There were about 50 people at the meeting, I'd say. As I mentioned, there was a large proportion of CBA members, so there was certainly some bias there.
1.) How much is Archery season ( W of I25 ) feeling crowded?
Only 10% or so indicated they did not feel crowded in some fashion. Some indicated it was other archers, others stressed all the gun seasons going on, and others commented on just general recreational usage. Few expressed feeling crowded by muzzleloader hunters except on opening day.
2.) How would you approach number 1, if you deemed it a problem?
Most of the meeting was spent on this question.
CPW gave 7 options (let's see if I can remember them) and asked us to support two.
They said these weren't the only possibilities, but needed to start somewhere:
- All Limited ( like deer )
- Something to do with cow elk ( had very little support / discussion )
- OTC goes to bull only where population is down
- OTC with Caps
- Move the archery deer season start to Aug 15
- Something I cannot remember that almost nobody supported
- No Change
By far the largest support was for "move the archery deer season start to Aug 15". Not only would this be better for deer hunting, but it would potentially be less people in the woods come elk opener.
"No Change" got the second largest support, but it was not more than half.
"Limited" was a distant third. CPW surveys showed a very distinct opposed to this option, as well.
The discussion from here went to one topic that was not listed, applying one of the solutions for putting a cap or limit from above ( either limited or OTC with CAPs) on just non-residents. The OTC stats show it is almost 50/50 between resident and non-resident. There was an overwhelming cry to put a reasonable cap on NRs. CPW understood but tried to deflect the issue stating that was not within the scope of BGSS and would have to be handled during R vs NR Allocation ( a separate meeting ). Several of us called them out on this deflection, pointing out that if totally limited were chosen, there would be a de facto allocation of 65/35, and if that possibility was allowed in the discussion, the possibility of NR OTC with Caps should also be allowed.
3.) What are your desired start dates for deer and elk archery ( assuming the season length stays the same ).
The question was originally phrased "How do you feel about moving the archery start date to September 1?" without the distinction between deer and elk, and thus including moving the deer start date to September 1. Also, there was also some question on whether either start date change would lead to a reduced season length. It was assumed that the September 1 start date for elk would mean the season was still 30 days, but that wasn't directly specified in the question. The group requested to narrow the scope to assuming a 30 day elk season.
Since this was in direct contrast to the most popular option in question 2, the discussion changed. It was quite obvious that those who archery hunted deer did not want a later start date for deer, and those who only hunted elk did not care whether deer was changed in any direction and preferred the September 1 start date.
The was a sole voice who expressed the desire to hunt elk August 15 as he felt it was more fun during that time period as the elk are more exposed and less tied up with cows.
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There were a few other proposals mentioned by CPW that were briefly discussed, the most notable being changing Moose to be season's choice, which had widespread support.
