Evidence of sex in Colorado

[Jpsmith1]

1. If a carcass is cut in pieces or deboned, evidence of sex needs to be attached to a quarter or another major part of carcass. All portions must be transported together

How does that work when packing an animal out?

 

[ckleeves]

How does that work when packing an animal out?

I believe they are referring to “transporting” as more like in a vehicle to the processor or your house. I have been checked before while packing out and I think pretty much all wardens understand that a solo guy isn’t packing everything in one trip. I still always have a picture or 10 of the punched tag,the quarter with evidence of sex on it, the quarters all together and the carcass after quartering/deboning just so there isn’t any question on tagging and taking all the edible portions.

Sure the warden can still hike in with you to check everything but I think just showing that you know and understand the laws and went to the effort to photograph everything goes along way with them.

 

[Jpsmith1]

I believe they are referring to “transporting” as more like in a vehicle to the processor or your house. I have been checked before while packing out and I think pretty much all wardens understand that a solo guy isn’t packing everything in one trip. I still always have a picture or 10 of the punched tag,the quarter with evidence of sex on it, the quarters all together and the carcass after quartering/deboning just so there isn’t any question on tagging and taking all the edible portions.

Sure the warden can still hike in with you to check everything but I think just showing that you know and understand the laws and went to the effort to photograph everything goes along way with them.

Yeah, I mean, I haven't had the opportunity to pack an elk out, but I've seen em and they're hefty critters, even the small ones, and I'm thinking I gotta get my weight up by a LOT first.

 

[skullclnr]

here's one for you. my buddy killed a bull a few years ago. we quartered it up and left EOS on on hind. we packed out a load, i took a rear and he had a small pack i think and took the fronts. we came back later to get the next load and a bear had found the kill. the quarter with evidence of sex was gone. we eventually found it, the bear had drug it off, but what if he had eaten it? what if it was gone? take as much video and pictures as you can and explain the situation?

 

[30338]

Pack the one with sex on it first. And the rest of your question depends on the outstanding field agent you run into. Photos may or may not help.

 

[ckleeves]

You can leave evidence on both hinds also. It’s easy enough to do a testicle on one side and a d**k stub on the other. It’s always best when it’s your first time to try to get it on the first side so you have a second chance.

Even when it’s your 100th time it’s still not a bad idea. Just last year on a bull my wife killed I did a perfect skinned out testy and then gracefully lopped it off as I slid it into a game bag. No idea why I did it. But the opposite quarter I still had a chance at and didn’t lop it off that time lol.

 

[paul1k2k]

Yep just go slow when you get to that groin area. It's easy to get in a rush and realize you've just about lopped everything off.

 

[CMF]

Per the CO sheep webinar last night, "Evidence of sex, would be, of course the horns, or....". Also goes on to explain leaving the genital for each sex..

The sheep brochure reads a little differently from the elk. The elk has bullet 3 "detached heads are not evidence of sex". The sheep doesn't say that, so from my understanding, the head alone is sufficient. But I'm not confident in that. If the head alone is not sufficient why ever mention horns/antlers in the first place.

Seems like they should just not even mention horn/antlers and just require genitals across all species to simplify the regulation.

 

[intunegp]

Shocking, but also not, that this is so complicated. Leave a nut or a peepee or some lips attached to a quarter. That's all. No need to split them in half. Skin it if you're comfortable or leave it hairy if not...it's not going to ruin your meat and it's not like the genitals will instantly release all their hair once placed in a game bag. I'd wager plenty of guys have more than a nutsack's worth of hair and dirt on their quarters anyway.

6.) Ask why Regs haven't been updated to account for state lines and CWD risks when going home, considering CWD came from Colorado

While Colorado doesn't mandate that it is done before you leave, most states prohibit traveling across state lines with bone-in game meat...definitely some of the ones you cross to get to South Carolina. That's how the CWD risk is mitigated. CWD is not known to concentrate in the genitals, which is great because per item #4 under "Evidence of Sex" in the regs, you still need genitals attached to a quarter when you debone the meat and until it is processed for consumption.

 

[Coveyleader]

Pro tip….. if you mess it up, throw the balls in the bag anyways and if checked at the time of inspection…. “Oops the sliver of fat sinew holding them on must have broke”

 

[intunegp]

Pro tip….. if you mess it up, throw the balls in the bag anyways and if checked at the time of inspection…. “Oops the sliver of fat sinew holding them on must have broke”

I accidentally clipped them off a buck once and kept them in the game bag just in case. Sure enough we ended up getting checked while emptying trash at a campground at the end of our hunt with two bulls and a buck for the three of us.

Warden made me empty all twelve quarters out of the coolers and match them up with the respective heads, and was not impressed with my lack of knife skills on the buck even though the two bulls had their testicles firmly attached. He didn't ticket us but firmly/sternly warned me to be more careful in the future.

The whole interaction felt like he was fully expecting us to have done something wrong and the loose buck nuts was all he could come up with. Don't blame him and fully understand his attitude being that way but it just felt like being scolded even though we didn't commit any violations, I guess other than the accidental castration which I was up front and honest about. Once I got the meat packed back up we chatted for a while and he was a nice enough guy.

 

[Gerbdog]

I accidentally clipped them off a buck once and kept them in the game bag just in case. Sure enough we ended up getting checked while emptying trash at a campground at the end of our hunt with two bulls and a buck for the three of us.

Warden made me empty all twelve quarters out of the coolers and match them up with the respective heads, and was not impressed with my lack of knife skills on the buck even though the two bulls had their testicles firmly attached. He didn't ticket us but firmly/sternly warned me to be more careful in the future.

The whole interaction felt like he was fully expecting us to have done something wrong and the loose buck nuts was all he could come up with. Don't blame him and fully understand his attitude being that way but it just felt like being scolded even though we didn't commit any violations, I guess other than the accidental castration which I was up front and honest about. Once I got the meat packed back up we chatted for a while and he was a nice enough guy.

Like most law enforcers.... they deal with people carrying weapons lying to them every day for their job.... i assume after time you just expect people to be doing shady stuff everywhere and then are pleasantly surprised when they arent.

It's same experience i always have with game wardens... it always starts with feeling like theyre looking for something ive done wrong and looking to hammer me for it.... then they turn out to be good dudes, we chat awhile, and they give you a good elk hunting spot as a bonus (and there were elk there when we went)

 

[Coveyleader]

I think I mentioned before. Always include EOS on your first rear quarter to be removed as if you mess it up, you get one more chance to include a testicle with a rear quarter.

For you young bucks, alpha types, if you mess that up twice just pack a shoulder out attached to the head. You’ll be good!

 

[ChrisAU]

Funny story.

In 2023 my buddy killed a nice bull, way back in our little honey hole. While we were cleaning him on the side of the mountain, I'm bent over cutting on something and I hear my buddy ask about EoS. I clearly explain it (and this is his 3rd time on an elk kill) and he acknowledges the reminder/instruction.

That night we camp with half the bull, next day we hike that half out to the truck and head to town for ice and a night at a hotel. Get up early the 3rd day to go in and retrieve the rest of the bull, and on the way in we are checked by a warden. Its my truck, and so I'm opening coolers and I grab the bag with the EoS for him - to my surprise its a scrotum...and a tag. Well that got Mr GW all fired up, he starts asking lots of questions, we are showing him pictures, laughing about my buddy not doing what he had just asked about, etc.

Then Mr GW says "I may just have to go take a look. Tell me where the kill site is on this map."

My finger goes to the map.

GW "Ya'll aren't on horses?"

Me "No sir"

GW "Ya'll have a good day."

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

Shocking, but also not, that this is so complicated. Leave a nut or a peepee or some lips attached to a quarter. That's all. No need to split them in half. Skin it if you're comfortable or leave it hairy if not...it's not going to ruin your meat and it's not like the genitals will instantly release all their hair once placed in a game bag. I'd wager plenty of guys have more than a nutsack's worth of hair and dirt on their quarters anyway.



While Colorado doesn't mandate that it is done before you leave, most states prohibit traveling across state lines with bone-in game meat...definitely some of the ones you cross to get to South Carolina. That's how the CWD risk is mitigated. CWD is not known to concentrate in the genitals, which is great because per item #4 under "Evidence of Sex" in the regs, you still need genitals attached to a quarter when you debone the meat and until it is processed for consumption.

My #6 from a while back was tongue in cheek.

I guess where I was going with that though, is that as a NR, I'm going to bone everything out on the spot and not hassle with bones in order to prevent carrying more weight. It's got to be done anyway, might as well do it on the spot.

With technology today, and the fact that I'm going to have my smartphone on me, I'm going to take photos for further evidence that I took the animal that I had the tag for. If that means laying down on the grown with my head between the rear limbs and the sac on my forehead, I guess that's what I'll do.

I'll also have the genitals parted out for evidence and with the tag on that bag of "boned" out meat. Pun intended.

 

[Dwnw/theAltitudesickness]

Several years ago my son and I were in a otc unit in CO. Son kills a 5X5, we pack it out with eos attached to a rear quarter. All legal. Next day in camp we processed the meat into gallon ziplock bag portions. Five or six steak size portions left whole per bag, quarter mussels off the bone and cut to manageable size pieces, stew meat, roast everything packaged to be further processed at home. The eos still attached to a piece of mussel in a ziplock. Stopped at a campground on the way home to shower, get more ice etc. The ones in the group that finished showering went fishing in the nearby lake. CO stops by to check fishing liscense. Notices that my son's liscense was marked as having killed a bull. He went into a spiel about how was eos attached etc. We explained it was still naturally attached but on a smaller than quarter piece of meat. He smartly informed us that the eos had to remain attached to a MAJOR PORTION until processed for consumption. He did not ticket us but seems he thought he could have.

We were actively butchering a deer at camp and had just skinned out a deer hanging in a tree- game warden came by and asked us if we had the carcass tag on the deer- showed it to him in a zip lock baggie in the cooler we were gonna put the meat in. Told him we were about to cut it into pieces to be further processed at home. He had us remove the carcass tag and put in on a back ham. We explained that we were about to cut that piece up and put the meat in a cooler. He didn't like that idea.....