Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Colorado puts out the call for more elk hunters!

DENVER � After years of watching sales of elk licenses slide, Colorado wildlife officials are launching a nationwide ad campaign to bring more hunters to the state.

ED ANDRIESKI/AP

Colorado Division of Wildlife Director Tom Remington discusses the nationwide campaign to boost sales of elk-hunting licenses in the state. He says the goal is to stop a steep slide in license sales over the past five years and to support Colorado communities that depend on hunting. The computer shows an online site that will be available today.

The trick will be convincing people who pay hundreds of dollars for a nonresident hunting license in some states that the 23 million acres of public land and 300,000 elk in Colorado are the best in the West.

�We have exceptional elk hunting. It�s very good in many of the western states,� said Al Langston of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. �It�s up to the hunter to decide what system fits.�

The Colorado Division of Wildlife gets about two-thirds of its $110 million budget from hunting and fishing licenses, but sales of elk licenses in Colorado dropped by more than 37,000 from 2005 to 2009, with revenue falling by about $8 million in that time, Director Tom Remington said.

About 229,000 limited draw and over-the-counter licenses were sold in 2009, with thousands left unsold.

Joe Lewandowski, a DOW spokesman in Durango, said the decline in the number of elk hunters is general across the state.

�The decline is overall,� he said. �Breaking down the numbers by areas would take a long time.�

The division largely doesn�t get money from the state�s general fund, drawing instead from lottery funds, federal excise-tax revenue and, mostly, licenses.

�It�s critically important for us to attract elk hunters. It�s our very survival,� division spokesman Randy Hampton said.

This week, the division is launching its �Elevate Your Game� marketing campaign with a new website � huntcolorado.org � that went live Monday. It�s also running ads in the March issues of Outdoor Life magazine and Game and Fish magazine, on websites geared toward outdoorsmen, and on The Sportsman Channel and the Outdoor Channel to draw elk hunters.

In one ad, two elk lock antlers in a Colorado meadow to a soundtrack of football players� helmets clashing. An announcer who sounds like he belongs in a beer commercial says: �Colorado�s mile-high meadows, where 300,000 elk have taken the field and are ready to rumble. ... These magnificent horned gladiators will be fully locked and loaded by next fall�s elk hunting season. Will you?�

The budget for ads and production is about $300,000 for an effort that runs through April 5, the deadline to apply for big-game limited licenses for specific areas and dates.

The division has added nine temporary employees and two volunteers to answer phone calls and questions. Hunting brochures have been redesigned, and the division has online educational videos about elk hunting in Colorado.

Division of Wildlife marketing specialist Debbie Lininger said she hopes the campaign leads to sales of 4,000 more licenses this year.

It�s part of a larger campaign to recruit and retain hunters and anglers.

The short-term goal is to �stop the bleeding� in economic losses for the Division of Wildlife and boost communities that rely on hunting, Remington said. The division says hunting and fishing support 20,614 jobs statewide and that wildlife-based recreation ranks with skiing for driving Colorado tourism.

The marketing program also will help control growth in Colorado�s elk herds.

�If we continue to lose hunters, the ability to manage our elk populations will be severely compromised,� Remington said.

Remington said the long-term goal is getting more kids and families outside, whatever the activity.

Getting people invested in the outdoors will help the agency politically and economically down the road, he said.

Colorado may have luck luring more out-of-state hunters this year after a big hike in license fees for nonresidents in Montana. Also, Colorado doesn�t have wolves.

The Colorado success rate for hunters harvesting elk was 23 percent in 2009. Wyoming typically averages a rate of 40 percent, Langston said.

Other states looking to draw hunters have had initiatives to encourage beginners, but the Colorado campaign may be the first comprehensive, nationwide marketing effort by a state agency, Lininger said.

Bob Wharff, executive director of Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, said most elk hunters who splurge on out-of-state trips will focus on what they can take home when they decide where to go. That means states known for trophy elk may have the edge.

�That�s a bigger factor than most states realize,� Wharff said.

The problem isn't the number of elk, it is getting to them via public access. Many of the elk are huntable on public land until the cars, trucks and ATV's move in, then they migrate like heck to private ground. There is a TON of public ground behind locked gates, where land owners own the access, but very little property. Some of my favorite areas to hunt in Colorado are like this. The land owner owns 10 acres at a canyon mouth, which is access to 10's of thousands of acres of public land. I can't do a thing about it. I don't think the DWR takes this into account. I would LOVE to hunt Colorado every year, but refuse to hunt small parcels of public land with every other Joe Blow. Drawing ANY tag has become a process of YEARS of puting in, even for a rag horn bull. It isn't as easy as they make it out to be. I wish it were as simple as buying a tag and hoping for reasonable success on public land, but it isn't. Taking my family on a back pack trip 2+ miles into the back country to get away from the idiots on 4 wheelers, isn't an option either. Then they wonder why nobody wants to hunt. That kind of hunting isn't fun for kids. Sure they have the best elk hunting in the world, but the vast and I mean VAST majority of elk rich land is behind a fence. I have hunted the state from top to bottom, East to West. It is tough finding good public land to hunt. Flinch

Flinch. Yep, years ago during settlement days the wise ones homesteaded the valleys,knowing then that they could control all the surrounding country side.Gunnison area is a prime example.

The economy sucks-
1- Lower the NR tag fees to a reasonal 4-8 times what a Res pays. ( maybe NRs will buy elk, deer and/or bear tags also and DOW will have plenty income) Lets face it bowhunter success = 17% ave or less. 2- Give Bowhunters a larger allotment of tags (many NR get turned down for limited draw areas). 3 - Stop catering to gun hunters only ( AFTER bow season the DOW posts info the bow hunters needed to know before they hunted). 4 - Target all age groups ( the Elders have money they will spend ) Discount over age 65 tags- They will bring sons,nephews,friends etc. 5 - Discount tags for women, children.

If the Dow does any of those items listed they will increase sales and MORE important grow the economy in that region.

I disagree with concept of MORE access to archery hunters as they already have a whole month to chase the elk around. Archery season in the areas of Colorado that I hunt is now more crowded than rifle season. The elk are long gone by rifle season and you typically only get lucky intercepting elk on the move.

They have to get serious about resrticting the road access, and especially the ATV access to make the hunting better.

Also, not sure how they are doing their math, but, I am seeing FAR less elk sign in the areas that I hunt than I did about 3-5 years ago.

I agree about restricting ATV-dirt bike road access. The two weeks I hunted archery, one of those shared with the muzzle loaders that had the ATVs and Extra guys pushing the Elk all over the area.
The DOW turns away NR limited archery hunters @ $544, Then allows left over otc rifle tags ($49) in that GMU they can't sell out. ?????????

Lot's of buds used to come out and hunt cows when tags were more reasonable. Now at $350 per cow, those guys aren't hunting elk. Make non-resident cow tags worth about $150 or so and start getting guys to come back.

They also homesteaded the best livestock habitat--which is also the best wildlife habitat......



But the best hunting on public land is often behind the private land--one just has to make the effort to go the long way around--and rarely can it be done via motorized vehicle...........


Casey

Yes. Just today, I have seen about 3 TV adds inviting hunters to take advantage of Colorado's 300,000 elk, and they were not on the to be expected outdoor channels.

Have to wonder how much of their $110 million budget they are spending on this campaign. I guess if you work for the government, there is no recession/depression. Think it ever crossed their minds that with the real unemployment rate closing in or exceeding 20% and the fact that many of those who are "employed" are working for a lot less than they were making 5 years ago, that the reason for the decline is that people do not have the money to spend?

In the meantime, they will stir up the anti hunting community.

And then there will be the guys who hunt here, see this, and figure they don't want to be part of a crowded field and go to Wyoming, Montana or New Mexico.

It will be interesting to see how many additional licenses they sell this season. My guess is not much of an increase, if any.

CDOW wants more money, that's what.

I argued this up on the Boobs & Politics page several years ago; Forget the Fed Reserve, the Treasury, and Wall Street--the absolute best early economic indicator are non-resident big game license sales in the Interior West. Especially Colorado's OTC licenses. And the economy was faltering by 2005, every other economic indicator was that far behind the curve.

Colorado went through this in the early/mid 80's. From a peak of 45 million in revenue in 1980 to 32 million in revenue in 1985. They'll survive--CDOW enjoys one of the biggest wildlife budgets in the USA........


Casey

With prices nearing a grand for a second season bull and cow tag that have been difficult to fill on public ground, I may be looking at other options. Pretty easy to figure the cause of decreased license sales. I'm sure they paid good money for a "study" to glean the info I just gave for free.

I would bet the price of gas and last years change to over the counter archery cow elk tags wil hurt them more this year. I have bow hunted Colorado for the past 14 years and will continue to do so. Three of us hunted for the entire month of Sept last year in our old favorite spot and saw 4 elk between us. It's hard to be enthusiastic about going to the same place again this year but hey, at least I'm hunting. There is talk of making the area I hunt a wilderness area this year. Even though I have an ATV I'm all for it. From my experience some idiots with ATV's can and do ruin it for most of us. Tom

I have been hunting big game in CO since 1985. I can honestly say I have not seen a decrease of hunters in my area, quite the opposite actually.

A few problems with elk hunting.

1. It is hard work, and physically demanding in most areas.
2. Most elk pile onto private ranches, and they will not give access.
3. Archery season has become overrun with hunters, with everyone and their grandma running around the woods with a Hoochie-mama etc. It is actually very difficult to get a bull to respond to a call in a lot of areas now.

Maybe if the DOW would allow trapping again, that would raise some revenue. Or, they could actually try and bring the mulie numbers back, instead of this waiting for years to draw BS!

+1

I vowed to not hunt Colorado anymore after my camp was run over at night by a herd of steers outside Guunison. Damn cows were supposed to be off the NF and weren't. Then to top it off they had grazed all of the meadows down to dirt, and there was little browse left for the wild animals.

as I will soon no longer be a Colorado resident I don't think I can afford to go home and hunt with my family, licenses are too expensive. when I was living there I was shocked at how many NR were coming to hunt elk at several hundred dollars a tag. make the price reasonable and people will come.

Do you all not have a lifetime hunting license there? If so buy it now before you move.

No life time license in CO. NO senior discounts. There are a few deals for young hunters.Co isn't about to give up anything cocerning fees.
I think the only thing you can get for free is a senior fishing license after you are 64.Then you still have to pay the other fees associated with it.Small,but aggravating.

Somtimes they have late seasons when the kill isn't as good as they wantde.The first sentence always reads that you may hunt if you have an unfilled tag. Then it always says however,you have to purchase another tag at the same price. Some youth tags are open without purchasing another one. Proves they want the fee and are not really interested in killing more elk.

That sucks. The rocky mountain states are a deal unto themselves I guess.

In Oklahoma, I bought my lifetime license for $400 and can shoot 5 deer, 3 turkeys, 1 bear and all the smaller critters every year. Tags are free for elk and antelope but VERY limited draw. You can kill all the hogs you want unlimited.

We are being begged to shoot more deer by the DOW.

That said Oklahoma ain't the Rockies and we still drive our happy arses out there every year and pay our $500 to hunt elk. :-)