Fellow CO BHA members,

As you likely are aware, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is current soliciting input as they begin another five-year big game season planning process. The deadline for this is February 4th. We would ask that you complete both the CPW’s questionnaire, and the one we have prepared below for BHA to provide input as a group- see the instructions below.  CPW meetings are being held around the state, and among the concerns being brought up by sportsmen so far are these:

1. Excess hunting pressure in the overlapping September archery and muzzle-loading seasons is driving elk onto private lands, thus reducing hunter access to elk both during the early and later regular rifle seasons. This pressure has gotten so bad in some areas that the rut is being disrupted and breeding delayed, leading to a visible increase in late-born calves.
2. The availability of “B” (extra) cow elk tags during archery season is contributing to overcrowding and should be eliminated.
3. All “B” tags for elk should be reconsidered, decreased overall and in some areas eliminated.
4. The recent “revision” of the private landowner big game voucher tag program, long a major bone of contention among hunters, in fact made the problems worse. The core of dissatisfaction is that these tags, which generally are sold by landowners to the highest bidders, are good on public lands in limited draw areas as well as private.

Please be aware that while BHA members have voiced these same concerns, and several others, BHA has no intent to propose any changes to CPW during this process. First and foremost CO BHA is in favor of ensuring the long-term viability of the herd(s) based on the best scientific/biological data available. Because BHA represents sportsmen and women of all weapons preferences—rifles, traditional archery, compound devices, and muzzle-loaders—for us to align with any proposed season changes could be interpreted as favoritism and risk creating dissension within our ranks. For that reason we encourage you to speak out individually for what you see as broken, and how best to fix it. 

However, we would benefit by knowing how members feel regarding specific issues currently under discussion, and consequently have prepared the following brief member survey, which we encourage you to fill out and submit. Once the results are in and tallied, we will share them with you. 

How to Comment to CPW:

To ensure your comment has the most impact, please go to the CPW planning site, review the available information and submit your comment via email here - [email protected]​

To submit your comment anonymously, please use this link.

An example of a comment submitted by one of our members can be found here.

CO BHA Member Survey:

Please complete only one of the following sets of questions—pertaining to early season, or regular rifle seasons—based on which you most often participate in. Please send your responses here.

For early season archery and muzzle-loading public lands elk hunters only:

1. How many years have you hunted elk in Colorado?
2. Have you noticed any decrease in bulls bugling, “cow talk” and/or daylight elk movement during September in recent seasons? Yes   No   Don’t Know
3. Have you noticed an increased number of hunters in the September seasons in recent years? Yes   No  Don’t Know
4. Have you noticed an increase in hunters using ATVs on backcountry trails in recent years? Yes   No  Don’t Know
5. If you answered yes to question #3 above, do you believe the presence of ATVs in the backcountry is disrupting hunting opportunity or the elk rut? Yes  No  Don’t Know.
6. Do you believe the use of bugling by hunters discourages real bulls from bugling? Yes   No  Don’t Know
7. Has your success/kill rate increased or decreased in recent years? Increased  Decreased  Remained the same
8. Have you noticed an increase or decrease in mature bulls in recent years? Increase   Decrease
9. Have you noticed an increase or decrease in overall elk numbers in recent years? Increase  Decrease  Don’t Know
10. Based on your personal experiences afield, please ranks the following 1 to 4 in order of their significance as early season elk hunt disrupters, with 1 being the most problematic:
    •    Too many hunters; overcrowding
    •    Having muzzle-loader season overlain on archery season
    •    ATVs
    •    Excessive bugling by hunters
11. What is your weapon of choice for hunting elk in the early season? Traditional bow (longbow, recurve) Compound   Muzzle-loader

For regular rifle seasons public lands elk hunters only:

1. How many years have you hunted elk in Colorado?
2. Have you noticed an increase or decrease in visible elk numbers in your hunting area in recent years?  Increase   Decrease   Don’t Know
3. Have you noticed an increased number of hunters using ATVs on backcountry trails in recent years? Yes   No  Don’t Know
4. If you answered yes to #3 above, do you believe the presence of ATVs in the backcountry is disrupting hunting opportunity? Yes No  Don’t know
5. Has your success/kill rate changed in recent years? Increased  Decreased  Remained the same
6. Have you noticed an increase or decrease in mature bulls in recent years? Increase   Decrease  Don’t Know
7. Do you believe that excess hunting pressure in the September seasons negatively impacts the regular rifle seasons? Yes  No  Don’t Know
8. Based on your personal experience afield, please ranks the following 1 to 3 in order of their significance as elk hunt disrupters, with 1 being the most problematic:
   • Too many hunters; general overcrowding
   • ATVs
   • Elk being pushed onto private or otherwise inaccessible lands due to early season hunting pressure

That’s it. Thank you!