Winter Updates: Big Game Applications, Bow Seasons and Wolf News
As we’re settling into 2023, we hope all of you are off to a good start to the new year! We have a couple items to touch on with this email update:
Colorado Big Game Applications
First off, Colorado’s 2023 Big Game Application Season will be starting up in February. You’ll have a couple months to get your applications in for limited hunts and purchasing preference points. If you booked an upcoming hunt with us, I’ll be in touch with those of you who fall in either of these categories so we don’t miss the application deadline and you’ll be good to go for your 2023 or 2024 hunt.
Changes to Colorado Archery Seasons
Second, there are changes for Colorado’s archery season in the works. At a recent CPW Commissioners meeting, they approved limiting archery for all of the Grand Mesa units. This comprises six units in total. These units have always been over-the-counter for archery and one unit in particular was getting absolutely overrun with archery hunters (this would be unit 521, where we live and where we conduct our Timber to Table hunts).
Archery hunting has gotten out of control. Along with a few others, I’ve been very involved in getting unit 521 limited for archery over the last 3-4 years. After a lot of meetings and public comments, CPW has finally moved forward with limiting this unit for archery effective this year. There are a lot of details that still need to be worked out regarding quotas and allocation and it’ll be interesting to see how CPW handles that. Either way it’s a step in the right direction for improving hunt quality, keeping elk on public land and reducing excessive pressure on the elk. It’s a win for the elk themselves as well as hunters.
During this same meeting several commissioners also expressed interest in limiting archery statewide as soon as 2024. This would be a huge move and it’s one that I fully support. There’re simply too many archery hunters on the landscape.
If limiting archery statewide happens, it’ll certainly have implications on how we run our bowhunts in unit 62. Unit 62 is currently OTC for archery and the unit can see a lot of hunter pressure during the month of September. Limiting licenses may potentially impact how many archery hunters draw from year to year, but it will certainly improve hunt quality not to mention positively affect elk behavior with respect to calling in elk, keeping elk distributed evenly across the forest and will hopefully result in improved hunter harvest. As this situation develops in the coming months we’ll keep you up to speed and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.
Draft Wolf Management Plan
Third, CPW has released their Draft Wolf Management Plan. It’s available to review here (all 203 pages of it!). Over the next few months there will be more opportunity for public comment.
You can participate by attending meetings in person or by submitting comments via email to the commission. Click here for more information on how to stay involved. As a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Group, I’ve put a bunch of time into the development of the draft plan and I believe that CPW mostly got it right with the plan they’ve put forth. They didn’t really deviate from the Technical group and the Stakeholders’ recommendations.
Of course there are already folks on both sides that are unhappy with the plan in one way or another but hopefully this current comment period will allow those wrinkles to get ironed out. Having a management plan that allows CPW to do their job from a management standpoint while still allowing a quick and healthy wolf recovery to take place is the end goal.
Winter Habitat Update
Lastly, we’re off to a very good start to winter here in Colorado. The little valley where we live is at 200% snowpack and already at 90% of peak snowpack which is wonderful. Much of the state is well above average snowpack with several months of winter to go. Really good news there.
Contact Us with Questions
Thank you as always for reading our updates and please reach out if you have any questions. Talk to you soon!