License reduction

[laufer]

I talked to Chris a buddy who works for the DOW this morning when I was feeding after reading about the reduction.
It will be based on how bad each unit is.
Gunnison will prabably be pritty limited.
warmer units with less snow fall will be less affected.
We won't truly know until after the "crust" season is over.
yoties are all ready able to run on top of the snow on most south facing aspects.
elk can still punch through to feed but deer are screwed.

similar in every unit in colorado west of the divide, very bad for deer population statewide. dow had to feed a lot of deer arrouond your area and in far western units.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Hay buddy,
I'm on yotieJoe's computer so it says I'm him.
We figured 40 percent die off allready.
gonna be a few years to recover.
well their won't be a sick deer after this year.

 

[laufer]

wow!! that is too bad, especially that you have healthy heards, not lik we have in units up north with cwd. it has been a bad winter here too, but not so bad like wher you ar.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

It will be interesting to see what the CWD numbers are after this winter.
hopefully wiped out.

 

[laufer]

yep, but they have had worse winters in wy and montana in the last 15 yrs, and cwd still was not wiped out. i go for girls anyway, and they are only 15-20% affected, but for those who are after bucks this will be a good sign for healthier harvest.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

same here, hunting does, we haven't had a CWD case in Gunnison yet hopefully this winter pushed it back some from out side our area.

 

[laufer]

how sure are you about this reducton, as they did not put anythingin media or on their web site?

 

[Greenmtnboy]

how sure are you about this reducton, as they did not put anythingin media or on their web site?

A few weeks ago they notified us via the local paper not sure if it went into the Denver post or not, also I am part of the feeding program and hunting guide and am privy to whatever is in the works for license change.

 

[laufer]

thanks.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I think I said this before sorry for repeating.
I would just put in for a buck preference point and hunt does,if available for a few years, I have only killed one big buck in the twenty I have hunted here in CO. I perfer doe meat anyway, and three years from now I'll have nine buck points, I want to hunt a high timber buck with my .451 rigby or my Tenn flinter.
I'll have a wile to figure it out.
:hatsoff:

 

[laufer]

good luck with your buck (rhyme not intended), i still prefer good meat of a fat young doe to any buck. :wink: that being said, i do have a buck that i am after for a fourth year now, and taking him would make me very, very happy, but we meet only if i do not have a tag for him. :thumbsup:

 

[Greenmtnboy]

good luck with your buck (rhyme not intended), i still prefer good meat of a fat young doe to any buck. :wink: that being said, i do have a buck that i am after for a fourth year now, and taking him would make me very, very happy, but we meet only if i do not have a tag for him. :thumbsup:

Right on, do you track him in the spring and look for his sheds?

 

[laufer]

sure, but he moves to private lands in early september, and goes in and out throughut the fall and winter. that is the problem, as i can not get permssion to hunt him on private proiperties.

 

[paulvallandigham]

If you learn when he moves in and out of those private lands, by tracking him now, you can set up an ambush for him next season. You may not be able to hunt on the private ground, but unless its posted " NO Trespassing:", you should be able to track him there, without a gun, and learn where he is bedding down during the day and nights and where his feeding areas are at various times of the year.

 

[laufer]

he is not there till september, high country till then with other bucks. when he comes down, then he is hard to catch on open ground and away from homes, he knows the drill. i had only one opportunity on him two years ago, but he mowed away and never could catch him at a reasonable range for a sure shot. younger bucks are not so smart and they pay the price for him.

 

[longcruise]

If you learn when he moves in and out of those private lands, by tracking him now, you can set up an ambush for him next season.

Be nice if these mulies would cooperate and be all predictable like that! :wink: Where I hunt, where they are hanging during ML season will depend on the forage for that year, the weather patterns during the summer as well as during season. Some years they are hanging in the river valley right in the bottom, other years half way up and other years (especially drought years) they are sticking to timber line and feeding above.

You may not be able to hunt on the private ground, but unless its posted " NO Trespassing:", you should be able to track him there, without a gun, and learn where he is bedding down during the day and nights and where his feeding areas are at various times of the year.

I'd expect an attorney to give better legal advice than that! :shocked2:

Specifically unlawful in CO. Posted or not it's the responsibility of the person entering the property to know if it's private or not and if it's private entry is prohibited without permission from the owner. This also applies to pursueing wounded game. No permission, no pursuit.

 

[paulvallandigham]

The law differs in other states. Here in Illinois, entry is only barred if the land is posted, " NO Trespassing". Many land owners will give permission for people to enter and walk their property to recover a deer shot elsewhere, while they will not permit hunting on their land. The worst that happens is that someone says no, and if they say that, you get to talk to them to learn why they say no. I have people reverse themselves when they found out I was interested in what their problems were, and why they were upset with people crossing their lands. Usually it relates to people hunting without permission, or breaking fences, or gates, or putting bullet holes in buildings. When they find out that you want to know, and are willing to help them find such people so they can be stopped, that you are willing to take care of their property just to have access to cross it to follow a deer, or hunt on other lands, where you have permission, they will often relent. I have gotten permission to use posted property from land owners by offering to walk the property and just pick up trash blown there, or left their by slobs. I have repaired gates and fences, and have helped farmers do the repairs. They may not hunt, or like to eat wild game, but if given half a chance, they don't mind giving those opportunities to someone who will treat them, and their property with respect.

Seems to me that if you know already where the deer are likely to be in any given year, based on drought or rain conditions, and temperatures during the deer season, you have half of the problem licked. Concentrate on getting permission from the land owners where you think the deer will hold up during the season, rather than with everyone every year.

 

[longcruise]

Seems to me that if you know already where the deer are likely to be in any given year, based on drought or rain conditions, and temperatures during the deer season, you have half of the problem licked. Concentrate on getting permission from the land owners where you think the deer will hold up during the season, rather than with everyone every year.

That's irrelevant to my hunting area description since it is all National Forest or other public land.

You are right about getting permission. I've talked around absolute "NO" to getting permission just by being polite and conversational. Mostly in the eastern plains are of the state where land is nearly all private. When hunting the mountain areas I hunt public land 99% of the time.

One problem we have out here with the private mountain property is in accessing the owner. Many are owned by non residents and quite a few are corporate owned.

 

[paulvallandigham]

The Supervisor of Assessments in the county has the name and address of the owners, so you can reach them. Plat books kept by bank loan officers will often show the name of the owners, but not their addresses. Banks will often make you a copy of their plat book so you can have an " Exploded " aerial view of your hunting area to use for future hunts. If you get permission to hunt a particular piece of ground, you can write the date and name of the person who gave you permission, with their phone number, so you can call them each year to make sure you still have their permission to use the land.

 

[longcruise]

For many countys I have that info at my fingertips via the web both on public sites and private ones that I access professionally.

While names and even addresses are easily obtained, Phone numbers are no longer available on any public (city, county, state) or private site in CO. The "no call" legislation caused publishers to rethink providing that info. And, of course, when you discover that a large parcel is owned by Amalgamated Mining and Topless Dancing, Inc. of PO Box XXX in somewhere FL, it's a pretty dry lead! :grin: It's not a big deal to me because I've only pursued land owners for permission a few times over many years. When the majority of the state is public land it makes finding a place to hunt pretty easy and that is something that I give thanks for around every campfire!

Plats seem to be available from most countys in CO and it's pretty easy to use the legal description to overlay it on one of the topo web sites or even better, off the CO div of wildlife mapping system.

Things are done differently all across the country of course. Here, for example, I would never need to get in touch with a bank for maps.

Many years ago when I lived in VA, the trespassing rules were as you describe for Illinois. If it was not posted, a hunter was free to enter and hunt the land. That was 30+ years ago though and things have probably changed.