I also believe more licenses issued and thus more hunters in the field
2015 221,274 elk hunters
2016 223,745 elk hunters
I guess 2500 more hunters isn't much as far as statistical significance, sure felt like I saw more guys in the field.
There are 223K Elk hunters? 39K elk killed? Thats a success rate of >6%! Those are horrible odds.
Are there really that many elk hunters in CO?