tag draw failure...

[Rich M]

I live in Florida and have difficulties drawing tags within an easy drive from home. Takes 3 to 5 years to draw a tag for a 3-day or a 5-day hunt. FL is at about 22 million folks and still growing.

I drive 5 hrs to hunt in GA and they just clear-cut my 500 acre lease. Gonna be an interesting fall.

You aren't alone.

If I'm not mistaken, CO has resident an nonresident draws. As the population increases, your hunting opportunities will continue to decrease. And they say there are less hunters. I say bs.

 

[spike camp]

I’m going to kill an elk in a few weeks, otc, archery...much less than 250 miles or 4 hours from FC.

Two previously posted replies that stuck out to me-
First, you just don’t know what you’re doing, yet.
Second, killing an elk in CO isn’t even the same activity as killing Whitetail in PA.

Kiddo’s, job, cranky wife- not anyone’s problem.
If you’re passionate enough, you’ll make it happen.
That’s what it takes, most of the time.

 

[CBECK61]

come on now. Hey i dont mind bring wrong. Im trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong to be able to hunt more. Im merely pointing




No I hear you, and I can take the heat. And i don't mind being wrong/critiqued. That's how I'll learn. I don't think lots of these dudes are hearing me out though. I'll get lots of hunting in this year, and it'll be great. The frustration is that it's a lot different taking a week off and driving to some spot, and not minding the drive, compared to always no-matter-what having to drive 250 miles to load the gun. If it would have been this complicated growing up, I may not have ever had the time afield to even get into the sport. I get their criticism though - CO has lots of OTC opportunities and it's a damn beautiful state. And yes, it's freaking crowded, and yes, I could move elsewhere (which I may).

OP I applaud you for taking the lashings and not slinging mud back. Admitting you are frustrated during the learning process can be a difficult thing to do. Most the hunters on here take things pretty seriously and your original comments seem to lack knowledge of the system and pointing fingers elsewhere or stating a feeling of entitlement to a tag that we would all love to have.

Growing up in the midwest the only thing I knew about the lottery was that it exisited. When I moved west at age 21 it was very eye opening. It took me much longer than anticipated to learn my new home states draw and even longer to figure out how to put my self in the best position possible. A LOT of mistakes were made along the way. After two years I was in a place financially that I could start build points elsewhere. The next thing I learned was that every state was different, just as complicated, and constantly changing. If you love like I assume you do it makes the end result even more worth while. My self and my hunting buddy truly enjoy the shell game in the off season of trying to diagnose every piece of data and all the rules on every state to put our selves in a good position.

Advice from me is always approach this resource with consideration for those on the opposite end of the keyboard. There are some awesome dudes willing to cough up years of experience if the questions are coming from a good place. Entitlement won't get you very far or complaining about the system we all play by.

 

[netman]

I would like to insert my gripe. My landowners tag fell through. So this morning I was on the CPW site and the phone at the same time. One hour and fifteen minutes later I spoke to a representative. My choice of tag was unavailable. Dang

 

[wind gypsy]

Not reading all of this but the OP only drew 1 of 5 limited entry tags and woe is me? Sounds like there is opportunity for at least elk, mule deer, and pronghorn in OP's home state. Doesn't sound all that bad to me..

 

[Jaker_cc]

Sounds like some guy moved to Colorado and is trying to make it like PA. I will never understand the mindset of people that move to a place and complain that it isn’t exactly like where they just left. GTF out of here with that

 

[sndmn11]

@mporter012 Do you realize that as I write this, there are leftover tags for multiple species within an hour and a half of you, and still an OTC elk option within the same?

 

[timekiller13]

You guys out west have no clue what an orange army really is.

Try 21 trucks parked at the gate to access a 450 acre piece of public land.

Try 250 hunters on 3500 acres of public land.

Or how about counting 29 archery hunters on opening day at 2100 acre piece of public.

 

[bsnedeker]

You guys out west have no clue what an orange army really is.

Try 21 trucks parked at the gate to access a 450 acre piece of public land.

Try 250 hunters on 3500 acres of public land.

Or how about counting 29 archery hunters on opening day at 2100 acre piece of public.

So I'm struggling to figure out what this has to do with this discussion, but ok, I'll bite! I moved to MT from MN so I do have a pretty good idea what you are referring to, and I agree with you: Hunting in the east sucks because it's so overcrowded. I think this is part of the reason the OP is getting such a hard time because we all realize how blessed we are to have these amazing public lands at our fingertips so to hear a guy complaining about how he "can't hunt in my backyard" and has to drive 4 WHOLE HOURS is pretty mind-boggling.

 

[RamDreamer]

Sounds like some guy moved to Colorado and is trying to make it like PA. I will never understand the mindset of people that move to a place and complain that it isn’t exactly like where they just left. GTF out of here with that

Bingo!

 

[5MilesBack]

I've been hunting Colorado for 40 years now........and I like it!

 

[Overdrive]

I'd really would like to see how guys are filling out their application in the Draw. I know several residents that still don't understand the draw and they're native to Colorado like I am. But they always go to the same old "the state gives all the non-residents the licenses for the money" That is completely idiotic to say the least. 20-30% are allocated to non-residents depending on number of licenses available. So take 1000 license available, well let's say 250 are allocated for non-resident, OK, now that leaves 750 for residents, well that's before the landowners get their cut so let's say there's 100 Landowner licenses allocated. So now we're down to 650, well wait now you've got your youth licenses (which no one should complain about) let's be conservative and say 10% so that's 65 licenses allocated to youth hunters. So now your sitting at 585 licenses available to the public, well being close to the Front Range and people want to hunt "their backyard" you have a lot more people applying for those areas. So now you have let's say 2000 people applying for 585 available Resident licenses, So tell me where all the licenses are going to non-residents. Your real competition for the license you want is OTHER RESIDENTS plan and simple. OTC is looking better and better isn't it.

 

[manitou1]

Keep in mind that on average, 20% tags are allocated to non-residents, but they pay for 80% of game management. Think about that for a minute. Eighty percent of the wildlife preservation, sustainment and management is credited to the lowly non-resident... who only gets allocated 20% of the states tags.
I am sure ALL of us would like to see fewer crowds on public lands and get all the tags we want, but unfortunately that isn't reality. When I was a kid in grade school, the U.S. population was 250 million. Now we are at 320 million. It is only getting more crowded. We used to camp in the mountains 25 years ago and during the week there were few others. Now it can be a challenge to find a good camp spot without being surround by a moderately sized village. I don't like it either, and Covid isn't fixing the problem, lol.

 

[mporter012]

If you don't have a single tag you want by August it's not bad luck, it's piss poor planning. .

I do have a buck tag I want.

You guys out west have no clue what an orange army really is.

Try 21 trucks parked at the gate to access a 450 acre piece of public land.

Try 250 hunters on 3500 acres of public land.

Or how about counting 29 archery hunters on opening day at 2100 acre piece of public.

Keep in mind that on average, 20% tags are allocated to non-residents, but they pay for 80% of game management. Think about that for a minute. Eighty percent of the wildlife preservation, sustainment and management is credited to the lowly non-resident... who only gets allocated 20% of the states tags.
I am sure ALL of us would like to see fewer crowds on public lands and get all the tags we want, but unfortunately that isn't reality. When I was a kid in grade school, the U.S. population was 250 million. Now we are at 320 million. It is only getting more crowded. We used to camp in the mountains 25 years ago and during the week there were few others. Now it can be a challenge to find a good camp spot without being surround by a moderately sized village. I don't like it either, and Covid isn't fixing the problem, lol.

Yea Covid is insult to injury. Hunting pressure varies greatly state by state. Where I grew up, the hunting pressure has declined even since I was in high school, and the hunting has gotten better and better. My Dad is dumbfounded at how few hunters there are in our area. Read the Outdoor Life article, "Why We're Losing Hunters" and you'll see, in fact, hunter numbers are declining and declining. It just so happens, there are exceptions, and I think Colorado must be one of those exceptions. And as some pointed out here earlier, I clearly don't really understand the nature of tag allocation for migratory species (elk/mule deer), so I'll def rescind some of my earlier complaints. I'll stick to the point that it's really irritating to have nowhere to hunt after work...

 

[sndmn11]

l'll stick to the point that it's really irritating to have nowhere to hunt after work...

Only by your own choice. You can have a tag for deer, elk, bear, and pronghorn around FOCO without using any points. As I said above, there are still tags available. Was your move involuntary?

 

[S.Clancy]

Grab an A list and B list OTC elk tag and go hunt. Check the leftover list as tags are added periodically. Still plenty of chances to get tags


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No s***. Stop complaining, go hunt. You only live once.

 

[lif]

come on now. Hey i dont mind bring wrong. Im trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong to be able to hunt more. Im merely pointing




No I hear you, and I can take the heat. And i don't mind being wrong/critiqued. That's how I'll learn. I don't think lots of these dudes are hearing me out though. I'll get lots of hunting in this year, and it'll be great. The frustration is that it's a lot different taking a week off and driving to some spot, and not minding the drive, compared to always no-matter-what having to drive 250 miles to load the gun. If it would have been this complicated growing up, I may not have ever had the time afield to even get into the sport. I get their criticism though - CO has lots of OTC opportunities and it's a damn beautiful state. And yes, it's freaking crowded, and yes, I could move elsewhere (which I may).

Fair enough. Sorry for wise ass remark, I’ve been doing the western hunting game for 25 years. It’s never been easy in my time to get tags. I don’t disagree with the sentiment of your comments. I wish, and think, that locals should have better access to hunting their local areas. Unfortunately it hasn’t been that way for 25 years or more. It’s nothing new unfortunately. Good luck in your ventures.

 

[mporter012]

Only by your own choice. You can have a tag for deer, elk, bear, and pronghorn around FOCO without using any points. As I said above, there are still tags available. Was your move involuntary?

Id have to go back and look at my 3rd/4th choices, but i didnt draw an elk archery tag in 7/8/9/19/191 or whatever that cluster is or 20 and didnt draw a bear or antelope tag locally either. I put in for a different area for buck and drew, which is great. And luckily i should be able to get an OTC in that area too. I'll do some door knocking and hopefully find a spot to hunt private antelope. Clearly i need a better strategy next year.

 

[justinspicher]

I live in SW Colorado and if I play my cards right I can get three elk, three deer, an antelope, a bear, and mountain lion in the same year, but I dont do draws. However, I am still out hunting from september to march most years between me and the group of guys I hunt with. We kill animals every year. Everything is a choice and you cant be mad at the game if you’re not playing it right.

 

[Felix40]

“Moved to Colorado to hunt”......lives in the third biggest city in the state and complains about not being able to hunt locally.