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General Information for Our Colorado Hunts

We would like to welcome you to call us anytime with any questions you might have concerning your upcoming hunt. We will try and answer some of the most frequently asked questions and give you some info about your hunt.

Units:
Archery and muzzle loader hunters will be hunting unit 81
Rifle hunters will be hunting unit 80 unless told otherwise.

Drawing Info:
Deadline for the draw is April 4th, 2006 and usually in other years a day or two before or after. Colorado Division of Wildlife website will have applications online or you can get the paper applications. Colorado Division of Wildlife information phone is 719.587.6902. You can probably request being on their mailing list.

Deer tags are not available during the 1st and 4th seasons.

Bull elk are purchased over the counter in 2nd, 3rd seasons.
Elk in the 4th season is now a draw for tags only. (no over the counter tags for this season.) Occasionally there are left over tags after the draw. Call us at 719.852.3870 for information on the availability of left over tags after August 1st.

Archery is over the counter. Muzzle Loader is draw only. You need at least one preference point.

If born after Jan. 1, 1949, You must have a hunter education course with a hunter’s safety card in order to purchase a Colorado license of any kind.

WHY A HUNTER EDUCATION COURSE? – The Colorado State Legislature passed a law, effective January 1, 1970, requiring hunter education for all hunters born after January 1, 1949. Individuals born prior to 1949 were 21 years of age when the law came into effect and were "grandfathered" under the law. Colorado had voluntary hunter education programs in place prior to 1970.

Every accident that ever happened with a firearm can be summed up by "I didn’t know;" "I know but I forgot," or "I was careless." By learning to handle firearms safely and properly, none of these excuses will ever be necessary.

Archery Hunters: I had a question posed that " If you are bow hunting during archery season did you have to have a hunter's safety card if you already had a bow hunter's safety card?" The DOW, Angie, in the Monte Vista office says that " the bow hunter's safety is sufficient if only archery hunting but if you carry a handgun, you must have a regular hunter's safety card."

Handguns: You may carry a handgun on your person while hunting if not concealed. Archery hunters can carry a handgun but must have a rifle hunter's safety card.

Elk: Our average bull in our area is a three and half year old five point. We do not have any chronic wasting disease in our area. The only case that ever was here was one cow in a domestic herd. An elk farm. The government bought all his elk for a million and burned all of them. No other elk has had the disease or any other animal tested to date.

Licenses:
We can purchase your license for you if it is an over the counter license and you have submitted to us the license information page filled out with a copy of your hunter's safety card and drivers license. These copies must be readable. You cannot buy licenses on arrival by credit card. You can only use a credit card when paying online for the draw. You will need to have cash or a money order/cashier's check for the purchase of your license. If you prefer buying your own license, you can stop at a Walmart Sporting Goods department in Colorado to purchase or you can buy here in Monte Vista from the Division of Wildlife Office or Valley Gun Service. We like to support our local gun shop so if we are buying for you, you need to include your money order made out to "Valley Gun Service".
**Licenses must be purchased before opening day of the season you are hunting.

Altitude Sickness:
Remember to drink lots of water and if you think you might tend to have altitude sickness you need to see your doctor for a prescription of Diamox. Better safe than sorry! Symptoms of altitude sickness are nausea, headache, starting to get blue lips, getting disoriented from lack of oxygen. You will be hunting around 13,000 ft. in elevation. If left unchecked altitude sickness can cause fluid in the lungs and sometimes in worst cases, heart attacks so it is serious business. We don’t want to frighten you but we do want you to be safe.

Exercise:
Prepare yourself so you can come out of the mountains safe and sound. It is a good idea to start a walking program. You will be on horses but there are times that you will be walking a bit if you are in a guided camp. If you are in a drop camp, you will be walking a great deal. You want to try and be in as good physical shape as you can between now and your arrival date.

Coming out of camp early:
If you decide for some reason that you need to come out early before you have harvested your animal there will be a $100 fee since it takes a guide a day to get you out and come back in to camp the same day-an all day process. When you harvest your animal, you can come down as we bring the animal down for processing if you like at no extra charge.

Phone numbers:
In case of emergency for your families to call.
719.852.3870-our home office
719.849.3445 Butch's cell phone
719.849.3446 Suzy's cell phone
888.452.3870 toll free

No Alcohol in Camp:
We ask that you not bring in alcoholic beverages.

Refunds:
We do not give refunds for deposits but will allow you to transfer your deposit to someone else as a deposit only. It cannot be used to pay the balance one of your fellow hunters fee as we plan and book far in advance. You can find someone to take your spot or we can hold the deposit over for you until the following year (if you give us 90 days notice) and there would be no penalty.

We are not responsible for cancellations due to acts of God-weather, fire, acts of war but will allow you to come another year if any disaster should befall us-hopefully nothing will happen. We have never had to cancel.

If snow gets too deep in the mountains we have a plan B to get you to a lower camp. Should that happen, we will have most of our camps in one general location and hunt away from the camp by truck/horses/etc. We will always come in and get you as soon as possible should we have a blizzard and snow gets too deep. Your safety is our first concern.

Hunter Orange:
You are required to wear 500 square inches of hunter orange. Break up orange is not legal. You must have an orange hat and orange vest-solid color.

Processing:
We have a processor that can try to have your elk packaged and frozen by the time you are ready to leave if we are able to get it to them within a reasonable time of your leaving. The cost is $135-175 depending on the size of the elk. The deer are somewhere in the $100 range.

You should have two to three coolers for transport of your meat. These can be gotten locally from Walmart. You will have to buy dry ice for transport from a local grocery store.

Some guys like to mail home their clothes by UPS and ship their meat home as baggage if they are flying.

Meat transport:
If flying, you are allowed 2- 50 lb coolers with a minimum of 4.4 lbs of dry ice. Coolers must be duct taped around the closure areas of the cooler both around the seam of the opening and crosswise.

Fed x price around $600 for 3 coolers @50 lbs. each
UPS next day air is $620 for 3 coolers @50 lbs each.
Dry ice has to be less that 5 lbs.

These rates are as of March 9, 2006-and are calculated for shipment from Colorado, our zip code, to Alton, New Hampshire so may be a price difference for where you live. You may have more than three coolers and if you do, the UPS rate is approx. $206 per 50 lb container.

We have a list of processors in the Center Colorado area. About 15 miles from our home. The average elk will yield 100-150 lbs of processed meat depending on the size of the animal and shot damage.

Airports:
The nearest airport is Alamosa and United Great Lakes flies into Alamosa. The local phone number is 719.589.9446. We have not had any trouble with anyone flying in with their guns as long as the gun's ammo is in a different place from the gun and that it is in a hard case. I will check again closer to time for you to fly in around July/August. You might ask when you are calling for reservations for your particular airlines. I did hear that the flight to Alamosa from Denver is reduced a bit if you fly all the way with United.

Colorado Springs is the next closest airport and you can rent a car from there but you will have to cross a pass-Laveta Pass to get here and back. You might request a 4 wheel drive as the pass is many times snow packed. We can pick you up in Alamosa but you would have to rent a car from Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs is a three and half hour trip from here and Denver is a 4 and half to five hour drive.

Hotels in the area Rifle hunts:
Drop campers need to be in town by Wednesday night and won’t go out until Thursday. You will be brought out on the following
Thursday. Make plans for flights to go out the following day, Friday.

Guided hunters will go into camp on Friday and come out on Wednesday. Plane flights home should be on Thursday.

You will need a hotel the night before and the night after your hunts. Monte Vista is the closest town.

Comfort Inn-Monte Vista, CO 719.852.0612
Rio Grande Motel-MonteVista 719.852.3516
Best Western Movie Manor-Monte Vista 719.852.5921

Drop camps:
The day you will need to be in town is the night before you are to go into camp. Dates of the hunts reflect going in two days before the hunt starts so you have time to scout. You will meet at our house at 9am the day you are to go into camp. Bring your groceries and gear when you come to our house. The groceries can be in grocery sacks because we pack them in pack boxes when you arrive. Your clothes need to be in a regular size duffle bag, not a huge one. Gear weight is limited to 70 lbs and for drop campers food: 40 lbs per man.
Drop campers need to be in town by Wednesday night and won’t go out until Thursday. You will be brought out on the following
Thursday. Make plans for flights to go out the following day, Friday.

Drop camps include:
Saw
Dishes
Pots and pans
Coffee pot, no basket so get coffee in bags, Maxwell House drop ins or Quixtar sells coffee in bags that can be dropped in as well to serve 8-10c per serving.
Lanterns
Coleman stove
Wood stove
Flatware(forks,spoons, knives)
Tent set up mentioned above.
A cook tent and client tent
Basic First aid kit
You need to bring your own pocket first aid kit and survival kit in a fanny pack. Never leave camp without your first aid and survival kit. Mountains can be deadly if you are not prepared.
Please bring only soft backpacks. No steel frame ones. They are hard to pack.

Gear:
You are allowed 70 lbs of gear not including your gun as it goes in a scabbard.

Drop campers are allowed 70 lbs of gear and 40 lbs of food per person.

Drop campers remember your spices and dish washing detergent, toilet paper and Clorox.

Water Purification-drop camps:
You can get a small bottle of Clorox and put 8 drops per gallon of water for water purification. You need to wait 15 minutes to drink the water after adding Clorox. Clorox will also help if you have someone with a cold in camp to keep the rest of you from getting it by adding to your dish water.

Survival/first aid kit:
Always take a survival kit with you in a fanny pack or soft pack of some sort. Candle/water proof matches/space blanket/energy candy bar, plastic bag for shelter/ sturdy string/fire starter/needle and dental floss for thread/Band-Aids/gauze and tape/flagging tape/metal cup for heating water on fire/bouillon cubes/aspirin/medical tape and bandages/bandaids/tea bag/coffee bag/Ibuprophen/moleskin for feet/cold tablets, throat lozenges/antacid/Immodium AD.

Guided camps:
Guided hunters: The day you will need to be in town is the night before you are to go into camp. Dates of the hunts reflect going in a day before the hunt starts. You will meet at our house at 9am the day you are to go into camp.
Guided Camps have a guide for every two people and horses in camp. The horses in the cabin camp are optional. You can ride out or be put out in a particular spot by truck. You will need to be in good enough physical condition to walk at high altitudes. People with bad knees have a hard time riding horses. We have a cook so your meals are prepared when you get up in the morning and when you come home at night. Lunch items are put out for you to choose your lunch items.

The tent set ups include a shepherder’s stove for heat, cots with foam pads for sleeping-same for both drop and guided sleeping quarters. We have a cabin camp as well at 9000 ft. so area of base camp will be determined close to the time of your hunt. If you stay in the cabin camp, there is a train car you will be able to sleep in with wood stove and military iron beds.

You will go into most camps on horseback ,except the guided cabin camp you can drive to, and horses stay in guided camp and are not left in drop camps. Drop camps require you to be in top physical shape so you can maneuver in the mountains. The high altitude is between 9000-13,000 ft in elevation. If you tend to have altitude sickness or if you are overweight and the altitude might stress you, there is a prescription drug recommended bu Wilderness First Responders Medical course, Diamox. It is a strong diuretic. In high altitude, if you are prone to high altitude problems, your lungs and heart begin to fill with fluid in sacks around them and can be very serious. There have been several heart attacks and pulmonary problems resulting so it is nothing to overlook. The only cure is to get you down to a lower altitude fast. The diuretic helps keep your system flushed but you will need to bring some bananas or some form of potassium to replenish your system. You will need to drink lots of water to counteract the body’s loss of fluids. What is happening is that your body doesn’t have enough oxygen at high altitude to rid itself of toxins. It tries but because it is not ridding the toxins fast enough, it makes you start to feel sick. First thing to notice is a headache-a bad one, then nausea, as it gets more serious, uncontrollable vomiting. Blue lips and so on. It can all be alleviated by getting a diuretic. Your doctor may want to prescribe something a bit more gentle on your body than diamox. We don’t want to scare you but we want you to be prepared. If you are a drinker, alcohol makes it worse.

On that note, we don’t pack in alcohol to camps. We ask that you not bring it in on your person either. You need to be alert in the mountains for your safety. Hunting camp is not the place to get intoxicated.
Tips for Guides, cooks, etc.

We have been asked what the going rate is for tipping guides. The average tip is $50-$100 dollars. If they work especially hard for you and you feel you would like to reward them then by all means, feel free to tip them. Some have tipped up to $200 so you give them whatever you would like. Tipping is optional but appreciated when you do.

You are remembered quite fondly when you reward your guides and cook. They work their hearts out for you.

Note: **This is a sample menu of a menu-not exact as to what you will have on your menu
but this is the type of food we like to serve.

References:
Earl Shaw 205-662-4735 Guided and drop
Ray Shaw 205-658-2598 Drop camps
Daryl Wendegatz 920-533-5767 Guided and drop
Mark Jent 931-964-4587 Drop
Jeff Wiswell 262-742-4272 Archery Elk
Jim Ball 303-678-8728-Mountain Lion
Bruno Miletta 330-536-8481 Archery Father and son hunt.
Richard Reader-918-321-3331 Rifle elk
Steve Farmer 918-321-6038 Rifle elk.
Curt Mohrbacher 262-742-4181Archery Drop