Colorado Overcrowding Elk Hunting

[LostArra]

The title of this thread is Colorado Overcrowding Elk Hunting.
My question is what area of life in Colorado isn't getting crowded (or overcrowded)?

I-25 looks like Houston at all hours of the day.
I flew into Denver last week and the amount of new development out there on the prairie is insane.
I have no answers about the overall crowding but eliminating OTC tags could help the hunting if limited tags didn't just become unlimited in number.

 

[EZduzIT]

Our elk numbers are definitely inflated... and how many of the elk numbers are consistently on private lands year round or oil lands. I don't remember seeing more than 5 Colorado plates last year. Majority were Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and that is in a lesser known unit.

 

[EZduzIT]

The title of this thread is Colorado Overcrowding Elk Hunting.
My question is what area of life in Colorado isn't getting crowded (or overcrowded)?

I-25 looks like Houston at all hours of the day.
I flew into Denver last week and the amount of new development out there on the prairie is insane.
I have no answers about the overall crowding but eliminating OTC tags could help the hunting if limited tags didn't just become unlimited in number.

hahah love it. I-25 sucks.

 

[Tightwad]

Our elk numbers are definitely inflated... and how many of the elk numbers are consistently on private lands year round or oil lands. I don't remember seeing more than 5 Colorado plates last year. Majority were Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and that is in a lesser known unit.

One thing that always tickled me was the number of trucks with camper tops headed that way each October. I drive fairly slow and it shocked me how many folks were headed that way at the same time each year, as they blew past me.

 

[EZduzIT]

One thing that always tickled me was the number of trucks with camper tops headed that way each October. I drive fairly slow and it shocked me how many folks were headed that way at the same time each year, as they blew past me.

It's insane! But good for them. Our sport could use the support with everything going on in the world I guess.

 

[fatlander]

Our elk numbers are definitely inflated... and how many of the elk numbers are consistently on private lands year round or oil lands. I don't remember seeing more than 5 Colorado plates last year. Majority were Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and that is in a lesser known unit.

How do you know elk numbers are inflated?

Can you tell the difference, in your anecdotal experience, between 200,000 and 300,000 elk spread across a state?

Can you drive to Wyoming, or New Mexico and know their numbers aren’t inflated by your same anecdotal experience?


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[5MilesBack]

Can you tell the difference, in your anecdotal experience, between 200,000 and 300,000 elk spread across a state?

Back in the 80's the DOW would routinely report around 180k elk in the state. We used to hunt 4-5 different areas around the state back then and it was pretty consistent in numbers of elk we'd see every year, along with sign etc. Then at some point in the 2000's I laughed when they said we had almost 300k elk, because elk sign and elk numbers in each of those areas was nothing like it used to be. Now, could a large portion of these new elk all be on private land? It's possible, but from my experience over the last 40+ years in the field......as elk number estimates go up, the amount of sign and number of elk actually seen goes down. But I realize that my anecdotal evidence is about as scientific as CPW's.

 

[tdhanses]

I stopped being a CBA member when around 2015ish the CPW liason stated at multiple CPW meetings that bowhunters wanted two separate seasons and a break in between.

Think that’s when I stopped as well, to me the CBA was just an off shoot of PY and did whatever PY wanted.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Now think about that number when you add in all the dog walkers and pot smokers in September.

three of my favorite things

 

[Overdrive]

Back in the 80's the DOW would routinely report around 180k elk in the state. We used to hunt 4-5 different areas around the state back then and it was pretty consistent in numbers of elk we'd see every year, along with sign etc. Then at some point in the 2000's I laughed when they said we had almost 300k elk, because elk sign and elk numbers in each of those areas was nothing like it used to be. Now, could a large portion of these new elk all be on private land? It's possible, but from my experience over the last 40+ years in the field......as elk number estimates go up, the amount of sign and number of elk actually seen goes down. But I realize that my anecdotal evidence is about as scientific as CPW's.

I'm 100% positive that the CPW switched over to the SWAG (scientific wild ass guess) system once the 2000's came around.

My field experience has been similar to yours too, but in a shorter period of time, 30+ years hunting Colorado.

 

[cnelk]

Where I hunted in the 2000s, there were so damn many elk it was ridiculous. Definitely less now tho

 

[fatlander]

So, there’s less elk than there used to be and the problem is getting worse. Per anecdotal observation.

Less people, in the context of what CPW will allow as to not eat up their bottom line, isn’t going to have a measurable affect on calf recruitment.


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[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Never hunted CO, but was very close to pulling the trigger on a fall '22 hunt this year. Plans changed this year, but I plan to seriously consider it again in coming years.

Going back to the data presented, why are there huge gaps in the reporting periods? If I was to look at the rifle numbers from the graph at a high level, I would call them relatively flat. Residents are in the 30k's and NR are in the 20k's. Sure, the last 3 non-consecutive data points show an increase in NR rifle numbers, but each year is still less than 2002. This fact makes the data unreliable and impossible to draw conclusions.

A trend requires seven or more consecutive points that are increasing or decreasing. A basic rule of thumb is when data collected over time exhibits seven or eight points successively up or down, then a trend is clearly present and warrants investigation.

IME, the data presented does not provide enough information for anybody to draw statistically relevant conclusions.

Like @cnelk mentioned, a basic data point that is missing from this information is how many elk were actually harvested and checked in to CPW. If you don't have reliable harvest information to bump up against licenses sold by units, counties, you name the geographical variable, you can't effectively make management decisions. Montana is the same in this regard, and I still can't believe I rolled out of there last fall without having to check or record my bull.

In Iowa, R and NR both are required to report whitetail kills within 24 hours. You can call in and use the automated system or complete the form online. SIMPLE!

 

[AaronMColeman]

Our elk numbers are definitely inflated... and how many of the elk numbers are consistently on private lands year round or oil lands. I don't remember seeing more than 5 Colorado plates last year. Majority were Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and that is in a lesser known unit.

They're all in Wyoming with the Texas, Minnesota, and California plates. Not that I mind, I would be the out of stater ruining things for Wyoming if I didn't live there!

 

[dreamingWest]

three of my favorite things

And to be clear, I have no problem with those things either. Just saying, the Colorado Rockies are teeming with people during archery season (wilderness or not), and most aren't non-resident hunters.

 

[svivian]

I grew up living in elk country. In the late 90's and early 2000's you could hunt the ski resort above our property and run into lots of elk. We used to have herds of elk anywhere from 100-250 head lay in our fields in the winter. Same with other hay fields down the road and around us. Now there are none to be seen hardly ever unless its an especially bad snow year and even then its 25 elk at most.

 

[Tightwad]

I grew up living in elk country. In the late 90's and early 2000's you could hunt the ski resort above our property and run into lots of elk. We used to have herds of elk anywhere from 100-250 head lay in our fields in the winter. Same with other hay fields down the road and around us. Now there are none to be seen hardly ever unless its an especially bad snow year and even then its 25 elk at most.

Based on your experience, do you think it's a decline in population or they've simply changed habits?

 

[EZduzIT]

How do you know elk numbers are inflated?

Can you tell the difference, in your anecdotal experience, between 200,000 and 300,000 elk spread across a state?

Can you drive to Wyoming, or New Mexico and know their numbers aren’t inflated by your same anecdotal experience?


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Wish I could say it was not just opinion but that's what it is!

 

[5MilesBack]

Ya, I'm definitely not someone that just takes everything that comes out as gospel. I'm more of a test it for myself and my own experience kind of guy. Then I stick with that until more personally experienced evidence comes out to the contrary. It's a continual molding and shaping of conclusions based on life experiences, actual evidence, and logical deductions. That works for everything in life. If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and was born a duck......it's most likely a duck. That applies to 40 years ago as well as today.

 

[svivian]

Based on your experience, do you think it's a decline in population or they've simply changed habits?

The mountain is large but isnt that large and I helped ranchers all over the area, if they changed habits they moved counties...