Why do they still have a cow hunt at all? I deer hunted in the general area this year. I had a conversation with one of the wardens down there and he wasn't very optimistic about the elk heard. He didn't agree with what the DOW had listed for elk numbers and trends on the website.
The Meateater podcast had a Colorado Warden from Eagle on a couple of months ago discussing the same situation in his area. I don't remember him mentioning hunting pressure during the rut as being a problem. Development, lack of fire, and hikers were his big concerns. Hikers pushing the cows around before and during the calving season was a big deal to him. He talked a lot about the increased bear numbers but for some reason didn't correlate that with the elk drop.
Good chance you don’t bump elk with your bike cause they no longer frequent the areas with high trail traffic. The elk end up being “displaced” by the frequent human activity.
They did reduce the cow tags this year. I had one and several other locals commented that they were in short supply this year.
As far as pressure from other user groups, I’m not so convinced this is as much a problem as some present it to be. The trails are well established and few, if any other users besides hunters venture off the trails. After the first snow in the high country, or, in low snow years once it gets cold, that activity drops to almost 0. When we say “pressure”, I’m assuming we mean bumping, disturbing elk. I can only think of one occasion that I’ve bumped elk while mountain biking in the high country, something I do a lot of. (I have bumped deer numerous times). However, I’ve certainly bumped elk while hunting and scouting mostly because I was in an area off trail where hikers etc don’t go. Experiences vary, but that’s mine.
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The idea that "non consumptive" users don't have impact on herds is absurd and ignores the literature. This is the exact same argument we faced in litigation with regards to roads -- "animals aren't adverse to vehicular traffic, the animals will use the roads for egress during winter, roads serve as fire breaks, roads and traffic don't have any tertiary impacts such as extending the reach of other trails, etc."
Put a few dozen trails through an aspen grove and let me know how "disturbed" the elk are.
Put a new trail system in on critical winter range and then let me know how many elk are sticking around.
MOreover, you've also posited an artificial timeline by the use of "snow" to argue that activity decreases. No shit. But, again, we're learning that if you screw with the elk up front, then breeding gets pushed back, calve birth gets pushed back, and thus calves don't make it through 6 months or a year.
Then, we've got the unauthorized trails that spider off of every "established" trail that happen every summer. In Durango, "more trails" are chanted with ferocity.
The article is unfortunate in tone and I'll be working on a response. But the one thing I agree with is that our elk herd is not where it should be. But that's just facts.
Trying to turn this into “it’s the hikers and bikers causing all of the pressure during hunting season” seems misdirected. Everyone is causing some type of pressure. The town of Durango itself has a very significant habitat impact. But, come elk breeding season, you’re going to have a hard time convincing me that hunters are not the predominate disturbers of elk and elk movements, barring all existing infrastructure such as established roads and developments.
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Totally. But, in some sense, that is a permanent or semi permanent displacement. In a larger sense, sure, that is displacement, but on a day to day basis, it’s not really the pressure cited in the article since the elk avoid those trails anyway.
If 90% of the cows are giving birth one could assume they were successfully bred despite the hunter interruptions.
If the major underlying issue is calf survival through the first 6 months of life, then one could reasonably believe that Elk hunters aren't a major contributor to calf mortality. Certainly not by disturbing the "rut".
That article just seems to poorly written with to many opinions and very little factual data to support. It sounds like there is an elk population problem but I don't believe that article does a good job or informing folks of it.
Permanent or long term displacing of elk from prime calving and feeding grounds would seem to me to be a large issue.
The article you linked contradicts itself several times. It seems to me to be quite poorly written. I wonder why you so adamantly defend it.
"The calves die and we don't know why", "The rut hunters are disturbing the breeding", "90% of cows give birth", "The calves die before 6 month age", "Hunters will need to give up some rut opportunity", "Fish and Game reduced the herd to much", "We are trying to grow the herd, but having issues", and on and on.
If 90% of the cows are giving birth one could assume they were successfully bred despite the hunter interruptions.
If the major underlying issue is calf survival through the first 6 months of life, then one could reasonably believe that Elk hunters aren't a major contributor to calf mortality. Certainly not by disturbing the "rut".
That article just seems to poorly written with to many opinions and very little factual data to support. It sounds like there is an elk population problem but I don't believe that article does a good job or informing folks of it.
Permanent or long term displacing of elk from prime calving and feeding grounds would seem to me to be a large issue.
IMHO, The obvious place to start when looking for a solution is this: Commercial outfitters should have absolutely no influence whatsoever on hunting regs and tag allotments. -should not even have a voice in the equation of what should be 100% a biological decision.
It’s unfortunate the article fails to mention the changes to predator hunting as a factor.
I just don’t think that the “us against them (every other user group)” is an appropriate nor logical response to the article.
Why not? It has always been "them against us". Why shouldn't we fight back. Colorado is on its last legs, and headed for destruction much like our country is. Liberalism has been and is taking over at a ridiculous rate. If we sit back and accept their garbage analysis, they win. But.......since we are outnumbered by a very large margin, our voice is nothing but an almost silent irritation to them achieving their goals.