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Adult onset Hunter

Hello Everyone!

My name is Kevin and I moved to Castle Rock, CO from Texas back in January 2020. Originally from Alabama, my wife and I have been moving for the past 2 years from Alabama, to Ohio, to Colorado, to Wisconsin, to Texas, and finally back to Colorado for work. Now that I'm in a more permanent location I wanted to start hunting again. When I was 12/13 I hunted white tail in Mississippi. Now, 14 years later, I wanted to get back into the sport. I love the outdoors and hunting would be another great way to get outside.

This year I drew left over tags for 128 pronghorn and 103 late season whitetail. Having nothing but tag soup this year, I wanted to reach out to the hunting community and try and learn more about hunting in Colorado. I also wanted to learn more about bow hunting. For big game I'm mainly interested in Elk, Pronghorn, and Mule Deer and have been dreaming about Mountain Goat some day in the distant future. I'm also interested in small game across the state.

Thanks in advance for helping out an adult onset hunter!

Start by joining the Colorado Bowhunter Association. Then get involved with one of the archery clubs down your way and you'll meet plenty of like-minded people. Go on the Bowsite main forums and you will learn about those animals from the best bowhunters in the world. Colorado Parks and Wildlife offers a number of hunter outreach programs that teach about hunting the different species, how to interpret the maze of regulations. You can find that info on the CPW website.

Good luck and welcome to Colofornia!

Start getting preference points for ALL species, not just the very few you list. AS you get more into it you will want to hunt the others so don't make the mistake of not getting preference points.

Turkey hunting in the spring is great fun also.

If your goal is time spent outdoors you'd be better served by bowhunting. 30 day season vs. 4-7 for big game, and OTC tags for elk. Gun or bow, small game will add months to your hunting calendar. Dusky grouse and snowshoe rabbits are a great excuse to meander thru some awesome landscapes. If you find a mentor, great. But if you can't, the animals will (eventually) teach you everything you need to know.

Honesty I would research other states too. Our bear population is out of control (and no Spring season is happening anytime soon), wolves are coming, and much of the areas are overcrowded.

Not to be a downer, but this year I started hunting other states and generally have a better experience. I'm now saving CO for novelty tags (higher point elk, deer, maybe sheep/moose one day etc...).

For small game, spring turkey is still a blast for now. Pheasant is OK on walk in lands (you'll generally have to earn it though).

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