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The Denver Post
October 20, 2002
By nearly any gauge, Colorado's elk season is off to a banner beginning. Reports from the field and observations of carcass-laden vehicles trundling down the highway toward home at Wednesday's conclusion of the first hunt segment indicate a high measure of success.
But the question lingers as to whether the easy bulls have been shot, whether the hunting gets tougher from here on,
"To a certain extent, things will be more difficult. Animals will be more scattered and dry conditions will make it more difficult for hunters to approach them," said John Ellenberger, state big game coordinator for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Managers such as Ellenberger worry that autumn weather patterns are shaping up much like a year ago, when continued drought proved a prime factor in a 33 percent decline in elk harvest, exacerbating an unhealthy expansion of the herds.
Ellenberger expects a high success rate for cow elk during the second session, which began Saturday with a large turnout of hunters. Deer hunters joined a record number of antlerless elk license holders for the most popular of the four hunt periods. The biologist observed a hunter stampede to purchase over-the-counter bull licenses to go with the more than 200,000 special licenses that were issued, mostly for cows.
"We need a healthy harvest to get the herds in balance," Ellenberger said of a concern heightened by a lack of winter forage. "To achieve that, we need a little snow and cold weather."
Meanwhile, observers in the prime elk regions told of exceptional success during the opening five-day session. Mike Bauman, district wildlife manager in Craig, called it the best elk-only opener he'd seen, an opinion echoed across the elk-rich Flat Tops area.
This first season, exclusively for limited licenses, is intended to target an overpopulation of elk and as a quality experience with fewer hunters. About 20,000 bull and 18,000 cow licenses were issued, perhaps one-third the number of elk hunters who reported on Saturday.
October 20, 2002
By nearly any gauge, Colorado's elk season is off to a banner beginning. Reports from the field and observations of carcass-laden vehicles trundling down the highway toward home at Wednesday's conclusion of the first hunt segment indicate a high measure of success.
But the question lingers as to whether the easy bulls have been shot, whether the hunting gets tougher from here on,
"To a certain extent, things will be more difficult. Animals will be more scattered and dry conditions will make it more difficult for hunters to approach them," said John Ellenberger, state big game coordinator for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Managers such as Ellenberger worry that autumn weather patterns are shaping up much like a year ago, when continued drought proved a prime factor in a 33 percent decline in elk harvest, exacerbating an unhealthy expansion of the herds.
Ellenberger expects a high success rate for cow elk during the second session, which began Saturday with a large turnout of hunters. Deer hunters joined a record number of antlerless elk license holders for the most popular of the four hunt periods. The biologist observed a hunter stampede to purchase over-the-counter bull licenses to go with the more than 200,000 special licenses that were issued, mostly for cows.
"We need a healthy harvest to get the herds in balance," Ellenberger said of a concern heightened by a lack of winter forage. "To achieve that, we need a little snow and cold weather."
Meanwhile, observers in the prime elk regions told of exceptional success during the opening five-day session. Mike Bauman, district wildlife manager in Craig, called it the best elk-only opener he'd seen, an opinion echoed across the elk-rich Flat Tops area.
This first season, exclusively for limited licenses, is intended to target an overpopulation of elk and as a quality experience with fewer hunters. About 20,000 bull and 18,000 cow licenses were issued, perhaps one-third the number of elk hunters who reported on Saturday.
