Colorado Elk Harvest falls short again......

[Deerslayer]

DOW just released a staement that they will afll about 10,000 below their projected 60,000 elk harvest. The first seperate season was better than expected....the second was terrible, worst in years,.......the third was real good(the one I hunted)....and the fourth saw 47 inches of snow dumped in 24 hours in some parts of the high country, leaving hunters snowbound and stranded all over, resulting in a very poor sesason.

All in all, the numbers will be about 10.000 below expectations........which will probably result in a lot more drought management tags for next year, which saw hunters be allowed up to 3 elk each this season...a bull and two cows.

They said it would take 4 or 5 years of harvesting 60,000 elk to get the herd down to carrying size. They are having a time just hitting 60,000 for one year, mostly due to the weather. I think hunters will have some awsome opportunities this fall in Coloardo due to the over abundance of elk.....tis a good time to be slaying elks in Colorful Colorado!

 

[Hunterman]

Good info Deerslayer..If Washington was to kill 10,000 elk in one year, hell it would take this place 10 years to kill that many..Sounds as if you guys are going to have a good season..

Hunterman(Tony)

 

[Deerslayer]

Tony..the herd statewide is estimated at over 300,000 elk and current population objectives say 180,000 to 200,000 would be optimum. They are pretty serious about their goals so hunters can look for a lot more opportunities at multiple elk tags for cheap in the next few years here.....

.....you should come take advantage of it!

 

[Hunterman]

I'm all for it,

but I'll have to clear it with the boss lady

She did give me the ok to start looking for land to buy

so maybe I could do a twofer

Think she would buy it???

Hunterman(Tony)

 

[Deerslayer]

Only you know that answer friend!

...I quit trying to figure them out years ago......it would be easier to pattern a whole herd of wild elk than to pattern just one female!

 

[Roadtrip]

Well....Colorado can bask in their extra tags as long as they want. I won't be back....no matter what they come up with. They doubled the price of their tags, tried to charge full price for cows...then lowered them. Came up with a rediculous season arrangment and didn't listen when we (I took 5 people to colorado on my first hunt) said we wouldn't come back. They run off out of state hunters and I'll be damned if I'll spend another nickel in that state. As far as I'm concerned...they can give residents 5 or 10 tags.....but then...where is the DOW going to get their $$ from? I'm laughing...because so many of us said this would happen. Why pay 500 for hunting 4 by 4's and raghorns? Then they tried to push out of staters out of the ranching for wildlife program after many had spent years building points. See what happens when a bunch of idiots from California move to Colorado? (Joke)....seriously....I'll get off my soapbox and laugh while they figure out how to get the elk off of their golf courses.

Cheers
Roadtrip

 

[Roadtrip]

Oooops....I know what they need!! Wolves...lots of 'em. They can have all the ones from my area in Idyhoe.

(Still laughing)
Roadtrip

 

[Oak]

The problem doesn't seem to be how many elk tags they can sell, since they sold more last year than ever before. The problem in most areas is getting hunter access to where the elk are.

But if it makes you feel better Roadtrip, you can sit there and think that the CDOW is crying over your lost business.

Oak

 

[Desert Sheep]

Don't joke about shoving wolves down our throat!

That is one of the options stated in the paper this past Sunday on how to deal with the over population of elk in and around Rocky National Park.

 

[Deerslayer]

Sorry you feel that way Roadtrip.....but like Oak said....they ain't missing your business. They had somewhat of a boycott by out-of-staters the first year it went up two years ago...but last year they were back in record numbers. I guess some of the more intelligent non-res decided paying $470 for elk was still cheaper than any other state except the regular draw in Wyo($450).....and they could wait til the last minute to make their plans, since Co is the only western state that sells a true unlimited over the counter bull tag. Throw in the fact that there are more elk in Co on more public land than any other western state, then you add it all up, and that makes Colorado still a very good deal. The only draw back is hunter numbers......and if you care to get off the road a ways you can avoid that pretty easily. Not much use in whining over the Co price tag for elk.......their only fault was waiting so long to increase.....with many states charging between $600 and $800 at this time.....and some at $1000.

Oak is right...it is not hunter numbers or tag sells that is keeping the herd numbers way up......it is weather! The seasons that got favorable weather were record setting this year! But when you get a winter storm that drops 3 or 4 feet over night on one of the weeks of highest harvest.....well, that does screw things up a bit. Nope...nobody whining here! I was just pointing out that the opportunitys will be many for the next year....at least for those that aren't busy "punishing Colorado" for raising tag prices.....just like EVERY other western state has done I might add. Guess what.....Wyoming is raising again next year....as well as Montanna and New Mexico, or at least they are talking about it. In fact...you may run out of places to hunt if you boycott every state that raises it's tags. But don't fret about Colorado......me and Oak will do our part to make up for your absence after we whack our bulls......we'll then whack a couple of cows each...and that should just about offset the absence of you and your buddies.....

......just doing what we can for wildlife!......right Oak?!

 

[Oak]

It's a tough job DS....

Oak

 

[Ithaca 37]

Heavy snows have always been a problem in CO. It pays to know some migration routes and low elevation places to hunt. Ya gotta be ready to move fast!

 

[Hunterman]

Hey Roadtrip,,You can always come over to Washington and pick an over the counter elk tag...If you got a law degree you might even get into an area that lets you kill one..Hell this state hasn't killed 10,000 elk in the last 10 to 15 years..

I would rather spend my money on an out-of-state tag, if I have a better chance of killing an elk that eating the tag..Its pretty bad when a hunter kills more elk out of state than in there own state.

The way that I see it is,, the high price for the out of staters is what helps manage the animals of that state...Here in Washington the money we pay goes for damn near everything eles but..So you come here to hunt elk (hahaha)and I'll go to Col.,Wyoming, Mont.,Idaho,and kill an elk..Hey I'm not rich,,thats why my wife wants me to hunt in the areas that I have the best chance of filling my tags..

Hunterman(Tony)

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 02-24-2003 20:50: Message edited by: Hunterman ]</font>

 

[RANDALL K]

I gotta side with DS & Oak on this one (but then I was a CO resident for 39 years, so I'm probably biased

). Roady is right in that Colorado's non-res licenses almost doubled in one year, but on-the-flip-side DS is right, it's because they went so long without raising prices. Even with the dramatic increase in fees, it's still one of the cheapest non-res states for elk.

After reading the articles the Colorado-DOW had on their web page you could easily read-between-the-lines that elk harvest numbers were going to fall short again this (past) year. They're (DOW) going to have to allow multiple elk tags per hunter again this year --the herd numbers are a looooong way from the lands carrying capacity (and, if I understood it right, they're going to allow on-line applications this year

)

This year I'll, once again, try to fill the "elk void" in my freezer

HAPPY HUNTING!!

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 02-24-2003 20:48: Message edited by: RANDALL K ]</font>

 

[A-con]

Dang Mark, you trying to tell me we didn't whak enought elk ? You better get some heavy duty shocks for that rig of yours, you pile any more wapati in that thing and It'll be dragging the ground.
I wonder if they will allow two bull tags per hunter ? Wouldn't that be a hoot.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 02-24-2003 23:15: Message edited by: Anaconda ]</font>

 

[Washington Hunter]

Colorado's price for a bull is about average, and the cow tags are a bargain! I'd go down there and kill two cows for $500 if I only knew where to go! I don't really care about elk antlers anyway. Or what would be ideal, is to go for a good mulie buck first, and a cow elk second. Is that possible there? (meaning would they both be in season at the same time?) I do have the new CO regulations, but haven't had time to look.

 

[RANDALL K]

Washington Hunter; yes, it's possible in CO.

 

[Washington Hunter]

Thanks Randall, I'll have to think about that

 

[tmsander]

I thought the DOW was concerned about the winter kill this year. That the range was in such poor condition, due to the drought, going into the winter, that many, many elk would starve. Has this fear gone away?

 

[Oak]

There was an article in the Denver Post about this a couple of weeks ago. Apparently we're nearing or past the critical point of winter with no ill effects so far. Here's that article:

Colorado big game herds

Oak