Reasons Why Everyone Should Hunt

I haven't really talked about hunting yet in this blog. Although I have hunted since I was young, I have concentrated more on just enjoying the outdoors and writing about the activities that more people enjoy, such as fishing, hiking and camping. Yet hunting is one of the most basic outdoor activities that man has done for centuries. I came across this very interesting article from American Hunter magazine. It outlines six very simple reasons about why hunting is good for you and for the ecosystem. Check out the link below to see the article, it should only take a couple minutes to read.

Six Reasons Everyone Should Hunt

Whether you are a hunter or not, I would definitely suggest you take a look at the article to understand some of the reasons people hunt.

Bow Hunter overlooking a valley, Tyler Baskfield, DOW

Let me know what you think about it in the comment section below. I'm curious if this explains either why you hunt, or if you don't hunt, are these six reasons something that you hadn't thought about?

Hiking Lair O' The Bear In November

Mule Deer Buck

Now that it is December, we have moved away from the temperatures in the 50s to 60s that we had just a couple days ago . The temperature and lack of snowfall a couple weeks ago made for excellent hiking weather. My family and I decided that we needed to take advantage of that nicer weather while we still had a chance (it's a good thing we did!)

The great thing about the Denver area is that there are plenty of hiking trails within a short drive of the metro area. Jefferson County Open Space and Denver Mountain Parks offer numerous choices for hiking, mountain biking, picnicking and more. These parks are free to anyone and many offer great views of the city and the mountains. There are also plenty of animal sightings, including Deer, Elk, Foxes and even the occasional Mountain Lion or Bear. With the great weather, my family and I decided to take a hike. We decided to hike along the Bear Creek at Lair O' The Bear Open Space. Lair O' The Bear is located west of the town of Morrison along Highway 74. The park offers both hiking and mountain biking trails.



View Larger Map

Although there is a lot more snow now than when we went hiking, the Jefferson County Open Space trails offer great year round access.  Not only are most of the parks open year round, the lower elevation of these parks, compared to places like Rocky Mountain National Park, means that the snow will melt quicker and the temperatures won't be quite as cold. 

If you want to take advantage the snow for hiking or even snowshoeing, you can always go to the parks right after a snow fall.  I've gone snow shoeing in the past, but not very often.  I'm hoping that this year I can try snow shoes a couple more times.  To me it's an enjoyable experience to be out in the woods after a fresh snow.  The pure white blanket makes it seem like you are the only person around.  On the other hand, if you want to get out on the trails, but don't want to deal with the deep snow, waiting a couple days will most likely give a chance for Colorado's sun to come out and reduce the amount of snow.  You can also check out some of the lower elevation hiking areas, such as North Table Mountain, where the flat mountain offers plenty opportynity for the sun to melt the snow and it gives you a great view of downtown Denver to the east and the foothills to the west.

Chipmunk, Michael Seraphin, DOW

Here Comes Winter

Now that the second snow storm of the season has hit the Denver Metro Area, it is pretty obvious that winter is fast approaching.  The first snow storm last week resulted in broken limbs on trees all around town.  Fortunately, today's storm wasn't quite as destructive. 

I had been hoping to take the boat out at least one more time this year, but that didn't work out.  I had planned to go out last week, but was snowed out.  When we rescheduled for this week, we were snowed out again.  While you can still fish when it is snowing, some of the guys I was going with didn't really feel like enduring freezing temps and snow to get out on the boat.  Oh well, I look forward to getting out on the boat next year.

Now that snow is falling, it is time to look at having fun in the powder.  It's time to break out the skis or snowboard, snowshoes, ice climbing gear, ice fishing gear, sleds, or anything else that you like to use in the winter.  For many people, this can be one of the best times of the year. 

For those of you that like to get out in the winter and enjoy the scenery and crisp air, make sure you bring plenty of warm clothes, food and water.  Since you can get great photos of most winter activities, make sure you bring your camera.  Check out these tips for getting the most out of your camera in cold weather:  Cold Weather Photography . 

Get outside and have some fun! Let me know in the comment section below what you like to do in the winter.

Upcoming Changes To Adventure Colorado

I'm excited to announce some changes here at Adventure Colorado.  I've had the Adventure Colorado Blog going for about 8 months now.  In that time a lot of you have come by to read about my fishing trips and other information.  I'm grateful to everyone that comes by and checks out my posts.

In order to help the site grow for the long term, I've decided to make a couple changes.  First off, if you haven't already noticed, I've obtained the domain name www.rmadventure.com  While I will still be using the Blogger interface, it will no longer be in the web address.  Hopefully some of the people that drop by and then don't come back will think a little higher of the site if it doesn't have a blogspot address.  If you have the site bookmarked, or if you have links to me, don't forget to switch them over.  Don't worry too much though, http://adventurecolorado.blogspot com will now redirect to the new site.

Along with the change in the URL, I will be changing the name of the blog to Rocky Mountain Adventure.  I've decided that even though I fish, hike and camp primarily in Colorado, I want to encourage visitors and even contributors from a broader area.  

The last change is one that may cause more problems to some of my readers.  I will be changing the layout of the blog.  I've been worried for a little while that the dark background and light text is difficult to read for some people.  I haven't quite decided what the site will look like yet, so I may be trying out a couple different formats.  If you see one that you like, or that you hate, let me know!  You can e-mail me here.

Also in order to provide as much high quality content as possible, I'm interested in guest posts.  If you write on topics similar to those on this site, e-mail me about writing some content and getting it posted here, here is my e-mail address again.

So what are your thoughts on the changes here?  Let me know by e-mail or in the comment section below.

Printable Geocaching Logs

Here is one of my more popular posts from http://geocachingcolorado.blogspot.com, with some of the upcoming changes that I will be talking about soon, I am probably going to post more about Geocaching here on this site again.  Keep checking back for more updates.  There are some exciting things coming here in the next couple weeks.

Finding a micro Geocache

I haven't had a lot of time to go Geocaching recently.  Since I don't have any caches to post about, I figured I would post a resource for printable Geocaching logs.  I know that when I hid my caches, I didn't want to wait for logs ordered from an online source (not that there is anything wrong with getting them that way).

The best site that I have found has to be Techblazer.  There you can print off logs in several different dimensions, with various info and in color or black and white.  That is where I found mine, I would definitely suggest you start there if you are looking for printable logs.

Of course you can go directly though Groundspeak and get the official log books.  Click the link here, to see what they have to offer.

Either way, logs are easy to get your hands on, so find a container and print off a log to start hiding your own geocaches.  Do you know of any other great resources?  Let's hear what you use in the comment section below.

What is geocaching?

Geocaching Definitions

Hiding Geocaches

Bonny Reservoir Fish Salvage

On September 21, 2011, the Colorado State Engineer started releasing water from Bonny Reservoir.  The State claims that the lake must be drained to satisfy legal obligations for supplying water to Kansas and Nebraska.  The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) believes that the draining will most likely result in the complete loss of the reservoir.

On September 23, the DOW released a press release stating that they would be trapping and relocating as many of the sport fish as possible.  The will also continue to allow fisherman access to the lake to help remove fish from the draining lake.  As long as it is still safe to access the banks of the lake, the DOW will try to allow access to the lake.

All manners of take will be permitted, including trotlines, jugs and seines.  The DOW has also removed all limits on species and numbers of fish, but will still require that everyone fishing at the lake has a valid Colorado fishing license.  They will also require everyone to fill out an angler survey card, available at the reservoir.

As the lake is drained, Bonny will transition from a State Park, to a State Wildlife Area.

You can read the full press release on the DOW site here:
Bonny Lake Fish Salvage Authorized

What are your opinions on the draining of Bonny Reservoir?  Is it really necessary to provide water downstream?  Or is it just one less lake for the state to manage?

Colorado Division Of Wildlife Is Giving Away Free Salmon!

Each year the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) gathers along several rivers throughout the state to collect eggs from spawning Kokanee Salmon.  The eggs collected from these fish are then used by the DOW to raise a new generation of Salmon.  Once the Salmon are a little older they are reintroduced to lakes all over the state.   Once they are done "milking" the Salmon for the eggs, they want to give those Salmon away, free!

Just like their Pacific brothers, famous for returning to rivers along Washington, Canada and Alaska, the Kokanee Salmon in Colorado will die shortly after spawning.  The DOW has decided that after milking the fish, they will give them away, rather than releasing them, only to die shortly afterwards.  That way others can take advantage of the meat that the Salmon have to offer, instead of letting them go to waste.

That means that if you have a Colorado fishing license, and you're willing to drive to one of the pick up points, you could receive some free Salmon.  The giveaways are, of course, first come, first serve.  They are also dependent on the number of fish that are actually collect by the DOW. 

Here are the giveaway locations and dates:

• Roaring Judy hatchery near Almont, Oct. 14, 21, 28 and Nov. 4; be in line by 9 a.m.; call 970-641-7070 for information.
• Vallecito Reservoir, community center on northwest side of reservoir; 3 p.m. on Oct. 14, 21, 28 and Nov. 4 and 11; call 970-247-0855.
• Dolores River, Joe Rowell Town Park in Dolores; 3 p.m. on Oct. 20, 27 and Nov. 3 and 10; call 970-247-0855.
• Williams Fork Reservoir, at reservoir inlet; Oct. 17, 24, 31 and Nov. 3; call 970-725-6200.
• Granby at Shadow Mountain; Nov. 7, 10, 14, 17, 21 and 28; call 970-725-6200.

So if you are looking for Salmon, make sure you check out those dates!  You can always try to catch your own Salmon as well!

Check out some more of my posts on Salmon:

Learning To Cacth Salmon
Smoked Salmon Recipe