Colorado GMU 421

expect the unexpected!!!!!!!!!!
I have not ever hunted this area but i have spent alot of time hunting in and around the colorado boundary areas. Colorado i would have to say is the closet match to that of wyoming when it comes to weather, roughness, remoteness, and all the other things we as western big game hunters strive for each and every fall.

i wish i could be more useful but i am sure that someone on here will know this area and eventually help you out. the folks are great around here so welcome.

Nipper,
Are you really locked in to hunting the area around Powderhorn? I don't want to discourage you, but that is a pretty tough area. The Grand Mesa is great for hiking, camping, four wheeling, fishing, etc but the hunting is pretty tough. What season are you planning on? I live right below Grand Mesa but I do not ever hunt there. I have heard that there is pretty good hunting in the Collbran area, which is only a 30 minute drive from Powderhorn, but there is a lot of private land there. The road past Vega Reservoir lets you access a huge area of national forest, but I think it gets punded pretty hard. All that being said, if you took an ATV up some of the trails past Vega(after a couple miles it gets too rough for a truck), then ditched it and hoofed into a drainage without a trail you may be able to locate some game. I would advise getting yourself a National Forest map, and also a Trails Illustrated map (I think they are put out by National Geographic now) and then get in touch with a biologist with the DOW here in Grand Junction and ask for advice-those guys are usually pretty helpful. Good luck.
Bill

Bill,

Thanks for the reply. I am pretty much locked in to hunting the Powderhorn area. I am going with a friend who has been hunting this area for a few years. He has taken a couple Elk there.

What exactly do you mean that the hunting is tough there ? Is it lack of game, too crowded, or the terrain is too rough ? I will do what ever it takes to get in a secluded area to hunt. I hopefully will be bringing out an ATV.

I want to start hunting Mule Deer/Elk out west every year if I can. I can not afford using a guide every year so I will have to do it myself. I rather do it myself anyway. I need to find a good area and hunt it every year so I can get to know it.

Thanks for the help...Nipper

Nipper,
The terrain is not too difficult there. I'm saying it's tough because of the number of hunters, as well as the fact that I think the game gets pushed onto private property pretty quickly. I pal of mine was fishing on Vega Lake this fall on the first day of one of the rifle seasons (I think it might have been the early elk only season) and he said it was nonstop traffic across the dam heading up onto the NF, and he didn't hear a single shot the whole day (he wasn't there from dawn til dark though). If you are hunting the early elk only season or the first combined deer/elk season, I think you have a good chance of getting pretty far up in there and finding game. The weather's always a crapshoot, but I don't think that early in the year an early storm would push the game out. After that though I think the weather could hurt you. If you've found anything out about the Grand Mesa, you know it's fairly flat on top, for actually a very large area, probably a couple hundred square miles. On top is generally around 10,000', but then it drops off pretty quickly and I think hunting the areas where it drops off would be a little tougher terrain. So, bottom line from my viewpoint, I'm sure there's plenty of game up there, but I would be getting after it in the early seasons while the game is still high, and I would find the most remote hidey hole type of place I could walk to. If the weather is mild I would consider doing a spike camp to save time getting in and out of the more remote places. Shoot me an e-mail direct and we can talk more. bhayden@acsol.net
Bill