I decided to close out the 2012 hunting season with a trip to a new area for me just north of Fort Collins, near the town of Wellington, CO. The property sits to the north side of Cobb Lake and has three little lakes within the boundaries, and a lot of rolling terrain. Since I had expected a flat field I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a lot of natural cover for pheasant, rabbits, coyote, birds of all kinds, and waterfowl.
I started off from the parking lot on the south west side of the property with the intention of walking the entire perimeter. I had hoped to hunt for pheasants hiding along the fence line but quickly found myself lured into the patchwork of shrubs and windbreaks that cross the property where I was seeing lot of rabbit tracks. I spent several hours on my first walk going back and forth between rows of trees and along irrigation ditches looking for game and watching eagles and a prairie falcon fly around. The weather was exceptionally calm for Wellington as it has been my experience that it ALWAYS is blowing up there.
About half way across the property I came across another group of hunters working their way through high weeds on the northwest corner with dogs. They managed to get a couple of pheasants in just as many passes. It was fun to watch them hunt and it made me wish I had a dog to barrow for the day. As I approached one of the parking areas on the east side of the property I came across a very good sized cotton tail rabbit. When he spotted me (I’m sure he’d been watching me for a while) it took off on a full sprint. I quickly sighted him in and managed to take the shot while he was in a full run from about 20 yards. Thankfully, I shot slightly high and so only a few pellets hit him in the back, making for a much cleaner meal. I looked around a ditch and some nearby bushes for a second rabbit that I knew must be close by. However, I came up empty and so began to head back towards the car. Nearing the car I picked up some unexpected company in the shape of a bouncy young dog. She followed me for quite a while and sniffed every bush out for anything worth chasing. I was hoping that she might scare something up for me, and even hiked a bit longer than I planned, but it was just not to be.
After cleaning my first rabbit, I decided to check out two of the large corners of the property I hadn’t hunted yet. The first section was the southeast corner and I moved the car to begin that hike. It was pretty but nothing was out and moving. I moved onto the eastside where I parked for a short time near to where I took the first rabbit, and sure enough, the second rabbit was sitting in the bushes right near where I got the first one. I took chase but she ran over the road and into a farm across the road. I took note of where it went under the fence and moved off to hunt the north side of the property where I had seen the other group hunting pheasants. I walked nearly 2-miles on that final hike and was never able to get any birds to jump. I think that pheasant hunting in dense cover without a dog in good cover is far more weighted towards the birds winning out. By this point in the day I had hiked about 7.5-miles and so was ready to call it a day.
After cleaning my first rabbit, I decided to check out two of the large corners of the property I hadn’t hunted yet. The first section was the southeast corner and I moved the car to begin that hike. It was pretty but nothing was out and moving. I moved onto the eastside where I parked for a short time near to where I took the first rabbit, and sure enough, the second rabbit was sitting in the bushes right near where I got the first one. I took chase but she ran over the road and into a farm across the road. I took note of where it went under the fence and moved off to hunt the north side of the property where I had seen the other group hunting pheasants. I walked nearly 2-miles on that final hike and was never able to get any birds to jump. I think that pheasant hunting in dense cover without a dog in good cover is far more weighted towards the birds winning out. By this point in the day I had hiked about 7.5-miles and so was ready to call it a day.
Photo highlights
Before I headed home I decided to drop back by the spot where I came across that second rabbit. Sure enough he had come back under the fence but was sitting along a feed yard still on private property. Not wanting to cause any trouble, I drove up to the house and asked permission to “take the rabbit with me”, and was given the ok. This rabbit was a little smaller and I took it with the .22 rifle. It lay over instantly and we got on our way. Heading home I came across a furry coyote along the fence line and stopped to survey a shot. It was slinking quickly across the field and I decided to let it go for now and just enjoyed watching him run.