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Hunt licenses see brisk sales despite fire, CWD
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Outdoor Editor
Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - After all the tea leaves had been sifted and the crystal ball finally cleared, certain observations may be made about the upcoming Colorado big game season.
It may surprise some skeptics to learn that, in this time of forest fire and chronic wasting disease smoke, more hunters applied for special elk and deer licenses for the 2002 hunt than the year before.
Division of Wildlife computers reveal that more than 198,000 hunters bid for special draw elk licenses in April, 25,000 more than in 2001. Deer permits also proved more desirable, 144,000 against 135,000. That this process occurred before fire season and before much of the overt publicity about CWD hasn't altered hunter determination much, if another key statistic is to be believed.
Less astonishing, few wanted anything to do with the primary area of infection of a disease. Consider this telling set of numbers: DOW allotted 2,570 bull tags for Game Management units 7 and 8, along the Laramie River Valley, part of the area traditionally infected with CWD. Only 431 were claimed. Similarly, more than 1,000 bull licenses went unclaimed in units 9, 19 and 191, north and west of Fort Collins.
Collectively, these units supply nearly one-third of the bull licenses available when leftovers go on sale Aug. 13, one week from today.
Deer hunters also were put off by offers in the endemic area. Of the 1,700 buck and doe tags available, more than 1,000 went begging.
That a total of approximately 36,000 specified elk tags - 26,000 cows and 10,000 bulls - will be available during this second-chance sale speaks more to the fact that so many were allotted in the first place.
A 33 percent plunge in hunter success last season on top of the continuing expansion of statewide elk herds against a backdrop of mild winters left the Division of Wildlife desperate to reduce the elk population by every reasonable means. The most glowing incentive involved slashing the price of a nonresident cow elk tag to $250 as a carrot to reconnect with the many thousands of out-of-staters who balked at last season's price hike.
Although DOW computers aren't prepared to surrender that information quite yet, a reasonable observer might conclude that nonresidents grabbed off a significant portion of the extra tags. The other part of the inducement involves the opportunity to shoot two elk - one cow and one bull - in more than 40 game management units on the Western Slope, a lovely lure for any visitor eager to bring home a load of meat.
In any case, DOW offered a record 120,000 cow tags for 2002 in hopes of cropping the herds to some extent.
The immediate question becomes whether hunters will gobble up the leftover elk tags next week in the aftermath of the forest fires and growing publicity about CWD. A greater long-range concern is how many nimrods will step up to the counter to purchase bull licenses in October and November.
That telling aforementioned indicator suggests few hunters will be deterred.
"As of now, we've had far fewer requests for refunds than a year ago, about 600 compared to 1,000," said Larry Stohl, a DOW budget analyst.
DOW operates a remarkably liberal refund program; simply turn in a license before the season starts and you get your money back, no questions asked. The fact that so few have taken the offer in the wake of assorted fires and fears seems to bode well for the fall hunt.
Meanwhile, hunters who didn't connect in the first go-around will line up when the gates open at 8 a.m. The leftovers include not only the 36,000 elk permits but an additional 11,000 buck and 8,600 doe deer, along with a scattering of antelope, black bear and fall turkey tags. The buck deer are a bonus; no second-chance buck licenses have been offered since Colorado converted to draw-only deer licenses three years ago.
At most DOW offices around the state, tags will be distributed on a first-come basis. In Denver, Fort Collins and Brush, a special wristband process assigns random positions in line, avoiding the crowding and rancor that permeated the queue in earlier years. Mail applications are available on the DOW website, http://wildlife.state.co.us/leftoverlicenses/
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Outdoor Editor
Tuesday, August 06, 2002 - After all the tea leaves had been sifted and the crystal ball finally cleared, certain observations may be made about the upcoming Colorado big game season.
It may surprise some skeptics to learn that, in this time of forest fire and chronic wasting disease smoke, more hunters applied for special elk and deer licenses for the 2002 hunt than the year before.
Division of Wildlife computers reveal that more than 198,000 hunters bid for special draw elk licenses in April, 25,000 more than in 2001. Deer permits also proved more desirable, 144,000 against 135,000. That this process occurred before fire season and before much of the overt publicity about CWD hasn't altered hunter determination much, if another key statistic is to be believed.
Less astonishing, few wanted anything to do with the primary area of infection of a disease. Consider this telling set of numbers: DOW allotted 2,570 bull tags for Game Management units 7 and 8, along the Laramie River Valley, part of the area traditionally infected with CWD. Only 431 were claimed. Similarly, more than 1,000 bull licenses went unclaimed in units 9, 19 and 191, north and west of Fort Collins.
Collectively, these units supply nearly one-third of the bull licenses available when leftovers go on sale Aug. 13, one week from today.
Deer hunters also were put off by offers in the endemic area. Of the 1,700 buck and doe tags available, more than 1,000 went begging.
That a total of approximately 36,000 specified elk tags - 26,000 cows and 10,000 bulls - will be available during this second-chance sale speaks more to the fact that so many were allotted in the first place.
A 33 percent plunge in hunter success last season on top of the continuing expansion of statewide elk herds against a backdrop of mild winters left the Division of Wildlife desperate to reduce the elk population by every reasonable means. The most glowing incentive involved slashing the price of a nonresident cow elk tag to $250 as a carrot to reconnect with the many thousands of out-of-staters who balked at last season's price hike.
Although DOW computers aren't prepared to surrender that information quite yet, a reasonable observer might conclude that nonresidents grabbed off a significant portion of the extra tags. The other part of the inducement involves the opportunity to shoot two elk - one cow and one bull - in more than 40 game management units on the Western Slope, a lovely lure for any visitor eager to bring home a load of meat.
In any case, DOW offered a record 120,000 cow tags for 2002 in hopes of cropping the herds to some extent.
The immediate question becomes whether hunters will gobble up the leftover elk tags next week in the aftermath of the forest fires and growing publicity about CWD. A greater long-range concern is how many nimrods will step up to the counter to purchase bull licenses in October and November.
That telling aforementioned indicator suggests few hunters will be deterred.
"As of now, we've had far fewer requests for refunds than a year ago, about 600 compared to 1,000," said Larry Stohl, a DOW budget analyst.
DOW operates a remarkably liberal refund program; simply turn in a license before the season starts and you get your money back, no questions asked. The fact that so few have taken the offer in the wake of assorted fires and fears seems to bode well for the fall hunt.
Meanwhile, hunters who didn't connect in the first go-around will line up when the gates open at 8 a.m. The leftovers include not only the 36,000 elk permits but an additional 11,000 buck and 8,600 doe deer, along with a scattering of antelope, black bear and fall turkey tags. The buck deer are a bonus; no second-chance buck licenses have been offered since Colorado converted to draw-only deer licenses three years ago.
At most DOW offices around the state, tags will be distributed on a first-come basis. In Denver, Fort Collins and Brush, a special wristband process assigns random positions in line, avoiding the crowding and rancor that permeated the queue in earlier years. Mail applications are available on the DOW website, http://wildlife.state.co.us/leftoverlicenses/
