Land owner tags/vouchers in Colorado question (s)

[netman]

A friend of my best friend has invited my buddy and I to elk hunt his ranch in Colorado. He owns several hundred acres in a very desirable unit. I told my buddy that the unit requires quite a few PP to pull a tag. My buddy said we are getting land owner tags/vouchers. How does this work? I ask as I don’t want to miss the draw in case something falls through. I looked up the Colorado regs and seen the process but I’m not sure how many tags are available to the land owner. We are getting the tags for nothing. I guess what I’m asking is what should I be asking? I’ve never hunted a private ranch just public land. I’m just making sure.
Thanks

 

[Riplip]

You will receive a signed voucher from the landowner that entitles you to then purchase a tag for the particular animal and season (Elk, 1st rifle). You will take that voucher (which must be signed by landowner or agent of landowner) to a licensing agent and this will allow you to purchase the tag. I don't believe the landowner tag/vouchers have been issued yet for 2019 so the only thing I would caution is to make sure that this friend has indeed received these tags in the past and expects to receive them again this year. A couple hundred acres is not that big of a parcel here in Colorado. I believe the property needs to be 160 minimum acres to qualify for a single landowner tag, so once again just make sure that he has more than one.

 

[netman]

He has several hundred acres. I just learned he got 7 tags last year. We have to wait until June to find out. Since he has pulled the tags in the past it makes me feel a lot better.

 

[Riplip]

Seems like a lot of tags for several hundred acres, but if he is trustworthy it should be good. Since you wont find out until June, you could certainly hedge your bet and apply in the draw. If you end up getting the landowner tag you can turn you tag back in up to a certain point. May cost a few bucks in non-refundable fees but at least you will be hunting either way. - ( I am fairly certain you can do this, but you should double check the regs on turning tags back in for refunds.)

 

[netman]

I’m going to hedge my bet by applying in Montana and New Mexico. Plus mule deer and antelope in two states too.

 

[30338]

If it takes quite a few points to draw, I would for sure not pay the $100 to get a point. I would probably suggest a really nice gift of some sort to the landowner in the event you do get the tag.

 

[5MilesBack]

He owns several hundred acres in a very desirable unit.

If it's a very desirable unit, even the LO vouchers are hard to draw and they sell for big bucks. The NW CO unit vouchers go for $15k and up. However, there is a split between unit wide vouchers and private land only vouchers. In many units (not the top tiers) the private land vouchers go un-drawn because they just don't have enough land to hold elk consistently, they are harder to sell because of that, and they just don't want hunters on their property.

If you're getting the vouchers for free, this buddy must know the landowner very well and be very good friends. Even lowly 2-5 point units can command $2k+ for those vouchers.

 

[Riplip]

If it's a very desirable unit, even the LO vouchers are hard to draw and they sell for big bucks. The NW CO unit vouchers go for $15k and up. However, there is a split between unit wide vouchers and private land only vouchers. In many units (not the top tiers) the private land vouchers go un-drawn because they just don't have enough land to hold elk consistently, they are harder to sell because of that, and they just don't want hunters on their property.

If you're getting the vouchers for free, this buddy must know the landowner very well and be very good friends. Even lowly 2-5 point units can command $2k+ for those vouchers.

Yes good info here.

 

[ahlgringo]

A quick look at the numbers from the hunting statistics will echo what 5milesback is saying. Last year unit 2 took 7 Landowner pref pts to draw an archery either sex tag, unit 10 took 9. The LPP draw works the same way as public- no tag drawn equals 1pp per year per application.

Several hundred acres in the LPP is actually not much. 160-639 acres still gets you only 1 application, over 640 gets you one unit wide and one private land only. You have to get up to 1240 acres to get 2.

Now it is true that with the new system you also can get leftover choices 1,2,3 with each application if there are tags still available- but obviously from the above numbers these are not going to be top tier tags. They will be 2nd,3rd,4th season cow tags. How someone drew 7 tags off several hundred acres in a top tier unit- I would be interested to know- unless several hundred is really over 1240, or if the parcel were chopped up into several 160+ pieces.

I crunched the numbers on the LPP and hunting statistics for fun a couple of years ago to see if there was value in purchasing land for the hunting rights it gave you. Basically my formula was to see how many points it took to draw in the public draw vs landowner draw- that gave me a ratio number for specific hunts. There were very few units that it gave a significant advantage to (ratio number over 5, public/private years to draw). Basically there was 2 units that stood out- but one of those was close to the front range and would cost millions to even purchase 160 acres.

Regardless, as stated in the above posts, if it is really a top tier hunt in a top tier unit- consider yourself super fortunate, those tags do sell for ALOT of cash, as you can see why- they are not easy to acquire.

 

[sndmn11]

You need to also be cognizant of the type of LO voucher it is. Some are valid unit wide, and some are valid only on private property. Shooting an animal on public land with a Private Land Only tag is still poaching. Receiving a tag via voucher is also irrevocable permission to hunt the specific private property that the voucher came from, but not permission for other private parcels that entity may own or may be owned by others.

 

[204guy]

This definitely seems like a case of, if it sounds to good to be true....

 

[netman]

Thanks for the reply’s! I really do appreciate them.