East Coast Hunter, trying to clarify OTC Rifle tags in colorado.

[davsco]

too snarky, sorry, deleted

 

[intunegp]

aha, so 'points' includes 'brow tines.' they seem to differentiate them in the wording so i wasn't sure. thanks!!

so the two points on one side plus the two brow tines on the same side equals four points. see, i'd call that an 8 pointer, but i guess out west has different terminology than back east as Colo calls that a four point bull.

It is a weird distinction, but typically western hunters would call a 4 point an animal with 4 points on each side, whereas southern/eastern hunting would use the total number of points. It makes it much clearer when you use the "4x4, 5x5, 6x6", etc. nomenclature. The bull shown is a 4x4.

It's simplest to think of it like this...assuming all points are over one inch long, a bull needs four points on one side. That's four projections of antler that are more than an inch long. If he doesn't have that, the brow tines need to be five inches or longer. I would be extremely hesitant to shoot an elk on the assumption that his brow tines were over five inches unless it was blatantly obvious, and I have only ever seen one where that was the case.

I've elk hunted in Colorado for the past 12 years.,.it is usually pretty obvious almost right away whether you're looking at a legal bull or not. If you're looking through glass trying to nitpick how long a given tine may be or whether or not there are actually four points there, it's probably not a legal bull. I know the regulations exist because animals that tiptoe either side of the regulation exist, but I've known every bull I killed was legal almost the moment I laid eyes on him.

 

[cnelk]

The reason for the 5” brow tine is it covers the antler (4 points or greater) in case it’s broken above.

All a legal bull needs in ONE 5” BROW TINE - minimum

 

[cnelk]

I called this youngster in over a dozen years ago. I was already tagged out and out scouting.

At first I thought he was a spike, but as he got closer I saw he had a brow tine.

Is he a legal bull in Colorado with a 5” brow tine?