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October 08, 2003
Elk hunt success hinges on elements of surprise
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Sports Writer
The first swarm of more than 200,000 elk hunters will sweep across Colorado's forest in a great orange wave Saturday. Whether they enjoy the success of their predecessors last season remains to be seen.
More than anything, it depends upon weather.
This first of four season segments for the main rifle big-game season is for elk hunting only and further reserved for those fortunate to obtain a permit through a special drawing.
When Colorado Division of Wildlife managers conceived this first season, the notion was for a quality hunt with reduced hunter numbers while also targeting the state's overflow of elk.
Whether these aims are met depends upon variances in weather and the individual definition of quality. Preliminary forecasts from the U.S. Weather Service project generally clear skies over the prime hunting area of northwest Colorado for opening weekend. At the same time, a strong possibility exists for rain or snow showers in the extreme southwest.
While moisture, particularly a moderate amount of snow, often is equated to "hunting weather," other nimrods treasure the opportunity to move easily and comfortably through golden forests amid the final vestiges of Indian summer.
In any case, the season's first installment affords the best opportunity to approach a mature bull, perhaps one made less wary by an extension of the mating season. Hunters adept at calling still might attract an amorous trophy within easy range.
Certainly these early hunters have a grand chance at putting meat on the table through the widespread offering of either-
sex licenses in many of the best hunting areas. Game managers are seeking to further facilitate the taking of cow elk as an article of herd reduction in those units where overpopulation exists.
"We figure a bull hunter might be willing to take a cow as the days slip away," state big-game manager John Ellenberger said of a segment that runs through Oct. 15. Other splits will be Oct. 18-26, Nov. 1-7 and Nov. 8-12, when deer and elk may be pursued.
Whether this strategy helps the wildlife agency attain its objective to harvest 64,787 elk for all methods and seasons - including the recently concluded archery and muzzleloader hunts - remains to be seen.
DOW offered more than 200,000 special elk permits this season, and more than 27,000 remain. These may be claimed before the start of each hunt segment.
This full-court press toward paring a statewide herd that has expanded to more than 345,000 in the pre-hunt estimation also includes another novelty: issuing 2,000 over-the-counter antlerless elk tags in units 25 and 26 along the southeast rim of the Flat Tops and another 2,000 for units 3, 4, 5, 302 and 442, generally the area around Craig. The latter allotment will be for the fourth segment only.
Driven by a pent-up rush back to the field after several distractions the previous year, elk hunters in the 2002 season bagged a record 61,174 animals, aided materially by late-season storms that pushed herds down from the high country.
In 2001, the triple whammy of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a lagging economy and the backlash among nonresidents from an 80 percent increase in license fees served to slash overall hunter participation by a third, with an almost identical drop in elk harvest.
Nonresidents drifted back into the fold last year, lured in part by a rollback in the cost of a cow tag, a ploy with the double intent to capture both hunters and cow elk.
The cost of a cow for out-of- staters remains at $250.25, a fraction of the $480.25 visitors pay to hunt a bull elk. Collectively, nonresidents contribute mightily to the DOW revenue stream, pouring in $42.6 million in big-game revenue against just $7 million by residents.
The greatest worry among wildlife managers is how hunters, particularly nonresidents, react to the spread of chronic wasting disease. Expanded testing last season revealed the spread of the disease fatal to deer and elk had extended well beyond its traditional boundaries to a number of prime locations in western Colorado.
Meanwhile, opportunity abounds for deer and elk, particularly the latter. Ellenberger reports large numbers of elk in all the usual places. The only disclaimer is that, barring a sudden weather change, herds will be scattered over virtually every elevation and habitat range.
"I have no crystal ball that tells about any abnormal distribution of animals," Ellenberger said. "Hopefully, hunters will have done some scouting to make certain their favorite areas hold animals."
Ellenberger reported that archery season produced no spectacular results.
"From the anecdotal field information we have, both hunter numbers and harvest was similar to previous years," Ellenberger said of a September season that turned dry and difficult the final two weeks.
These same conditions have persisted through much of early October, casting a carpet of crackling golden leaves to complement all the hunter orange.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State big-game manager John Ellenberger recommends the Flat Tops and the area near Craig for raw elk hunting success.
"It all depends upon what individuals want. There's lots of hunter pressure, but the elk are there," said Ellenberger, who further emphasized that 25 to 30 percent of the statewide bull elk harvest comes from this broad area.
Elk hunt success hinges on elements of surprise
By Charlie Meyers, Denver Post Sports Writer
The first swarm of more than 200,000 elk hunters will sweep across Colorado's forest in a great orange wave Saturday. Whether they enjoy the success of their predecessors last season remains to be seen.
More than anything, it depends upon weather.
This first of four season segments for the main rifle big-game season is for elk hunting only and further reserved for those fortunate to obtain a permit through a special drawing.
When Colorado Division of Wildlife managers conceived this first season, the notion was for a quality hunt with reduced hunter numbers while also targeting the state's overflow of elk.
Whether these aims are met depends upon variances in weather and the individual definition of quality. Preliminary forecasts from the U.S. Weather Service project generally clear skies over the prime hunting area of northwest Colorado for opening weekend. At the same time, a strong possibility exists for rain or snow showers in the extreme southwest.
While moisture, particularly a moderate amount of snow, often is equated to "hunting weather," other nimrods treasure the opportunity to move easily and comfortably through golden forests amid the final vestiges of Indian summer.
In any case, the season's first installment affords the best opportunity to approach a mature bull, perhaps one made less wary by an extension of the mating season. Hunters adept at calling still might attract an amorous trophy within easy range.
Certainly these early hunters have a grand chance at putting meat on the table through the widespread offering of either-
sex licenses in many of the best hunting areas. Game managers are seeking to further facilitate the taking of cow elk as an article of herd reduction in those units where overpopulation exists.
"We figure a bull hunter might be willing to take a cow as the days slip away," state big-game manager John Ellenberger said of a segment that runs through Oct. 15. Other splits will be Oct. 18-26, Nov. 1-7 and Nov. 8-12, when deer and elk may be pursued.
Whether this strategy helps the wildlife agency attain its objective to harvest 64,787 elk for all methods and seasons - including the recently concluded archery and muzzleloader hunts - remains to be seen.
DOW offered more than 200,000 special elk permits this season, and more than 27,000 remain. These may be claimed before the start of each hunt segment.
This full-court press toward paring a statewide herd that has expanded to more than 345,000 in the pre-hunt estimation also includes another novelty: issuing 2,000 over-the-counter antlerless elk tags in units 25 and 26 along the southeast rim of the Flat Tops and another 2,000 for units 3, 4, 5, 302 and 442, generally the area around Craig. The latter allotment will be for the fourth segment only.
Driven by a pent-up rush back to the field after several distractions the previous year, elk hunters in the 2002 season bagged a record 61,174 animals, aided materially by late-season storms that pushed herds down from the high country.
In 2001, the triple whammy of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a lagging economy and the backlash among nonresidents from an 80 percent increase in license fees served to slash overall hunter participation by a third, with an almost identical drop in elk harvest.
Nonresidents drifted back into the fold last year, lured in part by a rollback in the cost of a cow tag, a ploy with the double intent to capture both hunters and cow elk.
The cost of a cow for out-of- staters remains at $250.25, a fraction of the $480.25 visitors pay to hunt a bull elk. Collectively, nonresidents contribute mightily to the DOW revenue stream, pouring in $42.6 million in big-game revenue against just $7 million by residents.
The greatest worry among wildlife managers is how hunters, particularly nonresidents, react to the spread of chronic wasting disease. Expanded testing last season revealed the spread of the disease fatal to deer and elk had extended well beyond its traditional boundaries to a number of prime locations in western Colorado.
Meanwhile, opportunity abounds for deer and elk, particularly the latter. Ellenberger reports large numbers of elk in all the usual places. The only disclaimer is that, barring a sudden weather change, herds will be scattered over virtually every elevation and habitat range.
"I have no crystal ball that tells about any abnormal distribution of animals," Ellenberger said. "Hopefully, hunters will have done some scouting to make certain their favorite areas hold animals."
Ellenberger reported that archery season produced no spectacular results.
"From the anecdotal field information we have, both hunter numbers and harvest was similar to previous years," Ellenberger said of a September season that turned dry and difficult the final two weeks.
These same conditions have persisted through much of early October, casting a carpet of crackling golden leaves to complement all the hunter orange.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State big-game manager John Ellenberger recommends the Flat Tops and the area near Craig for raw elk hunting success.
"It all depends upon what individuals want. There's lots of hunter pressure, but the elk are there," said Ellenberger, who further emphasized that 25 to 30 percent of the statewide bull elk harvest comes from this broad area.
