Unit 130, Colorado

Flat to gently rolling shortgrass plains transitioning to moderately steep plateaus and deep canyons carved by the Purgatoire River and its tributaries. Elevations range from approximately 3,900 feet along the Arkansas River bottomlands to roughly 4,790 feet on mesa tops. The Picketwire Canyonlands area features rough canyon breaks dropping into the Purgatoire drainage. The majority of the unit is nearly level to gently rolling, with arroyos and draws dissecting the landscape.

The unit is bounded north by the Arkansas River, east by County Highway 101 and US Highway 50, south by the Bent-Las Animas and Bent-Baca county lines, and west by County Highway 109. Approximately 84% of the unit is private. Public access anchors include: (1) Comanche National Grassland — Timpas Unit (a portion falls within GMU 130; total Timpas Unit is one of two units within the ~440,000-acre Comanche National Grassland), managed by the Pike-San Isabel National Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands (La Junta office, 1420 East Third Street, La Junta, CO; 719-384-2181), located south of La Junta east of CO-109; the grassland is a checkerboard of federal and private tracts, and all public parcels are open to hunting. (2) Oxbow State Wildlife Area (410 acres), Otero County, accessed via US-50 east of La Junta then north on County Road 36; falls within GMUs 125 and 130; supports deer, dove, rabbit, squirrel, turkey, and waterfowl hunting. (3) Setchfield State Wildlife Area (2,438 acres), Bent County, south of Las Animas to County Road 11; supports pronghorn, bobwhite quail, scaled quail, dove, and rabbit. (4) Higbee Canyon State Trust Land (640 acres), 13 miles south of La Junta on CO-109 between the Comanche Grassland sign and CR 804; open September 1 through end of February; GMU 130. (5) Purgatoire River access (~960 acres) reached via CO-101 south of Las Animas connecting County Road DD. The Lamar CPW office (719-336-6600) is the primary contact for southeastern units. No designated wilderness exists in the unit. Many canyon-bottom roads are dirt/two-track requiring high-clearance vehicles; the Santa Fe Trail Byway through the Timpas Unit is paved and passable by standard vehicles. Seasonal road closures may occur on state trust lands outside the September 1-February window. The unit is heavily checkerboarded — hunters must verify land ownership parcel by parcel before accessing.

Shortgrass prairie (blue grama, buffalo grass) dominates the open flats; sagebrush, yucca, and prickly pear cactus occur on drier uplands. Pinon-juniper woodland appears in canyon rims and breaks, particularly along the Purgatoire River corridor. Cottonwood-willow riparian galleries line the Arkansas River (north boundary), the Purgatoire River, and Timpas Creek. Agricultural cropland (dryland wheat, corn) is interspersed throughout private lands. Bobwhite quail and scaled quail habitat includes yucca-cactus-sage mixes.

Pronghorn are the signature resident game species, found throughout the unit particularly south of US-50 and in the eastern portions near the Comanche Grassland. Mule deer inhabit the pinon-juniper breaks and canyons along the Purgatoire River corridor. White-tailed deer occur along the Arkansas River and Purgatoire River riparian bottoms. Elk are present at low densities in this plains unit; sporadic elk movement into the canyon and river drainages occurs seasonally, with no established resident mountain herd. Black bear may be encountered in the canyon country near the Purgatoire drainage but are uncommon at these elevations and in this vegetation type. Mountain lion follow mule deer into the canyon breaks. Wild turkey roost in the cottonwood-riparian corridors and canyon drainages. Small game includes scaled quail, bobwhite quail (limited, along drainages), dove, rabbit, and pheasant in agricultural areas. The pronghorn rut occurs from early September through mid-October. Mule deer and whitetail migrate locally between river bottoms in winter and upland sage-pinon areas seasonally. The 2024 CPW southeast region forecast noted lower buck production and buck numbers in the eastern Arkansas River corridor, tempering mule deer expectations for GMU 130.