Calling in elk without a tag - wild game harassment or fun?

Is calling in elk without a tag…

  • Wild game harassment

  • Giving elk a free education

  • Good old fashioned fun

  • Inconsiderate to people with the tag

  • Useful practice


Results are only viewable after voting.
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
557
Just got a t text from a buddy hunting a unit that took 19 pts to draw. Yesterday had a dad and 6 kids bugling all over the country pushing elk around, and they had 2 cow tags between the seven of them!
 

hobbes

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Jun 6, 2012
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I wouldn't consider it harassment but it's inconsiderate as heck. If you don't think it is, that may mean that your just inconsiderate and put your entertainment above someone that drew the tag. If you don't have a tag, there's no reason to call to those elk besides entertainment.
 

Laramie

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Apr 17, 2020
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I wouldn't consider it harassment but it's inconsiderate as heck. If you don't think it is, that may mean that your just inconsiderate and put your entertainment above someone that drew the tag. If you don't have a tag, there's no reason to call to those elk besides entertainment.
What if you have a tag for a later season and want to see what kind of bulls are there? What if you are scouting it to see if it is an area you want to hunt in the future? What if some kid in on his make a wish dream trip and wants to see an elk bugle? What if it's just some guy that was never able to draw the area wants to see the elk and calling them in makes the experience? What is it's just some guy that just got a new call and wants to see if it works on elk? Maybe some dad is teaching his kid how to call elk so he can hunt one someday... There are enough innocent scenarios where this isn't even inconsiderate intentionally. As hunters we tend to think when we draw a LQ tag we will have the area to ourselves. We need to remember that the majority of people that recreate on our public lands are not hunters. They have a right to enjoy their experience as well. Yes I know they could go to a national park but fighting the crowds isn't fun for most.
 

slick

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Feb 13, 2014
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I know it been stated it before but just because someone has an elk tag doesn't mean the elk or the area belong to them. It's still a public resource.

@timberland Work to change your (or that) State's season. It's not the hunters fault that the state provides cow opportunity during a LE bull tag.

Also, I have admittedly gone and called bulls during the season with a camera for friends who had the tag but couldn't make it out there for another week.
Additionally, I didn't go call to bulls this year because I didn't have a tag and didn't want to potentially mess with anyone else's hunt.

But, to say that going into the woods and calling elk is illegal is absurd.
 

hobbes

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Jun 6, 2012
Messages
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What if you have a tag for a later season and want to see what kind of bulls are there? What if you are scouting it to see if it is an area you want to hunt in the future? What if some kid in on his make a wish dream trip and wants to see an elk bugle? What if it's just some guy that was never able to draw the area wants to see the elk and calling them in makes the experience? What is it's just some guy that just got a new call and wants to see if it works on elk? Maybe some dad is teaching his kid how to call elk so he can hunt one someday... There are enough innocent scenarios where this isn't even inconsiderate intentionally. As hunters we tend to think when we draw a LQ tag we will have the area to ourselves. We need to remember that the majority of people that recreate on our public lands are not hunters. They have a right to enjoy their experience as well. Yes I know they could go to a national park but fighting the crowds isn't fun for most.
It's inconsiderate. Make a wish??? Come on. :) What if it's my dieing breath and my last wish in life is to see a bull bugle. Of course there are circumstances that no one would argue isn't okay, but we all know that's not the case 99% of the time. In most cases everyone wants to be a hero and call in a bull for entertainment.
 
Last edited:

slick

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I'll raise my hand and am ready to be hung. I don't know if I want to be a hero, but I sure as crap enjoy calling bulls in whether they are going to be shot or not.
 

hobbes

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I'll raise my hand and am ready to be hung. I don't know if I want to be a hero, but I sure as crap enjoy calling bulls in whether they are going to be shot or not.
Okay, maybe "hero" wasn't the best description. I'll never draw one of those tags anyway.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
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Location
Colorado Springs
I've been known to play with the elk during the season and without a tag. Sure as heck isn't anything as bad as guys camping in a basin and shooting off 100's of rounds of rifle and pistol ammo all day long during the season (also legal).
 

JPD350

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Feb 25, 2012
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Abq NM
Just got a t text from a buddy hunting a unit that took 19 pts to draw. Yesterday had a dad and 6 kids bugling all over the country pushing elk around, and they had 2 cow tags between the seven of them!
That is unfortunate for your buddy to have a dad hunting with his kids invade not only his hunting space but the space of everyone all over the county or country.

Wow, I can't believe the gall of that dad, write em up Barney!

Maybe he should write a letter to the DOW about why they are administering cow tags to dads with kids during the same time as a draw bull tag.

I really don't want your buddy to have a bad hunt, he's waited a long time and I hope he kills a big one!
 

sndmn11

"DADDY"
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Mar 28, 2017
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Did you not read the statement above posted by erict? Obviously the department you work for does not agree with your view.

And I'm not sure what you even mean. The warden I spoke to does understand the Colorado law, as well as several other states. He said he would only write if the non hunter was "obviously " intentionally calling to call an elk away from a hunter. Not at all the case you have tried to make for several posts.

I read it all, I read it previously, and I already had provided the correct answer to that question before that info was posted. The statute doesn't say one cannot call elk, nor did I. You said you were unaware of how it could be illegal, I provided a way that it could.

I also said it would be an easy citation to write with the elements of the violation being so simple. Your warden buddy said it was possible as well, so it's hard to see what the argument still is.

Very simply, if one is out interfering with a hunter it's a crime. You might run around calling elk all the time during a hunting season for purposes other than hunting, nobody in this thread has said that is illegal in Colorado. What I have said is that when doing that interferes with a hunter it's an easy citation in Colorado. The elements are basic.

Beyond a reasonable doubt is not needed to write a citation or make an arrest. The law enforcement officer is not a jury. Basics....

It is bizarre to me that copying and pasting a law on a forum can be so controversial, it is a fact that the statute exists. The elements that compose that statute are facts. The statute is written in basic English so that it can be objectively and notoriously understood. Believe it or not, I didn't write it, and I haven't stated my opinion on it yet. I simply cited it, explained how it would apply, how it would be easy to satisfy when elk calling is the method of interference, and then provided an example of how three questions can establish probable cause. Oh yeah, I also said it was a general intent crime versus specific intent crime, that might have been too deep.

I am fine disagreeing. I have stated facts and cited the specific statute in Colorado that is applicable to your question. From my perspective this is like the person who has a couple of drinks every time they go out to eat and it's has never been a second thought. Then one time it matters, and the irrefutable blood draw shows intoxication.

For 20 hunting license suspension points it isn't worth it to me to screw around with game animals during a hunting season because it might interfere with someone and it's is totally indefensible. Arguing against facts never pans out.
 

slick

WKR
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Feb 13, 2014
Messages
1,798
I read it all, I read it previously, and I already had provided the correct answer to that question before that info was posted. The statute doesn't say one cannot call elk, nor did I. You said you were unaware of how it could be illegal, I provided a way that it could.

I also said it would be an easy citation to write with the elements of the violation being so simple. Your warden buddy said it was possible as well, so it's hard to see what the argument still is.

Very simply, if one is out interfering with a hunter it's a crime. You might run around calling elk all the time during a hunting season for purposes other than hunting, nobody in this thread has said that is illegal in Colorado. What I have said is that when doing that interferes with a hunter it's an easy citation in Colorado. The elements are basic.

Beyond a reasonable doubt is not needed to write a citation or make an arrest. The law enforcement officer is not a jury. Basics....

It is bizarre to me that copying and pasting a law on a forum can be so controversial, it is a fact that the statute exists. The elements that compose that statute are facts. The statute is written in basic English so that it can be objectively and notoriously understood. Believe it or not, I didn't write it, and I haven't stated my opinion on it yet. I simply cited it, explained how it would apply, how it would be easy to satisfy when elk calling is the method of interference, and then provided an example of how three questions can establish probable cause. Oh yeah, I also said it was a general intent crime versus specific intent crime, that might have been too deep.

I am fine disagreeing. I have stated facts and cited the specific statute in Colorado that is applicable to your question. From my perspective this is like the person who has a couple of drinks every time they go out to eat and it's has never been a second thought. Then one time it matters, and the irrefutable blood draw shows intoxication.

For 20 hunting license suspension points it isn't worth it to me to screw around with game animals during a hunting season because it might interfere with someone and it's is totally indefensible. Arguing against facts never pans out.
I think that sentence clears the air. I was under the impression and likely due to the lack of my reading comprehension, that you were saying you could cite someone for calling elk with a camera in hand.
 
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