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September 12, 2002
Colorado drought makes hunting success critical
By Darren Marcy, Farmington Daily Times Outdoor editor
Colorado Division of Wildlife officials say a good big-game harvest is imperative for the health of deer and elk herds facing a difficult winter because of the drought.
Tuesday, the Colorado Wildlife Commission increased the numbers of deer and elk licenses because of concerns about too many animals with very little to eat.
"The Colorado Wildlife Commission decided it would be better for elk to be killed by hunters than to die of starvation," said DOW spokesman Todd Malmsbury.
In addition to the 225,000 elk licenses already issued, an additional 14,000 rifle hunts will be available by mail and 2,500 archery licenses will be available at license dealers beginning Tuesday.
"In many areas of the state, the drought is so severe that there is little, if any, forage," Malmsbury said. "Grass, shrubs and flowering plants simply did not produce much growth this year."
The DOW estimates the current elk herd at about 300,000 head, about 60,000 more than the target population.
That has led the DOW to hope for a record harvest of elk after the second hottest summer in Colorado records didn't even produce many weeds, let alone the grass and forbs big-game animals need.
Biologists, some with nearly a half century of experience, said they have never seen conditions this bad.
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture classified 80 percent of Colorado's range and pasture as poor to very poor, which also applies to winter range used by deer and elk.
That applies to southwest Colorado as well, said Bayfield District Wildlife Manager Cary Carron.
"There's absolutely no winter range this year," Carron said. "Nothing grew because of the drought. There's just no feed."
Recent rains have come too late to do much good.
"The drought has really caused some serious problems," Carron said. "We're getting some rains now, but unfortunately, that rain will probably be too late to grow any feed."
The DOW said a minimum of 60,000 elk need to be harvested and as many as 35,000 to 40,000 deer.
In November, the Wildlife Commission consider whether special late hunts and additional licenses will be needed if hunters don't get the job done in September and October.
Despite a doubling of elk hunter numbers in the last quarter century, and three times the elk harvest in some years, Colorado's elk herd has nearly tripled in the last 27 years.
Last year's harvest was down considerably following a record harvest in 2000.
That year a record number of hunters, 246,778, killed more than 60,000 elk.
But increased license fees, concerns about the economy, and the Sept. 11 tragedies are blamed for the number of hunters decreasing to only 199,265 last year.
A dry summer and mild winter added to the problem as hunter success plummeted.
Colorado's archery season opened Aug. 31 this year and Carron said he's seen some hunter success so far.
"They getting a few," Carron said. "I think they're pretty well scattered. Where ever they can find grass and water. There still up pretty high."
Carron said a good winter would help, but he doesn't want to see too much snow all at once.
"A foot of snow is really good," Carron said. "It makes it easier to track. But if you get the really heavy deep snows, it really hurts the harvest. It drives the animals down but it makes it harder for the hunters."
The summer wildfires won't have much of an impact, Carron said.
"The short term impact is it will move the animals around some, but the long term will actually do a lot of good for big game," Carron said. "But that's a few years out."
Malmsbury said hunting might help ease the suffering of big-game this winter, but it won't solve the problem by itself.
"While hunting might reduce the impact, it's still going to be a very difficult time this winter in most areas and we're going to see many elk and deer populations under the most stresses they've been under in many, many decades," Malmsbury said.
The current archery season continues through Sept. 29. Muzzle-loaders will get their chance beginning Saturday through Sept. 22.
Rifle hunters have an elk-only season Oct. 12-16, and a combined deer and elk hunt will run Oct. 19-25.
"There's a lot of question marks this year," Carron said. "We'll see how it all works out."
Darren Marcy: darrenm@daily-times.com
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Colorado drought makes hunting success critical
By Darren Marcy, Farmington Daily Times Outdoor editor
Colorado Division of Wildlife officials say a good big-game harvest is imperative for the health of deer and elk herds facing a difficult winter because of the drought.
Tuesday, the Colorado Wildlife Commission increased the numbers of deer and elk licenses because of concerns about too many animals with very little to eat.
"The Colorado Wildlife Commission decided it would be better for elk to be killed by hunters than to die of starvation," said DOW spokesman Todd Malmsbury.
In addition to the 225,000 elk licenses already issued, an additional 14,000 rifle hunts will be available by mail and 2,500 archery licenses will be available at license dealers beginning Tuesday.
"In many areas of the state, the drought is so severe that there is little, if any, forage," Malmsbury said. "Grass, shrubs and flowering plants simply did not produce much growth this year."
The DOW estimates the current elk herd at about 300,000 head, about 60,000 more than the target population.
That has led the DOW to hope for a record harvest of elk after the second hottest summer in Colorado records didn't even produce many weeds, let alone the grass and forbs big-game animals need.
Biologists, some with nearly a half century of experience, said they have never seen conditions this bad.
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture classified 80 percent of Colorado's range and pasture as poor to very poor, which also applies to winter range used by deer and elk.
That applies to southwest Colorado as well, said Bayfield District Wildlife Manager Cary Carron.
"There's absolutely no winter range this year," Carron said. "Nothing grew because of the drought. There's just no feed."
Recent rains have come too late to do much good.
"The drought has really caused some serious problems," Carron said. "We're getting some rains now, but unfortunately, that rain will probably be too late to grow any feed."
The DOW said a minimum of 60,000 elk need to be harvested and as many as 35,000 to 40,000 deer.
In November, the Wildlife Commission consider whether special late hunts and additional licenses will be needed if hunters don't get the job done in September and October.
Despite a doubling of elk hunter numbers in the last quarter century, and three times the elk harvest in some years, Colorado's elk herd has nearly tripled in the last 27 years.
Last year's harvest was down considerably following a record harvest in 2000.
That year a record number of hunters, 246,778, killed more than 60,000 elk.
But increased license fees, concerns about the economy, and the Sept. 11 tragedies are blamed for the number of hunters decreasing to only 199,265 last year.
A dry summer and mild winter added to the problem as hunter success plummeted.
Colorado's archery season opened Aug. 31 this year and Carron said he's seen some hunter success so far.
"They getting a few," Carron said. "I think they're pretty well scattered. Where ever they can find grass and water. There still up pretty high."
Carron said a good winter would help, but he doesn't want to see too much snow all at once.
"A foot of snow is really good," Carron said. "It makes it easier to track. But if you get the really heavy deep snows, it really hurts the harvest. It drives the animals down but it makes it harder for the hunters."
The summer wildfires won't have much of an impact, Carron said.
"The short term impact is it will move the animals around some, but the long term will actually do a lot of good for big game," Carron said. "But that's a few years out."
Malmsbury said hunting might help ease the suffering of big-game this winter, but it won't solve the problem by itself.
"While hunting might reduce the impact, it's still going to be a very difficult time this winter in most areas and we're going to see many elk and deer populations under the most stresses they've been under in many, many decades," Malmsbury said.
The current archery season continues through Sept. 29. Muzzle-loaders will get their chance beginning Saturday through Sept. 22.
Rifle hunters have an elk-only season Oct. 12-16, and a combined deer and elk hunt will run Oct. 19-25.
"There's a lot of question marks this year," Carron said. "We'll see how it all works out."
Darren Marcy: darrenm@daily-times.com
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
