Crazyhorse: What has gone downhill in Colorado? I'm just asking, I don't know. I think the elk numbers are as high as ever, so you must be talking about somethingelse. I know the politics is swinging liberal from all the folks moving into Colorado, but I don't see how that is directly linked to this thread.

On another point mentioned by another. I began big game hunting as an adult at age 46. I had hunted pheasants on the farm in Illinois where I grew up, but not big game. A niece's husband invited me to hunt deer on a cattle lease that his father had, and I hunted deer there several years. I later began elk hunting in Colorado and owe my best hunting there to a Durango local who I wheedled an invitation from to hunt in his elk camp. So, speaking for myself, I got good helping hands from other experienced hunters at a couple of critical points in my big game hunting life.

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Crazyhorse: What has gone downhill in Colorado?

Easy, Colorado Division of Wildlife, which has been changed to a branch of Colorado Parks, Georgeld can answer this better than me, has continually increased prices for tags, especially for NonResidents, and reduced season lengths, while the Elk herd in Colorado is at or above carrying capacity of the habitat.

2013 was the last year I hunted cow elk in Colorado, and the price of a NonResident cow tag was only $100.00 dollars or so, LESS than a Bull tag.

The Colorado Game Commision has steadily been enacting regulations to limit or eliminate NonResident participation in hunting in the state!

Honestly, how can a state Game Department claim that they are trying to manage the population of a Game Species when they ANNUALLY create new regulations LIMITING hunter participation?????

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Having retired from the 9 to 5 Rat Race and moved back to the rural area I grew up in, hunting for me has become more fun when I am guiding someone else, paying client

.Hunting used to be fun, but it turned into a competitive business and that damaged the concept.

Sounds like you have turned into a business.

A very good friend got his guide lic. as he was taking a lot of people hunting and decide he could make some money from it.

When it came time to renew he did not and went back to doing it for the fun. He said guiding for money was to much like work.

Another fellow I know and did a lot of hunting with. We had a great time hunting together for years. Decide to start guiding now we don't hunt together as I will not pay him. For doing the same stuff we did for free.

Plus I know all he does about hunting.

I well take most any body hunting if they are safe and enthusiastic. Because I like hunting and hunting with good people.

Just to clarify what I actually said:

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Having retired from the 9 to 5 Rat Race and moved back to the rural area I grew up in, hunting for me has become more fun when I am guiding someone else, paying client or a family member/friend or one of their kids/relatives. I personally have not shot a deer up in this area in the past two seasons.

Point I was making was that it does not matter whether it is a paying client or not, but that I enjoy hunting more when I am trying to get another person into a situation where they can make a shot.

Whether any $$$$ changes hands or not, does not matter, it is being able to be out on the hunt and sharing the experience with another person.

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The Colorado Game Commision has steadily been enacting regulations to limit or eliminate NonResident participation in hunting in the state!

That statement is false.
How many states can you drive to and buy an over the counter elk hunting license and participate in the hunting season? There are not many.
Yes Colorado has increased Non Resident license fees but at the same time they have increased Resident fees.
There is increasing participation from non resident hunters and more and more licenses are being set aside for Non Residents.
For elk and deer if a unit requires more than 6 preference points to draw a tag up to 20% of the licenses are allocated to Non Residents, if the hunt requires less than 6 points up to 35% are set aside for Non Residents.
Colorado has in recent years opened up their highly coveted Desert Sheep hunt and allocated a license to Non Residents. For the record I have unsuccessfully applied for Desert Sheep as a Resident since 1997.
Colorado may have its problems but allocation of licenses to Non Residents is not one of them.

You are entitled to your opinion!

You expressed an opinion and I showed you facts.
You seem to have it reversed buddy.
If you have more than an opinion cite some facts...

Because no matter what facts I give you are going to turn this into a because that is what happens to every discussion we ever get involved in.

I know what I have experienced and what I have heard from outfitters/guides that live and work in Colorado and have for decades.

I know it is FACT that when I started hunting in Colorado, bull and buck tags were $150.00 each and were over the counter!

I know that some units do have bull tags that can be bought OTC, are there ANY units where buck tags are OTC?

It is also a FACT that when I started there was NO Percentage Limit on NonResident participation in Colorado.

It is also a FACT that Colorado had to start increasing NonResident license fees, due directly to the DECREASE in the numbers of NonResident coming into the state to hunt.

All of those ARE FACTS, ALL of those DECREASED hunting opportunities thereby decreasing the number of hunters coming into Colorado and the money they brought into the state's economy.

And whether or not it is a FACT, the Californication of Colorado has also reduced hunting opportunities since I started hunting there.

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. But I find it interesting they complain about the loss of hunters (who pay their bottom line) but seem to do everything possible to make it tougher to hunt. Plus they listen too much to the anti's who contribute absolutely nothing to wildlife and management.

Surely the demographics of today's youth have changed but the response should be to make things easier for new hunters while still looking out for wildlife.

This!

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the response should be to make things easier for new hunters

What can be done to make it "easier?" Which law, rule or regulation makes it unreasonably or unnecessarily difficult for a person to take up hunting if they wish to do so?

If anything, it's easier now to become a hunter than it ever has been, at least in my lifetime. (This is from the perspective of someone who was born and raised in a big city, those who grew up in a rural setting may see things differently.)

The hunter education course is simple and can be taken on line in many states.

Licenses and tags can be purchased on line.

States offer all sorts of comprehensive "where to" and "how to" information at the point of a mouse. There is no shortage of hunting articles in print and electronic media.

There are numerous youth, mentor and outreach programs offering special seasons, reduced licenses fees and other perks.

At least her in WI, hunting regulations have been greatly relaxed and streamlined.

Western states have instituted 'block management' and other programs to improve access to private property.

There is nothing that the state can do about guaranteeing a good place to hunt unless you want to throw out the idea of property rights.

Do we just want more warm bodies in the field? Or do we want dedicated hunters who will stick with it, even when things aren't so easy?

Should a youngster, who is able to figure out the latest I Phone and play complicated multi-player on-line games, but is unwilling or unable pass a simple course and get a license, be encouraged to pick up a firearm and go hunting?

The world is getting crowded and there are fewer hunting opportunities than there were in the past. Realistically, there's nothing that can be done about it. This is a fact of life that anyone who wishes to hunt will have to deal with and it's been going this way for a long time.

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The world is getting crowded and there are fewer hunting opportunities than there were in the past. Realistically, there's nothing that can be done about it. This is a fact of life that anyone who wishes to hunt will have to deal with and it's been going this way for a long time.

And that puts the whole focus on the actual problem, the one that too many folks blind themselves too!

As a kid growing up in Texas I could go on just about any property in Young county and fish or dove and duck hunt, and the landowners did not care.

There were no or few deer in this area and few people hunted them. Then came the DAWN of competitive hunting where the "Score" of a set of antlers brought out the greed of hunters, and landowners soon realized that a commodity no one had really cared about, suddenly could bring them in extra thousands or 10's of thousands of dollars with little or NO effort on their part.

Now, there are young folks in the rural areas, that should be avid hunters, but because of the economy and because the landowners are merely taking advantage of a system that has provided them with needed income, those kids have never had the chance to get involved.

So, what can be done about this? What should be done?
There are already more hunters than there are good places to hunt.
Should we be so concerned about attracting new people to an activity with ever-diminishing opportunities?
Or just let everything seek its own level?

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Or just let everything seek its own level?

Do we REALLY have a choice?