March 2011 will be cutting it close as the deadline for applying for hunting licenses is around the first week in April.
I imagine that a preference point is where you can reserve your own little spot of the land?
Prefrence points are something that you must earn by using your first choice on you license application. If you need 5 prefrence points it means that you must apply for 5 years for that area and on your 6th year you should draw it. Has nothing to do with reserving land.
That's not really what i'm looking for. i'd rather have a challenge, and end up with nothing, then be guided and get something for sure.
Just because they show you the area the elk is in, doesn't mean they are going to do all the work for you. They will show you where they are at, it is up to you to put the stalk on and get within a comfortable shooting distance and secure your game. Never ever refuse good info by the people who live in a particular area and have good knowledge of the game patterns.
There are some over the counter licenses (OTC) you can buy, but if you want to hunt in a particular area usually you must apply for the license. Your application then goes into a draw, if you have enough prefrence points you usually get the tag you want. What I do is put in for the draw and usually pick up an OTC license so I can hunt as the area I want to hunt for trophy elk will take 15 years to draw at a minimum. Since I don't want to wait 15 years to hunt, I then look for OTC areas a good one is up by Craig and Meeker for cow elk.
I'd be perfectly happy with a doe
Good, hunting is hunting and if you work hard for that animal it is always a trophy regardless of horn or not.
I heard that I could get access to hunting ground on FT carson, not sure how that works, but I've personally seen a nice whitetail buck on post during training, i was tempted...
Anyone who can legally hunt in CO can get access to Ft Carson. However, Ft Carson is a draw area and if you don't apply you will not get to hunt it. Some other things about Ft Carson, your firearm must be registered on post which isn't a problem. You must check in and out with Range Control every day, and they will assign you areas you can hunt in and to pick up a Range Pass. If any training is going on down range you will not be able to access that area to hunt in.
Except for Turkey Creek, most of the deer I've seen tend to hang around the ASP an AHA which hunting with firearms is prohibited within 500 yards, so you had better be prepared to hunt with a bow. Ft Carson at times has the same problem as any other piece of public land, too many hunters. A lot of soldiers and civilians hunt Ft Carson because it is convenient. I’m not trying to discourage you from hunting it but realize there are more rules that go along with hunting Ft Carson.
My suggestion is go to the Colorado DOW web site in your spare time and read the Elk Hunting University (EHU) and the Small and Big game hunting brochures.
