Colorado hunting 2021

Hunt4lyf

Well-Known Member
Oct 9, 2017
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Colorado
I like this forum, it keeps me in touch with D16/19 and what’s going on out there while living 1,000 miles away in Colorado. I’ve noticed though there’s not enough hunting lately and to much politics so here’s some pictures of what Colorado has to offer.

I figure I’ll keep updating this thread as the season progresses.

First up was dove, I did pretty good on the couple trips out I took

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They moved out with the first cool front so I went and chased Sage Grouse. The season is only 2 days, 2 birds per day, 4 in possession but I chose to just shoot one a day and give my buddies more opportunities at them

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After that I went after Ptarmigan, we got into them just under 13,000 ft

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Did some Tenkara fishing with flies I tied with sage grouse feathers, I hooked a couple but they spit the hook.

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A few days later we went to look for sheep, I have a Bighorn Ewe tag to fill.

We were headed through this notch

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Where we sat was 12,313 ft

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My 9 yr old daughter was trying to out glass me

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Sheep country is pretty desolate when they’re not in the area and today was no exception. I told my kid we’re leaving to go look elsewhere and she said “what’s that?”

Sheep coming over a 13,300 ridge 1/2 a mile away

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They headed our way but stayed up high and went over onto private mining land so we headed back to the truck and spotted a group of 4 ewes with 4 lambs but I’d promised my kid fried spam and rice so that took precedence, I’m not to keen on shooting a Ewe with a lamb anyways even though there’s no law against it.

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Total of 25 sheep seen but no tag notched, I’m headed back up tomorrow for the weekend so hopefully I’ll have more pics to post up after I get back.
 
Awesome! Some good stuff here. I like your 1100. I grew up shooting a 20 gauge and I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for them. One of these days I’m going to walk into a gun shop and find a 20 in good condition and I’ll be one gun richer.
 
Great post ! good photos great game taken and no politics. Thank you. P.S. did not know ptarmigan were that far south.
We have some in California as well. Not native, they were released in the 70’s I believe to create a new hunting opportunity, and you still can although it’s a lot of work to get up to them and it’s a two bird limit. Neat opportunity if you’re motivated though. Saw this one with some chicks summer of 2020.

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Awesome! Some good stuff here. I like your 1100. I grew up shooting a 20 gauge and I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for them. One of these days I’m going to walk into a gun shop and find a 20 in good condition and I’ll be one gun richer.
From the sage flats to the rugged peaks, the 1100 dominates!! Very nice!

Thanks! Funny story about the 1100, it's my Dad's and my Mom bought it for him in 1973, he kept it in near pristine condition until about 18 months ago when his home in Vista burnt down, he didn't do a thing to it and it was covered in rust and he was ready to scrap it but I told him screw that and I took it and am slowly restoring it, rust is gone, redid the bluing and next up is refinish the stock which if you look close are scorched. Still shoots good and is heavy as ever, especially at 13k.

Great post ! good photos great game taken and no politics. Thank you. P.S. did not know ptarmigan were that far south.

Thanks! Yup, lots of ptarmy's here, the hardest part is finding them in all those mountains and actually they have them all the way down into northern New Mexico.
 
Thanks! Funny story about the 1100, it's my Dad's and my Mom bought it for him in 1973, he kept it in near pristine condition until about 18 months ago when his home in Vista burnt down, he didn't do a thing to it and it was covered in rust and he was ready to scrap it but I told him screw that and I took it and am slowly restoring it, rust is gone, redid the bluing and next up is refinish the stock which if you look close are scorched. Still shoots good and is heavy as ever, especially at 13k.



Thanks! Yup, lots of ptarmy's here, the hardest part is finding them in all those mountains and actually they have them all the way down into northern New Mexico.
Very cool story, it looks great!
 
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Very cool story, it looks great!

Thanks, I just bought a 2 3/4" chamber only barrel for it, it's a 3" magnum and won't cycle light base loads reliably and everything I've read says the 2 3/4" barrel will cure that problem. I've got to give it back to Dad next time I'm out there so I'm trying to shoot as many different upland species as I can before that.

Awesome photos of some great country, Ca has nothing on your area.

Thanks! I agree that CA has nothing on Colorado or most other western states for that matter and maybe I'm weird but I truly miss hunting the deer out there, there's something about those guys that gets me.

H4L,

Great, great post........Love the pix.................................... :clap:

Thank you!

Great post! I'll be your way in 3 weeks.

Thanks. Good luck on your hunt!

Very cool post @Hunt4lyf

I am tired of the politics as well. We all need to get back to sharing our common interests and stay on topic with outdoor posts.

Thanks for the kick in the right direction! Keep your posts coming.

So am I, every time I turn on the laptop or open my phone I'm bombarded by garbage and I'm over it, this year I'm hunting as much as I can regardless of anything else that happens.
 
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I was back up looking for sheep this past weekend.

A rough road into a high basin yielded no sheep

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But I did see a couple of these guys, my dream animal.

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Colorado is full of old mining relics

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An old stage route, now a rough 4wd road led to the top of pass, along the way I stumbled across these guys. They were buried in a glacier, who knows how long they’d been there but they were soft and stinky. I left them, marked the position and when I had service I let the Gane Warden know about them. I talked to him today and he said they’re almost full curl and “delaminating” at each growth ring.
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I hate shelf roads

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I finally found some sheep a mile away but with 35 head they were hard to sneak in on. 02E2CFF0-A82A-4ABF-8617-ABD0EEBAFD19.jpeg

I made it to within 400 yards but they were feeding uphill and away from me so I passed, hoping I could get

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The next morning I found them again, heading away from me over a 13,000 ft Mtn, they were safe from me

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These girls though were another matter, 250 yards away on public, only problem was I was sitting at a busy trailhead

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I watched this fox mess with them for 15 minutes

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I decided to go look elsewhere but I could never turn anymore up so that evening I came back looking for them, I was hoping all the goobers would be gone since it was Sunday evening and my hunch was correct, only 2 vehicles remained when I came back.

Look who I found on public about 500 yards away

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Aftee quite a bit of deliberation I gave it a go and decided to mimic a hiker and zig zagged my way at them, closing the distance down to 213 yards. A quick prone over shot over my sticks and her she came, tumbling a hundred yards until finally coming to a rest in a steep, rocky gorge.

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A relatively easy drag down to my truck in the dark and my first sheep hunt was finished in 4 days.
 

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