I never said that Randy makes his living off hunting, or even if he makes a profit. But what he does is a business, and as a business, he's got some tax support if he loses money, and he obviously does what he does because he likes to do it rather than just hunt for himself.
Nor will I argue about what elk do. It's amazing to see them zoom off to cover after the first shots, or jump fence to haystack paradise. They are amazingly skittish anyway, all year.
I only bought a couple tags in Colorado, and only actually hunted one time, it was like third rifle, three days or five days, I can't remember which. But I was shocked and stunned at the herd of orange. Only saw one decent fiver, when I cut over and above him, there was another guy closer and tracking, so I just had to bail and that was it, back to town. Nice walk, kinda boring for the most part, I gave my fellow hunter his dibs, dropped over the ridge away from him and gone. I'm good with that, hope he ate well. But it was kind of a shock to hunt in those constraints after growing up with five weeks of opportunity and decent, regular success.
The only other time I bothered was when I had permission around Trinidad on private ground. Bought the tag, second rifle, had to work instead..Had been there prairie dogging a number of times and knew where the good animals were, so that was a pretty major disappointment. Colorado could do better with fewer tags at a higher price for a longer season, but they're just the way they are with all those short, stupid special seasons and everyone in a nutty rush.
The bottom line for me on BHA is, the push is to close off lands from all uses of any kind (except hiking and horsey) just so the hunting is good a few days, or weeks of the year, and nothing else matters. I understand the passion, as I felt it for a while. But because of that passion, the BHA crowd is just as selfish as the wilderness people.
My position is, rational seasonal closures and access management, integrated with forestry over the long run, would result in more productive habitat, better hunting for everyone, and a broader economy both locally and regionally. Let wilderness be wilderness, but enough is enough.
