Rifle hunters try to thin elk herd with special hunt

Rifle hunters try to thin elk herd with special hunt

October 11, 2001

By Jim Thomas
Journal Sports Editor

Rifle hunters will take to the fields for a special elk-only hunt which gets under way Saturday and ends Wednesday, Oct. 17. Those drawn for the limited license will try their luck in an effort that the Colorado Division of Wildlife hopes will thin a still very large elk herd.

"We are still above population objectives," said Scott Wait, terrestrial biologist for the DOW in Durango, in a telephone interview Tuesday. "We need to thin the herd (Colorado has an estimated 500,000-plus elk herd, the largest in North America) some more. We need another record or near-record hunt."

Despite the fact that big-game hunters killed 60,120 elk last year, the largest elk harvest since the DOW has been keeping track, officials are predicting another big year for hunters.

This is the first year of this special elk-only season. Wait said there will be 1,450 elk-hunters for this hunt in Montezuma and Dolores counties, and the potential for another 500 on private lands.

"It should be a good, quality season," Wait commented. "We didn’t have a hard winter. Elk survival should have been very good. They are going to be from the high elk line (10,000 feet elevation) down to the piñon and juniper (6,000-plus)."

The first regular combined rifle deer-elk hunt will run Oct. 20-26, the second hunt Nov. 3-9, and the third hunt Nov. 10-14. When hunting season is over with special hunts in February, hunters will have pursued deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, moose, and black bear in Colorado.

The weather this weekend, according to the National Weather Service, is expected to be mostly clear. Winds are expected to be blustery at times as a dry front moves through the area.

"The weather is always the unknown, but this little system passing through today (Tuesday) will help bring some of the elk down," Wait commented. "The San Juans are always susceptible to sudden and severe storms. Hunters need to be aware of that. Hunters should concentrate on rugged north faces and places where it is cool during the early seasons while the weather is relatively warm."

According to Wait, both elk and deer numbers are high going into the season.

"They’re both healthy," Wait said. "Deer populations are at objectives and elk populations are above objectives. Deer in our area have steadily been increasing."

The DOW limited the number of deer licenses across the state. Deer numbers, which had been declining for decades, are beginning to respond in some areas. There are no over-the-counter deer licenses being sold.

Since the deer licenses were limited, hunter success rates have been steadily increasing in Southwest Colorado, according to Wait. During the 1998 season, 27 percent of deer hunters were successful. In 1999, the success rate rose to 37 percent and last year, 45 percent of deer hunters were successful.

Last year, 84,335 hunters killed 37,908 deer, up from 29,639 kills in 1999 and the highest number in more than 20 years. The record for the amount of deer killed in one year was set in 1963, when hunters killed 147,848 animals, according to Wait.

The San Juan Mountains Association, in partnership with local public agencies, is hosting several hunter-information booths at the DOW office in Durango this season. They will provide hunters with maps, Leave No Trace information, and safety information. Booths will be manned Friday and Saturday, Oct. 11-12, and Oct. 18-19.

The Four Corners Rifle and Pistol Club is once again making its range available to non-members to sight in their rifles from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. today and the same hours Friday, Oct. 12, for $5 per rifle. The range is across from the Montezuma County Fairgrounds on U.S. Highway 160.