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

Then I have done us all a disservice by helping this get out of hand. You have a right to expect a lot from your state and a lot from us when we visit you and hunt in your great state. It really is as simple as in my opinion that $450 is too high for a cow elk tag and most residents would disagree. Proably should have left it there.

I may disagree with you, but I will uphold your thoughts as genuine and with a lot of logic on your side. I may debate you more than I should, but I will never call you names or even say you are wrong.

And as far as letting the Feds control hunting and tag pricing. NO THANKS. I would not want the people responsible for obamacare anywhere near our hunting.

Put enough pressure on law makers at the federal level to get things changed.

Keep in mind with the mid-term elections coming and Democraps going to take it on the chin over gun control. All it would take is enough people to tell congress they could show they were still for sportsman (gun owners) by endorsing/voting for a bill to keep tag prices (on federal land) reasonable they could/would win back a lot of the votes they lost and may be able to keep their seats.

It's not that far fetched IMO. They will do anything to keep those seats. It would also bring backing from a lot of Republicans with enough emails, phone calls...

Dink

You're higher than giraffe puzzy.

I am a conservative, which means I vote republican 99% of the time, but I don't want my US congressman/senators getting involved with controling hunts in anyones state. Look where that got us with wolves! I may disagree with what a state charges for me to hunt/fish etc, but I will uphold a states right to be in control. Most conservatives/republicans will probably side with states rights on that one. They did with the wolf issue, and thank goodness they did.

Just messing around with you guys, most NR hunters I have met were good folks.
Hell, I would probably even take Dink out for a bigger forkie than he got on the private ranch.

My take as a Missouri Hunter. Ive been to Colorado 10 times Elk Hunting. Bow and Muzzleloader. Have taken 4 Cows and a Bull. About 50/50 public/private as the Ranch we hunt has public on three sides. Oddly enough most of the Bulls we have take have been on public. While I would like for tags to be cheaper I will gladly pay the money if I get a chance to go again. Most of my best hunting memories have been on the Elk hunts. Ive been within 25 yards of two bull moose. Have been within spitting distance of black bear, mule deer and Elk.

Cant see most of those things here in Missouri. The way I always played the tag game was to put in for Bull Muzzleloader with Cow muzzleloader second choice. Usually draw a Bull tag every 2 years but lately has been every three.

The years I didnt draw I carried a bow. Oddly enough my bull was a bow kill. It was nice only paying half for a cow tag but the higher cost wont stop me from going again.

I wouldnt mind seeing missouri charge Non Residents the same as what there state charges us. Other than that price it how you want if I cant afford it I will go somewhere else or not go at all. If it gets to high people will quit coming and the price will come down.

I just love the Rockies in September.

How far off the road in CO do you need to walk to get into elk? Is it possible to pull over to the side of the road, hike for a bit up a hill, and have some decent hunting?

Calvin, based on hunts of yours I have read about, just go 2 to 3 miles in in most places and have the place to yourself. And I'd get into muzzleloading. Aspens are changing, weather is good, bulls are bugling. Love September.

While I understand what you are saying and agree with you. I161 showed that western hunters don't give a [bleep] about non-resident hunters.

I still think states can be in control. Just tag prices need to be same in any unit that has 50% public ground and how those tags in those units are allotted.

Dink

Roger that. Plan on coming down this fall to check things out. Take 3-4 days to hike a hill (afraid to say mountain with the rockies) and see if something happens.

States could still be in control. But congress would tell them what they could charge for a tag.

Yup, makes sense to me.

PM me if you like. Have had a few hunts in various parts of the state over the years.

Sometimes you can find them close to the roads. Once the pressure is on you gotta get farther from the roads. The ranch that we hunt is pretty small but it is a couple mile off of the main road. If you were to walk in from the main road to get to the borders of the ranch we hunt it would be a 2-3 mile walk. We seldom see other hunters on the public ground. Of course my experience is with the early season. Rifle season I have no experience but the stories are it gets pretty wild.

Dink

Let's look at it this way. In Western Colorado there is Steamboat Springs Ski Resort and some the best elk in North America. I taught skiing in Steamboat in 79/80 one of the best times of my life. The ski resort is all on US Forest Service land and the price for a 5 day lift for the current season is $445. A typical elk hunt is approximately 5 days and the current cost of a cow tag is $450.

I have not heard of skiers demanding that the cost of a lift ticket should be lowered because the resort is on federal land and the pricing should reflect what a working man can pay. One either has the money to ski on federal lands or they do not ski. The same as elk hunting. Western ski areas do have lower local price tickets. Stop bitching Dink or better yet stop hunting in the west.

Hey,

abc, I flipped burgers on the second floor at the top of the gondola that winter.

To get what you want would take a change to the Constitution. I don't see the mid term elections flipping things enough across the country to allow that to happen. State's game and therefore they set the price. Not a whole lot a NR can do other than "vote" with their wallet. How many elk CO cow elk tags would your lease in MT have bought?

Still doesn't work. The people of the state "own" the wildlife legally. Should units with primarily private land let the land owners set the seasons and tag pricing?

Tx, thank you for your level-headed attitudes on the federal control issue. Just curious though, in your quote above, you said you were a conservative, and then said "but I don't want my US congressman/senators getting involved...."

Why use the word "but?" I thought most conservatives would use the word "and" in that context?

Not trying to be a smart-ass, just pointing out that Dink's continued references to Obamacare are quite ironic, given that he's arguing for a federal takeover of something that is clearly a state governance issue, and has been repeatedly decided that way by the courts, including federal courts.

States would need a two tag system. Public land tag would be the same price for everyone. They could even leave it up to the state to set the price. Residents would make sure tag prices stayed down.

Private land tag could be priced anyway the state chooses. It would still be cheap for residents and it would bring market value to non-residents.

For guys that hunt both public and private. Resident would need a public land tag (cause it would be the most expensive) and non-residents would need a private land tag(it should again be the more expensive tag).

The state would still set quotas,seasons, ect.

This way no one would get priced out and they can set private land tag at any price they want.

Dink

I am not arguing for a federal take over. Just a law that states you can't price the average guy out of hunting on federal ground.

Dink