Just found out I will be moving to far eastern Co. In a couple of weeks. Ten miles from Kansas line. I am very glad to be returning to Co. I was wondering if anyone can tell me what hunting is like in that area. I am used to hunting the western slope, but this will be a new area to me. Am an avid mule deer Hunter, birds of any sort, bpcr shooter, almost any kind of hand gun competition,sometime archery hunter. Any info would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance.
eastern co.
- Thread starter taos
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hoshour
Veteran member
hoshour
Veteran member
I used to drive all over the state but never ended up in Burlington so can't tell you much. Lamar to the south of you used to have decent duck hunting.
There are monster whitetails in eastern CO but it is nearly all private land and most want a pretty penny to let you hunt. If you can get to know some of the ranchers you might do very well. Believe it or not, there are also some elk on the eastern plains.
There are monster whitetails in eastern CO but it is nearly all private land and most want a pretty penny to let you hunt. If you can get to know some of the ranchers you might do very well. Believe it or not, there are also some elk on the eastern plains.
tdcour
Veteran member
Hey taos. I moved to central Kansas last year and work in the agriculture research area. My counterpart lives in Stratton, which is right next to Burlington. I cut corn all over the place out there last year and arrowed a nice white tail east of Colby, KS while my combine was broke down. The drought has been terribly hard on the animals out there. They have gotten great rain this year, but it has come with a lot of hail. They have had pheasant in the past, but with the drought, the numbers went way down. (This is all info from the guy that lives out there). I'd expect the hail to hurt the birds as well, but with plenty of rain they might make a comeback. As far as big game, most of the antelope are south of the interstate is what I was told. He has some good pictures of mule deer right out his back door. He told me the same about a lot of private land. I think the deadline has passed for Kansas, but if you are that close, I'd check and see if you could go across the border on some of the KS public land. There are lots of turkeys in the draws and river beds where there are trees as well. Best of luck to you and feel free to pm me if you would like
Thank you sir. Sounds like a place I can deal with. Have been meaning to hunt Kansas for years. Went there as a kid. Only thing I can recall is not seeing a tree for 3 days! My mother grew up there. You are a better man than I if you can work on combines! If I never see another it will be too soon, red or green. Instruments of the devil! Bad when they do not run right.
tdcour
Veteran member
Haha yeah I agree with you on that one. Ours that we run for research are even worse. It seems like they always fall apart. There are some great places to hunt in Kansas, but if you have some farm experience don't count out eastern Colorado. If you help them around the farm or ranch that could open the door to some private land to hunt around Burlington
Taos there are good hunting opportunities around Burlington for both mule deer and whitetail. Pheasants are on the downfall as tdcour said, but with good rain this spring things may improve. As said you can also find some turkeys, and doves are usually descent for the first week or two. There may be some opportunities to hunt waterfowl around Bonnie Dam, used to be a lake but politics got in the way and they drained it, so everybody lost out. That is only about 30 minutes north of Burlington. As said above it is primarily private land, but go out and talk to some guys and seek permission early. In time you can gain some access, get involved and get to know people around the area and it will help you find the landowners that will let you hunt.
In God We Trust
Very Active Member
I used to hunt pheasants around Burlington for a lot of years. The numbers I have seen the last two years are the worst I have ever seen. Drought and little cover plus the hail equals a disaster for the birds. I have seen some huge deer out there while bird hunting but everything seems to be locked up by outfitters. There is a lot of private land.