Spring Planning

It's time for Colorado big-game hunters to get their requests (and money) for tags sent into the Division of Wildlife. The due date is April 7. In a way, it's kind of hard to get "into" the hunting mode this time of year, but once you get used to it, it's kind of nice.

That's because it gives you a reason to think seriously about hunting almost all year long. For the month of March, you are plotting which unit to apply for - and since I hunt elk, deer and antelope, I get to plan 3 trips. Then in June you get the word on which units you did get drawn for, so then you can start looking over the maps and plotting the specific places you want to set up camp and hunt. Hopefully, during the summer you will get at least one trip to the unit to scout it out on the ground. And there is always at least one trip to a range to sight in your rifle. And that brings you to September, when the weather starts to change and you start planning what gear you need to take (and what new gear you need to buy!).

Finally the season opens and the constant tension of the hunt consumes your days until you kill your animal.

Another several days of butchering (which I do myself) follows. Then it's sharing hunting stories with your friends for several months and it starts all over again.

Isn't life great!