Rise of popularity in elk hunting

[Bar]

Just got back from a dark timber hike at 11,000ft and it was fun. Man, I love it up there.

Vanish... I wouldn't feel the same in I lived in unit 2. I live in 481. Not a popular unit and not a good successs rate. It's also very hard hunting. I'm not looking for anything easy. As a matter of fact. I'm not looking for anything. I'll get along just fine. I know how to get tags and find solitude. I've been at this awhile now.

 

[elkyinzer]

I grew up deer hunting. I still love deer hunting. On an excitement scale 1-10, deer hunting is about an 8 for me.

Elk hunting is about a 10 on a bad day and about a 30, off-the-charts, balls-to-the-wall crazy when a bull bugles all pissed off at you from 20 yards away. And it's in the beautiful Rocky Mountains during a beautiful time of year. And it incentivizes me to live a healthy lifestyle and stay in shape. And if I kill one it feeds my family for about two years. I could go on...

As much as the narcissist social media queens have popularized it with their workout selfies and all, when the product is that good, you can't expect to be the only one that enjoys it. Add in the informational and mapping resources that we have today and it's not hard to see the cause of this "problem". And I am not sure it is a problem that has a desirable solution...

 

[Bar]

Actually, I like muley buck hunting too. I always considered getting a mature buck as harder than elk. At least for me. It's getting a buck tag that I can't get on a regular basis.

 

[poisonarrow]

I love scouting new areas. It is as much fun to outsmart fellow hunters as is the hunt.

 

[Beendare]

Elk hunting is about a 10 on a bad day and about a 30, off-the-charts, balls-to-the-wall crazy when a bull bugles all pissed off at you from 20 yards away. And it's in the beautiful Rocky Mountains during a beautiful time of year. And it incentivizes me to live a healthy lifestyle and stay in shape. And if I kill one it feeds my family for about two years. I could go on...

.

No need to go on....you nailed it!

 

[Jon Boy]

Sure they do, but even $5k isn't going to get you exclusive access to good elk hunting land.

Yes it will. Just gotta shop around. Would be the last thing id do personally though.

Sent from my VS987 using Tapatalk

 

[ChrisS]

In order, it's probably:

1) Increase in population;
2) Lower barrier to entry thanks to internet/TV (forums like this one!);
3) Increase in disposable income (it seems most guidded sheep hunters are in their 50s and 60s); and,
4) successful F&W management (can't sell tags unless you have something to hunt).

With regards to 1, there may be more people trying it, but there won't necessarily be more people successful (thus lowering success rates overall, but maintaining a fairly steady harvest). It's just easier to go. There are more people who can drop a $1-1500 on travel and a tag than there are people who can drop $7-10k on travel, tag, and a guided hunt.

Although, according to CO, license sales have been pretty steady for the last decade or so:
"Over the past 25 years, CPW has gradually increased the number of licenses sold. Substantial increases in fishing licenses offset the decrease in hunting and combination licenses (Figure 1)."

And as for them not managing their revenue they're doing more today with less revenue: "The revenue we have accrued from licenses sales has increased fairly dramatically, from about $45 million in 1990 to almost $70 million today. However, when adjusted for inflation, the real value of our license revenue has declined over time. $45 million in 1990 would have had the value of over $140 million today. The main reason for this decline is periodic resident price increases that fail to keep up with inflation."

I understand people feeling selfish about their spots, but the state can't focus on the individual hunter anymore than they can manage wildlife for the individual animal. There are too many people who would like to hunt and not enough animals to go around.

Here's a tale of two camps. I belong to a deer camp in the Adirondacks of NY. There are just a handful of camps along the road that is surrounded by a 160,000-acre wilderness area. Our camp was started in 1962 by a group of ex-guides. The two oldest guys in camp joined in 1963 and 1965. The original members are dead or no longer able to get into the mountains. All of the current members joined after the club was started. All hunting is done on foot and on public land. The annual dues are cheap (<$300) and really only go towards maintaining the cabin and paying taxes, propane, etc. The deed and club rules explicitly state that if the camp is no long a hunting club, then ownership reverts to the local township. Right now we're about 20 member strong with a handful of people in every age group from 14 to 73. A few miles down the road is a neighboring camp started around the same time. It's a nice cabin with running water (a big deal) from a nearby waterfall. The original members were very hesitant about taking on new members. It was limited to a few sons and nephews. Eventually life took over and the kids stopped coming to camp. There are only two members still alive. Both are in their 70s and just waiting around for other one to die so that the remaining member can sell the camp.

 

[5MilesBack]

Yes it will. Just gotta shop around. Would be the last thing id do personally though.

Ya, last resorts generally cost you more. And I wouldn't even consider leasing anything under 5k acres, and would need lots of timber. There would have to be a pretty good track record of decent elk living on that small an area to make it worth while.

 

[Bar]

All the money Colorado makes on pot should cover any shortages at the DOW. We live here for the wildlife and terrain. Put some of the drug money into it.

 

[orionthehunter1]

I said it before and I'll say it again when DOW merged with parks that was pretty much the demise of DOW and good budgeting. No way you can take on an entity that has been in the red nearly its whole existence and be successful. They do need to do something with the NR cap to align with other western states though. That last bill with the resident tag increases was just poorly written and presented or it would of passed. I would pay double for an elk tag ($86.00) if it would help align NR tag allotment.

 

[Bar]

I agree. I knew it was a bad move at the time.

I'd also pay some more for tags if they use the money wisely.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

If hunters only hunted their own state their would be no legends at f the hunt such as Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Jim Corbett, Fred Bear, Etc....... you couldn’t ever limit hunters to their “own” state.... federal lands are the nations lands and are your birth right to hunt there... for a fee of course lol

 

[bluetick78]

"Federal lands are the nation's lands", that is true. "And are your birthright to hunt there", absolutely untrue. The game department of any state, the legislature of any state, or the voters of any state can take that PRIVILEGE away from you. It is absolutely not a right. Read the Bill of Rights. Those are your rights. I used to hunt bears with hounds in California, if it is my Right then how come I can't do it anymore? Hell, I used to use hounds for bears in Wyoming too. Why did they take away my Right? Because it is not a Right, it is a Privilege that we as hunters are given the opportunity every single day to try to retain. And yes, realistically states could do away with non-resident hunting and there would be nothing we could do about it. The federal land belongs to every citizen of this country. The game animals and non-game animals, fish, birds, ect. are owned by the state and it's citizens. Everyone is welcome to come use the land, but the animals can and will be regulated by the state. Do not be confused about what is your Right, and what is merely a Privilege that could be lost at any time for any reason.

 

[Jblack86]

I think the increase in popularity is due to

1. Joe Rogan. He talks about hunting and has hunters on his podcast. Has a wide fan base. Millions of downloads a month.
2. The increasing desire to be in the wild
3. The desire to have hormone free, organic meat.

 

[chasewild]

When I do meet other elk hunters in the field, I don't meet many in the 40-55 age bracket. I often see large camps of 55-70 y/o hunters and pairs of 25-35 y/os.

I don't think I've ever met a woman over 35 in the field, but my wife hunts and I've met several other 25-35 y/o women in the field, too.

I predict a huge crash in hunter numbers in 10 years as the baby boomers start losing the energy and the "wilderness athlete bowhunter" fad passed. I'd even bet that baby boomers (most retirees have plenty of time) and millennials (especially those who haven't started on a family) make up a large part of multi-state hunters.

^^^ This ^^^

It occurred to me this weekend scouting for elk and deer, that anyone that started hunting because of a social media influence really won't last when it comes down to it. It's hard, you're rarely "successful" as compared to other ventures like biking/bcskiing/climbing, etc., and very few people will dedicate the time and energy and have the PATIENCE to be successful. The patience is the killer -- everyone I meet wants what they want, how they want it, when they want it. And with predilections like that, they'll move on when they want, how they want, etc.

In the mean time, the guys and gals that have an honest desire to go hunt, even when it's not "successful" will continue to hunt year in and year out, learn the country, become more successful, and hopefully, stop posting on every social media outlet their scouting pics or grip and grins.

 

[MOcluck]

Social media, the internet, tv. All of these factor in on the increase of hunting pressure. And all of these are not going away. It's sad to say but they are now ingrained in our society. The fact of the matter is WE as hunters have to adapt and overcome. Our best bet is to except it and plan accordingly. The true hunters will do just that. The rest can bit#h and moan from there recliner. If you truly want to hunt, do what it takes to hunt. The pressure, animal numbers, laws etc. Are always changing. And they continue to do so. Learn to adapt or stay at home.

"Think, it ain't illegal yet"

 

[tmwtrfwler]

I think everyone has nailed the resons for increased popularity of elk hunting. They are the same reasons for the increased interest in duck hunting. We will gain some hunters for the long term and others will fade away. It helps that the economy is doing better and people feel that they have the cash to finally go after it. I know that's how I feel at the moment and helped my decision to finally take the plunge.

The glaring observation I got from this thread though is that we as hunters need to collectively foster the new hunters to become lifelong hunters. As noted above the average age of hunters is climbing steadily. We aren't replacing hunters at a pace required to sustain our passion in the best interest of the wildlife and public land funding. I know the flat brim, KUIU cool, hipster farm to table crowd is strange to most of us but the reality is they are on our side of the debate. Hunting, and its future, need those folks to continue hunting. We either encourage them or we lose them.

I am going on my first elk hunt this October. Born and raised a deer hunter then got into waterfowl. My attraction to elk hunting started by just being involved with hunting. Knowing folks who had gone west to elk hunt, seeing it in magazines, etc. I view elk as the ultimate hunt (others may view bighorn, or another game species). I see the hunt more as an adventure than a trophy hunt. It's taking me to a place where the hunting is far more hunting than what we do in VA (ie sitting in a deer stand waiting for the golden hour and picking one out). I can't wait for the challenge, adventure, and the mental test to deal with the mountains. I'm pumped to tell the story to people who haven't hunted yet and hope it encourages them to hunt anything. It's a connection to our most basic animal instincts that many don't get. They should!

 

[johnhenry]

I started hunting just 3 years ago at the age of 56. I grew up in Salt Lake City son of a CPA. Got a College education and was an avid anti hunting person. Even though I grew up in the mountains and loved the outdoors I could not except hunting and what I viewed as gross mismanagement of it all. Well years later I moved to a very small town in western Colorado and became a farmer. Over those years I learned alot and realized I was pretty much an idiot. So here I am growing food for people and myself but buying all my meat - from local ranchers but..... Finally hunting made complete sense to me. So without any internet exposure to anything to do with hunting I read ever book on elk and deer hunting and rifles and bullets etc I could get my hands on. I had lots of help from lots af great people here. the first year I did two elk hunts and one dear hunt on public land and I was hooked even though I did not harvest an animal. Now I regret all those years I had a misconception of what hunting was and is and all the years I missed out on doing something I would have loved so much. Last year I got my first elk.

Last night I had elk burgers with fresh tomatos, onions, lettuce and garlic from my garden. Often times my meals are now 90% home grown and locally harvested foods.

 

[Bfcayson]

I started hunting just 3 years ago at the age of 56. I grew up in Salt Lake City son of a CPA. Got a College educatin and was an avid anti hunting person. Even though i grew up in the mountains and loved the outdoors I could not except hunting and what I viewed as gross mismanagement of it all. Well years later I moved to a very small town in western Colorado and became a farmer. Over those years I learned alot and realized I was pretty much an idiot. So here I am growing food for people and myself but buying all my meat - from local ranchers but..... Finally hunting made complete sense to me. So without any internet exposure to anything to do with hunting I read ever book on elk and deer hunting and rifles and bullets etc I could get my hands on. I had lots of help from lots af great people here. the first year I did two elk hunts and one dear hunt on public land and I was hooked even though I did not harvest an animal. Now I regret all those years I had a misconception of what hunting was and is and all the years I missed out on. Last year I got my first elk. Last night I had elk burgers with fresh tomatos, onions, lettuce and garlic from my garden. Often times my meals are now 90% home grown and locally harvested foods.

What a great story, often the connection with food is what ultimately brings non/anti hunters to the realization of where food actually comes from.

 

[mossyhorn]

I have two points to make. I think that the internet/social media movement has hyped elk hunting so much. It has driven so many towards this hunting lifestyle. You see it all over Instagram and Facebook. So my first point is that people no longer take a week or two off of work and go hunting in their home state. Making one trip a year. They are making multiple trips to multiple states, every year. So I don’t think we’re seeing an increase in hunter numbers, rather we’re seeing more people hunting more days and more places.

Along these lines, no longer are people content just applying in their home state. People are applying for everything and anything, in every state. So it looks like more hunters but it’s not, just people putting in way more apps.

My second point is right back to social media and all these small companies that have sprouted. There’s money to be made here!!! All these guys putting out YouTube videos and amassing followers are making money doing it! Everyone hails these guys as being so wonderful for hunting and don’t get me wrong some of them are great people but are they helping or hurting hunting? Take the born and raised guys... great guys. But after their YouTube series last year, Wyoming saw a massive increase in apps. Coincidence?

Every video they, and all the others, put out, they are making money. And in the process they’re doing everything they can to bring more people into the fold, short of setting up camp for them and tying an elk to a tree.

It’s like Randy Newberg and all his videos on how everyone should be applying in Arizona! Why? So we can make terrible draw odds even more terrible? These guys have made this their livelihood and they have to continually come up with videos and content for people to click on to keep that cash flowing in.