Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Colorado cow tag price increase

Cow elk tag pricing going to $450 next fall! I may not go next fall as that is the only vote we have.

http://wildlife.state.co.us/SiteCol...3/Nov/ChW-2-Big%20GameCPI-AsApproved.pdf

It also is close to the tipping point. Up till now, I was satisfied to hunt a cow due to the price break. Now if I go, I may just hunt a bull/either sex tag since it is not that much more any more. Ready to see more bull hunters in the woods?

I hope that doesn't mean less tags for residents.

Herd must be where they want it now.

No reason it should. As it is, I draw a cow tag as a left over practically every year. If anything, it should mean more cow tags for residents as more of us decide it isn't worth $450 for a cow tag. And residents are locked in at 65% and 80% of available drawing tags.

I hear there was a 10 million dow shortfall this year. They are betting we won't stop coming and they will make more money. It might be a bad bet but they could lose almost 23% of us and make the same money.

Cow elk, a bargain at any price. Buy a bear tag too if you don't mind.

Sure, maybe they should raise it to $1500 for cows! A bargain for sure.......... for residents.

They are pushing the envelope as it is, and they could be making a bad bet. They already lost 30,000 NR elk hunters, what is a few more.

And of course, that leaves more for residents

The tag price are tied to the Consumer Price Index. They go up and down with the index.

That is true of the bull/either sex tag, not cow tags. Bull tags went from $585 to $600. Cow tags jumped $100 dollars

Cow tags were raised from $250 to $350 in 2010. So they are up $200 in the last 4 years. And residents price has gone up how much? Sounds good from the residents point of view

Supposedly so is my pay raise. Did I mention I am not getting a raise next year.....again.

Dink

I guess you'll just have to stay home and hunt elk in Missouri this year...good luck with that.

Yeah, sorry about that txhunter58, you're right about the NR Antlerless Elk not being tied to the index. That said, the last page of that document has the answer.

Yep, they can manipulate numbers to justify what they want to do.

The truth is they screwed up with the cow elk tag pricing that first year and no one came to the party. So they reduced the price to woo some hunters back. SO, now they are just bringing it back up to where it should have been all along! Right!

Also ignored is that they are going to reduce the take of cows (hopefully without any reuduction in money in) totally on the shoulders of the NR. If I were a resident, maybe I would think that is fair, but even though I can afford to pay the increase, I have friends that can't any longer. ONLY $100 isn't that much, but for some it it the straw that breaks the camel's back. Little by little and more and more every year, NR elk hunting is becoming a hunt for the rich.

I love government. If I told my clients I wanted fewer of them but I wanted to make the same money, so I was raising my prices by 28% so fewer of them could afford to come to me, I would lose more than the 28%.

Cheaper tags to be had in Wyoming and Montana for cow elk...

I tend to agree with you on the NR fees getting near the price point that NR hunters are willing to pay.

I got to wait until 2016 for that.

Dink

I paid $46 this year...

Boo hoo. Not too long ago everyone had to burn preference points and draw cow tags. And that was your only elk tag if you drew! Then they became over the counter and considered an additional license to your bull tag.

Personally, I don't think the elk numbers in CO are anywhere near what the DOW claims. They just want the revenue so they focus on marketing it out. I'd love to see less elk hunters in the woods.

after moving out of colorado I won't buy an elk tag and go back to hunt. what I will do though is go visit one of my best friends who has a large ranch, and HE will buy a resident tag and shoot me an elk, he could care less about the meat, and neither of us cares to shoot another elk (a cow at least). all my wife wants is the meat. if the price were what is was at 250, then I would probably buy a tag and bring home two. in the mean time, I'll go and help him feed cows (bovine), watch him shoot a cow(elk) on the meadow and bring it home with me.

Did they raise deer tags for next year too? I don't like seeing our deer tags cost less than the Iowa tags I am buying. They need to jack those up some more. Who wouldn't pay a little more to hunt some mule deer?

They need to restructure the deer seasons here. That 4th season isn't helping the deer numbers.

Deer pice went from $350 to $360

Dogcatcher: This may mean that you actually see more BULL hunters in the woods. Under the current system I was hunting a bull every 3-4 years and a cow on the other 2-3 years. As addicted elk hunting in your great state, I will probably figure out a way to go, but may go ahead and buy a bull/either sex tag every year instead of a cow tag.

It will be interesting to see if they actually issue fewer cow tags next year or if this is just lip service.