In Colorado, hunting is nearly a $1 BILLION dollar industry!
Colorado offers UNLIMITED elk tags to nonres and 20 to 35% of deer, elk, and antelope tags to nonres. Colo learned years ago how important nonres are to the revenue of the CPW and to local small town community economies.
Here's an interesting article about hunting revenue in Colorado.
Hunting generates $38.1 million annually in total economic output in Larimer County.
www.coloradoan.com
According to the study, Larimer County generated $4.1 million in retail trade sales of hunting-related gear in 2013, the state's sixth-highest figure by county.
Hunting also creates 574 jobs in Larimer County, second to El Paso and Arapahoe counties.
For smaller Larimer County communities like Red Feather Lakes, or Walden in Jackson County 100 miles west of Fort Collins, the fall big-game hunting season is the lifeblood of the local economy.
"Hunting affects a lot of businesses, bars, restaurants, hotels, gas stations. Everybody gets a boost from the hunters," said James Carothers, owner of the Moose Creek Cafe in Walden. "It's our lifesaver."