Give fall wildlife the room, and hold a fish you plan to release
Late October is when the elk, the deer, and the moose are in the rut, and when a bear is still eating. Colorado Parks and Wildlife's October 15, 2026 note is the source for this lesson. The move is simple. Give them room, keep the dog on a leash, and do not feed them. The rest of this page is how to do that without wrecking the day.
Before you leave the truck
CPW says to check trail conditions, closures, weather, and the local rules before you go, because a restriction can show up overnight. Use the park finder and the COTREX app, and bring a layer. Mountain weather turns. The mistake is a plan that only works if the trail you wanted is open. Have a second trail in mind before you lock the truck. Read CPW's October 15, 2026 fall recreation note.
The animals
CPW says elk, moose, and deer in the rut will attack if they feel threatened, and that a bear may eat as many as 20,000 calories a day and stay active 20 hours while it puts on fat. A bear will walk farther, and take a bigger chance, for an easy meal. Trash, a cooler, and a pumpkin on the porch all count as an easy meal.
Do this:
- Stop while the animal is still calm. If you are close enough to see whether it is a bull or a cow in detail, you are too close. Back up the way you came.
- Do not feed anything. A handout teaches the animal that people are a food source, and the next meeting goes worse.
- Keep the dog on a leash. CPW says a loose dog is how moose and bear incidents start on a trail.
- Put trash where a bear cannot smell it. A bag in the bed of an open truck is not stored.
- If an animal looks sick or hurt, call a CPW office. Do not walk in to help it. CPW office list.
The mistake is the photo step. One more step, then one more, until the animal stands up and comes at you, or until the dog is already in the sage.
Hunters are out there too
CPW says most public land is open to more than one use, and that a big-game hunter with a firearm has to wear fluorescent orange or pink. It is illegal to interfere with a hunter on purpose. If you are hiking a drainage that is open to hunting, wear a bright layer yourself so you are not the brown shape in the timber. The mistake is a quiet walk through a legal hunting area in full camo with the dog off leash.
Leave the place the way you found it
Park in a marked spot. CPW says a car in the grass can crush plants, start a fire in dry grass, or block a rescue truck. Do not carve a tree or pull a branch down for a photo. Pack out what you carried in, including the dog bag. CPW says do not hang the bag on a tree and do not drop it in a vault toilet. The mistake is a bag on a limb "for later." Later does not come, and an animal gets the bag.
On the water
The same October 15 note says a sudden drop into cold water can make you gasp, breathe water, and lose the use of your arms. Wear a life jacket. A paddleboard and a kayak are vessels, and the life jacket rule applies to them. Do not bet that you can swim back to the boat. Strong wind can lift the water without much warning.
Clean, drain, and dry the boat, the trailer, the boots, and the waders before the next water. That is how aquatic nuisance species move. CPW's clean-your-gear page shows the steps.
If you are going to let a fish go
This part is from CPW's July 30, 2026 handling note, and it is a handling habit, not a heat report for today. Wet your hands. Keep your fingers out of the gills. Keep the fish in the water while you take the hook out. Land it quickly. Skip the long photo out of the water. That July note also says CPW may close fishing when the daily high water temperature passes 71 degrees. October 23 is not that July afternoon. Use a thermometer if you are on a low river in warm weather. Do not assume a closure, and do not assume the water is fine. Read the July 30, 2026 note.
Steep snow
CPW says it does not take much snow to slide, and that a small slide can carry a person into rocks. Starting November 1, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center posts a daily forecast at avalanche.state.co.us. Before that date, the absence of a daily forecast is not a green light. If the slope is steep and it holds snow, pick a different line.
Planning a day on the water? Check our Colorado fishing reports, browse VCO merch (made to order, ships from Grand Junction), or open the VCO Trip Builder.