5-Year Big Game Season Structure alternatives

[Deleted member 28227]

From a friend... this is apparently what the commission is leaning towards as of a week ago... SEND IN YOUR SURVEYS

• Deer and Elk Early Seasons West of I-25 and GMU 140- Alternative 1, with season dates for deer and elk archery being September 2-30th annually. OTC either-sex archery elk licenses could be specified as bull-only licenses and limited cow geographically when necessary to to meet management objectives. Muzzleloader and archery seasons would continue to overlap.
• Deer and Elk Rifle Seasons West of I-25 and GMU 140- Alternative 3, with modifications as proposed by Commissioner Bray making the 2nd and 3rd seasons both 7 days with a 10-day break in between and no early bull season. 2020 dates under this proposal would be 10/10-10/14, 10/21-10/27, 11/7-11/13, and 11/18-11/22 (calendar comparison attached as well).
• Plains Rifle Deer- Status quo, no change. Secondary alternative would be to move the season a week earlier.
• Moose- Season choice for bull moose licenses. Move cow rifle season to overlap with 1-4th regular rifle seasons.
• Bear- Split the September rifle bear season into two seasons, reduce the price for resident and youth bear licenses, and create add-on bear licenses (unlimited quota) for deer and elk licensed hunters wishing to hunt bears in the other bear seasons (archery, muzzleloader, concurrent rifle, and plains) in DAUs managed to reduce/suppress bears.
• Pronghorn- add a weekend to the end of the existing pronghorn rifle season, making it a 9-day season. Expand the extended youth doe pronghorn season statewide and extend the latest closing date for the late doe pronghorn season to January 31st.
• Propose this a 7-year season structure covering the time period of 2020-2026.

 

[Mallardsx2]

So basically they are not addressing any of my personal concerns and most of the other peoples concerns.

They have to do something about the flood gates of the OTC hunters and the rise in point creep across the state. This isn't addressing any of that.

Its all about the money folks. Know that.

 

[Oak]

They have to do something about the flood gates of the OTC hunters and the rise in point creep across the state. This isn't addressing any of that.

License allocation and preference point issues are never addressed in the 5-year season structure process. They make it clear from the outset that those issues are not on the table. Preference point creep can peripherally be addressed in this process by slicing the pie differently and creating additional limited license opportunities such as the proposed early rifle bull hunt.

 

[Mallardsx2]

So i.e. it is addressed in a round about way. lol

 

[Deleted member 28227]

They have to do something about the flood gates of the OTC hunters and the rise in point creep across the state. This isn't addressing any of that.

Are these your two specific concerns? Or do you have others?

I just got license data back from CPAW through a CORA post and I'm going to make a post. If there is something you want to see let me know.

 

[Ajax2744]

Just wanted to jump in as I didn't see it on a alternative option. Instead of making everything limited with a draw why not just do OTC with caps the same they do with bear? I feel like it would cut down crowding in certain units and spread people out. Or maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Just wanted to jump in as I didn't see it on a alternative option. Instead of making everything limited with a draw why not just do OTC with caps the same they do with bear? I feel like it would cut down crowding in certain units and spread people out. Or maybe I'm missing something.

That's the allocation conversation that Oak was alluding to in his post #123. The big game season structure can only address dates and types of licenses, not allocation between NR or numbers of licenses given. When you set a cap you have to decide how much that cap is for each group, aka allocate licenses to those groups.

 

[Ajax2744]

That's the allocation conversation that Oak was alluding to in his post #123. The big game season structure can only address dates and types of licenses, not allocation between NR or numbers of licenses given. When you set a cap you have to decide how much that cap is for each group, aka allocate licenses to those groups.

Gotcha. I must have missed that post. Thanks for elaborating!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Gotcha. I must have missed that post. Thanks for elaborating!

Just posted about allocations with data... https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/co-tag-allocation-r-v-nr-cora-data.290402/

 

[Mallardsx2]

That's the allocation conversation that Oak was alluding to in his post #123. The big game season structure can only address dates and types of licenses, not allocation between NR or numbers of licenses given. When you set a cap you have to decide how much that cap is for each group, aka allocate licenses to those groups.

Honestly my main concerns are with the hunter overcrowding in the archery seasons and the rise in point creep.

-I would like to see Archery go to a limited entry draw requiring preference points where necessary.

-I would like to see all of the second choice licenses also require the use of preference points for all species Antelope/Deer/Elk..

This combined with the forfeiture of preference points on a second choice limited license would drastically cut down on hunter crowding and reduce the number of point holders dramatically.

The problem with this idea though is that many people wont buy the tags for fear of loosing their preference points. Hence affecting the overall income for the DOW.

Personally, I am 100% ok with only elk hunting every other year or every three years. The good old days of going to Colorado and having a good hunt every year with your bow OTC is a becoming a thing of the past.

I want to go there, hunt with my bow, and maybe at least have a chance at an animal. Right now, you can go there hunt deep and far and work your ass off and not even see an animal in some of these OTC areas because they are getting POUNDED by hunting pressure.

I'm swinging for the fences here obviously but something needs to be done. The number of archery hunters is ridiculous these days.

PS: I am not a rifle hunter crying about archery hunters either. I am an archery hunter concerned about the number of archery hunters.

 

[Oak]

Last day to take the survey here.

 

[Oak]

Final recommendations for the 5-year season structure have been posted to the Commission webpage. Lowlights include:

• Archery deer and elk Option A: Sept. 2-30 deer and elk archery season annually, unlimited OTC either-sex for elk. No more August deer hunting.
• 2nd and 3rd combined rifle seasons shortened to 7 days each. Breaks between seasons increased in length, so that 4th season will sometimes extend beyond Thanksgiving
• They are also proposing to make it a 7-year season structure rather than 5 years (note 7 years of season dates). This was discussed at the last Commission meeting.

You can still submit email comments to the Commission prior to the July 18 meeting: [email protected]

 

[Oak]

Option A...option 1...you know what I mean.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I feel like CBA took a mypotic view of season structure, and are lobbing a Hail Mary towards allocation. I understand their arguments but allocation may not change and we could have arrived at a better end point going full limited.

 

[Oak]

I have requested (unofficially) results of the public survey which ended June 26. It will be interesting to see how the results align with the proposed season structure. If I don't get them in the next couple of days I'll file a CORA request.

 

[Bambistew]

Looks like second season may become a ghost town. Start on a Wednesday and end on a Tuesday? Should really spread people out on either side of the weekend. Also the reduction of time will also discourage people I presume.

Those later 4th seasons are not going to do the big bucks any favors. Wow...

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Those later 4th seasons are not going to do the big bucks any favors. Wow...

I just glazed over that, you're right that is very late.

 

[jlmatthew]

Those later 4th seasons are not going to do the big bucks any favors. Wow...

With Dan Prenzlow as Director I wouldnt expect to see a whole lot of 4th season buck tags. If I rember right, he's not a big fan of the 4th season for deer

 

[Oak]

I got some highlights of the survey back. Here are some notables (emphasis mine):

• As far as preference for archery elk alternatives, Alternative 4 (status quo) has the highest preference at 35%, followed by Alternative 1 and Alternative 2, both at roughly 30%.
• As far as preference for deer and elk rifle alternatives, Alternative 1 (status quo) has the highest first choice preference at 45%, followed by Alternative 2 at 32%.
• In regards to the question "if the regular rifle deer and elk seasons were modified, what priority is most important to you?", the #1 ranked priority was increasing breaks between seasons at 48%, followed by greater number of days in each season at 38%.

What the results clearly show is that the preference is status quo. The results of that last question are confounding to me, but people were not offered a choice of real options. What people seem to be saying is, "let me not hunt for longer, please."

 

[HighDesertSage]

I just glazed over that, you're right that is very late.

Curious if we'll see a reduction in tags as a result of higher success rates due to later dates?