Why I love Colorado!!

17 May 2006, 11:01

I finally got home for some much deserved leave time from my duty station and took the new wife on a drive of my beloved home state. On a 1 day cruise down the state highways we saw the following: Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Pronghorn Antelope, Elk, Moose, Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat. How many other states could you go on a drive and not leave the truck and see 7 different species of free ranging big game. And captive critters on some game ranch don't count in my book, I don't care where they are from or how long they have been there.

On a side note, no luck so far on tags. Got blanked on Bear, Moose, Sheep and Goat. Still have deer, elk and antelope to go. I'll pull the deer and elk tags, but the antelope is a long shot since I drew the last 2 years in a row. Anybody else haing any luck with the draw this year?

Wife says she had so much fun today she wants to retire here in 3 years when my active duty is done. I told her that was good since I had always planned on coming home.

Cheers

Mac

17 May 2006, 17:29

Snellstrom

Hey MAC, nice drive!
I've had no luck on tags so far this year I got a refund for Desert Sheep, refund for Bear and a "no" as well for Moose that I've been applying for since 1987!
What part of the state did you see the Moose in?
Sounds like you must of been driving from somewhere on the plains to see the whitetail on up into the mountains somewhere to see the rest, only thing ya missed was a bear, a cat and a turkey that would have made it a "super slam".
Congratulations on coming back home.

17 May 2006, 19:24

Big Sky

"How many other states could you go on a drive and not leave the truck and see 7 different species of free ranging big game. "

Oh, I dunno, I can think of at least one.

17 May 2006, 23:41

ROSCOE

quote:
Originally posted by MAC:
I finally got home for some much deserved leave time from my duty station and took the new wife on a drive of my beloved home state. On a 1 day cruise down the state highways we saw the following: Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Pronghorn Antelope, Elk, Moose, Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat. How many other states could you go on a drive and not leave the truck and see 7 different species of free ranging big game. And captive critters on some game ranch don't count in my book, I don't care where they are from or how long they have been there.

On a side note, no luck so far on tags. Got blanked on Bear, Moose, Sheep and Goat. Still have deer, elk and antelope to go. I'll pull the deer and elk tags, but the antelope is a long shot since I drew the last 2 years in a row. Anybody else haing any luck with the draw this year?

Wife says she had so much fun today she wants to retire here in 3 years when my active duty is done. I told her that was good since I had always planned on coming home.

Cheers

Mac

That is why I miss Colorado...for now I am stuck in Arkansas!

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R. Lee Ermey: "The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle."
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We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, Which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor, but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that didn't read it but exempted themselves from it, and signed by a President, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, for which we'll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect, by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare, all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke!!!!! 'What the hell could possibly go wrong?'

18 May 2006, 22:09

gerrys375

The heck with the game count! It sounds like the lady you took for a drive is a good one! Don't throw her back!

Best wishes to you both.

18 May 2006, 22:15

gerrys375

Big Sky:

Gee!, What other state could that be?

(Sadly, I sure as heck know it isn't NY)

18 May 2006, 22:29

Crazyhorseconsulting

I still love going to the western part of Colorado, but it gets more Californicated between each visit. JMO

Glad to hear that you had such a good drive and were able to see so much game.

19 May 2006, 06:34

Madgoat

I can think of another state BigSky, and that day I saw 8 instead of 7!

19 May 2006, 20:11

MAC

Thanks for the replies. I know there are other states where you can see this type of game activity, but they all seem to be the Rocky Mountain west. Colorado, Wyoming and Montana are the only ones I can think of. Just wanted to point out how rare places like this are. Other places you might see 2 or 3 species, but there just ain't that many places with the diverse habitat to support natural populations of varied species.

SnellStorm, I saw the moose off county road 27 in Jackson county between Gould and Rand. Lots of moose in that area. And to answer your other question, I live in the Sterling area which is just loaded with good whitetails, mulies and antelope. Lots of turkeys too, but I din't include them on the list since they don't qualify as big game.

Mac