Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game SW Colorado fire unit 74

For those looking to hunt SW Colorado the fire here appears to be mainly in unit 74. It is a long slender unit running north & south. The fire has been burning from about 10 miles N of Durango on the west side of HWY550 N&W thru unit 74.
. The upper 70% of unit 74 is fairly burned. Close to 40,000 acres & still only 30% contained. This could be a blessing in disguise because when our summer rains hit the growth of forbes & grasses will be prolific We usually get a large amount of rain here July thru August. This will lure the game back quickly. Also in the years to come the growth of new vegetation will be a super magnet to big game in this area.Something to consider for hunts to come. It has been a very dry winter ( less than 30% of normal snow pack ) & so far a very dry spring.. Here where I live at 7630' elevation about 15 miles west of Durango I never once had to plow snow this past winter. That has never happened to me before. Never got more that 2 to 3" at a time ( only snowed about three times at my place) & it melted off in a day or two. Hope this info is of some help.

That fire burned pretty hot. Might take a little longer than people think to come back. It’ll definitely help in the long term but that thing scorched some earth

Really hot fires are a 10 year seed bed issue....

For years I have been doing a lot of my elk hunting in the southern end of unit 74. which hasn't been touched by the fire.. Drew a first ( early ) rifle bull tag for unit 74 this comings season. Has produced good results for me in the past years. Will see how it goes this Oct. So far the fire is well north of the La Plata mountains which separate .where I hunt & the fire burned area.

[img][img]https://s25.postimg.cc/57iajtyjj/Unit_74_fire_001.jpg[/img][/img]
This is what the unit 74 fire in SW Colorado looks like this afternoon from my house.It is at the extreme eastern end of the La Plata mountins on the north side.