By Matt Gleckman

It’s hunting season again and the consensus of local sporting-goods store owner reveals a large drop in sales. But those hunters who are in the field are having a successful season, local meat-packers reported.

Florence Bane, owner of Bane’s Custom Packing in Cortez, said business had been unusually brisk for the first few days of the season, with more than 30 elk and deer carcasses already checked in for dressing and more on the way.

Bane said they were processing approximately four times more elk than deer, however, reflecting statewide trends that have shown marked decreases in deer populations even while the elk herds have been thriving.

"I think something’s happening to the young, or they’re sick or something," she said, "but there’s just not as many deer as there used to be."

Still, overall "it’s been really good," Bane said, compared to the beginnings of recent big-game seasons. "Usually we don’t get too many the first day, and this year we got 12 elk."

Bane said last month’s muzzle-loading rifle and bow season had also been quite successful, with approximately 50 elk being brought to the packing house for butchering.

The decrease in revenue is mainly attributed to restrictions placed on the sale of over-the-counter deer tags by the Wildlife Commission. According to the Division of Wildlife (DOW), deer tags were made available only through a lottery drawing last year because of already-low population numbers.

"Having no deer licenses has brought business way, way down," said Jerry Hall, owner of Jerry’s Sporting Goods. Hall stated that the loss of over-the-counter deer tag sales has roughly cut his business in half compared to last year’s hunting season.

"I have sold a lot of elk licenses, a few bear licenses, and ammunition and supply sales have been all right. However, there is a big lack of hunters this year," said Hall.

The store owner believes that the decreased deer population is due to predation by bears and mountain lions rather than diseases which, he says, was the excuse given to him by the game department.

However, Jim Olterman, a wildlife biologist for the DOW, said that the restriction was put in place because recent data analysis showed deer populations in western Colorado are below ideal size and local reports from hunters communicated a reduction in quality bucks.

"It takes a male deer roughly five years to reach full maturity," Olterman said yesterday. "Very few bucks around here live beyond two or three years. By reducing the number of deer killed by 30% we are hoping to increase the buck-to-doe ratio."

When asked how long these restriction might stay in place, Olterman said that currently the DOW is working on a five-year season structure which should be finalized in November. This plan will state when seasons will open, how long they will last, and which species can be hunted.

"It is my guess that these restrictions will continue throughout the next five years," he said.

Ken Banks, owner of Shooters World, said that the overall dollar figures have been down because of the restriction. However, he said, the sale of firearms and hunting accessories has been equal to or possibly a little better than past years.

"I don’t think that we will see a decline in interest even if the restrictions do continue over the next five years. In fact, because of a big push in hunter safety and increased television publicity, there has been an increase in woman and kids wanting to hunt," says Banks. "The hunting image is improving and we are seeing a higher grade of safety-minded people showing interest in the sport."

There also appears to be an increased interest in alternative deer seasons such as muzzle loader and archery. Arny Karraker, sporting-goods manager at Slavens, stated that although the total number of hunters appears to be down, there did seem to be an increase in the sale and repair of archery equipment.

Likewise, Banks stated that the return of the inline muzzle loader season, which was banned last year, has helped to boost equipment and accessory sales.