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License increases keep hunters home
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 30, 2001 - Jim Lindsay is mad as heck and isn't going to take it anymore.
Angry at what he perceives as unfair license fee gouging, the Clinton, Mo., resident will begin a lifetime boycott of Colorado big-game hunting when the 2001 rifle season begins in less than two weeks.
"I may get over being mad, but I'm not coming back to hunt elk in Colorado again," said Lindsay, a 56-year-old residential developer. "I've hunted there many times, starting in the 1970s, and this is the straw that broke my back."
If preliminary sales statistics compiled by the Colorado Division of Wildlife are any indication, Lindsay will have lots of company. Reeling from sticker shock, at least one-third, perhaps more, of the 130,000 or so out-of-state hunters who travel to Colorado each autumn will stay home or seek their deer and elk elsewhere. The DOW, nevertheless, will realize a revenue gain of an estimated $4 million, possibly as much as $5 million, because of the steep boost in nonresident license costs - $153.25 to $273.25 for deer, $253.25 to $453.25 for elk.
For Colorado residents with no concern other than personal success and aesthetics, this fall's hunt will be the equivalent of a six-number run in the lottery, Christmas come early, a personal visit from the Easter Bunny. When dawn arrives Oct. 13 to begin the first of four hunting segments, hunters will find more animals and far less competition. If this were a Chinese calendar, it would be recorded as the Year of the Resident.
For hunters who like their big-game experience on the quiet side, this season shapes up as a blissful dream.
Despite efforts by DOW to contain them, elk herds continue to grow throughout the state's mountain regions, as reflected in a record 2000 harvest. Deer numbers continue to climb, partially as a result of a permit-only restriction on licenses as well as environmental factors.
Now, with nonresidents bridling against an 80 percent fee increase, forests that once were splashed with blaze orange will show little more than a blush. Special-draw license sales, which represent about 40 percent of the total, indicate that approximately 30 percent of the usual complement of nonresident hunters won't return this year. That percentage could grow when over-the-counter bull elk licenses are counted as the season progresses.
"We issued a lot of special licenses this year and those who participated in the draw obviously feel strongly about hunting in Colorado," DOW spokesman Todd Malmsbury said. "We may find that a greater percentage of those who make up their minds later will decide not to come."
There might also be a decrease of out-of-state hunters as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A vast majority of hunters arrive in personal vehicles, not via public transportation, however.
Officials expect the number of out-of-state to climb significantly in future years, noting that the cost of hunting here is similar to other Rocky Mountain states.
"Historically, people drift back to Colorado," said Steve Cassin, DOW planning and budget analyst. Cassin believes the dramatic fee increases reflect two realities. For years, Colorado lagged considerably behind its Rocky Mountain neighbors in nonresident costs. Since it changes fee structure infrequently, the jump was a large one.
"We've only had three or four changes in the past 30 years," Cassin said. "We don't anticipate doing this again soon."
At the same time, Cassin expects other states to leap forward with fee increases.
"Because Colorado offers more opportunity with its large elk herd and availability of over-the-counter bull licenses, we effectively put a ceiling on what other states could charge," he said. "Hunters may try other states, but most eventually realize they're better off in Colorado."
Meanwhile, this season's temporary disaffection comes at a high economic cost to merchants in parts of western Colorado highly dependent upon spending by hunters. During a brief 21/2-month fling, big-game hunting contributes an estimated $500 million to the Colorado economy, much of it spread among businesses who sell everything from gasoline to groceries.
Lindsay, who usually travels in an entourage of several hunters, estimates he spends in excess of $1,500 on a Colorado hunt. Jim McKinley, his longtime hunting companion, says he'll come at least one more time, but that the usual group of six Missourians has shrunk to three.
"I'm about ready to quit," groused McKinley, who said the fee increase has priced one of his sons out of the market.
David Cardwell, a veterinarian from Kerrville, Texas, also figures to give Colorado one more year before taking his rifle to Montana. The only reason he'll return this year, he said, is that he already swapped a hunt with a Colorado rancher near La Veta Pass.
"I can afford the license, but it makes me angry that a lot of others are being priced out," said Cardwell, who lamented that the extra cost will keep him from bringing his teenage son. Cardwell, who has hunted in Colorado 12 of the past 17 years, will make a symbolic protest by keeping his purchases to a minimum.
"My friend and I will bring all our groceries from home and sleep in a tent instead of a hotel. The only thing we'll buy is gasoline."
Another Texan, Glenn Boydston of Dripping Springs, will continue his Colorado hunts because he and his wife love the country around Creede, where the couple sets up camp with four horses.
"It costs $10 per acre to lease average deer property in Texas, which, when you put a group together, comes to about $1,000 per person," said Boydston, a retired employee of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "Even then it's not much of a hunt, more like a shoot for meat.
"I can make a Colorado hunt for about the same amount, and it's a true wilderness experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
What bothers Boydston most is a perceived sense of hostility also evidenced in a new Colorado regulation that limits nonresidents to 40 percent of all special licenses.
"A lot of folks down this way are really mad about it," he said.
All this matters not in the least to Colorado residents who look forward to what may be the hunt of a lifetime - unless they happen to own a Western Slope sporting goods store.
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 30, 2001 - Jim Lindsay is mad as heck and isn't going to take it anymore.
Angry at what he perceives as unfair license fee gouging, the Clinton, Mo., resident will begin a lifetime boycott of Colorado big-game hunting when the 2001 rifle season begins in less than two weeks.
"I may get over being mad, but I'm not coming back to hunt elk in Colorado again," said Lindsay, a 56-year-old residential developer. "I've hunted there many times, starting in the 1970s, and this is the straw that broke my back."
If preliminary sales statistics compiled by the Colorado Division of Wildlife are any indication, Lindsay will have lots of company. Reeling from sticker shock, at least one-third, perhaps more, of the 130,000 or so out-of-state hunters who travel to Colorado each autumn will stay home or seek their deer and elk elsewhere. The DOW, nevertheless, will realize a revenue gain of an estimated $4 million, possibly as much as $5 million, because of the steep boost in nonresident license costs - $153.25 to $273.25 for deer, $253.25 to $453.25 for elk.
For Colorado residents with no concern other than personal success and aesthetics, this fall's hunt will be the equivalent of a six-number run in the lottery, Christmas come early, a personal visit from the Easter Bunny. When dawn arrives Oct. 13 to begin the first of four hunting segments, hunters will find more animals and far less competition. If this were a Chinese calendar, it would be recorded as the Year of the Resident.
For hunters who like their big-game experience on the quiet side, this season shapes up as a blissful dream.
Despite efforts by DOW to contain them, elk herds continue to grow throughout the state's mountain regions, as reflected in a record 2000 harvest. Deer numbers continue to climb, partially as a result of a permit-only restriction on licenses as well as environmental factors.
Now, with nonresidents bridling against an 80 percent fee increase, forests that once were splashed with blaze orange will show little more than a blush. Special-draw license sales, which represent about 40 percent of the total, indicate that approximately 30 percent of the usual complement of nonresident hunters won't return this year. That percentage could grow when over-the-counter bull elk licenses are counted as the season progresses.
"We issued a lot of special licenses this year and those who participated in the draw obviously feel strongly about hunting in Colorado," DOW spokesman Todd Malmsbury said. "We may find that a greater percentage of those who make up their minds later will decide not to come."
There might also be a decrease of out-of-state hunters as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A vast majority of hunters arrive in personal vehicles, not via public transportation, however.
Officials expect the number of out-of-state to climb significantly in future years, noting that the cost of hunting here is similar to other Rocky Mountain states.
"Historically, people drift back to Colorado," said Steve Cassin, DOW planning and budget analyst. Cassin believes the dramatic fee increases reflect two realities. For years, Colorado lagged considerably behind its Rocky Mountain neighbors in nonresident costs. Since it changes fee structure infrequently, the jump was a large one.
"We've only had three or four changes in the past 30 years," Cassin said. "We don't anticipate doing this again soon."
At the same time, Cassin expects other states to leap forward with fee increases.
"Because Colorado offers more opportunity with its large elk herd and availability of over-the-counter bull licenses, we effectively put a ceiling on what other states could charge," he said. "Hunters may try other states, but most eventually realize they're better off in Colorado."
Meanwhile, this season's temporary disaffection comes at a high economic cost to merchants in parts of western Colorado highly dependent upon spending by hunters. During a brief 21/2-month fling, big-game hunting contributes an estimated $500 million to the Colorado economy, much of it spread among businesses who sell everything from gasoline to groceries.
Lindsay, who usually travels in an entourage of several hunters, estimates he spends in excess of $1,500 on a Colorado hunt. Jim McKinley, his longtime hunting companion, says he'll come at least one more time, but that the usual group of six Missourians has shrunk to three.
"I'm about ready to quit," groused McKinley, who said the fee increase has priced one of his sons out of the market.
David Cardwell, a veterinarian from Kerrville, Texas, also figures to give Colorado one more year before taking his rifle to Montana. The only reason he'll return this year, he said, is that he already swapped a hunt with a Colorado rancher near La Veta Pass.
"I can afford the license, but it makes me angry that a lot of others are being priced out," said Cardwell, who lamented that the extra cost will keep him from bringing his teenage son. Cardwell, who has hunted in Colorado 12 of the past 17 years, will make a symbolic protest by keeping his purchases to a minimum.
"My friend and I will bring all our groceries from home and sleep in a tent instead of a hotel. The only thing we'll buy is gasoline."
Another Texan, Glenn Boydston of Dripping Springs, will continue his Colorado hunts because he and his wife love the country around Creede, where the couple sets up camp with four horses.
"It costs $10 per acre to lease average deer property in Texas, which, when you put a group together, comes to about $1,000 per person," said Boydston, a retired employee of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "Even then it's not much of a hunt, more like a shoot for meat.
"I can make a Colorado hunt for about the same amount, and it's a true wilderness experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
What bothers Boydston most is a perceived sense of hostility also evidenced in a new Colorado regulation that limits nonresidents to 40 percent of all special licenses.
"A lot of folks down this way are really mad about it," he said.
All this matters not in the least to Colorado residents who look forward to what may be the hunt of a lifetime - unless they happen to own a Western Slope sporting goods store.
