Covid Hunting Pressure So Far

[dplantz]

What have y'all been seeing? Has the feared covid driven uptick in hunting pressure panned out, or has the end of making more off unemployment than many did off their jobs, driven people off the mountain and back to work? And more specifically, are you seeing increase, same, or decrease of nonresident hunters?

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[5MilesBack]

I went up and set up my base camp this week and there were a whole gob of people out and about........hunters and recreationalists. All the main roads are full as well, more traffic than I've ever seen in CO in my lifetime. That's probably due to Covid, Labor Day weekend coming up, end of summer, and just more people living in CO these days as well. But there are a ton of out of state plates. They are certainly not staying home, that's for sure.

 

[Elkdreamer]

I went up and set up my base camp this week and there were a whole gob of people out and about........hunters and recreationalists. All the main roads are full as well, more traffic than I've ever seen in CO in my lifetime. That's probably due to Covid, Labor Day weekend coming up, end of summer, and just more people living in CO these days as well. But there are a ton of out of state plates. They are certainly not staying home, that's for sure.

Same thing here in Oregon. Lots of people out.

The bulls are not talking so I came home. Heading back out after the holiday. I hope that gets rid of some people.

Good luck all

 

[Crghss]

Our local WMA is packed With a lot of first timers. And its 95 degrees out with 90% humidity in south florida. Brutal.

 

[Felix40]

I’ve only seen two other hunters in the field the last couple days. Lots of hikers, bikers, and hippies...as usual in Colorado.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

A ton of backpackers and hikers. Hunters about the same amount as in the last several years.

 

[amassi]

5x more hikers in the wilderness this summer over last.
Assuming many are new to backcountry hikes because they are littering and pooping everywhere. We packed out 25# of trash last week and a ozark trail( Walmart?) Tent that had gotten thrashed and just left behind.
Even with the smoke lately still packed trailheads, watched a caravan of 70-80 hikers walking down the pct

Hoping it quiets some after this weekend

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[Deplorable77]

Pct is pretty disgusting. It amazes me how much trash is discarded along it, ironic considering a good chunk of the hikers are self proclaimed "environmentalist"

5x more hikers in the wilderness this summer over last.
Assuming many are new to backcountry hikes because they are littering and pooping everywhere. We packed out 25# of trash last week and a ozark trail( Walmart?) Tent that had gotten thrashed and just left behind.
Even with the smoke lately still packed trailheads, watched a caravan of 70-80 hikers walking down the pct

Hoping it quiets some after this weekend

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[Rob5589]

Pct is pretty disgusting. It amazes me how much trash is discarded along it, ironic considering a good chunk of the hikers are self proclaimed "environmentalist"

Environmentalists in talk, slobs in practice. You learn real quick to avoid the Labor Day weekend.

 

[Fatcamp]

100° and a huge amount of recreationalists.

 

[nettereo16]

NC dove opener on public was busier this year than last year

 

[huntermedic]

Hopefully it starts to die down before rifle season

 

[Lawnboi]

Been more nuts since Spring. People have the time and money to burn

 

[dplantz]

So... summary sounds like mostly just an increase in recreationists, though some seeing increase in hunters. Be interested to see how things progress. Decrease in recreationists might be a post labor day thing, but decrease in hunters, if that happens, might be showing funds running out. I'm real interested to see if there's a wave of used gear showing up on here in the next few months.

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[IdahoElk]

People everywhere here

 

[Rky Mtn Farmer]

I saw a ton of archery hunters while bear hunting, was a little surprised by the numbers. One guy I ran into figured it was because of other units being closed down do to fires. I expected labor weekend would be crazy, so I planned on leaving before the weekend. What surprised me was the amount of people that showed up on Thursday. The general consensus from people I know in Denver and surrounding areas is they have been cooped and the mountains are the only relief.

 

[huntermedic]

From you guys experience in CO are there still a lot of recreationalists out during rifle seasons or does it die down?

 

[Travis Hobbs]

I have been completely blown away at the amount of people in the mountains this summer. Campgrounds, roads are packed. No sports, concerts etc I guess people are headed to the hills.

As far as hunting, way more archery hunters in the field than I'm use to. And a lot of out of state plates from the west coast. We always see a few from Washington/Oregon in SE Idaho, but mostly during rifle season. Seems like many are hunting archery this year. I guess I’d be fleeing those commie states every chance I could especially as of late

 

[Dioni A]

Haven't been in the hills much but southern Idaho is flooded with Californians. I fear that were about to get another influx of them with all the political unrest in the socialist parts of the world. It hardly resembles the place I grew up.

 

[Rky Mtn Farmer]

From you guys experience in CO are there still a lot of recreationalists out during rifle seasons or does it die down?

In the past, here in CO it seemed like after Labor Day things would die down some. Especially once the nights start getting cold. Don’t get me wrong though even in third and fourth rifle season if there’s a nice couple of days you will run into hikers or mountain bikers. Of course that’s on a normal year, and 2020 has proven to be anything but normal.