CPW Commission Meeting May 4-5, 2022

[COEngineer]

Quotas for 2022 are down slightly for deer and elk (<1%), down a little more for pronghorn(-6%), up significantly for moose (+11%) and unchanged for bear, compared to 2021.

 

[COEngineer]

Anyone else notice that the usual anti-hunters did not make comments about the bear quotas? There are usually a few of them that call in to say something ridiculous like, "CPW doesn't count bears, so they must be almost extinct." They somehow disregard the fact that hunters (and car accidents and game wardens shooting problem bears) have been killing a couple thousand bears each year for a decade or more and the tooth age data from 2020 (latest available) shows that the average harvested bear is 5.4 yrs old (so we haven't been killing every single bear in CO for at least 5 yrs.

I also thought it was interesting that the success rate for bear tags in CO is about 5% (30,000 tags sold last year and a harvest of about 1500).

 

[TOGIE]

I also thought it was interesting that the success rate for bear tags in CO is about 5% (30,000 tags sold last year and a harvest of about 1500).

that makes sense to me.

i think i've held a bear tag nearly every year since i started hunting, and only hunted for them once.

 

[LuketheDog]

Anyone else notice that the usual anti-hunters did not make comments about the bear quotas? There are usually a few of them that call in to say something ridiculous like, "CPW doesn't count bears, so they must be almost extinct." They somehow disregard the fact that hunters (and car accidents and game wardens shooting problem bears) have been killing a couple thousand bears each year for a decade or more and the tooth age data from 2020 (latest available) shows that the average harvested bear is 5.4 yrs old (so we haven't been killing every single bear in CO for at least 5 yrs.

I also thought it was interesting that the success rate for bear tags in CO is about 5% (30,000 tags sold last year and a harvest of about 1500).

Should bring back spring bear season! I've already seen two big bears...I'll see none this fall i bet.

 

[npaden]

I was pleasantly surprised when I checked to see how much a nonresident bear tag would cost me as I have been working on getting some land purchased in Colorado and if I'm doing the math correctly is a whopping $17. (Buying the bear/fishing tag combo instead of the small game tag to apply for my draws). I might be wrong on this but even if I have to buy both, $103.60 for the nonresident bear/fishing combo seems pretty reasonable. Just checked and the season for unit 85 for the private land only is Sept 2 to 30 so that isn't ideal. I thought it would run into October and November but that is the draw tags.

I'm actually looking at trying to hunt bear this fall and it will be interesting to see how difficult it is going to be.

 

[npaden]

Looks like the bear/fishing combo isn't a qualifying license. The Spring Turkey is though, that might take a little of the pain out of a $160 turkey license if I then don't have to buy the $85 small game license. Looks like the bear tag is $103.

 

[COEngineer]

Commissioner Tuchton says he verified that there are bison crossing into CO from UT and that at least one has been killed in CO outside of any regulation, since CO doesn't have any regulations regarding bison (at least as wildlife).

 

[Oak]

Commissioner Tuchton says he verified that there are bison crossing into CO from UT and that at least one has been killed in CO outside of any regulation, since CO doesn't have any regulations regarding bison (at least as wildlife).

There have been a lot killed in CO. I sat with a UT biologist probably 4 years ago and asked him about it and he said they were aware of at least 12 that had been killed in CO. And the CPW bio at the same event was aware. Despite anything that has been said at a Commission meeting on this topic, there are some CPW staff that have been well aware that this is happening for a long time. And it's the secret that the locals don't want to get out.

 

[COEngineer]

Adams says that we shouldn't have panels with only white men on them, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of people in CO are white and I can only imagine the percentage of hunters/anglers/conservationists that are white is even higher.

Also, "game warden" and "citizen" are now racist, just FYI. And if you don't include all the made-up pronouns in every public address, you're also not welcome.

 

[COEngineer]

There have been a lot killed in CO. I sat with a UT biologist probably 4 years ago and asked him about it and he said they were aware of at least 12 that had been killed in CO. And the CPW bio at the same event was aware. Despite anything that has been said at a Commission meeting on this topic, there are some CPW staff that have been well aware that this is happening for a long time. And it's the secret that the locals don't want to get out.

Is there a reason the CPW staff wouldn't have brought this forward to the commission? Why did it take an outside org (albeit coming across as nut jobs) to bring this to the commission's attention?

 

[Oak]

Likely because bison are currently classified as livestock, and despite the fact that CPW has bison listed as a species of greatest conservation need in the SWAP, they like it that way. There are a host of regulatory issues that are introduced when you have species that are managed both as wildlife and livestock.

 

[marksjeep]

You two...

 

[Oak]

You two...

Sorry, local.

 

[jlmatthew]

Adams says that we shouldn't have panels with only white men on them, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of people in CO are white and I can only imagine the percentage of hunters/anglers/conservationists that are white is even higher.

Also, "game warden" and "citizen" are now racist, just FYI. And if you don't include all the made-up pronouns in every public address, you're also not welcome.

Adams is the biggest racist! She cant talk about anything without throwing a race card in the mix. The Commission is the biggest clown show ever right now

 

[COEngineer]

Adams is the biggest racist! She cant talk about anything without throwing a race card in the mix. The Commission is the biggest clown show ever right now

I wouldn't throw the whole commission away. I think on the whole they are doing an admirable job. Unfortunately, a commissioner who is there because of her skin color, and no other reason that I can discern, you get exactly what you would expect. I feel a little sorry for her because she is so obviously out of her element, but I don't feel sorry for her because she is one of the most out-spoken commissioners, but obviously does not even try to be informed on the very topics she speaks up about. She wants the finance report to have explanations of every program CPW runs because she is apparently too busy to do her own research. She was the sole dissenting vote for the El Dorado Canyon pilot vehicle access program because she "didn't agree with the research" - ie, it didn't match what someone told her it should say. I could go on, but there's no point - Polis put her there as a token and only he can decide if it was worth it.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Anyone else notice that Heather Dugan is on the website as acting direction and Prenzlow's profile has been removed.

 

[COEngineer]

Anyone else notice that Heather Dugan is on the website as acting direction and Prenzlow's profile has been removed.

Maybe that's per policy for someone on administrative leave. Either that or it's pandering to the 'outraged' 'community.'