Those Were The Days
General Topic
"Those were the days my friend, we thought they would never end", I kind of thought this way back in the 1970's and 1980's regarding bowhunting big game in the western U.S. and wonder if we really appreciated the "old days" with low pref. pts. required and low license costs. I think that we old timers bowhunted in the "best of times". Mule deer thrived in many western states and Colorado was a deer factory that produced big mature bucks routinely along with other states. We saw the elk herds grow at the expense of the mule deer. When commercial or homemade elk calls came on the scene we were able to bugle them in by the number. They seemed not to be call shy as opposed to today. Some avid hunters developed effective calling using their own voices. Minimal pref. pts. could get you into prime elk units in Colorado. Bowhunting pressure was low. I feel lucky to have been part of the early years of modern bowhunting. How many of you miss the "old days"? I would appreciate knowing your feelings/thoughts on the past and future of our sport, Badbull.
I did not hunt Colorado, but did enjoy the 1960's in the east.
I lived in Co in the late 70s and 80s. I made memories there that lasted my lifetime. I don't ever recall preference points back then. I remember spending two weeks bow hunting in the Sleepy Cat area, put on a lot of miles, and the only person we saw was a sheep herder. Had good friends that lived in Rifle (as did I for a time) and did a boat load of hunting in that surrounding area. I had some great times living there. Sad to hear how things changed so drastically. As for the future, with the wolves now, I sure don't see it getting better. I live in Wi and they sure are a mess here. Without proper management it doesn't take long to get out of control. Best of luck to you, beautiful country.
I’m 70 now and remember my Grandfather talking to me about the “good ole days” when I was 10 in 1963. He told me he felt sorry for me having to grow up in the current times. Ha Ha. He was a bit jaded for sure and I couldn’t understand his perspective. Now in 2024 I’m trying to appreciate the amazing resources we still have. I totally understand it’s much harder now to access some tags but I sure have enjoyed my retirement years hunting all over North America. I enjoy the pursuit as much or more than the quantity and quality of animals. Many more hunts guys. C
I feel sorry for todays bowhunters knowing what it was like in the 70s, 80s and some of the 90s, especially for mule deer. Game and Fish Dept's are so in love with money they are willing to sacrifice the resource for their coffers (Unlimited general licenses). I would take 2 months off work every fall with no pay and it paid off in gold. I don't want to hear "I couldn't do that", well, yea you could, it all depends on how you want to live your life. It is actually that simple. The bright spot was eastern CO. for many years of the last 20 that had incredible deer, but about 4 years ago they began annihilating bucks in the name of CWD. Absolute shame. All you had to do was knock on doors for permission. In retrospect, I wouldn't do a second any different. All with trad. What a wild ride!.......Mike
I can see Archie and Edith now…
These are the good old days. If you doubt that, jump in the time machine to 2064 and see what hunting looks like.
Yes, but a little different. We used to be the land of trophy whitetail bucks and lots of medium-sized bucks, not too many people, and deer that traveled trails we called "deer highways". Today, in my unit, the populations have dwindled to the point that the seasons reflect the numbers.... Archery deer season is now 1 buck, 3pt min. with shortened seasons. With the numbers in the toilet, you hunt many hours for a shot. Drought, hemorrhagic diseases like blue tongue, and thousands more gun hunters, roads, 4 wheelers, people, and houses. Tough times way out west.
Urban sprawl and the human population more than doubling in 50 years.. It changed things forever. Some other factors too of course..
I remember the good old days more for the pheasant hunting rather than big game. It is interesting though that I believe the number of hunters has declined a lot. Yet it’s much harder to find an uncrowded place to hunt. What’s happened is game animals have become monetized, by private land owners and fish/game departments. Money drives the “system.” And I doubt that will ever be reversed.
Dale, I grew up just south of Princeton in Sherburne County... in the late 50s and early 60s , with small farms and the Soil Bank Program, that was solid gold for pheasants I agree. Was not great trick to bag 2 or 3 in the 45 minutes or so left of daylight after football practice... having a good shorthair helped... Great times. Thanks for reminding me of them
Lived in CO full time from 1974 thru 2009. Saw some wonderful bowhunting there for sure. Drew 3 archery elk tags in unit 2 from 1987 to 1995 and another tag in 2009. Largest bull was a 357 net typical and arrowed a couple other P&Y bulls as well.
Drew 5 archery bighorn tags in a row from 1980 thru 1984 before I arrowed a ram...hunted in the Sangres three times and Georgetown twice. Drew another ram tag in 1999 and arrowed another one. Two P&Y rams.
Drew 4 goat tags from1979 to 2006. Three in the front range and one in the Needles. Arrowed a couple P&Y goats and trophy hunted and passed up billies the other two times.
Deer were over the counter state wide as I recall, but soon became LEH east of I-25 as I remember it. Only arrowed a couple P&Y mulie bucks but wow, saw some giants.
Did arrow 5 P&Y whitetails and one year, had 26 miles of whitetail hunting permission on the Arkansas River out east. It did quickly dwindle to just a few miles though.
Hunted antelope every year prior to about 1987...wasn't LEH in the NW units. Hunted them pretty often after they went LEH up through the early '90's. Killed 8 P&Y bucks.
Got the Big 8 twice (#6 and #66) and was one of the early hunters to have all eight species with at least one each in P&Y.
Yup the good old days of CO!
Dan, I’m a Mn transplant. I grew up in west central Ks, in the 60s. The pheasant limit was then and now, four roosters per day. I lived on a farm and often road hunted on the drive home from school. I killed lots of roosters doing that and could hunt several hours with no dog and kill a limit of four easily. Those days are long over, due to loss of habitat, and weather patterns, and maybe some other things we don’t understand.
Dale, I'm not actually a native Minnesotan either.. think I was 4 or 5 when we moved up from Oklahoma.. My Dad was an Okie, I was born there.
Was able to hunt good units in Colorado every year in the eighties and nineties. 1 point got you into 76. Did not know how good it was. Whitetails in Illinois in my area has not ever been better than the present for me. No pheasant anymore, but turkey hunting is good
I’m a 62 year old native of Colorado who has hunted since I could keep up with my father at around 5 years old. I feel blessed to have experienced the good hunting times. I still look forward to more good times, they’re just different.
What it was doesn’t matter its in rearview mirror
what matters is that it’ll never be better than it is today…… the trend-line is clear and it is not going up and isn’t going to reverse. At this out it’s all about how fast things degrade and slowing that down.
Interesting comments from you Bowsite folks so far. You also reminded me that I can't even remember the last time that I saw a pheasant in Colorado where I would always see them near the cornfields.
Plenty of pheasants still in Colorado, if you know where to look.
GG, Large scale farming... resulting in no fence rows , less brush/swamp land, heavy use of herbicides and pesticides.. and then urban sprawl.. 5 acres and a pole barn, plus actual housing developments, on former farmland eliminated them 95% where I grew up.
There are still a lot of good 0 or 1 point units for archery elk hunting for Colorado residents.
I am waiting to see how the total limiting of archery elk in Colorado works out.
Tags were much easier to get back then, I had 4 Bighorn tags from 1982 thru 1995 until I killed my Ram. If I did not have enough vacation time I would just quit my job then either get it back or find a new one after season.
Yeah, I feel blessed to hunt what could be the best period of Western hunting in the 80's and 90's. Over the counter bowhunting and seeing huge mule deer....calling elk with a dang gas tube and they come in.
Its not that we don't have a lot of opportunity now- but its different for sure.
It would be hard not to point to the information revolution and the internet being the reason western hunting has exploded.
I came to Vail, Colorado to ski-bum for the '71/'72 ski season. Then returned to Vail to live in Sep. '73. My first big game season was a rifle hunt in '74. We had no mentor, and no internet. Just 3 guys itching for the type of adventures we had read about as kids. We started hunting in the Eagles Nest Wilderness before it was designated a Wilderness area. In '83 we switched to bow hunting for a few reasons, not the least of which was rifle season was already getting too crowded. By then I had missed 2 seasons while away at college, but had killed several bulls with a rifle. One year we invited an old timer to visit us at elk camp. Back in "his" day, he related that there weren't any, or at least not many, elk in that area. We experienced the buildup and start of the decline in the elk herds there during our 50 years.
When I returned to Colorado after college, we lived in Erie, actually lived in town. I had permission to hunt doves and waterfowl in the corn fields just south of town. I could also walk a few blocks to hunt (mostly) doves along Coal Creek. Could sight in my rifle in the same area. We also hunted ducks and geese at Boulder Res. and the Barbour Ponds (now St. Vrain State Park and CG). All of that is suburbia now.
I also hunted upland birds and waterfowl at Tamarack Ranch along the S. Platte R., and later, whitetails. Before the internet, it was first-come-first-served to sign in for an area. I would hunt waterfowl in early morning, kill a limit of pheasants before lunch, hunt quail after lunch and maybe jump-shoot some ducks, and then back on the river or a slough before dark. The days of even seeing a limit of pheasant, or more than a few quail there, are long gone. The beginning of the end was when the area started getting more attention when you could make a reservation by phone, and then the internet. To handle the influx, they installed more parking areas making ALL areas easier to access.
bluedog has it right. Human population growth, and all that entails, will see hunting opportunities continue to decline, as we're squeezed into smaller and smaller hunt-able acres.
It was great while it lasted.
Sad to say it but for you young hunters these will be the good old days to you in the future.
DL…exactly. Someone said these are the good old days. Compared to what lies ahead, that’s more than likely a true statement. Compared to 40 years ago, not even close.
wyo, Thanks for the comments and I agree with you. Good hunting to you, Badbull.
70s to 2000, we're marvelous years. 70s uncrowded surfing, tremendous bow hunting mule deer, and exotics on Catalina Island. Southern California. Colorado, lived in Cortez,, lots of accessible elk. Wyoming and Montana, very welcomed ranchers, to let you hunt.....I was lucky to be at my peak, both physically and financially.....
I knew Social Media, would F...it all up
