Every five years, Colorado Parks and Wildlife revises its big game season structure, which determines how many licenses will be issued for various species in various seasons (archery, muzzle-loading, rifle, youth, etc.) for the next five years.
That time is now, and for the first time in a long time, CPW seems to want to do the right thing.
If you are among the growing number of hunters who are paying attention and have experienced for yourself that there are way too many of us out there in September (unlimited either-sex archery tags, too many muzzle-loading tags, bear tags, plus the very popular grouse season), and that our numbers and increasingly boisterous behavior (ATVs, nonstop blowing on bugles and cow calls, etc.) are not only destroying a quality hunting experience but also disrupting the elk rut, thus damaging the wildlife resource we depend on, now is your best chance to register your opinions and help bring about needed change.
Time is short, basically just this month, and I urge you to go online and fill out the BGSS opinion survey.
The best thing about it this time around is that you aren’t restricted to multiple-choice answers, but have several opportunities to explain exactly how you feel and why, via comment boxes.
Wildlife management in Colorado is a dysfunctional mess, with solid science being overruled by politics and special interests (agriculture, outfitters and self-serving hunter groups). Please join me in taking this opportunity to tell the state, and our new governor (who clearly seems to want to do the right thing” with our precious natural resources, but needs sportsman support to make it happen), what we are seeing out there and how we feel about it.
The link to the survey is www.research.net/r/8MQNS3F.
If we, the too-silent majority of those who hunt in Colorado, don’t speak up now to make know our growing dissatisfaction, then minority, short-sighted and self-serving groups like Colorado Bowhunter’s Association (who have only about 3,000 members but nonetheless have too long bullied CPW into submission) will continue to rule, and hunting pressure will continue to increase even as game populations and hunting satisfaction will continue to decline. And by the way, I am a lifelong traditional bowhunter.
As a group, we hunters are shamefully self-serving, politically gullible and short-sighted, always demanding more while refusing to sacrifice anything for the long-term good of the resource.
Now is our chance to change that sad history. Please take the survey right now.
David Petersen
Durango
