Colorado increased apps
Elk
Contributors to this thread:
If current events cant slow down point creep nothing will. Applications numbers are up for all species about 5% for deer and 10% for elk. Will be interesting to see what will happen with the percentage that only applied for points.
Most people stuck at home. Hard to forget to apply.
I’m surprised. Is that up from last year?
I figured it would be down. The way this is going there will Be no hunting and people will be forced to stay in their house at gun point. The way things have been going
I put in for a deer tag. If the season is cancelled, what do you think DOW will do? I'm guessing preference points for those that draw.
Just as I predicted! Don't know how we will ever get a tag when hunting starts to come off of life support!! Good luck boys and girls
Let’s hope they only have 1-2 points. That’s the only way we have a chance at our tags.
Ucsdryder yes increase from 2019 to 2020. I really thought the current events would've slowed things down. Although some of the increase for elk I would think would be due to several of the SW units switching to draw from OTC.
For whatever reason this year I didn’t feel like spending the $100 to buy another point. Don’t really have a plan for my 10 deer points but know with point creep skipping one year puts you back 2.
Just look for the biggest number of return/ reissue tags ever. Should be a good year to pick up a tag late in the game. That is assuming they don’t close the season.
Are the stats somewhere we can access?
I bet majority are applications for preference points and guys that now need to apply for units that went to draw.
MtnHunter - yes. Don't overreact folks, no way apps to actually hunt are up.
I can see application numbers going up with people being home, I anticipate that OTC numbers will be down just based on economy come Sept
Figured apps would be the same or higher. Everybody thinks alike...."this is a great year to apply since apps will be down".
I think CO OTC going to be more crowded this year than ever. People just get points right now cause of the uncertainty. We get into summer and some normalcy comes back to our lives and people realize they want to go hunting. That leaves CO OTC as the best choice.
Little surprised by that actually. I myself skipped PP in CO this year. I didn't skip anywhere else though :)
"Applications numbers are up for all species about 5% for deer and 10% for elk"
data to back this up?
Surfbow, one place you can see the data is CPW-Steamboats Facebook page. Although its not 10% for elk, only 5% increase.
Oh this was on a Facebook page?!? Interesting... could it be CPWs way of making things seem better than they might be..
JohnMC's Link
Link to CPW steamboat page
Jethro sorry yes 5% not 10% that was moose that jumped 10%.
They're not up if you used the same data from all units besides the SW & take preference point apps out of the figures as well. They're going to be up when you can get a point for $110 instead of the $600 it used to cost (just elk alone).
JohnMC, thanks. I'm curious to see what the actual breakdowns of tag apps/PPs are vs total number of apps...
Well, my daughter, son, and I are burning our 7 points each for elk! Should draw.
Wouldn't you expect the elk apps to be higher statewide? If the OTC guys now applied to the units that switched from OTC to draw that would add to the app count. Doesn't explain other species.
Does that include people who just applied for points? I suspect less people will actually put in for actual tags.
Yes those numbers include people who applied for points as there first choice. I agree probably less actual people applying for hunts then again I thought there would be less total applications so what do I know.
Age. Part may be people getting old and realizing it may be time to burn those points while they still can.
Hunters may be like Fox viewers where the median age is 67.
I wonder how many are cashing in points realizing how fragile life is after this pandemic. I know i am planning to do some things i have put off for a while. You never know.
Social media. #1 cause of increased applications. Blame it on your Instagram posters and YouTubers mostly
I doubt it can be attributed to people cashing in points because they've been applying for points every year so that would cause no increase. The switch of so many units from OTC to draw would likely explain part but not all of the increase. The rest of the increase is probably just because hunting elk seems to have been increasing in popularity for many years. Let's face it - it's a great experience if you enjoy hunting.
Well, DBHS apps went up and there's no points in that draw, so...
I was surprised. After some thought, maybe the payment change is just now showing its effect. I have talked to several casual hunters since last year who didnt understand it fully and planned on putting in more apps this year.
“Social media. #1 cause of increased applications. Blame it on your Instagram posters and YouTubers mostly”
^^^^^ This
This is wonderful news for the "Hunting is a dying sport" clingers...isn't it???
Interesting that several buddies of mine that have applied for years did not apply for anything this year. It would be interesting to see how many of these applicants are first timers.
I'm sure with the grocery stores getting cleaned out, some people are rethinking life choices and maybe wanting to have a freezer full of meat... Same thing is happening with gun ownership, there is an alarming amount of purchases for first time gun owners. People are panicky animals...;)
I've said it on other threads on here, I have a feeling there will be a lot of returned tags this year. People won't have the extra cash and vacation hours to burn on hunting trips.
I did get an elk and deer point for my 12 year old daughter this year for the 1st time so there is +1.
Swampokie, it is definitely dying at a rapid clip. The nationwide stats don't lie. Midwest and Eastern states are losing hunters rapidly. But more and more people want to hunt the West while they can. And it's still relatively cheap in the grand scheme. Boomers with disposable income and flat-brimmers spending their retirement money today.
It also doesn’t break down the R vs NR. It’s possible a lot more residents applied hoping to fill the freezer ... just in case
Jaquomo u must primarily hunt private land because any public land that I have hunted for deer turkey elk or anything above squirrel and rabbits is and has been crowded since I could tote peepaws ole Shakespeare wonderbow. So hard for me to read this time and time again that there are no young hunters in the woods. Hogwash!! I am over 8 wildlife management areas and I receive daily calls during duck season of hunter disagreements from skybusting to fist fights on to windows shot out of pickups to ice chests stolen. Young unethical hunters are the majority of the problem and at least for du c k hunting they outnumber baby boomers 10-1. Where other than small game and upland game has the number of hunters dropped. I have private leases but they also are over run with all the other lease partners kids. As ive said before I agree that kids in the Midwest and northeast aren't turning out in the number that Oklahoma, Texas, all the Southeast and some of the rocky mountain states are. The problem with the numbers that I see published are inflated by the major population areas of the ne and west coast where there are obviously a lower percentage of hunters than in the "flyover states. Small game hunting and perch fishin are dead but big game, turkey, alligator and duck hunting are livelier than ever and its not just baby boomers causing the piss poor draw odds on ALL the draw hunts that I put in for. Im sure u will toss me some numbers but I don't care about that crap as I'm in the woods at least 40 hours a week and have been for 20 years. There are more public land hunters now than ever PERIOD. We can agree to disagree.
Is there a link to show how many apps for each unit and how many tags yet?
"flat-brimmers spending their retirement money today"
Haha
Coal rollers.
cnelk's Link
The Big Game License Recommendations will come out in early May, after the Rule Making meeting April 30th.
Here are 2019 Recommendations until the new ones are published - see link
Let’s hope they increase archery tags for deer after last year’s reductions...
Let's not herd numbers are way down for deer
Orion,
Last year they increased rifle deer tags in large groups of units by up to 50%. The archery tags were decreased by up to 50% in those same groups of units.
This, when rifle tags were already at 90% of the total tags for those units before the increases.
The reason given by CPw was to put more pressure on and kill more mature bucks in these units as they think that those mature bucks are more likely to have CWD.
The logic of significant reductions in archery tags escapes me in the above scenario though...
Just another punch in the guts for bowhunters in Colorado....
Ok, so I see the link to statewide app data. Anyone have a link to that data that shows unit by unit apps?
That's the Hunt Recap, which is published after the draw in June.
Treeline all tags should be cut but apparently CPW thinks mature bucks are the cause of CWD and are determined to eliminate them, thus the later seasons and more rifle tags
I agree that there needs to be a reduction in the number of deer killed.
Any reduction should come from the method of take that kills more than 98% of the deer killed each year rather than the the method that only has 10% of the tags and has about 10% success on bucks.
Bowhunters only account for 1% of the bucks killed each year.
Probably less than 1% of the does.
Why reduce archery tags?
For that matter, why is archery draw for deer?
I agree 100% with treeline . The reduction in archery tags for any species make no sense at all. Why not rifle? Why not muzz? Many more deer lives will be preserved with reduction in the more modern season tags.
Jaq in one sentence you say "it's relatively cheap in the grand scheme" the next sentence " flat-brimmers spending their retirement fund today" bit inconsistent. Don't have to wonder what side you fall under boomer or brimmer, now go yell at them kids to stop playing on your grass.
Swampokie I think CPW is more concerned with preserving their revenue stream than deer herd. I guess wiping out your deer herd is a effective way to cure CWD.
Actually wiping out the deer herd is NOT an effective way to eliminate CWD. You could kill every deer in the endemic areas, keep deer out for years, then reintroduce and they would still get CwD. Once it is in the soil you can’t get rid of it ??
They have stated that killing mature bucks is a way to slow its spread to new areas. But all that does is slow the inevitable.
These Californicated states are all about "gun buyback". Maybe they'll do a "point buyback". I'd be happy to get a partial refund for 10 and donate the remaining to "CWD research".
Bowhunters account for more than 1% of bucks killed in Co??? Where did that stat come from? 1% cmon let's be real!!
The harvest estimates are listed on the CPW website......in 2019 total deer killed 36389, archery deer 3183, or 8.7% of the total. All subject to sampling accuracy. A fairly small number in any case.
Sticksender, that seems high.
Rifle and muzzle loader success is typically much higher than archery success. Combine about 1/2 the success (or less) with bow hunters only getting about 10% of the tags and archery success is probably less than 5% of the total on average.
Although those harvest statistics are typically not very accurate given the methods used to estimate them...
2019 total deer hunters 92483
Rifle Kill 30521 @ 43% success
Bow Kill 3183 @ 26% success
Muzz kill 2155 @ 27% success
Of course Bow success may be headed even lower yet, since August archery hunting has now been eliminated.
Does anyone know of their reasoning in pushing the archery deer season back?
Jaquomo's Link
Sivart, they wanted to start everything on Sept 2 since that's when bear season has to start.
Pushco, you misunderstood my post. Hunting is still relatively cheap on a single-state basis. But many younger go-getters are hunting multiple states for multiple species every year, springing for the most expensive gear and clothes, drive $50K trucks, yet don't have any retirement savings.
Swampokie, Oklahoma is one of the few states where hunting licenses are increasing. But here's a link to an article about your neighbor Kansas and the huge decline in young hunters, and resident hunters overall. Look at the state-by-state decline in hunting licenses sold, and the nationwide figures published by USFWS and NSSF every year. The decline is dramatic. But I agree that in many places PUBLIC LAND (which I hunt) is becoming more crowded due to loss of available private land to hunt compared to 20 years ago. Leasing, subdividing, and farms being simply closed off all push more hunters onto public land. At one time I had permission to bowhunt elk on 7 different ranches. All are now leased to outfitters. That's happening all over.
But bean-counters at DNRs across the country have hard data showing that older hunters are dropping out way faster than young hunters are coming on board, and the trend predicts 30% fewer hunters in 15-20 years when the Boomer Bubble ages-out. Those are facts, not anecdotal observations.
Jaquomo I do see your point but I just don't see any draw odds going up anywhere. They are all going down and I realize draw hunts aren't giving the whole picture but I cant imagine its because of less hunters
My elk tag was an every other year draw 10 years ago now it’s a leftover
Draw odds are getting worse for many tags simply because of demand for draw tags. That may seem too obvious, but it's the story. Lots of variables involved in that, the internet and social media being a big part of it. People want to shoot trophies and limited tags are where the odds are best and hunting pressure is less.
Think about this - back when a WY nonresident general elk tag could be drawn with 0-1 point, there were 15-20% more hunters nationwide. Today it takes roughly 2.5 points and by next year it may take 3. This isn't because of more hunters. It's because more hunters want to hunt elk in WY.
Anyone wanna rethink that more points than apps argument?
^^^ Ask about the PP only for elk in 2019 for a true comparison
Cnelk already have that fewer preferences points only as first choice this year and over 20,000 more applicants applied for a elk hunt as first choice to 2019.
2019 Elk PP only was 83K+.
^^ Based on that number - there was approx 8.5% decrease in PP applications in 2020
I have 84k+ with 49k of those nonresidents for points only 2019 elk.