever in scouting new lands.

If anyone has some info that could help me out or is interested in going scouting with me one of these days it would be much appreciated. Please PM me if you are willing to do either.

Question: What is the best way to go scouting just form the car and look at good cover or is it okay to go out in the field with my dog check it out for real (no gun obviously) before the season starts. Also being from the east I am not used to dealing with any type of snakes. Is that a concern at all during pheasant season or October or is that more so in the summer. I would love to get snake avoidance training but from what I can find it's only offered in the summer. Thanks for your time and patience, hope to hear back from some of you.
 
welcome

don't tell me you didn't have snakes in fla.! you picked a pretty poor year to move out west to hunt pheasants. colorado produces a walk in map of properties that you can hunt on. they are privately owned and available for hunting, many are really poor but you would have to drive to them and check them out. most of the pheasants are in the n. e. corner of the state, snakes will not be a problem. you can not trespass on private property at any time and the farmer does not have to post his land. kansas is a far better bet and has about the same rules but has lots more land to hunt, their bird counts are way down also.. colo. has few quail, kansas, in places has many but most are far east and north. duck hunting here is great but finding a good place will be tough for you, don't expect anybody to tell you their hot spots on this forum at least for awhile, this year most of us don't have any anyway. better get the rule book as the warden's out here are here to catch you, not to be of much help. broad brush, but be careful. also use the kansas and the pheasant forum to get up to speed. go to the kansas fish and game site and get their walk in properties and rules, you will have more fun in kansas and it is not much further of a drive

cheers
 
We had snakes certainly but I personally never saw one where I was hunting. I was fortunate in that I knew a land owner there and he happened to do a pretty good job of killing all the snakes on his property so although I was still careful it wasn't ever an issue.

As for going to Kansas, as you mentioned and as I have found out myself the drought which has affected a lot of the hunting lands obviously has Kansas bird numbers pretty down (over 35% or so if I remember correctly). Not to mention Kansas is still in a drought where at least Colorado is recovering from it, not to say already recovered (at least as far as the water table goes, obviously the effects of the drought earlier in the year are irreversible). Since I am going to be living here this is where I will be able to get a resident license although maybe not for this year since it requires 6 mo of residency.

Anyways, I rather invest the time hunting my home state and set myself up for better knowledge in the years to come. I already have the CPW Small Game Atlas and using that along with a few other sources of info I have it down to 2-3 different counties as far as WIA's. Ultimately I was looking to see if anyone was interested in a hunting partner I suppose. It would certainly make life easier for me and I enjoy hunting with someone else as it's a great way to share the memories afield. I have no problem doing all the scouting myself to find my own hotspots (and I plan to) but that's not to say it wouldn't be nice to have a decent place to start.
 
Welcome to the Colorado forum...what kind of dog do you have? What part of Floriday did you live/come from? I guess the one thing you won't have to worry about with your dog here that you did in Florida is gators :eek:;)

Like Mustistuff said, snakes aren't an issue during pheasant season here because by the time November rolls around, they are all underground trying to stay warm. :thumbsup:

I would however recommend a snake proofing clinic next year for your dog if you plan on hunting doves or hunting in any other southwestern state (AZ, NM, TX)

As far a places to go here. It can take a while before guys warm up to ya on this site and then give some ideas of places to check out. The NE is probably the best area, but from there well, getting out and taking the WIA with you and driving to them and looking them over is your best bet.

I have been hunting roosters in CO and KS since 1996. I have found that what pheasants need are food and cover. So, find you some grass or CRP next to (across the road is good too) corn, milo, wheat, etc. Pheasants do not range much. As far as water, heck they usually get it off the pivot sprinklers, dew on the grass, snow, or frost.....

The SE part of Colorado is still pretty dry.

Good luck....

Greg
 
I have a GSP that I drove all the way out to Montana from Florida to get. She isn't the best dog in the world (my fault), but she has good instincts, a lot of energy, and great bird drive.

I the 2-3 counties I have it down to all border each other and are in the NE part of the state as I have seen by the harvest statistics and previous posts from years past.

Do you or anybody else want to go on a scouting mission one of these days a take a look at how the birds are doing and look for good cover? If nothing else it's a good way to get the dogs prepped for the season and get them on some birds.


As for the snake proofing, I have looked into it and will definitely take Mia to one of the clinics in the Spring.
 
Last edited:
go east young man

I have a GSP that I drove all the way out to Montana from Florida to get. She isn't the best dog in the world (my fault), but she has good instincts, a lot of energy, and great bird drive.

I the 2-3 counties I have it down to all border each other and are in the NE part of the state as I have seen by the harvest statistics and previous posts from years past.

Do you or anybody else want to go on a scouting mission one of these days a take a look at how the birds are doing and look for good cover? If nothing else it's a good way to get the dogs prepped for the season and get them on some birds.


As for the snake proofing, I have looked into it and will definitely take Mia to one of the clinics in the Spring.

not ignoring you but i leave in the morning to go ruff and woodcock hunting. the winter sport shows in denver are likely to have a snake clinic as does bass pro once in awhile.. head to yuma and go n. and then to the holyoke area. those two areas are colo. last strongholds

cheers
 
Thanks for the snake clinic references.

Yeah that's where I was thinking of going to I currently have it down to Phillips Co and Kit Carson Co with Yuma being third. I know Yuma has the highest harvest count of all the counties but it's also one of the biggest and has the most hunting pressure to compete with. I was thinking that would be a better late season spot once the crowds thin. I do like Philips Co around the area you mentioned as well as just NE of Holyoke. I was thinking of maybe taking advantage of the freeze coming this weekend and heading up there to do some scouting with the dog to get her nose warmed up for the season. If anyone would like to join me shoot me a PM.
 
Back
Top