Since this is about bowhunting, let’s get right to the point.
When it comes to analyzing the Colorado season that opens Saturday, there’s only one definitive thing to be said. It promises to be unlike any archery hunt we’ve experienced in recent years.
Chalk it up to a monsoon weather pattern that for weeks has dumped rain on much of the high country. This greening of Colorado creates a circumstance not often seen across such a wide swatch of territory. Depending upon where, and how, one hunts, this moisture bounty will either soften the forests to create optimum stalking conditions, or eliminate water hole strategy by providing widespread drinking stations.
It’s a brave new world for bowhunters, complete with lots more over-the-counter doe deer tags in much of the game- rich northwest.
Reflecting a population increase that nudged deer numbers to optimum and beyond, game managers approved doe tags for List B in most northwest game management units. In many places, hunters can purchase a doe license in addition to the deer permit they acquired during the regular draw.
As usual, most archery elk licenses may be obtained over the counter, as either-sex or antlerless. The season extends through Sept. 24 in most units west of Interstate 25, providing bowhunters with an opportunity to call bull elk during the rut. East of I-25, the season will be conducted in three segments: Oct. 1-27, Nov. 8-30 and Dec. 15-31, depending on the area.
Bowhunting continues to grow as one of the most populous elements of the outdoor scene. During 2005, 35,628 elk license were sold, along with 11,164 for deer, 1,739 for pronghorn and 1,421 for bear.
Prospects for success have improved in some of the more popular areas.
“Our posthunt classification last fall indicated we should have some good bulls,” Darby Finley, Division of Wildlife biologist in Meeker, said of the White River herd, the largest concentration of elk in the world.
Buck deer also are more plentiful in the area, Finley said.
“We’re seeing better quality across the board.”
As is the case in most of the high country, Finley reports lots of rainfall in the Flat Tops. Ample vegetation means animals will be scattered across the range. The exception comes in the lower elevations of Moffat County, where dry conditions will allow hunters to key on available water. Finley said Colorado 13 serves as a general demarcation between wet and dry.
Southwest Colorado also remains lushly green, with animals ranging from pastures to timberline.
“They could be anywhere,” said Patt Dorsey, area wildlife manager in Durango.
Forget about traditional water holes.
“It’s going to be more of a spot-and-stalk kind of hunt,” she said.
Dorsey reported that most elk remain at high elevation, with no reason whatsoever to move.
“We’ve had no hot weather to concentrate animals into cool places,” she said.
The general pattern of rainfall extends into the central mountains and also blankets the high country along the perimeter of the San Luis Valley, normally among the drier places in the state.
Archers will share a portion of the hunt period with a Sept. 9-17 season for muzzleloaders.
