CO long term game, short term consequences

[Bluumoon]

Couldn't resist piggy backing off the other thread this morning. Came across the article yesterday.

No State Treats Resident Big Game Hunters Worse than Colorado- Tag Allocation- Hiding in Plain Sight. The Secret to the Elk and Deer Tags in Colorado. - Jurisdiction on Federally Owned Public Lands

Colorado has finally proposed a Senate Bill, SB 21-150 Reserve Big Game Hunting Licenses for Residents, to ease resident hunter frustration as a result of a tag allocation bias inflicted on resident hunters for decades ----when compared to other western states. Elk hunting in Colorado. Deer...

publiclandjurisdiction.com

I'm new to living and hunting in the West, specifically SW CO, but I've seen 10:1 out of state to in state license plates the last two years while scouting and hunting.

I don't know the #s like some of you guys, so if anyone wants to review the article for misrepresentation of facts I personally would find it useful.

 

[tdhanses]

Couldn't resist piggy backing off the other thread this morning. Came across the article yesterday.

No State Treats Resident Big Game Hunters Worse than Colorado- Tag Allocation- Hiding in Plain Sight. The Secret to the Elk and Deer Tags in Colorado. - Jurisdiction on Federally Owned Public Lands

Colorado has finally proposed a Senate Bill, SB 21-150 Reserve Big Game Hunting Licenses for Residents, to ease resident hunter frustration as a result of a tag allocation bias inflicted on resident hunters for decades ----when compared to other western states. Elk hunting in Colorado. Deer...

publiclandjurisdiction.com

I'm new to living and hunting in the West, specifically SW CO, but I've seen 10:1 out of state to in state license plates the last two years while scouting and hunting.

I don't know the #s like some of you guys, so if anyone wants to review the article for misrepresentation of facts I personally would find it useful.

Thing is you won’t see a change in the SW, residents hunt other areas mainly, outside of otc units if you look at the draws many don’t get enough resident participation to even meet the current threshold so then the NR get a larger percentage of tags.

There just are better areas to hunt that don’t take years of points but these areas may be feeling it since more residents flock to them.

The SW is also a major tourist areas for southern states and midwest, many own properties there or have family there etc.

CO does need to make changes to it’s current system but it’ll be hard to lose the NR cash since they also give out more tags then most of the other western states combined, CO just has more wildlife and habitat and doesn’t manage the state for trophy hunting overall.

 

[woods89]

I hunted an area last fall in 3rd season, let's just say I could hunt it every year as a NR and it is not OTC. It's definitely not SW Colorado. My hunting partner is a resident so he scouts it some during the year, which helps a lot. We did some climbing and glassing from high spots, and both killed decent 6 points. Counter to the OPs experience, it appeared that a lot of residents were road hunting it like crazy. We never saw another hunter away from the road.

So there is opportunity out there, but I think a lot of people are afraid of low point units for some reason.

I really don't like the res/non res conflicts. I do think NR are being blamed a bit unfairly for some issues that are a little more complicated. I also don't mind residents getting a certain amount of priority, and I don't mind paying quite a bit more for tags. Hunters fighting hunters is going to be a loosing battle for all of us.

 

[Bluumoon]

Some of the numbers were surprising to me, made me curious if/how exaggerated they are. “Lies, damn lies, and statistics” is a favorite quote.

I’ve only hunted 2 years out here, both OTC. “ high pressure units”. First year saw what would have been a trophy bull in an CO OTC unit, last fall brought home the smallest legal bull you could harvest and was tickled for the opportunity. First year was more remote and only saw 2 other camps. This past year I was blown away by the number of camps, but still saw few people in the woods.

My plan is to start finding units that take 2-3 points and hunting OTC and/or other states between. I love the idea that I can invite family to come hunt every year, but curious how sustainable CO’s current system is.

 

[tdhanses]

Some of the numbers were surprising to me, made me curious if/how exaggerated they are. “Lies, damn lies, and statistics” is a favorite quote.

I’ve only hunted 2 years out here, both OTC. “ high pressure units”. First year saw what would have been a trophy bull in an CO OTC unit, last fall brought home the smallest legal bull you could harvest and was tickled for the opportunity. First year was more remote and only saw 2 other camps. This past year I was blown away by the number of camps, but still saw few people in the woods.

My plan is to start finding units that take 2-3 points and hunting OTC and/or other states between. I love the idea that I can invite family to come hunt every year, but curious how sustainable CO’s current system is.

The otc units produce trophy bulls every year, they are there.

Your last part is what CO needs to stop, allowing us to build points and still buy leftover or otc tags, it should be either hunt or build points but not both.