J
jbasagoitia
Guest
There is a vast amount of special interest groups wanting to turn units 54,55,551 into limited elk draw units starting in the 2010 season. They are saying the elk population is too high and needs to be controlled to keep elk from getting on to private land and destroying cattle lands. I don't have a problem with private owners wanting to take care of their lands for their business use but I think they have ulterior motives. I think now you end up with unit that gets hyped up because it's limited draw. Colorado already has its share of limited draw units. For instance if you hunt area 54 all along Blue Mesa Reservoir all the area to the south of Blue Mesa and highway 50 is units 66, 67 and these are draws unit already. They are very big units.
I remember as a kid being able to go to 54 in the morning and if the hunting was slow we'd go to one of these units (66 or 67) to finish the day. Not anymore that changed somewhere in the mid 90's to a draw unit. So we stuck to 54 and 55 to be in the Gunnison area. My dad has been hunting here since I was a child or around 30 years. He retired 5 years ago and bought a small run down cabin 2 years ago, it's just 8-10 miles from Red Creek (unit54) to make sure his children and grandchildren could have a place here to enjoy and hunt the only elk hunting area I've ever known long after he was gone. I've been hunting here since I was 5-6 years old. I've seen my grandfather, father, and brothers and sister all take elk in this area. We all took our first elk here at the age of 14 or so once we were legal to hunt and it's just sad that more young adults and children won't get that experience unless they start applying for points at a young age and then they may only get to hunt what I consider the most beautiful area in Colorado once in a lifetime. It's pretty hard to share and pass along the joy and happiness that my dad shared with me when you have to wait 5 to 15 years like you have to in other draw units in the state.
My honest thoughts are that these ranchers and other special interest groups involved are out to make that so important dollar. I guess when we are all struggling to get along financially in these tough economic times these ranchers and special interest groups? way of getting by is to buy elk vouchers from the Colorado Division of Wildlife at face value and then they can resell them to top buyers anywhere from $1000 a tag upwards of $10,000. I'm a hard worker and have a great paying job but don't see myself being a person that can afford a $1000 elk tag and I don't know many who hunted the area that could afford it either. I also wonder how local business owners in the Gunnison area can afford to let the amount of elk tags in the area drop by 25 to 50 percent. I think there are plenty of hunters that spend money in the Gunnison, and Crested Butte areas from mid August to late October and I can only imagine if the flood of hunters that come to the area are cut by 25 to 50 percent.
I'm really upset over this and if you are a hunter that has passed through the area and have hunted the area we need to stop this. Please take the time to write or email the Wildlife Commission in Colorado. Only the voice of the public can stop this from happening to these units. All the Wildlife Commission information is below. The area is District 2 and the wildlife commissioner in that area is Mark Smith his email is below also.
Thanks,
Wildlife commission email: [email protected].
Mark Smith District 2 Commissioner: [email protected]
I remember as a kid being able to go to 54 in the morning and if the hunting was slow we'd go to one of these units (66 or 67) to finish the day. Not anymore that changed somewhere in the mid 90's to a draw unit. So we stuck to 54 and 55 to be in the Gunnison area. My dad has been hunting here since I was a child or around 30 years. He retired 5 years ago and bought a small run down cabin 2 years ago, it's just 8-10 miles from Red Creek (unit54) to make sure his children and grandchildren could have a place here to enjoy and hunt the only elk hunting area I've ever known long after he was gone. I've been hunting here since I was 5-6 years old. I've seen my grandfather, father, and brothers and sister all take elk in this area. We all took our first elk here at the age of 14 or so once we were legal to hunt and it's just sad that more young adults and children won't get that experience unless they start applying for points at a young age and then they may only get to hunt what I consider the most beautiful area in Colorado once in a lifetime. It's pretty hard to share and pass along the joy and happiness that my dad shared with me when you have to wait 5 to 15 years like you have to in other draw units in the state.
My honest thoughts are that these ranchers and other special interest groups involved are out to make that so important dollar. I guess when we are all struggling to get along financially in these tough economic times these ranchers and special interest groups? way of getting by is to buy elk vouchers from the Colorado Division of Wildlife at face value and then they can resell them to top buyers anywhere from $1000 a tag upwards of $10,000. I'm a hard worker and have a great paying job but don't see myself being a person that can afford a $1000 elk tag and I don't know many who hunted the area that could afford it either. I also wonder how local business owners in the Gunnison area can afford to let the amount of elk tags in the area drop by 25 to 50 percent. I think there are plenty of hunters that spend money in the Gunnison, and Crested Butte areas from mid August to late October and I can only imagine if the flood of hunters that come to the area are cut by 25 to 50 percent.
I'm really upset over this and if you are a hunter that has passed through the area and have hunted the area we need to stop this. Please take the time to write or email the Wildlife Commission in Colorado. Only the voice of the public can stop this from happening to these units. All the Wildlife Commission information is below. The area is District 2 and the wildlife commissioner in that area is Mark Smith his email is below also.
Thanks,
Wildlife commission email: [email protected].
Mark Smith District 2 Commissioner: [email protected]
