SS,
Most cows in the southern Rockies are pregnant by Oct 1st. Not all of them by any stretch. The peak of the rut is that last 10 days of Sept and probably first few days of Oct. There is always cows that don't get bred in their first estrus.
I agree that blackpowder is not as disruptive as the hordes of archers, but blackpowder does have a bigger impact per hunter because it's a firearm and can be used at greater distances than archery.
Revenue to CPW is only a part of the money equation. It's the money on main street, outfitters and ranchers who make a fair bit of their annual income from hunt leases. They are the ones who are bending the ear of the Commission, legislators, and the Governor. And in turn those three often figuratively park their butt on the desk of the CPW director and put the pressure on. Wildlife is not managed for sound biology it is managed for people.
When N.M. dramatically restricted elk hunting in the 60's to address declining pregnancy rates (there weern't enough bulls beyond the age of 1 year), NM let the herd and bull ratio grow, by the mid 70's NM had fantastic elk hunting. But the ranchers in Northern NM figured out how lucrative elk hunting was, they began to pressure the legislature and state wildlife dept for more licenses. The number of bulls bulls beyond the age of 4 declined and today there is not the quality of big bulls in NM as there was from mid 70's to late 80's. I guided on three different ranches around Chama during that time and from the mid-80's to the mid-90's the decline in 4+ year old bulls was pretty significant.
I agree that hunters are going to have to speak up again, but there is a difference between over hunting and the disturbance factor that is being suggested in the article. Over the past 5-6 years CPW has significantly reduced the number of cow tags as the elk herds in the DAU\'s reached their population objective. It's just that the herds in the SW continued to decline even when cow tags were reduced.
There is also the combining of the two agencies that is "diluting" the biology and management of wildlife--too much is being directed elsewhere. That dumbazz Lickenpooper anyway......
