Colorado actually going to change things?

[Lawnboi]

Don’t worry we will all have good opportunity in the future through outfitters.

Interest groups man, welcome to government. They don’t give a lick about your opportunity. They care about money.

But hell yea just raise the price that will keep em out!

Diy hunters NR and R are going to be screwed

That’s what’s happens when you turn a natural resource into a cash cow

 

[Jimss]

Just as important as tag numbers and allotments is how CPW is managing its deer. Late rut deer rifle hunts plus doe tags doesn’t make sense for dwindling deer herds in western Colo?

Although there are tags now, I don’t think the cpw realize the long term impacts and financial loss with fewer deer and deer tags in future years.

 

[Goatboy22]

For the last 35 years big game management options in Colorado have to be "revenue neutral" or they won't be considered. Meaning they can't cause a reduction in CPW funding. That is a given, or they won't be a viable option. End of story.

Mule deer management is currently "scorched earth" due to chronic wasting disease. Welcome to 2022.

The cowboys (grazing permit holders, both BLM and FS) want elk numbers as low as possible. Rich "amenity ranch" owners, want elk numbers high because ranching is just a tax dodge. They're not about selling pounds of beef. No shortage of them in Colorado. They're in bed with the outfitters anyway.

Since Colorado Division of Wildlife combined with the Colorado State Parks, things have gone further south. Hunting license fees are all that is currently keeping the Parks end of this shite show afloat. I can't link to it, but the Parks end in currently in deep doodoo due to (appearance of) malfeasance with fee collection, or lack of, at state parks. Best to break up these 2 outfits again and let the Colorado State Park system sink on their own.

 

[Bearsears]

For the last 35 years big game management options in Colorado have to be "revenue neutral" or they won't be considered. Meaning they can't cause a reduction in CPW funding. That is a given, or they won't be a viable option. End of story.

Mule deer management is currently "scorched earth" due to chronic wasting disease. Welcome to 2022.

The cowboys (grazing permit holders, both BLM and FS) want elk numbers as low as possible. Rich "amenity ranch" owners, want elk numbers high because ranching is just a tax dodge. They're not about selling pounds of beef. No shortage of them in Colorado. They're in bed with the outfitters anyway.

Since Colorado Division of Wildlife combined with the Colorado State Parks, things have gone further south. Hunting license fees are all that is currently keeping the Parks end of this shite show afloat. I can't link to it, but the Parks end in currently in deep doodoo due to (appearance of) malfeasance with fee collection, or lack of, at state parks. Best to break up these 2 outfits again and let the Colorado State Park system sink on their own.

This

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

They will have to do something. Colorado is where everyone goes for otc tags, when they strike out in other states. Hunted Colorado once in second rifle. Was overwhelmed by the number of hunters that I encountered in the woods.

Hunted there the last 5 years in some form of fashion. One unit in particular, in bow season, was worse than anything I’d seen in awhile. It was like mad max with side by sides up and down the road.

Saw the biggest bear I have ever seen though, on a road, after a bunch of traffic went by. I thought it was domestic cattle sitting in the road at first. Big ole caramel colored bear. Comparing to the bears I’ve seen in PA, 450, 500 maybe. A true slob of a Bruin.

 

[Titan_Bow]

I’ve been hunting Colorado as a resident for 17 years now and the crowding just seems to get worse every year. And it is hunters, not other user groups. One spot that I‘be been blessed to have been successful and learn well, is about 4 miles into a wilderness area. When I first started hunting that basin maybe 7 years ago, there would be a handful of trucks at the trailhead when I went in the day or so before opener. I’d come out after that opening weekend and there would be a handful of trucks, but usually 10 or less. This is not that long ago mind you. The spot was money for an opening weekend hunt because the elk would in that high alpine feeding pattern, and this basin was perfect terrain to hunt it.
That spot has sense been blown out, as the day or two before season, 5 or 6 different groups all come into the upwind side of the basin, and as soon as that human sent starts flowing before season, the elk bail out.
I rode through that parking lot last year middle of the week after the opener just to gauge pressure in that spot, and I stopped counting at 35 or so. All out of state pickup trucks, most with Kifaru, Sitka, Kuiu, First Lite, and/or Mountain Ops stickers in the back windows, all piled into this trailhead at a Wilderness area. And mind you, this trailhead does not come in Internet forums, people aren’t offering g this spot up as a where to start kind of thing. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to pull into a trailhead that actually gets a lot of press on forums LOL.
Point being, sure, you can still figure out ways to adapt, and find areas that are not being hammered by a lot of hunters, but that gets harder and harder every year. There has got to be comprehensive reform to access. Perhaps make those wilderness trailhead parking lots smaller and institute large fines for parking outside a designated parking area? I’m also for limiting or capping the OTC tags, with preference to residents.


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[Zslayer]

And 90% of resident CO hunters confuse those users with nr hunters. The problem in CO isn’t NR hunting. At least in archery season. The problem is hunters are now sharing the woods with more outdoor enthusiasts besides hunters.

The amount of non resident hunters is a huge problem! SW Colorado went to draw for archery a few years ago and if you look back on the draw recap from this past year approximately 67% of archery bull tags went to non resident! Because of the 35% going to non resident which is unreal but what makes it worse is they don’t even cap it at 35%. So residents who have built up points and out in for archery around here 2nd choice so they don’t loose their points are not able to draw archery elk tags now because they are all going to non residents 1st choice that just decided to put in for Colorado this year because they didn’t draw anything else. 2nd and 3rd season rifle bull tags are still OTC and It would be safe to say probably 80% of those tags are non resident as well.

 

[Coveyleader]

And 90% of resident CO hunters confuse those users with nr hunters. The problem in CO isn’t NR hunting. At least in archery season. The problem is hunters are now sharing the woods with more outdoor enthusiasts besides hunters.

That was an attempt humor right? The woods are overrun with NR hunters, and I don’t hunt where there are weekend hikers. If I see 5 CO plates in my area in a year that’s a stretch. NRs are like locusts here, you can’t blame them it’s free for the taking, but don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s not raining NRs……..

 

[txjustin]

That was an attempt humor right? The woods are overrun with NR hunters, and I don’t hunt where there are weekend hikers. If I see 5 CO plates in my area in a year that’s a stretch. NRs are like locusts here, you can’t blame them it’s free for the taking, but don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s not raining NRs……..

Well, a little more than “free”


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[WV Mountaineer]

Funny. I hunt SW CO. And as I stated before, the only people I’ve seen in the woods were the same two guys hunting together. Twice.

That was an attempt humor right? The woods are overrun with NR hunters, and I don’t hunt where there are weekend hikers. If I see 5 CO plates in my area in a year that’s a stretch. NRs are like locusts here, you can’t blame them it’s free for the taking, but don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s not raining NRs……..

nope. No humor. Just my experience.

 

[jayhawk]

They could only get 67 people to answer questions? Out of everyone in the country that bought a license last year?

 

[MallardSX2]

They only cherry picked 67 people to interview. They received thousands of Q/A back.............

The 67 people were the people who they "actually listened" to their thoughts and suggestions...

 

[Ucsdryder]

Funny. I hunt SW CO. And as I stated before, the only people I’ve seen in the woods were the same two guys hunting together. Twice.

nope. No humor. Just my experience.

Where I hunt the NR license plates HEAVILY outnumber the resident plates.

What’s frustrating is how simple this is and yet in typical bureaucratic fashion it’s turn into a damn circus.

-80/20 for all draws
-OTC for residents only (Wyoming general tag)
-Buy an A license…don’t get a point for that year
-2nd draw goes in order to resident youth, resident, non-resident youth, non resident
-Leftover draw, every Wednesday is residents only, followed by non-residents every Thursday.
-Resident tag prices to 125 (62 dollars is a joke) and non-resident tag prices increase to make up the difference in lost revenue from increased resident tag allocation.

There…done. That took me 45 seconds and I haven’t even had coffee yet this morning.

 

[Poser]

Kill the 30 day archery season. The amount of people hunting archery season for a month or until they punch a tag is over the top.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Kill the 30 day archery season. The amount of people hunting archery season for a month or until they punch a tag is over the top.

I don’t know how much a split season would help. A small percentage of people are truly hunting for the whole season, most guys are a week and done or weekend warriors. One of the big things they’re facing is pressure by archery hunters during the rut, so having more guys in the woods is going to put more pressure on the elk during breeding.

 

[fatlander]

Supply and demand.

There is less supply than there is demand.

There’s two options:

1. Increase supply, which is highly unlikely given the predator introductions/protection coupled with the current funding available.

2. Decrease demand by raising prices, significantly. That price increase would also allow for more funding to work on option 1.

Anything else isn’t doing a thing but kicking the can down the road for younger folks to deal with.


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[KHNC]

I’ve hunted Colorado a half dozen times and have seen exactly the same two people in the woods over that decade. Twice. In a very popular unit. And I’ve yet to go that I didn’t draw my bow or kill an elk.

Sounds like its been a decade since you hunted CO. WEre you with an outfitter? Last colorado elk hunt i did in 2013, i saw plenty of other elk hunters. We were packed in 2.5 miles also and it was a draw unit in the flat tops!

 

[cnelk]

Kill the 30 day archery season. The amount of people hunting archery season for a month or until they punch a tag is over the top.

A little poll on Rokslide

How many days a year do you hunt elk?

Curious to see how many days you dedicate to hunting elk - during your specific, licensed season - Archery - ML - Rifle.

www.rokslide.com

 

[Gobbler36]

Hopefully
you Colorado residents can fix it, I feel for ya.
even though I’m a NR, I hope for your sakes that cap certain areas for resident hunts and just make NR go to point draws I think to you should have to choose whether to apply for limited entry or apply otc can’t do both and give a price break for the otc hunt and increase the limited tag cost. to make it work you’d have to see increase cost across the board probably

overcrowding is our biggest issue and we only have ourselves to blame, from gobbling up all the bs hunt to save hunting And how to vids!

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

Sounds like its been a decade since you hunted CO. WEre you with an outfitter? Last colorado elk hunt i did in 2013, i saw plenty of other elk hunters. We were packed in 2.5 miles also and it was a draw unit in the flat tops!

I hunted the flattops on a 1 point draw 2 years ago (archery). We killed and both swore to never hunt CO again in a unit that took less than 5 points. It was a zoo.