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Colorado considers dropping nonresident cow elk tag price.
Knight Ridder News .
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Such a deal.
If you’re a hungry nonresident hunter, you could come to Colorado next year, buy a discounted elk license and have enough money left to buy a larger freezer. Or, if you already have plenty of freezer space, you might buy one license at standard cost and get another for half price. Or, if you’re really hungry and really want to save, you could get two elk licenses for the price of one.
OK, but what’s the catch, you may ask.
Well, none really ... except that at least one of the licenses must be a cow-elk tag.
Simply put, Colorado’s elk population is out of hand in many areas. Herd numbers in parts of the state already were significantly above management objectives before last fall’s hunting seasons. Next, the hunter take fell an estimated 40 percent below last year, due in part to an expected, 40-percent drop in nonresident hunters, in part to unusually mild weather that kept elk beyond the reach of many.
With an overabundance of elk, the Colorado Division of Wildlife has proposed several new measures to encourage hunters to kill more cows, the key to controlling the size of herds. The Colorado Wildlife Commission will rule on the proposals at its meeting Jan.10-11 in Denver.
“We’ve had a situation where supply exceeds demand,” said John Ellenberger, big-game coordinator for the DOW, of the 109,000 antlerless-elk permits available for last year’s hunting seasons. “We had 17,000 left after the drawing, and still had 6,000 that had gone unsold after the seasons were over.”
Proposals include a reduction in the cost of cow tags for nonresidents. While nonresident bull licenses still would cost $450, cow permits would be sold for $250. (Resident licenses for bulls and cows would remain at $30.)
In some specified units, “additional” cow permits would be available to both residents and nonresidents who already have an elk license. A nonresident thus could score a cow/cow two-fer for $500 or a bull/cow combo for $700; a resident could double up for $60.
The cost of a nonresident elk license was raised from $250 to $450 for the 2001 season, playing a part in keeping hunter numbers down. While the cow-permit cost reduction may attract some additional nonresidents, its primary purpose is herd reduction.
The proposal has merit. It’s worth a try. Its ultimate effectiveness, however, will depend on hunter acceptance.
Though hunting cow elk is more acceptable in traditional hunting circles than, say, shooting a doe deer, residents and nonresidents alike often prefer hunting antlered animals.
Relatively few nonresidents likely would come to Colorado solely to hunt cow elk, but the discount and “additional” options have their appeal.
After all, you can’t eat antlers, can you?
Knight Ridder News .
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Such a deal.
If you’re a hungry nonresident hunter, you could come to Colorado next year, buy a discounted elk license and have enough money left to buy a larger freezer. Or, if you already have plenty of freezer space, you might buy one license at standard cost and get another for half price. Or, if you’re really hungry and really want to save, you could get two elk licenses for the price of one.
OK, but what’s the catch, you may ask.
Well, none really ... except that at least one of the licenses must be a cow-elk tag.
Simply put, Colorado’s elk population is out of hand in many areas. Herd numbers in parts of the state already were significantly above management objectives before last fall’s hunting seasons. Next, the hunter take fell an estimated 40 percent below last year, due in part to an expected, 40-percent drop in nonresident hunters, in part to unusually mild weather that kept elk beyond the reach of many.
With an overabundance of elk, the Colorado Division of Wildlife has proposed several new measures to encourage hunters to kill more cows, the key to controlling the size of herds. The Colorado Wildlife Commission will rule on the proposals at its meeting Jan.10-11 in Denver.
“We’ve had a situation where supply exceeds demand,” said John Ellenberger, big-game coordinator for the DOW, of the 109,000 antlerless-elk permits available for last year’s hunting seasons. “We had 17,000 left after the drawing, and still had 6,000 that had gone unsold after the seasons were over.”
Proposals include a reduction in the cost of cow tags for nonresidents. While nonresident bull licenses still would cost $450, cow permits would be sold for $250. (Resident licenses for bulls and cows would remain at $30.)
In some specified units, “additional” cow permits would be available to both residents and nonresidents who already have an elk license. A nonresident thus could score a cow/cow two-fer for $500 or a bull/cow combo for $700; a resident could double up for $60.
The cost of a nonresident elk license was raised from $250 to $450 for the 2001 season, playing a part in keeping hunter numbers down. While the cow-permit cost reduction may attract some additional nonresidents, its primary purpose is herd reduction.
The proposal has merit. It’s worth a try. Its ultimate effectiveness, however, will depend on hunter acceptance.
Though hunting cow elk is more acceptable in traditional hunting circles than, say, shooting a doe deer, residents and nonresidents alike often prefer hunting antlered animals.
Relatively few nonresidents likely would come to Colorado solely to hunt cow elk, but the discount and “additional” options have their appeal.
After all, you can’t eat antlers, can you?
