Your To-Do List

[cohunter14]

It\'s already into April and we are roughly 140 days away from the Colorado archery opener, which is right around when many other seasons start as well. So what\'s on your to-do list between now and then? Any gear that needs to be fixed or replaced? Any scouting trips that are already planned? Anyone going to get some game cameras out? Let\'s hear what you have planned and what you need to accomplish in the next 140 days to help make you successful this year!

 

[Lark Bunting]

It\'s already into April and we are roughly 140 days away from the Colorado archery opener, which is right around when many other seasons start as well. So what\'s on your to-do list between now and then? Any gear that needs to be fixed or replaced? Any scouting trips that are already planned? Anyone going to get some game cameras out? Let\'s hear what you have planned and what you need to accomplish in the next 140 days to help make you successful this year!

For me it\'s going to depend on whether I draw my elk tag or if I\'ll be hunting OTC again. If I draw my tag then I have some equipment to upgrade because I\'ll be backpacking 4 miles into the middle of nowhere. I have a frame pack and a Tenzing 2220 hunting pack but I don\'t think that\'s going to be feasible to pack in both. I\'d like to find a combo unit that will get me a weeks worth of gear into the back country yet collapse enough to use daily on my hunts.

My gear wants/list goes on from there...some pretty doable, some will be a bit expensive and may have to wait. One thing is for sure, being laid off last May really screwed up some of my plans and by September finances were definitely an issue.

Cheaper gear:
Bugle tube (I made one out of a wiffle ball bat last year)
Rain gear
Action camera (I bought my son a Vivitar action camera and absolutely LOVE it! I now want one for myself)
-Mini tripod to record our hunt this year
-Memory cards and portable chargers
Gravityworks Carbon Element (I tested my water filter by filling a bucket with snow/rain mix and it tasted like tree sap afterward. :?
Slick Tricks- Just to try
Long spoons for backpacking
Cheap foam knee pads. My dad let me borrow some after my old heavy duty knee pads broke two straps in one afternoon and they were so light and comfortable!
Compression bags for the backpacking trips

More expensive gear:
New rangefinder
GPS
OnX Maps for Colorado. I\'m tired of downloading bits and pieces every time I go explore a new area.

I\'d like to pick up some new gear for my son as well but don\'t have a list necessarily, He\'ll need boots, new pants, new shirts, socks, he\'s grown several inches this winter and out grew a LOT of his gear. I may upgrade his bow as well, thinking the Diamond Infinite Edge since it\'s another bow that can grow with him. His little Bear is looking kind of small.

I work out pretty regularly and stay active with mtn biking, tennis and lacrosse year around. I cut back on drinking for various reasons. I had to start taking fish oil, 1 gram twice a day and I swear I\'ve had more health benefits from that one item, it\'s crazy. I am lifting more this year, but being careful with my shoulder.

My new job is exactly that, MY new job. I am partner/owner in a small engineering company and am LOVING it.

I\'ll scout after the draw results come out. I am almost as equally excited about the OTC area I am wanting to hunt as I am as the draw unit I put in for. It\'s a LOT closer!

2017 has been an emotional year already but I have a good feeling it\'ll end well.

 

[colorado russ]

Well, this year will be much different for me as I\'ll be about 400 miles further from the private land I hunt in SW CO!

Some of my plans hinge around getting the landowner vouchers which won\'t know for certain until August how many and if bull or cow. We get these directly from the CP&W and I think considered damage tags. They also have an early rifle season that goes until Aug 1st and those results factor into how many tags we\'ll get. In the past, the early hunt hasn\'t been too productive so we\'ve gotten a couple of bull and a couple of cow tags for the late season(Aug 15th - Feb 28th). The landowner put in this year for the drawing also and with around 1200 acres he got 2 applications. It\'s possible one of his applications could result in a unit wide tag not just PLO. Crossing fingers because I\'d snag that one!

As for scouting trips, I don\'t really need to scout but rather come back in late August and put out 6-8 trail cameras and a couple of ladder stands in areas I\'m familiar with. I\'ll only be able to hunt 1 week so plan on coming back at the end of Sept hoping to catch rut full swing. Will check trail cameras and then either move ladder stands or use chain-on stands with climbing sticks.

Gear is all in good shape and I\'ll be dropping off a 2 person ladder stand at the property end of April so the ranch hand and his son can use.

Of course, all this will either change or get added to once I draw the NM elk tag!! Using 2 weeks out of 4 of vacation to hunt elk may not go over too well since that\'s what I did last year too!

 

[Baby Huey]

Health wise, two things: 1. I need to get my shoulder stronger. I hurt it at the end of last year and then again a month ago helping my boys with some basketball drills. Once it is stronger, I can start using the TruBall Sweet Spot release I bought back in February but haven\'t even been able to use yet - first time using a backtension release. 2. Need to lose some more weight. I\'ve lost about 10 lbs in a month, just have to discipline myself to not eat crap.

I\'ll start working on getting my boys using cow elk calls. I plan to take them with me on my big elk hunt (my brother and I are cashing in our CO points this year) for their Labor Day break from school - they will be 9 and 11. That should get them hooked on elk hunting, where we will be in a hard to draw unit with elk talking, and actually seeing elk.

Pretty set on the gear side - anything else now is just on the \"want\" list. I probably will need to get my boys some hunting clothes, as they may grow out of their current hunting clothes. I would like to get my Browning 300 Win Mag I won at the RMEF banquet set up with a scope and rings at a minimum, maybe a muzzle brake as well.

Just need to practice with my bows once my shoulder heals. Will probably take my recurve and compound bows up and swap them out each day.

 

[cohunter14]

My list includes as much scouting and trail cam work as possible in my archery area. Probably won\'t get to do any scouting in the rifle area, but I know it pretty well at this point. I\'ve added stretching to my workout routine, which I\'m hoping will aid in not being as sore at the end of the day. I am planning on adding cardio at some point soon, with the goal to drop 10lbs before the season starts. I\'ve really added some strength lately, but in the form of added muscle weight. I don\'t want to be carrying that extra weight around the mountains, so I need to cut it from other areas of my body. My physical conditioning has never let me down in the mountains, but something I\'ve come to realize is how tired I am mid day and each evening. Nothing a nap and a good night\'s sleep can\'t fix, but when I\'m tired it\'s also more difficult to stay positive and keep the mood meter up. Hopefully the extra cardio will payoff in this aspect as well!

Outside of that, I need to keep working on my shooting and extending my comfortable range. Practicing for elk via spot and stalk turkey hunting in the mountains is also being done, which I think is great training for the fall.

That\'s all for now but I\'m sure there will be more to add.

 

[Don K]

Just got done with surgery on my right eye and have a week to recover. Once that is done I\'m going to kick it into high gear on working out and shooting!!

 

[midwest]

Need to repair and beef up the canopy on my Kodiak tent, make a holster on my pack for a grunt tube, build a custom table for my stove, grill, and water jug with a wind break and cover. I need to work on my shooting.