On Oct. 5, 1964, my dad, his friend Elmer Munden, Bob and I went elk hunting in Wyoming, west of Laramie on Elk Mountain. This hunt was destined to be memorable from the start.

Although we had dad’s pickup with the camper, we could only get within about four miles of Elk Mountain due to very […]

Wildlife managers with the Colorado Division of Wildlife faced a unique dilemma Feb. 19 in the Sandstone area of Vail. The renter of the property awoke Tuesday morning to find the moose laying peacefully in his condo’s 20 foot by 20 foot backyard patio area.

Officers were notified that a bull moose had fallen into a […]

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) has completed a six-week investigation into the shooting of at least 34 elk on two Moffat County ranches. The following charges were filed in Moffat County District Court on Tuesday, April 1, 2008:

Rodney Heath Culverwell
18 counts willful destruction of wildlife (class 5 felony)
18 counts illegal possession of wildlife (misdemeanor)
Kenneth […]

A contract helicopter is used in a Division of Wildlife management study to estimate big game populations.
Deer and elk classification flights are completed in December and January. During this time, biologists and district wildlife managers use helicopters to fly winter ranges and classify, by age and sex, as many deer and elk as possible in […]

Many an elk is born to ramble, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife is asking hunters for help in learning more about those wandering ways.
The DOW recently began a radio-collar study of elk near Maybell to determine the intermixing of elk from the Bear’s Ears and White River herds on their winter range.

The main objective […]

WildEarth Guardians, a coalition of Western environmental groups, filed suit in federal court in Denver against the National Park Service, claiming the NPS did not seriously consider releasing wolves as an alternative to shooting elk to reduce the herd in Rocky Mountain National Park.
According to the Rocky Mountain News, the lawsuit was filed Tuesday in […]

Winter losses of elk have not been significant
By Karl Licis
Special to the Hunting Guide
­Projecting an outlook for next fall’s hunting seasons might be as full of pitfalls as predicting the weather.
Fittingly so. The two are inexorably linked, as shown by the progression of western Colorado weather patterns from the opening of last fall’s elk and […]

MISSOULA, Mont.—New world champion elk callers from California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Washington were crowned recently in Reno, Nev.
Competition was held in six divisions as part of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s 24th Annual Elk Camp & Hunting, Fishing and Outdoor Expo. The event was held for the third straight year at the Reno/Sparks Convention […]

Winter losses of elk have not been significant
Projecting an outlook for next fall’s hunting seasons might be as full of pitfalls as predicting the weather.
Fittingly so. The two are inexorably linked, as shown by the progression of western Colorado weather patterns from the opening of last fall’s elk and deer seasons to publication of the […]

Many an elk is born to ramble, and the Colorado Division of Wildlife is asking hunters for help in learning more about those wandering ways.
The DOW recently began a radio-collar study of elk near Maybell to determine the intermixing of elk from the Bear’s Ears and White River herds on their winter range. The main […]

MISSOULA, Mont.—Responding to an emergency declaration by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is sending funds to help feed thousands of elk, deer and antelope starving in deep-snow conditions.
But the Elk Foundation’s financial support comes with a warning about severe winterkill as a symptom of an even more debilitating disease—habitat loss.

“Artificially […]

The Colorado Division of Wildlife notes that elk are moving to lower elevations in the Telluride area to get out of deep snow and find food. The DOW notes that this region’s wildlife is still in good shape and the DOW indicates elk have a low mortality rate, less than 10 percent.

The Telluride Daily Planet […]

As a new natural gas drilling project is set to begin in the Garfield Creek State Wildlife area, officials of the Colorado Division of Wildlife say it is difficult to determine the effects of drilling on wildlife. In one area which has had drilling for about 10 years, the Bosque del Oso Wildlife Area, DOW […]

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) is continuing to closely monitor winter conditions in northwest Colorado to determine if feeding operations will become necessary for deer, elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep.

Continuing snowfall has made conditions worse in some areas but biologists aren’t yet calling for a full-scale feeding operation as is occurring in the Gunnison […]

MISSOULA, Mont.—If a year’s accomplishments were scored like antlers, 2007 would be a trophy-class wallhanger for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The conservation group last year helped to enhance more acres of elk habitat and complete more land protection projects than anytime in its history.

In all, the Elk Foundation impacted 366,206 acres—a monster conservation effort […]

Why is the DOW feeding big game animals during the winter?
The Gunnison Basin occasionally experiences extreme winter conditions. The conditions - which affect deer the most - cause food sources to be covered or inaccessible to wildlife. Animals become exhausted while pushing through deep snow and deplete their internal fat stores and energy reserves.
Some winter […]

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) is interested in hearing from the public about management of elk and moose herds in North Park. Public input is critical in helping revise management plans, called Data Analysis Unit or DAU plans. DAU plans establish population objectives and set goals for male-female ratios within populations.

Interested members of the […]

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is planning to start emergency feeding operations for big game animals in the Gunnison Basin as soon as possible.
Deer will be targeted primarily because they are most affected by adverse weather conditions. Feed and hay will also be provided to bighorn sheep, pronghorn and elk.

Providing feed to wildlife requires a […]

Charlie Kimball won the 2008 dream hunt package from the Colorado Hunting Club.
The drawing was held Monday, Dec. 31, and Kimball, 33, of Plymouth, N.H., took home the grand prize valued at $5,275.
Kimball traveled to Colorado to hunt in the fourth season of 2007 with an either-sex elk tag. He was guided by Colorado’s Mountain […]

In one of the most unusual emergency operations in Colorado this year, three cow elk that fell through the ice of a private pond south of Pagosa Springs were rescued by Division of Wildlife officers, a local volunteer fire fighter and ten other law enforcement workers. The rescue occurred on Dec. 15.
Another elk, a young […]

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) and the Colorado Wildlife Commission said Thursday that Rocky Mountain National Park’s decision to reduce elk numbers in the park with sharpshooters should rely instead on qualified volunteers.
The park’s Final Elk and Vegetation Management Plan will use sharpshooters to kill up to 200 elk a year to reduce the […]

The Yampa Valley elk herds, numbering some 90,000 animals, are under pressure from growth in Steamboat Springs and winter recreation uses. Aerial photographs document a drastic reduction in elk herds using traditional winter range areas near Steamboat since 2003.
“What’s happening in Steamboat is that all of the development that’s occurring is pretty much occurring […]

Why Colorado hunting is great
By Ned Miller
Northwest Colorado is home to the largest elk herds in the United States. Thousands of hunters know this and will come in search of big game this fall. There are many great hunting areas and most hunters have favorite spots they want to visit every year. Their success will […]

The Colorado Division of Wildlife is seeking information about a suspicious incident in the Hanks Creek drainage of Game Management Unit 61 where a bull elk was found dead. Unit 61 is located north and east of the San Miguel River on the west side of the Uncompahgre Plateau.
On Oct. 9 a local rancher reported […]

This summer, Williams Production has teamed up with the Colorado Division of Wildlife to give elk and deer a healthier habitat at the Oak ridge State Wildlife Area. In July, DOW used the equipment for a wildlife habitat improvement project near Meeker.
The FECON Flail is a high powered bushwhacker that can mow down and […]

Deer and elk are thriving throughout southwest Colorado thanks to availability of good habitat, limited license programs and favorable weather conditions. So, big game rifle hunters can look forward to another excellent season this fall.
In the big game units of the southwest region of Colorado, about 25 percent of hunters usually harvest an elk; and […]

Elk, deer quality and quantity expected to be high
By Karl Licis
Anticipation, planning, preparation and a bit of daydreaming often are as much of a big-game hunt as the actual pursuit of deer and elk. With hopes running high as ever, Colorado hunters appear to have a reasonable chance of fulfilling their expectations in the 2007 […]

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) is interested in hearing from the public about management of two important elk herds in northwest Colorado. Public input is critical in helping revise these management plans, called Data Analysis Unit or DAU plans. DAU plans establish population objectives and set goals for male-female ratios within populations.

Interested members of […]

Areas impacted include GMUs 22 and 32




Working with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, EnCana and Shell have agreed to keep several large privately-owned parcels open for public hunting in the Piceance Creek area in Rio Blanco County near Meeker. The area impacted is mostly around hunting unit 22 and stretches south into unit 32.

The two […]

Shell Exploration and Production Company Funds Major Projects
Elk Foundation and partners have completed 407 conservation projects with a value of nearly $95 million during organization’s history in Centennial State

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation announced it is funding 21 new conservation projects throughout Colorado this year that will make a critical difference in the organization’s efforts […]

By Karl Licis
Sleepyheads take heart. Though everyone knows you have get up pretty early to hunt bull elk, it’s possible to jump the gun. A hunter can be in the woods just a bit too soon, but how early is too early?
Well, it might be five minutes. It could be an hour, or maybe, […]

By Karl Licis
If hunting seasons were judged in the manner of fine wines, Colorado’s vintage for 2006 might be considered good, not great.
Though hunting success is relative, based on one’s individual experiences and perceptions, preliminary indications suggest elk and deer hunters in the state collectively enjoyed a fairly good but not extraordinary season last year […]

By Gary Martinez
The question arises about how a person can have good elk and deer hunting on a relatively small parcel of private land. Conventional thinking is that you need a large tract of private land or border a large tract of public land in order to have good elk hunting.

My experience is that […]

Bull hunters can always get an over-the-counter license
By Holger Jensen
Colorado still has more elk than any other state or Canadian province and remains the last big game destination in the West selling over-the-counter bull licenses to all comers. But trophy hunters and others who apply for limited licenses in desirable game management units will have […]

By Holger Jensen
Elk still outnumber more than a quarter million elk hunters in Colorado every year, but only one in four fills the freezer. Hunter success varies according to the weather but usually averages out at 25 percent, and that includes cow hunters. The success rate on bulls is even lower and, with most hunting […]

Six youth between the ages of 12 and 15 took part in a special Youth Hunt, sponsored by the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW), in October 2005.
The hunt took place on North Parachute Ranch, a 43,000 acre property owned by EnCana Oil & Gas (USA).

The six youth, each accompanied by a parent, were chosen on […]

Tips on sleeper units
By Holger Jensen
Elk hunting in Colorado is a complicated business. There are multiple seasons, some too short for a really serious trophy hunt; multiple game management units, some with ill-defined borders that cannot be crossed with a unit-specific draw license, and multiple hunt codes, up to a dozen or more for some […]

By Holger Jensen
Bob Renner doesn’t look like one of Colorado’s most successful bowhunters. He’s a 64-year-old great-grandfather, bespectacled, bow-legged and bald except for a monk’s fringe of white hair. And while Bob stays fit with daily workouts on a treadmill, he can’t hide the beginnings of a beer gut. Appearances are deceptive, however. Bob […]

By Brent Nations
Can you imagine having an elk license that’s good for any area in the state of Colorado, any time between Aug. 28 and Jan. 31, with any weapon you choose to use regardless of what season is going on?
Well, there is such a license and I was lucky enough to win it […]

By Holger Jensen
Elk hunting, as anyone who has ever pursued the wily ungulates knows, is highly weather-dependent. If it’s too hot and dry in the early seasons, the elk stay high, hiding out in black timber on north slopes where they can hear an approaching hunter long before he can spot them. Later seasons may […]

Wild animals with fangs and claws aren’t the only critters people need to respect when they live, work or recreate in wildlife habitat.
In the last month, two Coloradans have been hospitalized after being gored by mule deer bucks. In each case, the panicked bucks had been confronted by pet dogs, triggering a “fight or flight” […]

By Holger Jensen
Colorado is unique among Western big game hunting states in that it still sells over-the-counter licenses for bull elk. And there are so many leftover cow tags — more than 40,000 — that go on sale after licenses are issued for various draw hunts, they may as well be sold over the counter, […]

With Colorado elk populations at near record numbers and deer herds stable or rebounding in most areas, the 2003 Colorado archery hunt promised to be as good as it gets.
“If you’re an archery elk hunter, Colorado is unbeatable,” said Jim Goodyear, northeast assistant regional manager for the Division of Wildlife (DOW). “No other state […]

Dudley Moore had his idea of a Perfect 10.
For big-game hunters looking for their dream of a Perfect 10 elk, there is an area in northwest Colorado that holds the same allure. It is called Unit 10.
Arguably one of the best areas in the country for bagging trophy elk, Unit 10 is a […]

If northwest Colorado doesn’t have the biggest elk herd in the nation, then it’s certainly one of the biggest.
“I can’t tell you off the top of my head, but the White River herd is probably the largest, definitely the largest in Colorado, and probably in the nation,” said Dan Prenzlow, estimating the number of elk […]

Elk were seen occasionally in the Loveland area for the past 10 years, but seemingly overnight the population increased by several hundred — and they are apparently staying.
Seeing elk in places such as Estes Park, Evergreen or the rugged mountains of Colorado’s western slope is fairly common, but elk are appearing more often in […]

Homeowners have discovered items missing from their yards. Tomato cages, hammocks, electric cable, child swings, soccer nets and balls of twine have disappeared without a trace. These are not items that thieves usually target. As several homeowners have discovered, it may be a member of the local deer or elk herd.

Bucks and bulls often rub […]

Unseasonably mild weather through much of Colorado’s big game hunting season has hindered harvest, and therefor lowering the number of animals submitted for CWD testing.
Unseasonably warm, dry weather over much of Colorado this fall has substantially reduced the big-game harvest and the number of animals submitted for testing for chronic wasting disease.

By the end of […]

“It’s a cooperative effort between a private landowner, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service,” Hal Peace said of the Aug. 9 workday to remove a hazardous fence on USFS land.
Landowner Larry Osborn operates Triple-O-Outfitters near Hamilton, Colo. and was hunting with Alan Kirby, a longtime member of the RMEF, who identified […]

After a record breaking elk harvest in 2002, Colorado Division of Wildlife officials in northwest Colorado expect another successful year in the upcoming seasons.
“It was a big success last year and we hope to have another one this year,” Meeker Area Wildlife Manager Dan Prenzlow said.
A record 61,174 elk were harvested during last year’s hunts. […]

By Mike Crackel
Owner of Crackel’s Elk Ranch
On May 31, 2003 Crackel’s Elk Ranch had a white elk calf, spirit, born in the middle of six brown calves. This special baby was not as most people assume an albino. It does not have pink eyes. She was the result of artificial insemination from a white bull […]

The Colorado Wildlife Commission approved the season structure for the 2003 big game seasons in Colorado, including more either-sex elk licenses for the first rifle season and an extra weekend for hunters in the second big-game rifle season.
“More either-sex elk licenses will be issued for the first season in place of bull licenses to increase […]

The season types and dates for 2004 are as follows:
Bear
There will be a limited rifle bear season with licenses issued by DAU/GMU. Deer and elk hunters will also be able to purchase an unlimited bear license and hunt bear during their archery, muzzle-loading or regular rifle deer or elk season in the same units […]

As the third big game season came to an end, harvest rates for elk across the state were good, but not quite as high as division biologists would have liked to have seen.
Deer hunters found good numbers of mature buck and good success in most areas.

John Ellenberger, state big game manager for the division, believed […]

Hunters across most of Colorado had good or above-average success during the first rifle elk season, with a few exceptions. Those that ventured off the beaten path seemed to be the most successful, and there were plenty of bulls out there, as hunters took larger, more mature animals that had an extra year to grow […]

He’s been using a bow for about 50 years.
“I started with a bow when I was about six or seven years old,” Gerald Morris says of his first experiences with the tool he has used to feed his family and later hunt for trophies.
“A Boy Scout teacher taught me how to shoot.”

Morris, of Meeker, […]

Nestled in the mountains of northwest Colorado is a hunter’s paradise known as Buffalo Horn Ranch.
Trophy elk and deer.
Upland birds.
World class facilities.

Buffalo Horn has it all.
The ranch is a full-service, working summer guest ranch and hunting lodge. The ranch features one-on-one guided elk and deer hunts as well as backcountry drop camps hunts, upland game […]

Drought, wildfires, predation by mountain lions, increased hunting pressure and habitat loss due to urban sprawl along the eastern foothills of the Rockies, known locally as the Front Range — nothing seems to put a dent in Colorado’s burgeoning elk herd, which remains the largest in North America.
ELK
Colorado has 305,000 elk, more than any other […]

Hunters weren’t as successful in 2001 compared with 2000. Warm weather kept animals scattered and a feeble economy and uncertainty from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks kept many sportspeople home.
Unseasonably mild weather and low hunter participation due to the economic recession led to a weak Colorado elk harvest in the 2001 season. Hunters harvested […]

Nonresident Fee Increase: License fees have increased for non-resident deer, elk, antelope and moose licenses. See sections on each species for new fees.
Unlimited Either-Sex Deer: Unlimited either-sex deer licenses are available in unit 9.
Unlimited Either-Sex Elk: Over-the-counter, either-sex elk licenses are available in northeast plains for specific units.

Chronic Wasting Disease: All deer and elk […]

Hunting is a sport that has been passed down for many generations. Many people think hunting is only about killing an animal but there is so much more to it. The hunt is about sharing a common goal with everyone in the camp, young, old, male or female. It is about sharing knowledge and passing […]

The fourth big-game rifle season ended with field reports that hunters took home possibly one of the better elk harvests in several years, said John Ellenberger, the senior big-game biologist for the Colorado Division of Wildlife. ”We have harvested a lot of elk this year,” Ellenberger said. Also, “hunters seemed to be satisfied with the […]

For the rifle combined deer and elk season, all reports received indicate the third big game season went well. The first snowfall of the year has arrived on the back roads and throughout the high country. Chains are required in many areas, but the hunting conditions have been superb. Below are the reports the Division […]

Poudre and Laramie River Areas
General reports show the second season hunting pressure was heavier than the first season this year, but less than last year’s hunting season. Overall harvest numbers seem to be down. Weather has been unseasonably warm and dry with only a few scattered rain and snow showers in the higher elevations. […]

Due to the new season structure this year, the first rifle hunting season was limited to elk only, by drawing only. Overall reports indicate general hunting pressure has been light, and in some areas even lower than expected. Hunters, in general, have agreed that with the lack of crowding, they are enjoying their hunt more. […]