CO legality question

[JG358]

He's Randy Hancock. He's retired now, but won many awards for his service. You won't find a better warden anywhere. I didn't say he handed out tickets for no reason. I said if he came onto a hunter walking through the mountains with a loaded rifle he'll assume they're hunting. That would be his first reaction until talking to the hunter.

Thanks for the clarification, That sounds much more reasonable than just saying "he'll assume your hunting".

 

[Murdy]

It's true they have to prove you are hunting, but they only need probable cause to issue a ticket. Then, they have the burden to prove it in court if you plead not guilty. The problem comes for out-of-staters. Odds are, your court date won't come up in the next week or so that your in Colorado, so as a practical matter, you have to show up and contest the citation before they have to prove it. If you don't show up, they'll default you and enter judgment and probably issue a warrant if you don't pay the fine. It's probably more expensive to travel back to contest it (especially if you lose work time) than it is to just pay the fine.

 

[Bar]

Thanks for the clarification, That sounds much more reasonable than just saying "he'll assume your hunting".

Well, those were his exact words to me, so they sort of stuck in my memory.

 

[Poser]

Here's one other question about CO. Any legal issues or grey area with packing an animal out through a neighboring unit (assuming you have a tag for a specific unit)?

 

[JG358]

Here's one other question about CO. Any legal issues or grey area with packing an animal out through a neighboring unit (assuming you have a tag for a specific unit)?

I cant think of any good reasons to put myself in that situation and I dont think I'd like trying to explain that to a CPW office that has his ticket book out. I just dont see it ending well even if you take them to the kill site in the unit you have a tag for.

 

[Poser]

I cant think of any good reasons to put myself in that situation and I dont think I'd like trying to explain that to a CPW office that has his ticket book out. I just dont see it ending well even if you take them to the kill site in the unit you have a tag for.

Yeah, that's kind of what I expected. We are looking at an area where, in a pinch, crossing into another unit could be a pack out option, but may rule that option out for reasons stated above.

 

[krueger]

Yeah, that's kind of what I expected. We are looking at an area where, in a pinch, crossing into another unit could be a pack out option, but may rule that option out for reasons stated above.

I don't think there would be a problem. In a lot of areas near unit boundaries the TH or parking areas may be in the adjoining unit. If it made the pack out easier I wouldn't hesitate to cross into another unit. Obviously a game warden knows the proximity of unit boundaries and it is not illegal.

A lot of time unit boundaries are ridge lines or rivers. Not only can you pack a legally harvested animal out of a different unit, you can hike through an adjacent unit to access your hunting unit as long as you don't hunt before you get to the boundary.

 

[Carlin59]

I cant think of any good reasons to put myself in that situation and I dont think I'd like trying to explain that to a CPW office that has his ticket book out. I just dont see it ending well even if you take them to the kill site in the unit you have a tag for.

One of my "honey hole" areas is the backside of an OTC unit in CO. The nearest trailhead is only two (albeit steep) miles away, but in a different LE draw unit. The closest trailhead actually in the unit is probably 6-7 miles away, but would be really rugged (mostly off trail) and another hour drive to get to. When hunting my weapon is unloaded until I cross the GMU boundary into the OTC unit, and i have the regs with me to prove i know the boundaries if questioned. Just an example of why (for me at least) it is worth it to travel through a unit I don't actually have a tag for. I think in general most guys don't want to "waste" time hiking through a unit they can't actually hunt, and as a result the destination units don't get much pressure from that side. I am actually trying to identify more of these areas, as they have worked pretty well so far for me.

 

[JG358]

One of my "honey hole" areas is the backside of an OTC unit in CO. The nearest trailhead is only two (albeit steep) miles away, but in a different LE draw unit. The closest trailhead actually in the unit is probably 6-7 miles away, but would be really rugged (mostly off trail) and another hour drive to get to. When hunting my weapon is unloaded until I cross the GMU boundary into the OTC unit, and i have the regs with me to prove i know the boundaries if questioned. Just an example of why (for me at least) it is worth it to travel through a unit I don't actually have a tag for. I think in general most guys don't want to "waste" time hiking through a unit they can't actually hunt, and as a result the destination units don't get much pressure from that side. I am actually trying to identify more of these areas, as they have worked pretty well so far for me.

A valid point. I was aware that its legal to do so, guess I just dont like the idea of dealing with the ranger or CPW officer that wants to hike back over the mountain to visit the kill site.

 

[5MilesBack]

And depending on the unit......they WILL want to see the kill site and the blood trail. Lots of stories come out of the CDOW about poachers in unit 76 specifically that kill something in 76 and then try to get it to a neighboring unit quickly. Not quite the same, but they'll want to see what's going on. As they should.

 

[Vids]

You should be fine unless you run into an unreasonable game warden. If you are really concerned about a warden stopping you with a rifle before the season just buy a small game license and tell them you are coyote hunting. You can pick up a temporary license for under $20.

All the wardens I've run into have been great, nothing but helpful and friendly. I had one experience that was interesting though. My dad and I got stopped while antelope hunting by two wardens that were driving together, one was friendly but the other wasn't and went out of his way to try and find something we were doing wrong. We were legal and nothing came of it.

 

[xziang]

And depending on the unit......they WILL want to see the kill site and the blood trail. Lots of stories come out of the CDOW about poachers in unit 76 specifically that kill something in 76 and then try to get it to a neighboring unit quickly. Not quite the same, but they'll want to see what's going on. As they should.

Would someone really have to hike the CDOW back to the kill site? Can/couldn't you just provide them with the GPS coordinates and let them hike their own butt back there? Just would NOT want to hike X miles again to prove something.

Sunday I was at the TH over lunchtime and CDOW drove through. I asked if he wanted to see my license and he then asked if I was hunting. Nice experience and nice guy, it looked like he was checking or writing license plates down.

 

[5MilesBack]

Would someone really have to hike the CDOW back to the kill site? Can/couldn't you just provide them with the GPS coordinates and let them hike their own butt back there? Just would NOT want to hike X miles again to prove something.

Well, if they suspect foul play they're not going to let you go before seeing the site if that's what they choose to do. Several years ago when I was 16 (way before GPS's and especially the nice boundary chips), I shot a nice buck and we were packing it out. We knew there was a private boundary near the area and just assumed that the fence line was the boundary. It was easier to just hike the fence line out to the road than to haul it back up the slope.

Well, the landowner saw us and called the sheriff. They met us at the road. The sheriff wanted to see exactly where I shot the buck. Apparently, his property boundary was further up the slope well above the fence. Impossible to tell for sure the exact line back then so that buck could have been shot on his property. He was more concerned that I didn't shoot it in one of his pastures on the other side of the fence.

He was actually a pretty cool rancher and had no problem after they verified our story......even though I really think I did shoot it on his property after walking the property with him. These days I'm sure that wouldn't have gone quite as well.

 

[rayporter]

i hunt very close to 76 and talk to uniforms almost yearly. they have never hinted that they would think anyone crossed the line into 76. if it were possible to reach the truck there are times i would have an easy trip out through 76.

i know of one guy that camped on the line [ as in very questionable ] and did shoot a bull. he had to get a helicopter to get the hunters out. nothing was said about the camp being questionable. the dead horses were another story. he was supposed to burn them.

maybe we just look like honest vegetarians.

 

[bobhunts]

Game wardens go a long way to check people. I have been checked in unit 76 so far in I felt bad that warden.

 

[DEHusker]

During any big game season in Colorado, you must have a tag for one of the species of big game in order to carry a loaded rifle OVER .223. If you have a "small game license" you can carry anything up to .223 (coyotes, etc.). Game wardens are very hit or miss with how they enforce the laws...I wouldn't chance it. In some areas they are really jerks and are picky picky about every little detail. Once I had a warden stop us right in the middle of a hunt (we were standing outside of our truck) to check to make sure that guns were not loaded (in the truck) and that our big game licenses were SIGNED, not just on us. If not signed, he was writing tickets. Sheesh.... Another buddy of mine was checked in the middle of his elk rifle hunt once and told to stop his hunt and go home because his blaze orange was not bright enough. He was wearing a blaze orange canvas jacket that was a bit faded due to washing. Sheesh again....Like I said, hit or miss....

 

[Freedombyforce]

In regards to the question about crossing a unit you don't have a tag for.... I asked this exact question to the draw units warden I was going to cross to get to a OTC unit just the other day. He told me it was fine to cross over the unit. He also said it was a good faith statement to have the gun completely unloaded and ammo packed away. It was an even better faith statement if the bolt was removed and packed also. As far as packing out though the unit, that was fine also. He suggested especially in this case, but really in all kill sites, to take a picture of your gps showing the coordinates with the kill in the background of the pic. This would dispel any suspicion of whether it was taken in the draw unit.