LAST EDITED ON May-13-08 AT 10:34AM (MST)[p]>MAJOR
>reduction in the eagle county
>units.
About time, they have been hammering the dogcrap out of those mature bucks. For the DOW to actually lower tags, means they really mismanaged those units in the past. They are basically admitting fault when they do something drastic at the cost of lost revenue. I suspect the winterkill is a convenient excuse, but had little to do with it.
What doesn't make sense is why they are still offering doe tags in 44, but none in 35-36-45??? They should not be giving out any doe tags, and they should scrap the 4th season. Give those seven 4th season tags from 44, 4th season, and put them into the 2nd season quota. Success rate will be lower, but people would still get to hunt.
They should also manage 35-36-45 as separate units. If it weren't for the safe haven of private land in 35, there wouldn't be a buck left. The tags are good for three units, but everyone makes a beeline for 35 anyway.
It is obvious that most units are not managed for the deer, but rather for the dollar. There seems to be no management plan at all. They pulled those numbers out of their a$$.