Nut
New member
Thanks for the update.
Wow a actual Sportsman's Issue in Sportman's Issues.
Wow a actual Sportsman's Issue in Sportman's Issues.
Ideas for CO big game now, decisions in May
- Thread starter Nut
- Start date
Views on hunting span spectrum
March 17, 2004
What to do with all those elk. How to juggle opportunities for resident and nonresident hunters, trophy hunters, meat hunters, archers, weekenders, muzzleloaders and even merchants who cater to hunters.
What about white-tailed deer, relative newcomers on the plains. Shouldn't hunting rules separate them from native mule deer?
The issues, biology and bales of public opinions are complex. But in May they will start coming into focus. May is the (revised) deadline for state wildlife managers to announce the policies that will drive Colorado's big-game hunting seasons for the next five years.
The policies originally were scheduled to be set in stone this month, but game managers asked for an extension, citing new information about chronic wasting disease's impact on buck deer and bull elk (much higher than on females), which needs to be woven into the hunting fabric.
The cautious process of setting regulations for 2005-09 will end in October, after ample time for more public input. Meanwhile, the comments hunters already have submitted to the Division of Wildlife make interesting venison for thought.
More than 1,200 people and organizations responded to the agency's draft policy alternatives before last month's deadline for public input. The agency has posted their votes and comments on its Web site, www.wildlife.state.co.us. To read them, click on Hunting, then Five-Year Season Structure and Draft Policy Input.
In the arena of elk and deer sex ratios, most people who responded to the division's questionnaire supported the status quo, saying the present goal of 20-30 male animals per 100 females is reasonable.
The status quo also won for setting overall season guidelines.
The comments also favored continuing the way the division manages hunting opportunities for male elk and deer. For elk, 80 percent of opportunity is provided for 4-5-point bulls, only 20 percent for 6-point bulls or larger. Another favorite was Alternative 4, which recommends a concerted effort to produce more premier deer hunting opportunities in the mountains.
But the status quo lost out when it came to the prickly questions about how nonresident hunters should be restricted. Policy set by the Colorado Wildlife Commission currently reserves the first 60 percent of limited deer and elk licenses for resident hunters, 40 percent for nonresidents, on first-choice applications.
Hunters demurred in their comments, strongly favoring an alternative that would raise the bar for nonresidents. Alternative 2 would grant as many as 80 percent of the licenses to residents and as few as 20 percent to nonresidents. However, a fair number of hunters also chose Alternative 3, no nonresident limitations.
A hefty majority also said they thought the number of preference points needed to draw a license should be less for residents than for nonresidents.
Many deer hunters also agreed that the time has come to direct more hunting pressure on white- tailed deer, which might be suppressing native mule deer in eastern Colorado. The favored alternative would establish separate licenses and seasons for the two deer, similar to those in Nebraska and Montana.
Some of the most inspired comments about the five-year plan were written by free-thinkers, who chose alternatives of their own. Here are some of my favorite thought-provokers.
• Raise elk sex ratios to 75 bulls per 100 cows "to allow for genetic variation," wrote a wildlife viewer who doesn't hunt.
• Sell over-the-counter cow tags, allow two cows per tag and let hunters pursue cow elk from October to Jan. 31.
• Offer all leftover cow tags as additional licenses to help meet quotas.
• Go to draw-only licenses for bulls and bucks, with over-the- counter licenses for cows.
• Allow rifle hunters to hunt either-sex elk the first two or three days of each season, but cows only for the rest of the season.
• Scrap the current four rifle seasons and make one long season covering the same time span.
• Restrict the first rifle season to residents only.
• Allow nonresident hunting through draw-only licenses.
• Limiting nonresidents is unfair, especially on federal lands.
[and, hands down, Oak's favorite ]
• "The DOW has no business considering economic impacts on local businesses. Stick to your own business."
Oak
March 17, 2004
What to do with all those elk. How to juggle opportunities for resident and nonresident hunters, trophy hunters, meat hunters, archers, weekenders, muzzleloaders and even merchants who cater to hunters.
What about white-tailed deer, relative newcomers on the plains. Shouldn't hunting rules separate them from native mule deer?
The issues, biology and bales of public opinions are complex. But in May they will start coming into focus. May is the (revised) deadline for state wildlife managers to announce the policies that will drive Colorado's big-game hunting seasons for the next five years.
The policies originally were scheduled to be set in stone this month, but game managers asked for an extension, citing new information about chronic wasting disease's impact on buck deer and bull elk (much higher than on females), which needs to be woven into the hunting fabric.
The cautious process of setting regulations for 2005-09 will end in October, after ample time for more public input. Meanwhile, the comments hunters already have submitted to the Division of Wildlife make interesting venison for thought.
More than 1,200 people and organizations responded to the agency's draft policy alternatives before last month's deadline for public input. The agency has posted their votes and comments on its Web site, www.wildlife.state.co.us. To read them, click on Hunting, then Five-Year Season Structure and Draft Policy Input.
In the arena of elk and deer sex ratios, most people who responded to the division's questionnaire supported the status quo, saying the present goal of 20-30 male animals per 100 females is reasonable.
The status quo also won for setting overall season guidelines.
The comments also favored continuing the way the division manages hunting opportunities for male elk and deer. For elk, 80 percent of opportunity is provided for 4-5-point bulls, only 20 percent for 6-point bulls or larger. Another favorite was Alternative 4, which recommends a concerted effort to produce more premier deer hunting opportunities in the mountains.
But the status quo lost out when it came to the prickly questions about how nonresident hunters should be restricted. Policy set by the Colorado Wildlife Commission currently reserves the first 60 percent of limited deer and elk licenses for resident hunters, 40 percent for nonresidents, on first-choice applications.
Hunters demurred in their comments, strongly favoring an alternative that would raise the bar for nonresidents. Alternative 2 would grant as many as 80 percent of the licenses to residents and as few as 20 percent to nonresidents. However, a fair number of hunters also chose Alternative 3, no nonresident limitations.
A hefty majority also said they thought the number of preference points needed to draw a license should be less for residents than for nonresidents.
Many deer hunters also agreed that the time has come to direct more hunting pressure on white- tailed deer, which might be suppressing native mule deer in eastern Colorado. The favored alternative would establish separate licenses and seasons for the two deer, similar to those in Nebraska and Montana.
Some of the most inspired comments about the five-year plan were written by free-thinkers, who chose alternatives of their own. Here are some of my favorite thought-provokers.
• Raise elk sex ratios to 75 bulls per 100 cows "to allow for genetic variation," wrote a wildlife viewer who doesn't hunt.
• Sell over-the-counter cow tags, allow two cows per tag and let hunters pursue cow elk from October to Jan. 31.
• Offer all leftover cow tags as additional licenses to help meet quotas.
• Go to draw-only licenses for bulls and bucks, with over-the- counter licenses for cows.
• Allow rifle hunters to hunt either-sex elk the first two or three days of each season, but cows only for the rest of the season.
• Scrap the current four rifle seasons and make one long season covering the same time span.
• Restrict the first rifle season to residents only.
• Allow nonresident hunting through draw-only licenses.
• Limiting nonresidents is unfair, especially on federal lands.
[and, hands down, Oak's favorite
]• "The DOW has no business considering economic impacts on local businesses. Stick to your own business."
Oak
Similar threads
