Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire legal in Colorado?

(1) carrying a pistol during muzzleloader season
(2) 2 way portable radios while hunting?

Thanks! Hunting gmu 36

Yes to both.

http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/RulesRegs/Brochure/BigGame/biggame.pdf

http://cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/EHU-CH3-L03.aspx

BTW - CO accepts very few CCW permits. Makes sure whether yours is accepted and act accordingly.

There are some caveats. You may not carry concealed unless you have a CCW permit, if a non resident, it must be from a state recognized by Colorado.

There is grey area about carrying open. CPW might charge you with hunting without a license if you do not have a valid small game license. However, open carry is legal in Colorado.

One thing for sure, if you kill a big game animal in ML season, it sure as heck better not have a hole in from a handgun. " Finishing one off" with your handgun is not legal in ML season and in any rifle season, it has to be a handgun legal for that particular species if you do use it for that, of which in Colorado a .357 is not. So it has to be at least a 41 magnum and at least a 4" barrel. Lesser calbers/chamberings may be carried as long openly as they are not used for" finishing off"

Portable radios are legal as long as they are not used in taking game. So you can transmit "hey I am lost" or "do you need help", or "I'll meet you at ??", but you can't transmit "Hey there are two elk right behind that hill you are on", or " I am driving two elk towards you" etc.

Colorado CCW reciprocity with other states:

https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cbi/chpreciprocity

Saddlesore, unless they changed the regulation, you can administer a coup de grace with a handgun in Colorado.

The contest cannot be in question at the time the coup de grace.

From CPW:

There is no “backup handgun” for hunting big game, the manner of take allowed is what is prescribed for the season and the license.

There is no such thing as a back-up sidearm during hunting season. You may carry a handgun with you during the act of hunting for personal protection but that is the purpose. There is no specific requirement for a legal handgun for personal protection (barrel length or caliber)except that it is in legal possession of the person under Colorado Law.

The use of a handgun to “put an animal down” would only fall into use during a rifle season and then the handgun must be in accordance with a legal method of take and meet the criteria listed in the interact​ive Big Game Brochure, i.e. At a minimum, it must have a four-inch barrel, fire an expanding bullet of .24 caliber (6 mm) or larger and use a load that produces a minimum 550 ft. pounds of energy at 50 yards. Shoulder stocks or other attachments are prohibited.

The manner of take is the important part here. During archery season, no firearm can be used as a legal method of take. During muzzleloading season, the only legal method of take is a black powder firearm.

So they did change it.

Good to know. Thanks Cowboy.

The regulation has always been the same. You may not do it in ML season. That is made very clear on page 16 of the Big Game Brochure. Both in the chart and Section 3, Para C. Same page. In any other Big Game Season, the firearm ,be it rifle or handgun must be in the category of Legal Methods of Take. Same page 16, Para 7.

I attend most Hunter Round Tale meetings here in Colo Sprgs, and other CPW meetings. This subject comes up often and my response echos what has been stated by the CPW in those meetings.

A quick phone call to any CPW office will clear it up and the OP should definitely do that rather than rely on Internet legal information.

Thanks for the help guys. I'll probably make the proper phone call tomorrow to cover my bases.

With regards to radios read the following in the Colorado Big Game Hunting brochure on page 17

"IT IS ALSO AGAINST THE LAW TO:
21. For two or more people on the ground, in a vehicle or vessel to use electronic devices to communicate information that violates any wildlife law or regulation."

I don't like the way that is written because it is open to interpretation. As I read it, you can use radios to communicate while hunting in Colorado so long as nothing that you say or do violates any other law. It doesn't say that the use of radios while hunting is illegal.

But an overly zealous wildlife officer could read it to mean that you can't use radios at all while hunting.

KC

Dead weight. There's nothing in the Colorado woods that's going to get after you.

If during the rifle season, a person uses a .357 mag with Buffalo Bore ammunition that meets the 550 ft-lbs at 50 yards, wouldn't that be legal?

Another quote from the Colorado Big Game Hunting brochure.

METHODS OF TAKE

7. HANDGUNS
a. Barrel must be minimum 4 inches long.
b. Must use a minimum .24-caliber (6 mm) diameter expanding bullet.
c. Shoulder stocks or attachments prohibited.
d. Must use a cartridge or load that produces minimum energy of 550-ft.-pounds at 50 yards as rated by manufacturer.

There's also a chart that indicates which method of take can be used in which seasons. It indicates that handguns are legal only when centerfire rifles are legal.

KC

I think I'll make a copy of that and stick it in my pocket.

Georgia used to have the silly energy requirement for handguns. Game wardens complained bitterly for years that it was unenforceable. To my knowledge no citations were ever written and the requirement was eventually dropped.

The only way to PROVE in court that the gun and ammo in question didn't meet the legal requirement was to confiscate the weapon and ammo then send it to the state crime lab for testing. There is currently a backlog of over a year to get testing done.

the things some kids will do for an extra piece of emergency toilet paper....

The way the regs read concerning ammunition energy, it states "as rated by the manufacturer."

I guess if you had the original box and it so stated on there, it would be OK. TS if not though.

So this isn't entirely correct.


"The only way to PROVE in court that the gun and ammo in question didn't meet the legal requirement was to confiscate the weapon and ammo then send it to the state crime lab for testing. There is currently a backlog of over a year to get testing done."

So there is no proving required. A person could load up some hot handloads, but there would still be no proof that the round meets any "rating by manufacturer".

Idaho's handgun laws are far more simple. Any centerfire rifle or handgun is legal for big game during any-weapon seasons. During a ML or archery season, you can carry a handgun but can't use it to shoot big game except: in most areas of the state bear and wolf seasons are open during ML & archery seasons and they can be shot with centerfire handguns. ML pistols aren't legal for any big game.

You can carry concealed without a permit as long as you aren't inside a city limit or in a vehicle. If you're hunting with a concealed handgun and don't have a permit, when you get in your truck, just set it on the dash or on the seat beside you so it's visible and you're legal.

Colorado has to make everything hard for the hunter