Colorado GMUs 80/81 are now draw for archery

[trophyhill]

There was some data submitted for 80/81 that the percentage of NonRes/Res was 65%/35% with NonRes outnumbering the Res.

Ive hunted it since '09. Those numbers wouldn't shock me. People from all over the country hunt there. I met a guy from RI up there this year. Over the years i dont remember ever meeting anyone i dislike no matter from CO or elsewhere. Its the overcrowding that blows.

You had an idea a while back about otc for residents and LE for nr's. I like that. Id like it even more if NM would do that. As a resident it still feels like a lottery.

 

[prm]

No surprise to me. Hunted there many years, got to crowded for me.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

This past September while hiking and fishing in 81 we saw a camo clad fat guy merrily cruising along on an E-bike 3 miles inside the Wilderness boundary. At the trailhead, which looked like a small village or encampment reminiscent of the show M.A.S.H., was his circus style canvass tent with several e-bikes parked out in front. I made the call so hopefully his group got tickets or at the very least a warning, though I doubt they got either.

 

[tdhanses]

In the meeting they showed some stats and it was roughly 50/50, which is crazy when you consider most states only give 10-20% of the tags to nonresidents

It’s because residents don’t hunt these units they can draw better units with 0pts or hunt otc closer to home.

When not enough residents even apply, nonresidemts get more tags, just look at the states for the other units close to these, even the older draw tags don’t get much resident love.

 

[NickyD]

It’s because residents don’t hunt these units they can draw better units with 0pts or hunt otc closer to home.

When not enough residents even apply, nonresidemts get more tags, just look at the states for the other units close to these, even the older draw tags don’t get much resident love.

That might be true for some residents, but not all. One of the OTC unit I hunt is similar distance from the metro area. I’ve been interested in these units but got turned away from the stories of the pressure

 

[tdhanses]

That might be true for some residents, but not all. One of the OTC unit I hunt is similar distance from the metro area. I’ve been interested in these units but got turned away from the stories of the pressure

My family is in the unit i hunt, it used to be otc, only reason i go there is because it’s lose to them. They don’t know many locals to the units that hunt there, most go elsewhere but of course some residents do hunt but it’s easy to tell where residents don’t hunt, look at the draws and see if all units hit their resident allocaton, a number do not and these are for draw tags that were draw before the change in elk archery.

 

[Gapmaster]

I’m from AR myself and have bow hunted CO elk for over 20 years. Always stayed clear of the Okie-Tex units. Heard it was a circus down there. I personally hate to see any opportunities disappear, but it’s understandable. I just wish there was a realistic answer to the point creep. I’ve been saving some points and have always hunted OTC. Thinking the best route is LE unit every 2-4 yr thing. And like stated before, when they allocate 1,000+ tags for these “new” LE units, what’s the point? Those SW units had tons of leftovers and were still overrun.

 

[commandoNate]

The OTC units along the northern border have to be coming next don't you think?

 

[ToolMann]

Looks like I'm a bit late to this party. I've been hunting 81 for about 7 years now after being invited by a buddy who has family ties down there. Beautiful country. We would alternate 1st and 2nd season as it took 1 point to guarantee the 1st season draw. I quit being willing to hunt 2nd season there due to all of the people and my wife and I have started exploring other units with a muzzleloader instead of rifle. Not hating on the Texans, I get it, but man if it didn't look like a white pickup truck sales lot with Texas plates. Lots of locals too coming up from the valley. I did take my first and second bull there, have camped, dirt biked, backpacked, etc., all in that unit. The area holds some very special memories for me now. But 100% behind making it a draw. Wouldn't hurt to make 2nd season draw too, except for people I know who rely on it being OTC and getting out with their families, regardless of success. Double edged sword I guess. Plan to go back in 2023 for a drop camp hunt; try to get away a bit more from the crowds.

 

[ncstewart]

Across AR, OK and TX, tears of distress will be spilled into many a What-A-Burger trey. Proclamations such as:

“I guess we don’t live in a free country anymore”

“The libtards and sheeple ruined elk hunting”

And

“First they came for my game cams and I said nothing”

Will be declared. Followed by promises that “CO will never get another dime of my money!” Before promptly getting on FB and posting

“We’ll, we’ve been hunting unit 80 for 31 years and now we’re forced out. Looking for any info on units X, Y, and Z. Not looking for anyone’s honey hole, just trying to put my dad on a good bull. He has hemorrhoids and doesn’t get around as well as he used to it, so somewhere close to the truck is ideal. We’ll be coming up with our 71 foot trailer with our SxSs, wall tent, generator and freezers. If anyone has some good info on where we can camp, that’s be great. Also, what the best boot for DIY OTC elk hunting in Central CO for sept?”

Naw man. We just think your governor and hubby smoking to much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LuvsFixedBlades]

I'm ready for the whole state of Colorado to go to draw only. Either that, or put a right-sized quota cap on the OTC unit tags like they do the general tags in MT or ID. I'm not out to exclude people, I'm interested in improving the hunter's experience....all age class/trophy potential discussions aside.

Hunting related revenue brings more tourist dollars into the state of Colorado than the ski industry does though, so I doubt that either will ever happen.

 

[Mountainlaurel3]

Hunting related revenue brings more tourist dollars into the state of Colorado than the ski industry does though, so I doubt that either will ever happen.

Can we get a citation on that? Haven't looked it up, but seems highly unlikely.

 

[Gerbdog]

Google search tells me 4.8 bil for ski and 3.25 bil for hunting. Pretty impressive numbers all things considered. That is not broken down into what is or is not tourist dollars, someone would have to spend more time on it then me to pull that out. I also wonder if that hunting revenue doesnt overtake that ski revenue on super dry years like this year where we didnt get a lot of snow until January (and even then, its been DRY).

Ah well, personally i contribute to both those numbers, had some great ski condition days this year, only wrecked a few times and didnt break a leg so.... now onto hunting season where i'll contribute to the hunting state fund.

Currently fighting COVID. Fingers crossed i dont get any of those weird long lasting effects. I miss taste and smell though.

 

[LuvsFixedBlades]

Can we get a citation on that? Haven't looked it up, but seems highly unlikely.

My source is Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

I'm a hunter education instructor for CPW (DOW before that) and when I was taking the training classes to get certified a few years ago they referenced the fact that hunting related revenue dollars eclipsed that of the ski industry. I was skeptical also, so when I asked how it was quantified, they said it was for all tourist income related to the activity....which includes accommodations, restaurants/food, liquor sales, sporting goods, licensing, etc. It wasn't purely tags vs. lift tickets, which is a stat I'd also be interested to know.

If I remember correctly, hunting was about 10% higher than the skiing related revenue overall. If you are really interested, I'd call CPW HQ in Denver and ask someone in the Hunter Ed department. They were pretty bullish on making us aware of that comparison in our classes.

They had the hunting industry pegged at bringing in around $4B per year in the stat they gave us....so, that's a massive piece of cake the state doesn't want deteriorating. That's why I made the comment about CPW never right-sizing tag quota's. If they cut tags by 25%, then the state stands to lose around a billion dollars.

 

[MallardSX2]

Even if they do give out a lot of tags it will still keep OTC hunters from visiting on the weekends which will help some of the issue they are facing there. Personally I wish they just went to draw state wide for archery in most units and left the tag numbers high. This would keep people from bouncing from unit to unit to unit bouncing elk off the mountains as they go.....

MAKE PEOPLE BURN THOSE POINTS.....wont happen if 800 licenses go to leftover though....

 

[trophyhill]

I thought about a shoulder mount on a bigun a couple years ago, but with 8' ceilings, i did a euro instead.

 

[Dos Perros]

Build points in a given year, or hunt OTC; but not both.