Time to head for hills: Elk hunting

Despite dwindling numbers, Colorado remains the place to be.

By Charlie MeyersThe Denver Post


Hardly anyone speaks about elk harvest records anymore.

Now that Colorado's elk population has passed its peak and is on a continuing slide toward the preferred balance with habitat and humanity, those days of super-abundant cow tags may be forever past.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife now issues about 140,000 limited elk licenses, bull and cow - about 20 percent less than the peak a decade ago.

However gloomy all this might seem to those who have spent their hunting lives awash in the notion of a perpetual cow elk heaven, they still can hang their blaze-orange hats on this: For sheer numbers, Colorado elk hunting remains tops in the world, and that isn't going to change.

Truth is, one of those rare and perfect seasons - lots of early snow to put animals on the move, but not too much to stifle hunters - still might produce a result close to the 63,336 elk taken in 2004, the final year of license plenty. But no one expects it, and the number declines with each passing year.

Division of Wildlife big game managers struggled for years to get a rope around a burgeoning elk herd that that once reached beyond 350,000 animals. Now that population objectives finally have been met in many units, a combination of keen license supervision and shrinking habitat augers against another such boom.
DOW's listed 270,000 animals in its 2006 post-hunt estimate.

"Our target is 205,000-230,000 animals," state big game manager Rick Kahn said.
Kahn has no doubt where the eventual trim must occur.

"We've revised some of our estimates, particularly in northwest Colorado," he said. "We're not even close to our objectives."

Kahn pinpointed the Bears Ears region northeast of Craig and large parcels of the Flat Tops as places where numbers must be reduced and cow tags will remain plentiful for the next few seasons.

DOW also is willing to adjust its aim if social and environmental conditions warrant.

"In some places, people want more elk and the agricultural community is willing to tolerate more. We're bringing things up a bit," Kahn said of a population objective that always will be a moving target.

To this end, the agency is conducting a series of statewide meetings to gauge public opinion on both overall population and gender ratio.

"Local values that drive these decisions tend to change over time," Kahn said. "Rather than raw numbers, it's more realistic to plan things on the basis of habitat and social issues."

Kahn said energy development also could influence objectives over the next few years.

For the hunters eagerly anticipating the Oct. 13 opening of the initial elk-only season, none of this should be taken for discouragement. Plenty of elk roam the high country; it's highly unlikely that anyone lucky enough to draw a limited bull license or a cow tag will be able to detect any difference.

Charlie Meyers: 303-954-1609 or cmeyers@denverpost.com