This fall will be my first time hunting Colorado. The easiest part might have been putting in for the tag.
When you get down to it, hunting out of state in a lottery draw system can be a little intimidating. For the last several years, a very good friend of mine, Mike Malchow, has been guiding for elk and mule deer out in Colorado. For the same amount of time, he has been after me to get out there on a hunt. As fate would have it, I finally gave in and this September will hopefully be my first time hunting Colorado for mule deer.
The first part of this entire process though, is applying for a tag. For an out of state guy like myself, it's all a draw system for several of the areas we want to hunt. Time and time again, my buddy kept telling me he needed to walk me through the process, but once I finally jumped in, I couldn't believe how easy it was.
Courtesy of Mike Malchow
First, take a hunter safety course. If you want to do it online, you can. Just check this out first. Once the course is out of the way, you will need a Colorado ID number (CID). I already had one because I have fished out there many times.
With that, I just called the Colorado Parks and Wildlife department and they gave it to me over the phone. I wasn't expecting it to be so simple.
From there, it's literally just logging on to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website and filling out their online system for a tag of your choice. You will need to know the land area number you want to hunt, but otherwise, it's as simple as filling out a form and paying. My tag cost $399. If I don't get drawn, I get refunded. How cool is that?
Overall, I was registered for my draw with a confirmation number in about five minutes. Of course, I had all the prerequisites completed beforehand. It does take some pre-work up front, but once everything is in place, they make it super easy.
Let's just hope it's all going to be worth it!
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