Getting a Rabbit Mountain Unit 20 Tag
Colorado
This is kind of disappointing unless you have a unit 20 tag. It seems to me that if they are trying to reduce numbers then they would open it up for everyone. If my math is correct the general totals from the 2017 draw recap puts the pool at about 560 tags in unit 20 and an additional 475 private land tags. They didn't specify if having an archery or muzzy tag would make you eligible but I would assume so. Their response is below:
"Thank you for writing to Boulder County Parks and Open Space. We are currently working with Colorado Parks & Wildlife to determine the next steps for the plan and how the lottery for hunting spots will work. Only those currently holding GMU 20 tags for the coming hunting season will be eligible for the lottery at Ron Stewart Preserve at Rabbit Mountain. If you do have a GMU 20 tag for this season and would like to be contacted, please email [email protected] with your contact information."
The new hunting opportunity on open space is pretty limited. I think they will fill the slots quite easily with unit 20 tag holders and likely the supply of opportunity will be much lower than demand. If for some reason they don't get any takers, then looking for hunters outside of current unit 20 tag holders would make sense.
I drove through a line of protestors from Boulder while competing in a coyote calling contest in St Francis, KS.. Rabbit Mountain is whole lot closer. This hunt may include dealing with anti hunters and/or over-bearing scrutiny by the CPW or BCOS. If the antis decide to make it a cause, the drama might not be worth it.
The plan is to pressure the elk into dispersing to nearby NF and private, ideally in Larimer county. The goal was never to bring the herd numbers down, only the resident herd. It is rifle only and it is likely that only the people who drew the geographic specific subunit coinciding with Rabbit Mtn and surrounding private lands (100tags) will be eligible for the lottery to hunt the open space. There will be 46 slots available with alternates in case someone can't make it or cancels. In short, if you drew the Rabbit Mtn subunit tag you have 46% odds of drawing a chance to hunt the open space. If you have a regular unit 20 tag, you're not in the running.
