Big Game Season Structure

I am a life-long resident of Colorado and have hunted most of my life. Several issues need to be addressed:
1- Resident hunters do not currently get priority for licenses – they should. There should be no OTC for N/R’s.
2- We need better and active management of our wildlife. OTC and draw licenses should be limited to reduce the overwhelming number of hunters. The tags for the following year should be appropriated based on the previous years’ harvest in each GMU. CPW officials should conduct surveys during and after hunting EACH YEAR to base adjustments on.
3- Motorized vehicles are out of control. The onslaught of ATV’s and the sheer volume of people in the woods drives game onto private property where they stay until the pressure eases up.
4- Landowner tags should only be allowed for hunting on the landowner’s own property and not for anywhere else within the GMU.

I Support A5 and R5. One step at a time. If over crowding and opportunity continues to suffer, look at further limiting OTC during the next 5 year planning phase. Residents should have priority as they do in most other western states.

I am a resident bow and rifle hunter. I prefer options A5 and R5.

CPW definitely need to reduce OTC licenses both archery and rifle. Elk herds are not reproducing to maintain current numbers. Elk hunted from August through January, much too long. More and more hunters in all seasons. Fewer elk. Now more pressure (wolves) which will affect herd numbers. Revenue will be lost but in the near future, as hunting success declines, less people will hunt and will lose revenue anyway. A quality hunting experience (more animals, less hunters) is important. State should look at other sources for funding CPW (wildlife).

Lifetime resident & love to hunt my home state every year. I feel like we need to manage the resource and the experience (overcrowding has become an issue and it's not getting better). That being said, my preference is A5/R5. I realize that may not be a very popular choice with non-resident hunters, but it provides a 'perk' for being a resident... and to be honest, over the last 45 years the perks to stay in this state are becoming scarce.

As a Colorado resident since birth in 1971, and a hunter since 1980, I would prefer A6/R6 and a 90/10 allocation in all units no exceptions. No preference point system for anyone. Current non-resident fees are appropriate in comparison to other states. The non-resident fees should be kept so, in the middle of the pack.

Nothing will make all happy and to be honest, making everyone happy is not the job of CPW.

Side note: My openness to non-resident hunters has faded in the last 25 years due to multiple disturbing, questionable, and unethical occurrences.

For all of you Residents who are beating your chests saying that Parks and Wildlife should increase NR fees:

Parks and Wildlife closed its 2023 books with $42,256,844 million in the black. It is pretty obvious that Parks and Wildlife doesn't need more money.

NRs are already paying 12X more for an elk license than a resident....

So please stop trying to turn hunting into a "richer" man's sport by suggesting P&W should increase NR fees. It doesn't help anyone....

I get it, residents want more tags and less pressure. Who doesnt?! But don't ask for more tags by simply pricing blue collar NR's out of the equation. Because I have news for you all.....you will NEVER price all NR's out of the equation. You will price good people out of the equation and then you will be left with only a bunch of trust fund/attorney /rich a-hole NR hunters who are the only ones that can afford to hunt there. Have you ever hung out with those people? Well, you will be if the prices keep increasing...

Bottom line, Parks and Wildlife doesn't need more money. They need a solution to a population problem of overcrowding.

A6/R6 is the best solution for everyone.

Resident hunter with preference for A5/R5.

I like A3 and R3: Laughed with/at the person who brought up the newly introduced wolves. They should of been left loose in the eastern slop as they seem to vote all this in. The other issue is bear and how they are doing well since the spring bear hunt is gone. The year I got a bear license the government hunter shot five in the area I was hunting and just left them rot. Not too long ago we seen 10 bear in five days black power hunting. Make a season and give nonresidents unlimited license to put that trophy on their wall and by the way it is not bad eating; some. I like the idea of being able to manage specific herd and feel it should be more about wildlife management than money.

I strongly believe A6 and R6 provide the best opportunity to both manage hunting pressure and herd size. with the following provisions. Residents should be given preference in these drawings by employing the 70/30 allocation of residents to non-residents in current OTC units and 80/20 in any units requiring 5 or more preference points to draw. The designation of quality (5 or more points) should be made annually not every 5 years.
This past year the archery units on Grand Mesa were draw only to try to address hunting pressure. Unfortunately, there were so many licenses allocated to the draw that there were still leftover licenses after the secondary draw. If we are going to manage hunter numbers, the allocated licenses per unit must be reduced below current participation levels or the overcrowding will still exist.

A5/R5. Over and above the funding that nonres hunters bring to the economy and CPW's budget, we need to support residents who bring money to CPW on many other outdoor activities (year round fishing, hiking, skiing, etc), hunt types (incl upland, waterfowl) and fishing. Reward us who continue to support CPW and the economy year-round and not just one week per year. And, we HAVE to reduce the res/non-res draw splits for all units to 80/20 or 90/10. Note the landowner pool in prime units comes from residents so that in reality the res/non-res splits are almost the same. Do a survey of the front range elk units so see the real figures. Residents deserve more opportunity in good units over non-residents from a fundamental social contribution and financial perspective. If CPW's budgets need to change, better get ready to be active and ready to cut programs now anyway with the predator spiral that we are about to realize.

A Colorado outdoorsman since 1985.

I agree with most of the comments here about reducing non-resident participation to match what other states do. My ideal world is to draw better tags in my own state more often for me and my kids and reduce tags. The only way to do this is to reduce non-res tags if one goal is to reduce overall hunter numbers which not affecting residents. At times, I feel that CPW has "opportunity hunt OTC seasons" with an unlimited number of hunters involved just as a funding mechanism because they know elk success will be in the single digits. Hunting in crowded "non-quality unit OTC non-draw years pumpkin patch of orange" units is neither successful, enjoyable for a hunter with family and is the #1 reason I feel that prevents the recruitment of new hunters which we drastically need. I likewise apply in most other states and am used to this system so I suspect non-residents will accept the same in time. Big issue I am sure CPW will have is reduced funding at the CPW level and the local economy level. While I feel for the local economy needs, I think you have to prepare yourself for this budgetary environment/reduced programs and services anyway with the reality of herd reductions in the face of continued adverse winters, habitat loses with the ever-changing human populations and of course at least the initial onset of wolves on the landscape once they get their foothold ALL at the same time. It will take 10-15 years to teach elk how to avoid these predators (like in NW Wyo) and hopefully herds don't permanently crash like they did in northern Idaho and the Bob Marshall in Montana. Also, I have lived in Colo over 30 years and hunted almost as long and am available to participate at any commission meeting or working group.

I prefer A5/R5. But I do understand there may be units where not enough residents might hunt and you would need to allow more non-residents. Many other western states have limited tag opportunities for non-residents and doing so has pushed a lot of pressure onto Colorado. It is time to take action. I understand this could result in significant revenue loss but I would be willing to pay more for my resident tags if it meant I got to hunt deer and elk each year without so many other hunters. I also don't like that the only time I'm given preference as a resident (65% vs 35%) is during the first choice of the first drawing. After that, non-residents get equal opportunities (for second choice, left over drawings, etc). Thank your for your consideration!

A Colorado hunter since 1992

I would like to see a variation of A5/R5 where all nonresidents apply for unit/season specific tags. The variation would be that all residents get OTC tags that are unit/region specific and capped at a liberal maximum per region. This would help the overcrowding and point creep for nonresidents and also decrease overcrowding due to residents. This would give CPW better control in managing herds and hunter satisfaction in each unit.

Was hoping I would get a survey but since I didn’t I will leave my comments here. First off non-residents should have absolutely no say in this process. It’s not their wildlife its the residents wildlife. I would prefer a draw only system for residents and non residents(A6, R6) it should be 85-15 or 90-10 for resident tags to non-resident tags this would put Colorado in line with almost all western states.
Thanks
A life long Colorado resident

I agree with changing to a2 and r1. Reason is you take away otc you will see more people go to other states that have them and revenue will be lost. The rifle hunting numbers are not high like the archery season. Lessening hunters for archery will allow more cows to get through breeding and help build the herd. By the time rifle starts breeding is over with. And like other residents stated keeping over the counter only for residents means no point in preference points then for residents and also allows less revenue over time

I strongly support A5 & R5.
Many of the NR comments are based solely on their monetary contribution, most resident hunters are more than willing to pay more to ease crowding. Most resident hunters hunt the same gmu year after year, generation after generation. NR hunters tend to flock to whatever unit was featured on social media. One season the unit may be fairly quiet and one youtube video gets posted and you have 30 NR trucks at the trailhead.
Managing NR licenses will solve the over crowding.

All reissue tags should:
1- go 100% to youth
Or
2- require the use of pref points to obtain.
This system allows some people to hunt highly coveted units multiple times without using pref points!!!

I would like to thank this committee for the hard work they are undertaking to update the management plan. I realize there are many tough decisions that need to occur and this requires a balance of many factors that unfortunately have to include economics.

As many others in this group chat have suggested, I strongly advocate to greatly increase fees and limit opportunities for nonresidents as basically every other state has implemented. I do not feel that there should be any over the counter tags for nonresidents. As a resident, I utilize the over the counter tag opportunities to ensure I can hunt elk every year so I would appreciate that this group maintains that access for residents.

I also advocate for a reduction in the nonresident tags to at a maximum of 10% and would even suggest considering a reduction to 5% cap.
I feel it would be more than reasonable to increase nonresident fees to 2-4 fold to maintain the revenues. Let’s set the market and see what nonresidents will pay. I know I have large amounts invested in other states and continue to not draw out of state tags with the worsening point creep.

I am willing to pay a bit more annually as a resident to supplement any losses that occur from limiting nonresident tags.

As we continue to see wildlife experience new challenges with reductions in habitat,
diseases, large winter kill impacts last year, predation with the reintroduction of wolves it just seems like we are going in the wrong direction.

I would also like to thank everyone who is sharing their thoughts and ideas to improve things in our state. Please continue to advocate for conservation and provide balance views as you encounter others to help educate those who do not hunt.

I think that A5 and R5 is the way to go. Make nonresidents draw the tag, and decide which unit they are going to hunt. That way if a portion of the state gets an insane amount of winter kill (like this year) nonresidents don’t go to other parts of the state and pressure the heck out of it they are tied to a unit. Also with draw, CPW you guys could make more money off of charging for an application/preference point to every nonresident that applies, and if you want to add a $20 “processing fee” for everyone that applies as well then that helps to recoupe some costs. I understand managing wildlife takes money so this is a way to make some back. If you just do the cap then you’re only going to make money off of those nonresidents that are successful and able to buy a license instead of making money off of everyone who applies like you would in a draw. OTC for nonresidents needs to be ended. Manage the wildlife and OPPORTUNITY for the residents. Again you guys can make more money off a draw process than a capped process. This is also coming from a current resident that will likely become a nonresident in the very short future. Just my 0.02.

I support A6/R6 as a resident. Management through OTC tags is NOT management. Both animals and hunter numbers need to be managed properly.

Though I do think A5/R5 could be a reasonable compromise