Those who hunt the Santa Fe Trail

Birddog1911 · Mar 8, 2018

Perhaps sadly, I didn't have a good idea of just what the route was. Too long out of school, perhaps. But, it goes through CO, not all that far from me.

I know that I can't hunt the historic Bent's Fort, but I was looking just to the SE, and the Arkansas River crossing area.

Now, I'm thinking that that could be a potentially good place to hunt, on both sides of the river. Is my thinking on this solid? Has it likely been hunted out? Any other tips/ideas?

jerr-man · Mar 8, 2018

Get out there and find something GREAT, we want to see some pictures , lol

ArthurEvans · Mar 8, 2018

Those trails were pretty "braided", weren't they? So I bet there's a lot of potential sites. A crossing is a good place, since traffic would be concentrated there, but there are probably huge regions where people camped on both sides... also, rivers move - fortunately in a predictable way, cutting outer banks until the route is too long, then cutting through the point - so do some research and find where the crossing was back in the day. It could be in the middle of a town park by now.

Birddog1911 · Mar 8, 2018

jerr-man said:
Get out there and find something GREAT, we want to see some pictures , lol

I'm doing some map scouting, as well as satellite photos. It'll probably have to wait till later in the spring, but might as well start my research.

zeemang · Mar 8, 2018

See if you can find out how far people typically traveled in a day before camping for the night, i have no idea, and maybe that will put you in the right general areas. Just a thought since you said you had all winter to research...

Birddog1911 · Mar 8, 2018

zeemang said:
See if you can find out how far people typically traveled in a day before camping for the night, i have no idea, and maybe that will put you in the right general areas. Just a thought since you said you had all winter to research...

Good advice. I just have to figure out just HOW to do the research. I mean, probably a hundred different books.

Birddog1911 · Mar 8, 2018

I'm thinking that this area looks promising. The area in the center, where that trail crosses the river.

duggap · Mar 8, 2018

Also, it might be a good spot for some water hunting.

Silversmith45 · Mar 12, 2018

Birddog1911 said:
I'm thinking that this area looks promising. The area in the center, where that trail crosses the river.

How far has the river shifted over the years? The original crossing may be on dry ground now.

Crackerjack · Mar 12, 2018

There is possibly relics for miles around the trail, as Indians and bandits likely chased travelers far from it. Good luck!

Birddog1911 · Mar 12, 2018

Silversmith45 said:
How far has the river shifted over the years? The original crossing may be on dry ground now.

Good question, that's just more research that I have to do.

Those who hunt the Santa Fe Trail

Birddog1911

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jerr-man

ArthurEvans

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Birddog1911

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zeemang

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duggap

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