Bambistew
Well-known member
The state wants to maintain buck doe ratios and quality so it will lower 4th season quotas to keep hunters from killing too many older bucks.
Do they really need to though? Most of those 4th season hunts are nearly 100% success anyway.
The loss of a weekend in 3rd season will also have an effect on harvest. I think for most units, the average days hunting is only 3.5-4 days. I would presume that many of those with tags hunt the two weekends they get. I suppose that may change, but that would mean taking time off work for some people.
To be honest I'm super excited about 2nd season being a bit later, and tags being easy to draw for some of the units I've been eyeballing... I'm more than happy hunting Halloween weekend and the week following.
What I always find interesting is that WY hunting season is long over in most areas for mule deer before CO even starts, yet the hunting in CO is a waste of time in 2nd season? I guess if you compare the seasons, sure why not go later, but 2nd season isn't THAT bad.
Either way I'm just waiting until I have the time to make a trip down south again.