Navigating the Application Process of the Colorado Big Game Draw

[3Fingerbrown]

I've applied in Colorado in years past when it was a paper application but I am new to the online process and was wondering if you guys could help me out. It says on the website that applications are accepted March 1st, but several places also say I have to buy an $85 small game hunting license first, that is a first. So I can add that small game license to my cart, but then what? Does that somehow unlock the place on the site where I can put in for the draw for sheep and goat? Should I buy a habitat stamp now too? Thanks in advance

 

[3Fingerbrown]

Okay I figured it out, you add the small game annual hunting license to your shopping cart (nonresident in my case) and then it automatically adds a habitat stamp to your cart and it unlocks the other big game draw species.

 

[Cohntr62]

I've applied in Colorado in years past when it was a paper application but I am new to the online process and was wondering if you guys could help me out. It says on the website that applications are accepted March 1st, but several places also say I have to buy an $85 small game hunting license first, that is a first. So I can add that small game license to my cart, but then what? Does that somehow unlock the place on the site where I can put in for the draw for sheep and goat? Should I buy a habitat stamp now too? Thanks in advance

This is the 2nd or 3rd year for the qualifying license. It's a license increase without calling it a license increase.

 

[desperatehills]

If you buy the small game license during the application process and draw a deer tag do you then need to buy a big game license. If so is it a full price purchase or a upgrade

 

[whiteantlertip]

you pay full price for the big game license in addition to the small game you already purchased. Cost more every year .Used to just pay a application fee of $9, but they wanted to make more money

 

[desperatehills]

If you think you are going to draw would you just buy the big game license to start with or is the small game license mandatory?

 

[whiteantlertip]

you need one qualifying license, small game , before you apply for big game tag draw and you also get a habitat stamp unless you are over 64 then its free

 

[3Fingerbrown]

This is the only state I've seen where you have to buy a small game hunting license ($85) in order to apply for the big game draw. I doubt this makes them money in the long run as it is confusing as heck and just discourages out of state applicants, a traditional source of cash for most states....

Colorado used to require you to send in the full tag amount and then they would refund you, how does it work now?

 

[whiteantlertip]

you apply after you get your small game license, then wait for the draw May 24-28 then if drawn you have a credit card on file an you are charged then

 

[buckhorn]

Colorado does not have a big game hunting license. If you want to hunt deer you have to draw a deer hunting permit/tag. Same thing for elk or pronghorn etc.
They are now requiring all applicants to purchase a small game hunting license in order to apply for the big game draw. As stated above it’s just a gimmick to make more money.

 

[DW]

What do you need to buy in Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah to apply? Pittman Robertson funds are doled out to states based on the number of hunting licenses they sell. This is their way of keeping up.

 

[cowhitey]

New Mexico requires you to buy a NR Hunting License in order to apply for any Big Game species in the draw. That license is non-refundable.

 

[HuntnProf]

Pretty smart to increase number of licenses sold by requiring all hunters to get one in order to apply...previously only the drawn or OTC Tag/License numbers counted....leaving a lot of conservation money on the table.

Revenue direct from the license plus the increased P-R Act revenue is a win-win for CO. 85$ dollars for a NR license is not a bad deal if one looks at other western states that require a license purchase prior to applying.

I’ll shell out $85 all day to get the opportunity to apply in CO knowing how it supports conservation.

 

[stinky]

In AZ you need a hunting license to apply.

 

[sticksender]

It's all relative nowadays, but weirdly, Colorado is still one of the cheaper states to apply in. Virtually every western state requires either a small game hunting license to apply (CA, AZ, UT, NM, OR, NV, CO) or, nails you good for "point fees", or, charges "convenience fees" for on-line application. Wyoming being the most expensive state by far, if you're accumulating points for all species.

 

[llamapacker]

Requiring non-residents to purchase a license does not exactly increase the conservation money overall, it just allocates it to different states.

This whole "gimmick" started when one state figured out they could get a larger share of the Federal "pie" by selling more licenses. If they doubled license sales, they got nearly double the money from the Feds. The problem is the size of the Federal "pie" doesn't change, so if one state got more, others got less.

Now other states have realized they have to require license purchases to keep their "share" of the federal pie.

The net effect has been a redistribution of Federal conservation dollars to western states. (Relatively few eastern states sell many licenses to non-residents, so they can't artificially inflate license sales.) The second major impact has been the much higher fees charged to non-residents, alienating some and making it simply unaffordable for many.

While my kids are grown and I can afford the fees, I can clearly remember trying to build points for my wife and kids in Colorado years ago, and the cash outlay was stunning, especially when most years no one even drew a tag. And that was BEFORE many other states got on the "mandatory license purchase" bandwagon.

Bill