In Colorado the revised statutes are specific about allowing carry of a handgun (concealed or open) legally on private property or in "any" private mode of transportation. I interpret that to mean any vehicle, motorized or not. The laws regarding long guns still applies and they have to be unloaded in/on a vehicle. There are a few rare times that you just don't need a permit to have a concealed handgun, so if the law allows then my bother paying the government for permission to exercise your birth right as an American? You shouldn't need to pay the government for permission to protect yourself anyway!

As Hawkeye270 mensioned, some hunters carry sidearmes for protection against the two legged agressor that you may encounter in the woods, not so much for the four legged type, if you know what I mean. Of all the 26+ years I've hunted in Colorado I've only had two occasions where I came across some folks that really raised a red flag with me that made me think they were up to no good. Once was while hunting, the other was while target shooting at a public non-managed range in the mountains.

I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, but.....the law in Colorado is pretty clear. If you aren't violating the hunting regs, aren't causing trouble, and not calling any unwanted attention to yourself, then no LE is going to be frisking you or hassling you. I've had occasions where game officers stopped to talk and checkout what was going on while biggame hunting, waterfowl hunting, upland hunting, and while fishing. Been questioned a bit and asked to see my tags and licenses. Even had my shotgun checked for 3 round limitation while duck hunting. Had a game officer once in Montana be a bit of a jerk for no reason, but he couldn't really do anything to us as we'd broken no law. Despite all this I've never had any officer frisk me for any reason or ask to inspect my vehicle or ever ask me if I had a concealed handgun on me, not once.

The law in Colorado allows hunters to carry a concealed handgun without a permit while hunting because hunters usually also have other tools on them that can be considered a weapon as well, such 4 inch or so bladed hunting knives, hatchet, and fillet or boning knives usually packed away in a pack or on a belt under their coat (concealed). I don't know of any lawful sportsman who has ever been charged with carrying a knife or hatchet while hunting, even if it was concealed in a pack.

In my opinion, instead of pushing for "Shall-Issue" CCW permits in Colorado, the people should have pushed for "no-permit required" in Colorado like they have in Vermont. You should not need a permit to carry a concealed weapon for protection if you are carrying it for lawful purposes. But that's just my opinion backed up by the US Constitution. Some Americans, mainly law makers, don't seem to believe in or follow the US Constitution anymore.

yes, you can cary a hand gun while out hiking or backpacking or fishing for self protection.
you think an officer is going to stand on the trail heads and ask you if your carring.
mine's always in plain site i think a ahole that intends to screw you, first observes from afar,
he sees you packing it turns him off right now.
i cary mine always while bow hunting.
Mine has come in handy to get the attention of snarly little blackies on a couple occations.

once whil e walking back the the shitte- in the evening.
its not cool seeing those beady eyes in the flash light.
crap your pants pull your pistola, fire a coulple rounds into the ground in front of you.
then continue over to the crapper to clean your self off.
Just not a pretty sight.

Fellas,
Thanks for all of the input, its been VERY helpful. I have a 9mm I would like to bring on my side and it sounds like that is definitely legitimate. I do appreciate all of the comments and it is interesting to hear the quoted laws and opinions. I too feel as though you should be able to cary while hunting, it makes sense. But leave it to a few law breakers to put the stranglehold on others. Thanks again!

Keep in mind that Colorado allows for open-carry throughout the state. The only exceptions are certain restrictions in certain municipalities i.e. cities, towns, state parks, etc. Generally on national forest land, BLM land, or any wilderness areas you can open-carry legally, and even if you carry concealed without a permit in these areas I doubt anyone would have reason to check you if you are not calling unwanted attention to yourself or breaking any other laws. For personal protection against other harmful people I think concealed is the way to go when scouting off-season. During the hunt you;ll be armed anyway. Anybody watching you from afar planning an attack is not usually going to be dumb enough to approach armed hunters. Generally while hunting with rifle or shotgun anyone who would try or think of attacking you would likely chose another easier unarmed victim. Even if you are bow hunting, most people know that all hunters generally have a knife on them, and any hunting knife is just as good a weapon as any tactical knife of the same size. I can think of only two main reasons why someone would want to attack and kill you while you are scouting or hunting 1. you stumbled upon something they didn't want you to see, or 2. the attacker is an escaped inmate looking to commandeer your vehicle. Just keep your self keen and senses sharp when scouting or arriving back at camp or vehicle, and when something doesn't seem right be cautious and on guard. You should always be sharp and alert while carrying a firearm or hunting anyway.

As noted in the aforementioned post with the Colorado statutes, you can carry a concealed weapon in Colorado while hunting. It carry a print out of those laws with me as well as the CDOW officer's business card who I spoke to about concealed carry while hunting. I called the CDOW main office in Denver a few years ago and everyone I spoke to who answered the phone said it was NOT legal to carry a concealed weapon while hunting citing some unknown CDOW law. Having a print out of the Colorado statute pertaining to concealed carry while hunting I went to the CDOW office and politely demanded an explanation or to be shown, in writing, the law that prohibits concealed carry while hunting. The front desk people were clueless, but adamantly insisted such a law prohibiting CC while hunting existed. I was finally directed to the Chief Division of Wildlife Warden and he told me I was correct, CC was allowed. He said it was allowed for two reasons, one it is not listed a prohibited in the hunting laws, and second, the CO statute clearly states it is allowed - and that's without a CC permit. He did say, if you didn't have a CC permit, you have to be careful about only carrying while hunting - driving to town to restock the cooler, bar, or get gas, does not count as hunting - nor does fishing. He also said DO NOT under any circumstances use the concealed gun (unless legal for the game involved) to provide the coup-de-grace on a large animal. That's illegal.

Based on my experience with the clerks at the main office, and their lack of knowledge (and this is at the MAIN office - I can't imagine the lack of knowledge at smaller satellite offices), I always buy a small game license and have it on me while big game hunting. I also make sure my CC piece meets the criteria of a small game handgun (look in the small game regs.) Should I ever be stopped by an uninformed warden, my handgun is used for small game hunting and here's my small game license. For $21 I get a small game license and peace of mind that some Warden won't ruin my hunt by ticketing and possibly confiscating my handgun or... Having a small game license also allows me to carry a handgun after my big game tag is filled and walk with my partners who still have an unfilled big game tag. I would be quite a feat to take a coyote with a handgun - plus coyote season is year round, never have to worry about getting the season dates wrong.

Yeah, that sounds pretty typical of most government clerks. They're not much better than the people who sit around and collect a welfare check. They just sit around and collect a paycheck that our tax dollars provide and they surely don't know anything to begin with and won't bother to find out either!! Their only saving grace that makes them different from those on welfare is that they at least show up for work. At least that has been my consistant experience when dealing with various government departments. Good for you on appearing in person to set them straight. Sometimes that stuff needs to be done. And they want to run our healthcare system???

Hey Guys,

Brand new to this board. Was steered here by my buddy after he found this thread as he was researching the carrying of sidearms while elk hunting and scouting. Very information read and y'all have collectively answered a lot of our questions.

One part of the topic I found interesting was the "open carry" and "concealed carry" definitions. I live in MS and we are living under court precedence that defines concealed in a very tight manner. It is said that if a gun is laying in your open palm it is considered concealed because the side in contact with your hand is "concealed", in one thread I read on a gun group site they said that if you were carrying a gun suspended from your fingers by a single thread of dental floss it could be interpreted as concealed because the string is covering part of the gun. This I do not know for a fact, but at 56 years of age and having lived all but my college years in MS, I have no problem at all believing that the intent of a law could be contorted enough to end up with this type of ruling. What we MS residents need to do is get an "open carry" law similar to other states that would redefine and clarify the criteria of "open" vs "concealed". We are allowed to carry loaded pistols in our vehicles as they are considered an extension of our domicile. Also a recent law passed allows me to defend myself in a parking lot, for example, if as I was entering or exiting my vehicle someone were to attack me or mine.

Could I see if I interpreted the contributions to this thread correctly? With the "open carry" law we should be OK to carry a sidearm at all times when we are at the drop camp and scouting around the woods even during the days before the opening morning. If however, I want to be able to legally finish off a downed elk with my sidearm I will need to carry my .357 Mag rather than the .40 S&W. Finally, the easiest way to erase all questions would be to pick up a NR small game license. Have I interpreted these items correctly??

Thanks
bucmeister54

You CANNOT finish off game during muzzleloader or archery season with a handgun! Nor would that method of take be legal during rifle season on big game if it did not meet the minimum requirements for hangun hunting. In which case it would need to be at least 24 caliber and produce 550 foot pounds at 50 yards, and a .40 S&W does not meet that requirement, nor does a .357 Magnum according to what I've looked up.

10-4 on the .357 Mag not meeting the requirement. Was just basing that on what someone earlier in the thread that seemed to indicate the .357 might would squeak in under the wire. Of course I think the figure used in that thread was 500@50 not 550@50. I will be hunting 2nd rifle using my .30-06 so the only way I can conceive of using a pistol for a finishing shot would be if I had already exhausted my supply of 168gr Barnes hand loads. Surely hope that scenario does not develop, but if it did I don't know that I would be in a hurry to jump on the animal Tarzan style with a knife in my teeth to finish him off.

Edit: Yep, you are spot on. Just went through 3 of my reloading manuals and all showed the 158 gr flat nose with mid upper 400 ft lbs @50 yds even when loaded to maximum levels. Leaves me with having to upgrade the weapon to something in the .41 Mag level or more. Sure do wish I would have taken the chance to buy a never shot S&W .44 Mag a few years ago. Ex father in law did not want his current son in law to end up with the gun. (See me kicking my tail all over creation!!) One of my really dumb decisions, because it would have been at a very good price. Live and learn.