Enough of the preliminaries, already. Let the real hunt begin.
After last weekend’s limited elk-only opening of Colorado’s rifle big game season that left many hunters frustrated and most elk barely bothered, thousands more pour into the woods Saturday in search of better prospects.
With deer enthusiasts and over- the-counter elk hunters joining the fray, this second of four rifle segments ranks as the pivotal part of a hunt that needs a turn in the weather to reach its full potential.
Battling an odd combination of bright moonlight and high wind, hunters struggled opening weekend over much of western Colorado. The moon, a glowing orb that allowed animals to graze by night and rest in dense timber by day, was to be expected, a clear-skies curse for every opening day.
But it was the wind, cresting past 40 mph, that proved the joker in the deck, particularly in the southwest.
“On opening day, the wind was so bad, people were leaving because big trees were falling all around them,” Tom Spezze, manager of the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s Southwest Region, reported of a condition that sent 100-year-old trees toppling into the raceways of the agency’s Durango hatchery. “We had reports from the Gunnison country of trees falling two and three at a time.”
Ron Velarde, Spezze’s counterpart in the northwest, reported even more severe conditions at high elevation in Eagle and Summit counties, where hurricane winds hurled a mixture of sleet and snow. So much for a fun hunt.
Both weather and elk movement improved dramatically Monday, but not soon enough to salvage much in the way of overall success across many of the prime hunting zones.
“Pressure was down and harvest light,” Velarde said.
“Opening weekend was pretty slow,” Spezze echoed after canvassing three of the southwest’s four area managers Monday.
Much the same report emerged from the southeast, where regional manager Dan Prenzlow found a lagging harvest around Pikes Peak and in the Westcliffe country on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
“Things were pretty good in the area around Leadville and Buena Vista, but not spectacular,” Prenzlow said.
The exception emerged from the Flat Tops country around Meeker, which holds the state’s greatest elk density. Area manager Bill deVergie detected a slight dip in both hunter numbers and success, but not nearly so much as elsewhere — a decline he laid to economic woes.
“Places where I found 10 camps in the past on public land now held 8 or 9,” said deVergie, who got similar reports from outfitters who received late cancellations. “I think a lot of people were optimistic they could come, but decided not to.”
Such economic ripples will become more evident during Saturday’s second season, when over-the-counter bull elk tags and a much greater overall number of hunters come into play.
Ranks will be swelled considerably by deer hunters making their debut, eager for a crack at what has been touted as a good supply of quality bucks. License numbers were reduced sharply in areas hit hard by winter mortality: the Gunnison country, upper Eagle River Valley and parts of Middle Park. But given decent weather, deer hunting should be good.
Relatively warm temperatures are forecast for opening day, with a possibility of scattered showers Sunday. Failing any intervening precipitation, expect relatively dry walking underfoot at lower elevation.
