Colorado wilderness crowding

[KyleR1985]

There are still wilderness areas in Colorado???
The push to get more folks involved in hunting or any outdoor recreation is not about saving teh public land and its not about saving the wilderness its about GREED. its about the folks that make and sell the gear making more and more money all the while talking about how they are saving the wild places - I call BS

Who’s push? The companies selling gear? Yeh I’ll buy that.

But it’s not everyone’s push.

And we can go down a real rabbit hole if you want to talk about corporations exploiting resources for the gain of a small handful of folks. I’m sure that no one here has benefited from a situation like that..........

Some perspective on all of human history, and the future that lay ahead of us might be in order. It makes being mad at out of staters and FNG’s for getting in the way of folks who ‘deserve’ the woods more because of some arbitrary reasons seem kind of petty.

 

[KyleR1985]

Also, and I ask in all seriousness, as a Cajun watching as folks from all over the country pay a few measly bucks to catch all our fish (happily I might add, the more the merrier!), - how can I help prevent declining elk numbers, and habitat encroachment (both human traffic and development) out west? I have a little disposable income and a tiny amount of free time I'm willing to devote to it. If someone could point me in the right direction, I'd be happy to make an effort to help with the problem.

I suspect that most folks who get involved with resource management at the state and federal level didn't do it for money. And they are working with the resources we give them, via vote or complacence. They might be incompetent, or inadequate, but much of that blame doesn't rest on their shoulders. So thanks to those folks for putting in more effort than most of us!


As far as the hunting equipment companies who are exploiting natural resources for securing wealth is concerned, it seems a bit hypocritical to be a member of a forum sponsored by said companies...

Another thing to keep in mind is those companies, by and large, are owned or being bought up by private equity. You know who's money is backing private equity? A large portion of the common folk in this country.

I think a better idea would be to do all we can to expose as many folks as possible to wild places (hunting or not) in an effort to recruit folks willing to fight for them. When you're born in a big city, and you're never exposed to nature at a young age, and you grow up thinking it's Disney land out there, of course you'll have a jacked up perspective on things. Getting mad at folk's ignorance doesn't do nearly as much good as eliminating it. We should also understand that there simply is no way to win the battle long term. As long as human beings collectively think they have a right to do with the planet as they please, and that all other life here is less valuable than our own, we continue down this path. That's a completely different conversation way too deep for a fun hunting/outdoor forum! But keeping it in perspective helps us realize that the goal is much shorter term. We are protecting these resources for ourselves, and our kids/grandkids. Impart in them the wisdom to do the same for theirs, and keep it as long as we can.

 

[handwerk]

You must remember by having so many OTC elk tags in Colorado you're pulling in all those out of state dollars, perhaps the real driver of most decisions. Residents pay $54 for a EE rifle tag, Non residents $661, In addition I suspect the average non resident elk hunter spends another $1000 in Colorado during their hunt.

 

[ColoradoV]

Just make sure that you thank the Colorado bow hunters association for making it their top priority keeping otc..

No doubt 100% the crowing will get worse...

Thanks again CBA!!

 

[Rmauch20]

Impossible, hunter numbers are declining so fast that we my be extinct in 5 years.

I doesn’t help that #backcountryhunting is what duck hunting was during the duck dynasty days.

I am hoping the coming recession that I keep hearing about will cut into everyone else’s hunting funds.

 

[RockinU]

It cracks me up that so many think that because their favorite trailhead is crowded that hunter numbers must not be in decline. Never mind the steady and consistent decline in license sales, there were out of state hunters in my parking place!

 

[Newtosavage]

All politics are local, so they say.

It is ironic that so many residents tell NR's to "do your own work and find your own spot" when they complain so much if they have to do the same thing every now and then.

Hunting the same area every year is boring to me anyway. I look at a trailhead full of vehicles as a great excuse to find a new honey hole. You know, the same way I found the last one I had. It's part of the thrill of the hunt to me.

 

[JWP58]

It cracks me up that so many think that because their favorite trailhead is crowded that hunter numbers must not be in decline. Never mind the steady and consistent decline in license sales, there were out of state hunters in my parking place!

Which states have declining tag sales?

 

[adamantine]

I'd say the OP had his expectations off from the beginning. Expecting any "trailhead" to not be loaded with multiple cars (esp in a widlerness area) in CO or ID is crazy.

I've had totally solitary hunts with 12+ cars in the trailhead lot. It's pretty easy to find solo locations and/or out of the way spots.

I'd view this as a positive thing and think about where all those people are pushing those elk... they don't evaporate, they just go somewhere else! Think of it this way, all those guys are herding the elk for you, you just need to figure out where they went.

 

[5MilesBack]

It cracks me up that so many think that because their favorite trailhead is crowded that hunter numbers must not be in decline. Never mind the steady and consistent decline in license sales, there were out of state hunters in my parking place!

If you studied up on the stats at all you'd see that archery hunters in Colorado have tripled in the last ~20 years. Does that crack you up? I'd say that's a steady and consistent increase. And a whole gob of those are coming from out of state. Yes, it's been getting more and more crowded every year. But to all the city dwellers, nothing is as crowded as where they live so they're good with it no matter how many others are out there. For other's.........another camp site within 5 miles might be too much. It all depends on one's perspective.

 

[RockinU]

Which states have declining tag sales?

I"m not going to look up state by state for you but a quick round of googling tells me that at the peak in 1982 Americans bought 28.3 million hunting licenses, and that last year they bought only 15.6 million.

If you are genuinely curious, the information is out there to be found.

 

[come2elmo]

Which states have declining tag sales?

I found this article from NPR so even someone from Boulder might believe!

Decline In Hunters Threatens How U.S. Pays For Conservation

The steady drop is expected to accelerate in coming years, threatening the much-lauded model through which the U.S. has paid for conservation.

www.npr.org

To be fair I don't know if it breaks the info down by state as I didn't read all of it because...well it is NPR after all and I will be one of those dirty out of state guys come first rifle season...

Speaking of dirty out of state guys.

If I was angry about too many like minded individuals hanging out where I like to go you know like church, Dallas Cowboys football game, anywhere that serves beer; according to the animal liberation front I would blame New Jersey. It seems they lost roughly 100k hunters between 1973 and 2003.

(I am not putting the alf link as I don't want them getting any additional web traffic so you will just have to trust me, I need a bath.)

If your are a real data driven individual and are from New Jersey and have time on your hands you can run the numbers available on the USFWS website.

USFWS- WSFR Historical License Data

 

[RockinU]

If you studied up on the stats at all you'd see that archery hunters in Colorado have tripled in the last ~20 years. Does that crack you up? I'd say that's a steady and consistent increase. And a whole gob of those are coming from out of state. Yes, it's been getting more and more crowded every year.

One subset of hunters in one locale does not dictate the trend. Small and local subsets can obviously trend up during an overall downturn.

 

[Newtosavage]

I'd say the OP had his expectations off from the beginning. Expecting any "trailhead" to not be loaded with multiple cars (esp in a widlerness area) in CO or ID is crazy.

I've had totally solitary hunts with 12+ cars in the trailhead lot. It's pretty easy to find solo locations and/or out of the way spots.

I'd view this as a positive thing and think about where all those people are pushing those elk... they don't evaporate, they just go somewhere else! Think of it this way, all those guys are herding the elk for you, you just need to figure out where they went.

I love this response. Glass half full. We need more of that kind of thinking.

 

[5MilesBack]

One subset of hunters in one locale does not dictate the trend. Small and local subsets can obviously trend up during an overall downturn.

I don't think the original poster or anyone else on this thread (except maybe you) was talking about national averages or national trends. Most of us deal with what we experience. So that can crack you up all you want, but that doesn't change the facts of what we experience out there, regardless of what your national stats show.

 

[cnelk]

One subset of hunters in one locale does not dictate the trend. Small and local subsets can obviously trend up during an overall downturn.

Increase of 20,000+ bowhunters is definitely not 'one subset of hunters in one locale'

 

[JWP58]

I"m not going to look up state by state for you but a quick round of googling tells me that at the peak in 1982 Americans bought 28.3 million hunting licenses, and that last year they bought only 15.6 million.

If you are genuinely curious, the information is out there to be found.

Just seeing if you knew...

 

[JWP58]

I found this article from NPR so even someone from Boulder might believe!

Decline In Hunters Threatens How U.S. Pays For Conservation

The steady drop is expected to accelerate in coming years, threatening the much-lauded model through which the U.S. has paid for conservation.

www.npr.org

To be fair I don't know if it breaks the info down by state as I didn't read all of it because...well it is NPR after all and I will be one of those dirty out of state guys come first rifle season...

Speaking of dirty out of state guys.

If I was angry about too many like minded individuals hanging out where I like to go you know like church, Dallas Cowboys football game, anywhere that serves beer; according to the animal liberation front I would blame New Jersey. It seems they lost roughly 100k hunters between 1973 and 2003.

(I am not putting the alf link as I don't want them getting any additional web traffic so you will just have to trust me, I need a bath.)

If your are a real data driven individual and are from New Jersey and have time on your hands you can run the numbers available on the USFWS website.

USFWS- WSFR Historical License Data

Have you been asked survey questions by the U.S. fish and wildlife? I havent....

 

[Lawnboi]

Not just happening there. Ever see 10 guys hunting a 40 acre piece? Pretty common to see here anytime in November.

 

[come2elmo]

Have you been asked survey questions by the U.S. fish and wildlife? I havent....

Yes, last two years myself and my daughter have both received a survey however my two boys have not. Mine have been big game related and my daughter's have been waterfowl.