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Durango elk hunters can get additional license
September 28, 2001
By Julie Jag, Durango Herald Assistant Sports Editor
This year elk hunters in the Durango area can double their pleasure.
An unusually strong elk population has caused the area Division of Wildlife to bend its rules on how many elk a hunter can take in one season. So those doing their scavenging near Durango can take two elk instead of one.
"Normally you can have only one elk license and one is the limit," said Tony Gurzick, district manager for the DOW’s Durango office. "This year, because in units 74 and 75 we really want to reduce the population, we’re allowing cow licenses to be additional."
Unit 74 encompasses an area north of Highway 160 and west of the Animas River. Unit 75 runs east of the Animas down to the New Mexico state line. Gurzick said the elk populations in those areas need to be reduced "by thousands," and added that the process of wheedling down the numbers would likely take more than just this season. Still, he said he didn’t want to speculate on whether the two-timing deal would be offered next year as well.
The second-license option shouldn’t come as a surprise to most hunters, however. Gurzick said the DOW informed hunters of the two-elk option when they applied for cow licenses in April.
"It’s been an addition all along," Gurzick said. "When people applied earlier they knew about it."
One local elk hunter, Brian Hessling, said he wasn’t aware of the DOW’s two-animal allotment. An assistant manager at Gardenswartz Sporting Goods, Hessling said, however, that he doubted many hunters were interested in bagging more than one animal.
"Working here at Gardenswartz, you talk to a lot of people," he said. "And for as many guys as there are out there that want to harvest a big bull, there are as many guys who want to just go hunting ... or just want the elk meat."
Hessling, who has been rifle hunting for 20 years, added that it will be hard for the state to beat last year’s harvest, which he said was one of the state’s best.
"I can’t see, no matter how many tags they issue, that the harvest could be any better," he said.
In Colorado, bull elk licenses are available before the start of each of the four rifle seasons (running Oct. 13-17, Oct. 20-26, Nov. 3-9, and Nov. 10-14) at sporting goods stores and DOW offices. Typically, hunters must apply for cow licenses, but if surplus licenses exist in areas that are considered over-populated, such as areas 74 and 75, hunters can purchase licenses prior to and during the season at DOW offices.
Gurzick said with the situation as it is in areas 74 and 75, hunters could actually buy both their bull and cow licenses at the Durango office at 151 East 16th St. during one of the four seasons.
For more information, contact the DOW’s Durango office at 247-0855.
September 28, 2001
By Julie Jag, Durango Herald Assistant Sports Editor
This year elk hunters in the Durango area can double their pleasure.
An unusually strong elk population has caused the area Division of Wildlife to bend its rules on how many elk a hunter can take in one season. So those doing their scavenging near Durango can take two elk instead of one.
"Normally you can have only one elk license and one is the limit," said Tony Gurzick, district manager for the DOW’s Durango office. "This year, because in units 74 and 75 we really want to reduce the population, we’re allowing cow licenses to be additional."
Unit 74 encompasses an area north of Highway 160 and west of the Animas River. Unit 75 runs east of the Animas down to the New Mexico state line. Gurzick said the elk populations in those areas need to be reduced "by thousands," and added that the process of wheedling down the numbers would likely take more than just this season. Still, he said he didn’t want to speculate on whether the two-timing deal would be offered next year as well.
The second-license option shouldn’t come as a surprise to most hunters, however. Gurzick said the DOW informed hunters of the two-elk option when they applied for cow licenses in April.
"It’s been an addition all along," Gurzick said. "When people applied earlier they knew about it."
One local elk hunter, Brian Hessling, said he wasn’t aware of the DOW’s two-animal allotment. An assistant manager at Gardenswartz Sporting Goods, Hessling said, however, that he doubted many hunters were interested in bagging more than one animal.
"Working here at Gardenswartz, you talk to a lot of people," he said. "And for as many guys as there are out there that want to harvest a big bull, there are as many guys who want to just go hunting ... or just want the elk meat."
Hessling, who has been rifle hunting for 20 years, added that it will be hard for the state to beat last year’s harvest, which he said was one of the state’s best.
"I can’t see, no matter how many tags they issue, that the harvest could be any better," he said.
In Colorado, bull elk licenses are available before the start of each of the four rifle seasons (running Oct. 13-17, Oct. 20-26, Nov. 3-9, and Nov. 10-14) at sporting goods stores and DOW offices. Typically, hunters must apply for cow licenses, but if surplus licenses exist in areas that are considered over-populated, such as areas 74 and 75, hunters can purchase licenses prior to and during the season at DOW offices.
Gurzick said with the situation as it is in areas 74 and 75, hunters could actually buy both their bull and cow licenses at the Durango office at 151 East 16th St. during one of the four seasons.
For more information, contact the DOW’s Durango office at 247-0855.
