From spring drought to December deluge, Colorado’s 2006 season in the out of doors was marked by grand shifts in conditions and opportunity.
Or, as anyone who has spent much time here will tell it, business as usual.
Variety always has reigned as the hallmark of our state’s wildlife offerings. It is this almost unimaginable assortment in things to do and creatures to pursue that attracted so many of us to the vast diversity of mountain and plain. Certainly it is what keeps us here.
Big game hunters may choose from deer, elk, moose, lion, bear, mountain goat and two kinds of sheep. We have four flavors of grouse, three kinds of quail, pheasant, dove and nearly every form of North American duck or goose.
To fulfill the natural yearnings of transplanted residents for their favorite kinds of fish, the Colorado Division of Wildlife through the years has established viable populations of nearly everything that swims. If it survives in cool, fresh water, chances are you’ll find it here.
To continue this journey through miscellany, there’s always the matter of Colorado’s notoriously changeable climate. The drought that stifled pheasant production over much of the plains morphed into an epic holiday storm that will saturate the soil for another season.
Don’t like conditions for today’s outing? Wait a couple days and you’ll experience a whole new change of wardrobe. So, as we dig out to greet another turn of the calendar, we do so with a great feeling of anticipation. For all those wonderful adventures that inevitably escaped us in 2006, there’s always next year.
