Colorado Ducks
- Thread starter PBenjamin
- Start date
dwatling
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2016
- Messages
- 161
I was also looking into this, found a lot of information on cpw site. I was looking around the alamosa area. Duck hunting in NM is being destroyed by unethical hunters and hunters without any common courtesy.
D
Deleted member 28227
Guest
So duck hunting
Seriously though Colorado is way worse, after moving down from MT I basically gave up on it in Colorado, total disaster, those SWAs are either super crowded, don’t hold ducks, or are by reservation only.
Zach
Well-known member
If you really want to be a serious duck/goose hunter up north you might look into a club. No recommendations from me, I hunt in other areas, without crowds.
Just a thought but I got a small inflatable kayak for under $100 a couple years ago when I was duck hunting more. Definitely opened up the options not having a dog. But like others said they may not hold many ducks, they have probably been sky busted a bit, but that’s not a reason to get out there. Try them all out if that’s what your into and find one that works for you.
chuckchili
Well-known member
You mentioned along 76 so I thought I would share recent experience at Barr Lake by Brighton. The online reservation system is tough to master, I did not apply myself to figure it out but my boss can somehow reserve a blind every time he wants. You can reserve EXACTLY two weeks in advance but it seems the blinds all get reserved within five minutes of the opening time... and keep in mind the reservations open at midnight! I ended up calling the CPW for the one of the last hunts of the year and got the last blind available.
That being said- I would suggest trying to find a different manner to hunt waterfowl. It was a skybusting festival where I heard hundreds of shots and only saw two geese fall from the sky. There were plenty of birds but they were too high to hit. If I were to get serious about duck/ geese hunting in Colorado, I would look hard at one of the hunting clubs.
That being said- I would suggest trying to find a different manner to hunt waterfowl. It was a skybusting festival where I heard hundreds of shots and only saw two geese fall from the sky. There were plenty of birds but they were too high to hit. If I were to get serious about duck/ geese hunting in Colorado, I would look hard at one of the hunting clubs.
Nicapopolis
Member
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2020
- Messages
- 57
People can complain about everything, but ultimately if you aren't willing to put in the work to freelance for ducks then you will struggle.
Making a reservation at an SWA does not guarantee anything, but you can have some serious epic hunts at SWAs that require a reservation. It takes time to learn these places. NEVER expect that you are going to have a good hunt on an SWA reservation until you know that SWA well and you can pick the correct spot AND hunt that spot correctly.
There are also miles upon miles and acres upon acres of other great duck hunting areas in Colorado. Get away from people and put miles on your truck. Maybe dont focus off 76, but there is also great hunting off 76 too.
It is all about conditions for ducks. I try to make sure I pick the days to hunt that will yield the best results. This means there will be a lot of birds in the area I hunt AND there is some sort of weather to assist in killing them. This also means calling in sick to hunt a week day if the conditions seem perfect. Many times my predictions are dead wrong, but I learn each time and sometimes I kill them.
If you want to do well on at the SWAs, stick to them and learn them. Refill a blind that you saw shooting good in the AM. Afternoons can yield good hunts and are awesome for learning. You may find a consistent X one season that is high and dry the next season.
Scout, scout, scout and then hunt. I know sometimes that is hard when you have a career, but the more you are in the field the more like minded people you will meet. You will get a small group that shares intel on specific spots and then success goes up even more.
Making a reservation at an SWA does not guarantee anything, but you can have some serious epic hunts at SWAs that require a reservation. It takes time to learn these places. NEVER expect that you are going to have a good hunt on an SWA reservation until you know that SWA well and you can pick the correct spot AND hunt that spot correctly.
There are also miles upon miles and acres upon acres of other great duck hunting areas in Colorado. Get away from people and put miles on your truck. Maybe dont focus off 76, but there is also great hunting off 76 too.
It is all about conditions for ducks. I try to make sure I pick the days to hunt that will yield the best results. This means there will be a lot of birds in the area I hunt AND there is some sort of weather to assist in killing them. This also means calling in sick to hunt a week day if the conditions seem perfect. Many times my predictions are dead wrong, but I learn each time and sometimes I kill them.
If you want to do well on at the SWAs, stick to them and learn them. Refill a blind that you saw shooting good in the AM. Afternoons can yield good hunts and are awesome for learning. You may find a consistent X one season that is high and dry the next season.
Scout, scout, scout and then hunt. I know sometimes that is hard when you have a career, but the more you are in the field the more like minded people you will meet. You will get a small group that shares intel on specific spots and then success goes up even more.
