Unsuccessful in CO 82 Again

[Mossyhorns51]

Reason it's called elk hunting instead of elk shooting,

 

[bigharge]

Well it sounds like I need to soup up my sons bike to try and beat everyone else to the 400” elk in the baca!

He drew a 4th season tag and reading this thread doesn’t give off a lot of confidence, lol. Will be a fun time with him regardless. Luckily 4th season is only 70 tags so it won’t be quite the zoo you experienced, but the elk will be nice and conditioned after 2nd and 3rd season. Thankfully his youth tag is only 100 bucks so it won’t be too expensive of a camping trip! If I’ve got a jetboil of coffee and a pair of binos on a tripod I won’t complain too much about just staring at trees


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[TXJaeger]

OutdoorAg:

You are so correct about the elk hunting in Colorado. I was born and raised in Colorado and Colorado Parks and Wildlife only care about one thing. BUDGET! That's it. the herd counts are a joke and they can't manage them if they were correct. Here is the deal, Colorado has the cheapest out of state tags out there for elk and deer. If you are coming from the east then Colorado is closer than Idaho, Montana, Utah etc... Parks and Wildlife don't care, just keep giving out tags in otc because the majority of hunters will not see an elk so no loss there but they get the revenue. They said it themselves in a meeting when members of the Colorado Bowhunters Association were present. They said they were open to ideas as long as it didn't effect their BUDGET!

Colorado is over run with hunting pressure and recreational pressure. Parks and Wildlife will not do what is needed to correct the issue because of their BUDGET. They will not raise the price of Non resident tags, they will not limit the number of hunters in OTC units etc.... (This goes for Archery and Rifle seasons) Yes, I am lucky I live here and get a resident Archery tag. I have killed all my elk on OTC tags. For years I was taking one every year and sometimes passing on shots. Over the last 4 years, I have gone deeper and into areas I knew held good numbers of elk. I am now seeing more hunters than elk (period)!!. In addition, elk behavior has changed due to this pressure.

As a resident I would like to see the elk numbers increase and the hunting get better, if that means I can't hunt some years, so be it, if that means I pay more for a tag, fine. I even spoke to some DOW Officers who know that tags need to be limited and they said so in meetings. But that all fell on deaf ears to the commission board. They just want the money, I get it they have to pay the bills but at what point is there a balance?

It has got so bad that for the first time, I have been looking out of state to hunt elk. So, I soon will be one of those non-resident guys. Those of you thinking of Colorado for Elk, I would look at ALL my options first, prior to donating my money to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

One other HUGE factor is the amount of people in Colorado, hiking, mountain biking etc. The numbers of "recreational" people doing these activites in the mountains has had an impact on deer and elk numbers. There was a study done by a DOW Officer who has since retired, on the impact of recreationalist, hiking, biking etc. on the elk herds in the Eagle County area. Long article, but he indicated that this type of activity negatively impacts the calving related to the elk population. Maybe the hikers and bikers need to buy a license to ride or hike to help cover the BUDGET. Hunters should not be the only people funding CO Parks and Wildlife

Yep, I ranted a bit.. But when States like Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Montana can do it better, Maybe Colorado needs to change as well.

No to worry. Wolves are on the way. That will solve all these problems. Travesty to see mismanagement and ballot box biology threatening one of CO’s greatest resources.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

Talk to the mennonites around the range. Supposedly they wreck elk on the regular.

 

[BigCountry49]

What dates did you hunt? You may have been in the right place at the wrong time.

 

[GringoBling]

They will not raise the price of Non resident tags

That's just flat out false. In 2006, I believe my non-res bull tag was around $525 and it was only like $3 to apply + a few more dollars for a habitat stamp. It's gradually gone up since then. This year, that same tag cost me $670 + I have been forced to purchase a non-res small game license that I will never use (and habitat stamp) which costs about another $100. Plus I apply for deer and pronghorn, so I'm in for about $800. So, in 15 years it's gone up ~$250, which is almost a 50% increase. Of all the CPW revenue generated by elk licenses, it is about 85% that comes from non-residents. CPW absolutely relies on non-residents to fund its budget.

Now, here's what CPW has not done during that time...they have only raised the cost of a bull elk tag from about $40 to $55 in 2021. A measly $15 over 15 years. With the booming population in the state, there's barely any cost for guys with no experience or real desire to try their hand at elk hunting. That's where all your crowds are coming from. And those are day hunters that storm areas and just cruise around on roads.

 

[Smfigari]

Well it sounds like I need to soup up my sons bike to try and beat everyone else to the 400” elk in the baca!

He drew a 4th season tag and reading this thread doesn’t give off a lot of confidence, lol. Will be a fun time with him regardless. Luckily 4th season is only 70 tags so it won’t be quite the zoo you experienced, but the elk will be nice and conditioned after 2nd and 3rd season. Thankfully his youth tag is only 100 bucks so it won’t be too expensive of a camping trip! If I’ve got a jetboil of coffee and a pair of binos on a tripod I won’t complain too much about just staring at trees


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How’d your son’s 4th season go?

 

[NebraskaHunt]

Hunted BACA one year and it wasn't pleasant. I wouldn't even say that people waited till legal time to come in. People blatently broke all the rules and we were pretty disappointed. We did see elk and harvested one, so we went back the next year. That year, they legalized electric bikes, and everything went to shit. Might have well let trucks on the BACA. Again, we saw elk, but the experience was terrible. Went to a different unit after that.