Colorado elk units OTC/limited discussion

[svivian]

I agree, but that wasn't the question.

Never said you were wrong.

 

[11boo]

It’ll be my first choice. Might even burn my points(2) for the lock, prolly not.

Lots of guys will just go elsewhere and not bother.

 

[Phaseolus]

Anybody have a guess how hard the grand mesa will be to draw? Either sex bow elk. I need to stay close to home so that’s probably it for me.

My guess is residents will draw with 0 points. That’s what I am going to try and do.

 

[PassCreek]

That time of year when I spend countless hours clicking through regs/units/stats/etc just doing research.. I'm poking around Colorado and notice there are units that are OTC for bull elk rifle seasons 2 and 3, then limited/draw for season 4. I find that a bit curious...what is the logic behind that do you think? My best guess is that its more of a winter range area for those elk so the state limits pressure during that season...any other ideas?

4th seasons was supposed to be for trophy Deer hunting, so Elk hunting was limited so the Deer hunters had a better experience. 1st Season was supposed to be for trophy Elk hunting, meaning fewer hunters out there during that season. It seems like they've kind of gone away from that a bit, but that was the original intent from what I remember.

 

[trophyhill]

Things always start with good intentions. But things seem to always have un intentional consequences where hunting is concerned

 

[Hnthrdr]

Don’t like this trend of seemingly picking on archery seasons for converting OTC to draw arguably archery has far less impact on elk than the rifle seasons… heck if it weren’t for muzzle loader or glassing a lot you might even feel alone on the mountain in September since guys aren’t lobbing projectiles 700+ yards into herds often… I get they are addicted to the otc rifle money, but it’s sucking that archery is bearing the brunt of units going draw. Might be generalizing but many archery hunters seem to know what’s going on a little more than the rifle crowd.

 

[Hnthrdr]

4th seasons was supposed to be for trophy Deer hunting, so Elk hunting was limited so the Deer hunters had a better experience. 1st Season was supposed to be for trophy Elk hunting, meaning fewer hunters out there during that season. It seems like they've kind of gone away from that a bit, but that was the original intent from what I remember.

Would be nice if they only had deer hunting 4th like, elk hunting during 1st if that’s what it was intended for

 

[dneaster3]

Archery has less of an impact on the herds, but with unlimited tags and the increase in popularity it is certainly not negligible.

I wish they would make many more (all?) the OTC rifle units into draws or at least put caps on each unit. Still issue plenty of tags, but reduce the size of the orange army back down to a reasonable number for the landscape. Make 1st season elk only, 2nd/3rd seasons elk+deer, and 4th season deer only.
Each of us might have a slightly different idea on the details, but the "anyone and everyone can get a tag" model is not good for hunt quality nor, ultimately, for the habitat and the animals who live in it.

But as has been pointed out here and many places elsewhere, a responsible and measured approach like this would require CPW to cut off their own source of funding. Not likely to happen anytime soon.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Archery has less of an impact on the herds, but with unlimited tags and the increase in popularity it is certainly not negligible.

I wish they would make many more (all?) the OTC rifle units into draws or at least put caps on each unit. Still issue plenty of tags, but reduce the size of the orange army back down to a reasonable number for the landscape. Make 1st season elk only, 2nd/3rd seasons elk+deer, and 4th season deer only.
Each of us might have a slightly different idea on the details, but the "anyone and everyone can get a tag" model is not good for hunt quality nor, ultimately, for the habitat and the animals who live in it.

But as has been pointed out here and many places elsewhere, a responsible and measured approach like this would require CPW to cut off their own source of funding. Not likely to happen anytime soon.

I agree, I think if you moved muzzle loader to 1st rifle, that plan would be just about perfect, yet CPW seems to manage for dollars and not habitat or herd

 

[MrBlonde]

I agree, I think if you moved muzzle loader to 1st rifle, that plan would be just about perfect, yet CPW seems to manage for dollars and not habitat or herd

You can say that again.. never seen an org with so much promise that’s squandered

 

[BigLou]

I agree, I think if you moved muzzle loader to 1st rifle, that plan would be just about perfect, yet CPW seems to manage for dollars and not habitat or herd

Gentlemen,
with the greatest of respect, I must disagree with you on the last point. I agree that CPW seems to be struggling to figure out how to manage the herds, but the simple, data-driven fact, is that almost every herd in Colorado is dramatically over "objective" and has dramatically increased over the last 20 years.. Yes, I realize there are some recent exceptions, and the hard winter in the northwest portion of the state is a standout example. The CPW has depended on hunters as the primary means of managing herds, which is the reason why access in Colorado is so prolific. Ya'll need to quit fussin about it and start killing more elk before the CPW finds a "different" way to manage the herds down to "objectives"....

 

[Zeke6951]

11boo said, "It’ll be my first choice. Might even burn my points(2) for the lock, prolly not.
Lots of guys will just go elsewhere and not bother."

I was under the impression that any time a hunter applied for any draw unit as first choice it cost him all of his PP. No?

 

[fn68]

You use all your preference points if you draw your first choice license.
You will be back to zero points for the next year.

 

[11boo]

11boo said, "It’ll be my first choice. Might even burn my points(2) for the lock, prolly not.
Lots of guys will just go elsewhere and not bother."

I was under the impression that any time a hunter applied for any draw unit as first choice it cost him all of his PP. No?

Not sure how I worded that, but PP was first choice. I drew my tag as second choice. Now I have 3 PP lol.