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Opening Week Observations

I'll start out by saying I'm pretty pessimistic on the direction of our state in most areas, very much including P&W. Having said that, my 2 partners and I had one of the most enjoyable hunts in several years. We're in one of the Grand Mesa units that went draw for the 1st time this year. Our experience is very localized and anecdotal, so take it for what it's worth. We hunted the 2nd-8th minus 1-1/2 days for meat care/cooler trip. We saw roughly 40 elk, 6 of which were bulls, 5 were legal. We met 3 other pairs of hunters, and only on a trail. The TH was 1/2 as busy as usual. We left on opening day of muzzleloader and were stunned how quiet it was at the TH. For years we joked that we'd be more successful running a food truck there than going out elk hunting. Overall, a really enjoyable hunt with weather that was mostly dry and not too hot (for the opener).

We hunted the same general area, same time period. Fewest elk ever (2 of us), only 5 cows and calves, no deer, one bear. Been hunting the same area since 1988. I was thinking it was winterkill, but maybe the elk have shifted their summer range,

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