The annual Photography Issue always closes out the year at Colorado Outdoors and we are thankful and appreciative of the support of our hunters, anglers, park visitors and so many others who understand that conservation work is at the core of what we do at Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).
Read more
Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic research section and aquatic biologists are conducting a walleye demographic study at the three reservoirs the state utilizes in its spring spawning operation.
CPW stocked 47 million walleye fry across the state in 2019, the most of any species, and those fry come from spawning operations at just three Colorado reservoirs – Cherry Creek, Chatfield and Lake Pueblo. CPW collected 126 million walleye eggs last spring from its spawning effort to meet the demand of its hatcheries.
Read moreEach year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologists conduct fishery surveys of many of our rivers and reservoirs. Periodic monitoring allows CPW to collect and record the biological data needed to guide fishery management in Colorado. CPW biologists can choose from a wide variety of techniques to survey the different types of waters across the state. For the Gold Medal stretch of the South Platte River just below Cheesman Reservoir dam, however, the survey method of choice is electrofishing.
Read moreWeighing up to 1,000 pounds and towering 6 feet high at the shoulder, moose are Colorado’s largest wild mammal. While moose sightings are fairly common today, moose were quite rare in Colorado throughout most of the 20th century. But, thanks to successful reintroduction and management by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado’s moose are now one of the fastest-growing herds in the lower 48 states.
Read moreEach year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) fishery biologists set up a spawn-take operation at North Delaney Butte Lake. During the operation, biologists will capture brown trout and collect more than a million eggs, which will be fertilized at the lake and then shipped to CPW fish hatcheries. Once hatched and raised, the brown trout are restocked in rivers and lakes throughout the state. And while brown trout are non-native, the hard fighting fish are some of the most popular among Colorado’s anglers.
Read moreIn mid-September Biologist Dan Cammack walked slowly along the edge of a boggy pond in the San Juan Mountains high above the San Luis Valley and peered into the mud and black water looking for a camouflaged critter the size of a dime.
Read more
Under a blanket of stars, we waited in a circle, straining our ears for any chirping sounds. Wildlife Biologist Lance Carpenter took a look at his watch. “It’s probably about time,” he said.
Wearing waders and lots of bug spray, Lance, fellow bat Biologist Heather Halbritter, several other CPW staff, and I were going out every 15 minutes to the river below us hoping to catch a specific nocturnal animal: a bat.
Read moreFor the 2019-20 Colorado pheasant hunting season, hunters can expect a year similar to, but probably somewhat better than last season, which was a decent year. This season, we had relatively good moisture conditions over the summer, so we can expect more birds in the fields. In terms of quail hunting, the outlook is a little different. Bobwhite quail numbers in the southeast region looked pretty good, while scaled quail are a bit down from the heyday of a few years ago. In the Northeast, bobwhite quail have mixed results – some properties have good covies and good size to the covies, while other properties, not so much. It’s looking like a spotty hit or miss quail hunting this season.
Read moreWhen most think of the rut in Colorado, their minds picture bugling, battling, big-boy bull elk; mule deer bucks locking antlers in Greco-Romanesque scuffles; whitetail bucks laser focused on tending to their does; and the NFL-helmet-on-helmet-like crash of bighorn rams. What few picture is the equally impressive battles and behaviors that take place during the pronghorn rut.
Read more
Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologist Ben Swigle stocked seven-inch Tiger Muskie fish into Gross Reservoir on a sunny Tuesday at the 440-surface acre reservoir sitting at 7,282 feet in southwest Boulder County.
A non-native fish, and one that is a hybrid, the Tiger Muskie plays a small, albeit, important role in the management of fisheries across Colorado.
Read more
