No one is calling you a bad hunter just because you have failed to fill your elk tag at the halfway point of Colorado’s four rifle seasons. To borrow from the occupiers, you’re simply the 80 percent.
“By the time all the dust settles across all the seasons, 20 to 22 percent success is pretty good for elk,” said Andy Holland, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s statewide big-game manager. “It depends on the day and where you are. The best I can say from what I’ve seen is that we’ve got the conditions we hope for as far as a good hunting season.”
With the close of Colorado’s second rifle season last Sunday and the opening of the third season this Saturday, big-game hunters remain eager and optimistic about their odds in what’s sometimes called “the November lottery.” The elk are out there, and after an especially mild fall, the weather conditions are finally shaping up in favor of hunters.
“Things have set up nicely for third-season folks,” Holland said. “We’ve got a week-long break for animals to redistribute and let the snow do its thing. Right now, all the pluses are in place for a good third season.”
Talk among those who have occupied various elk units across the state this fall has been less positive. Anecdotally, at least, it would appear that the 80 percenters are well-established at this point, getting off to a rough start with warm, dry weather conditions followed by just enough snow to make it harder on the hunters than the hunted.
“I was pretty happy with the way it was going without the snow. Then that snow (last week) really threw a trick into it for a couple days because there really wasn’t enough there to move them down,” said Dan Mitchell, a regular hunter of Unit 45 around his home near Minturn. “I saw some bulls, just never was presented with a great opportunity for a shot. But other people got some where I was hunting.”
Aaron Kindle of Golden told a similar story after three days of hunting in the Thompson Divide area near Carbondale. The fresh snowfall offered some good tracking opportunities, with little more than pretty scenery to show for the effort.
“We found one group of maybe 20 elk, which is a lot during hunting season,” Kindle said. “We followed them around for a while, and they dispersed into pods of four or five. It was a great hunting area. Just not quite enough snow to really change everything and get them moving.”
From Meeker on down to Montrose, the story line has been somewhat similar around the Western Slope, although official harvest tallies won’t be available until next March.
“The first two seasons up here were pretty rough. Conditions weren’t the greatest and the hunting was tough,” said Meeker area wildlife manager Darby Finley. “I’m optimistic this third season will be better than the first two. The later we are getting in the year, the more chance we get for weather. That’s what drives things.”
JT Romatzke, area wildlife manager from Grand Junction, echoed that sentiment.
“A lot of it is weather dependent, along with the willingness of hunters to go out and find the animals,” Romatzke said. “That’s one of the things that makes elk hunting so tough — you have to work for it. Back in the darker parts of the forest and into those more isolated and secluded spots are where guys have been most successful in the past couple weeks.”
Forecasts are calling for another round of snowfall this week, including the possibility of an opening-day dump that has third-season optimists aiming to become part of the elite 20 percent — the lottery winners, if you will. And with a statewide elk population estimated at 282,000, there’s no reason to believe it can’t happen.
Otherwise, there’s always the option of 430,000 mule deer to fill the void. Some game wardens already have been pleasantly surprised by deer harvest rates that have surpassed those of elk in the early going, even in regions where deer numbers have been diminishing.
Holland expects that success to continue.
“We see about 50 percent success rate for deer,” Holland said. “Third season is always good for deer. They are starting to go into the rut and have already done a large portion of their migration. I expect high success on deer this year.”
Scott Willoughby: 303-954-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com
