Unit 135, Colorado

Flat to gently rolling shortgrass prairie with scattered canyon and mesa topography; elevation ranges from approximately 4,066 feet along the Purgatoire River lowlands to 5,611 feet on the higher prairie uplands. Side canyons, arroyos, bluffs, and the broad Purgatoire River valley (locally called Picketwire Canyon) cut through the otherwise open rolling plains. Terrain is notably lower and flatter than typical Colorado mountain hunting units.

The unit is managed primarily by the USDA Forest Service under the Pike-San Isabel National Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands (Timpas Unit ranger district office at 1420 East Third Street, La Junta, CO 81050; phone 719-384-2181). Approximately 43% of the unit is public land, with USFS-administered grassland comprising roughly 32% and Colorado State Land Board parcels making up about 11%; the remaining ~57% is private ranch and agricultural land. Note: some parcels labeled 'State of Colorado' on mapping applications within this unit are actually privately held — hunters must verify access carefully before entering. County and secondary roads provide the main vehicle access network; four-wheel drive is strongly recommended after wet weather. A Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) governs which roads within the grassland are open to motorized travel; MVUM PDFs (Comanche East and West halves) are available from the Forest Service. Vogel Canyon (south of La Junta via CO-109) is a key publicly accessible area. Picketwire Canyon (reached via CO-109 south then forest roads) contains an 8.7-mile trail along the Purgatoire River but is closed to motorized vehicles except on ranger-led guided auto tours (May, June, September, October). The southern boundary of the unit adjoins the U.S. Army Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (235,896 acres) — this federal military installation is closed to all public access and hunting. Grazing leases cover much of the public grassland; cattle compete with game for water sources and can push pronghorn onto private land.

Dominant cover is shortgrass prairie composed of buffalo grass and blue grama, interspersed with sandsage, yucca, cholla cactus, and prickly pear. Canyon walls and mesa edges in the Purgatoire drainage support scattered pinyon pine and juniper along with ponderosa pine on some hillsides. Cottonwood, willow, western soapberry, and netleaf hackberry line creek bottoms and the Purgatoire River riparian corridor, which provides the unit's most structurally diverse cover. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields with native grass mixes occur on private farmland within the unit. No alpine tundra, aspen, or spruce-fir cover types are present at these elevations.

Pronghorn are the unit's primary big game species and range throughout the shortgrass prairie; the rut runs from early September through mid-October, overlapping archery season. Water holes on public land are key focal points during dry summers, though cattle pressure on water can push pronghorn to private land. Mule deer are present but at lower densities than mountain units; they concentrate near water sources, riparian cottonwood draws along the Purgatoire and its tributaries, and CRP cover edges. White-tailed deer occur in the riparian corridors along the Purgatoire River and in agricultural fringe areas. Elk are present at very low densities, generally confined to the southern canyon and mesa country near the Piñon Canyon border; CPW does not recommend this unit for elk. Wild turkey (Merriam's) inhabit the Purgatoire River canyon and pinyon-juniper draws. Prairie dogs, coyotes, swift foxes, and golden eagles are abundant across the open grassland. The Comanche National Grassland supports over 235 documented bird species, including many eastern species at the limit of their range. Mountain lion presence is low given limited canyon-and-prey habitat. Black bear are not characteristic of this open plains unit.