Yes. 100%!!! Also, most people are happy with their "big" "huge" 6x6 elk. I want to see 7x7 elk... or better! I want to see non-typical elk. Most of the elk, today, other than game farms, are 6x6 or less and some (maybe many) are not good quality. Today, with the ridiculous hunting pressure, the 7x7 and better are virtually nonexistent... they do not exist in any real numbers. It's time to put the entire mess on ice!I wouldn't mind seeing changes to the OTC system. For the NR talking about $$, they probably don't know that Parks Passes are being added to all vehicle registrations (with an opt-out) at $40/per, which will fund the same things their tags did - new parking lots and bathrooms at state parks, with the leftovers going to Fisheries and Wildlife.
The reality is there is too much recreation and hunting pressure in a lot of areas now due to the population boom in CO and the popularity of western hunting. The animals come out of winter stressed and starving; get pushed around by eager hikers and bikers before calving season, get ravaged by bears and lions during calving season, pushed around more thru the summer (high mtn sunrise pics, 24 hr ultramarathons, backpackers, sheep herders, etc...), bugled at to the point of going silent and nocturnal in Sept by everyone and their cousin, then picked off by rifle hunters on their way to winter range that gets smaller every year due to human encroachment. Drought and fires exacerbate the situation, as the winter range may not have regrown any food (or it grew a subdivision) and the summer range may have burned up.
The trajectory we are on is not sustainable, hopefully it's addressed before we get too far into the 'bust' part of the cycle.
That would be a good start to fixing the mess... for sure. Give it five years... there would be some huggggggggggggge elk... some actual "huge" elk.Here here! I’m all for paying non res prices and limiting non res tags to a couple dozen statewide
Didn’t those new draw units have leftovers?
You guys wanting to trade otc hunts for 1 pp hunts are laughable. Take a look at the history of Wyoming pp required to draw general tags. Follow by year. My guess is it will take 5 to draw next year in the general.
CoStick--is Colorado now charging $1200 to look at elk and deer?Pennies compared to skiing and summer tourism. They are already starting to charge other fees to recreational users, as that increases hunting revenue loses leverage. If you have been out here lately you probably noticed many people using the resources who aren’t hunting.
CoStick--is Colorado now charging $1200 to look at elk and deer?Pennies compared to skiing and summer tourism. They are already starting to charge other fees to recreational users, as that increases hunting revenue loses leverage. If you have been out here lately you probably noticed many people using the resources who aren’t hunting.
You are correct... Not apples to apples. What I laugh at is the misconception that the tags will remain easy to draw. Just like other western tags, they will get more difficult to get as time goes on.I would think 71k NR tags vs 12k NR tags would change things a bit but annual tags could disappear pretty quick.
They can charge $10 if 100 people buy the needed licenses to go to state parks and wildlife areas. The annual state parks pass is a default on car registrations going forward I believe. There are plenty of revenue streams that are being set up. An influx of population can do that.CoStick--is Colorado now charging $1200 to look at elk and deer?
All excellent points. I also think the Forest Service and BLM need to be more restrictive of hiking/biking opportunity during calving.I wouldn't mind seeing changes to the OTC system. For the NR talking about $$, they probably don't know that Parks Passes are being added to all vehicle registrations (with an opt-out) at $40/per, which will fund the same things their tags did - new parking lots and bathrooms at state parks, with the leftovers going to Fisheries and Wildlife.
The reality is there is too much recreation and hunting pressure in a lot of areas now due to the population boom in CO and the popularity of western hunting. The animals come out of winter stressed and starving; get pushed around by eager hikers and bikers before calving season, get ravaged by bears and lions during calving season, pushed around more thru the summer (high mtn sunrise pics, 24 hr ultramarathons, backpackers, sheep herders, etc...), bugled at to the point of going silent and nocturnal in Sept by everyone and their cousin, then picked off by rifle hunters on their way to winter range that gets smaller every year due to human encroachment. Drought and fires exacerbate the situation, as the winter range may not have regrown any food (or it grew a subdivision) and the summer range may have burned up.
The trajectory we are on is not sustainable, hopefully it's addressed before we get too far into the 'bust' part of the cycle.
You and 3 other huntersHere here! I’m all for paying non res prices and limiting non res tags to a couple dozen statewide
And a 90/10 allocation to res/nrI wouldn’t mind if Colorado went to an all draw system for elk.