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Hunting and Fishing News & Blog Articles
Stay up-to-date on hunting, fishing and camping products, trends and news.
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Well, we’ve wondered which state would do it first. Colorado has responded to increased shed antler hunting pressure in recent years by instituting their first ever shed hunting license.
This license is mandatory for any person collecting shed antlers, shed horns, antlers or horns attached to skull plates of animal carcasses that are found in the field, etc. While shed hunting seasons have been established in many western states, including Colorado, to help alleviate unneeded stresses on wintering big game populations, wildlife managers from the Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) realized that more had to be done to curb the wildlife harassment during key survival periods coming on the heels of the long winter months.
The $40 antler and horn collection permit is valid from May 1 – December 31 and all other antler or horn hunting is illegal from January 1 – April 30. These new regulations are for all public lands west of I-25, and don’t pertain to private land in that zone nor land east of I-25.
According to the CPW, dramatic increases in people afield searching for antlers and horns have displaced big game animals unnecessarily during the key survival and early fawning months of late winter/spring going as far back as 2006.
The open season dates for this new antler and horn collection permit mirror dates by other states, including Wyoming to the north, for established shed antler and horn hunting seasons (May 1 – December 31).
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It’s been coming for quite some time now, and it has finally arrived. Price increases in Wyoming may actually have been a long time coming. We have been hearing some chatter in Cheyenne about pending price increases for quite some time now, and after nearly 10 years, we now have them. For the most part, the price increase is in right on the head at 20% for nonresident deer, elk and antelope tags. That equates to roughly about $100 per tag on average, the exception being the “special” elk tag that has risen just over $200. On the other end of the spectrum, the nonresident “regular” antelope tag has increased only about $54.
If $100 more seems to be pretty steep for your personal budget, wait until you get a load of some of the trophy species price increases. For example, nonresident moose has increased by 41% or nearly $600. Wow! That is a substantial bump. As bad as that sounds, just wait until you get a load of the wild bison increase. For bull bison the tag coast has inflated to $4,400, corresponding to a 76% increase. I guess I’m glad my wife drew that tag this year.
On a more favorable note, the nonresident sheep tag only increased by 3% or $68 and nonresident goat only went up a relatively measly $10. In addition, we can all be thankful that at least at this point, it looks like the state has chosen not to raise the price of nonresident preference points at all, which is no real big surprise considering the Game and Fish Department could be making more money on preference points than they are on actual nonresident tag sales when it comes to the limited quota areas anyway.
The biggest question at this point is, “Will this price increase affect the draw odds?” Short answer, I doubt it. Every other time the state has increased prices in the past, it has had very little effect on the draw odds. I think there are just too many people vested in the preference point system at this point and the state knows that. I am actually somewhat surprised they did not raise the “special” tags more than the “regular” tags, as the draw odds have slowly crept together as time has gone on.
See the accompanying chart for the details of the actual price increases per tag. Best of luck in the draws this year, and keep in mind that the Wyoming Elk MRS write-up is in the next issue of EBJ headed to mailboxes around the 10th of January.
-Guy Eastman
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Philosophies on butchering and knives are as vast and different as the antler configurations on two B&C non-typical mule deer! One hunter prefers a blade that can be changed in the field, while another prefers a fixed blade which can be sharpened and enjoyed for years.
Regardless of the philosophy, Outdoor Edge has the options that serve every hunter’s knife preference. Personally, I have had the privilege of breaking down multiple big game animals and many game birds with the Razor series knives and will continue to do so into the future. The changeable blade trend has done nothing but grow over the last few years and for good reason. When time is of the essence in grizzly bear country and your knife gets dull, simply replacing a blade is faster and easier than honing an edge.
This year at Eastmans’ we have been giving away the Wild Lite set from Outdoor Edge with various subscription purchases. After becoming so dependent on the Razor series I was reluctant to make the switch to a single fixed blade knife. However, after taking a hard look at the knives, their purpose built nature and of course construction, I was reminded why it can be so easy to acquire many knives! This set has served us well this fall and I know of several people on staff who have butchered their whole animal with these knives only.
The funny thing about knives though is that most hunters rarely behave like they have enough. Taking a look at the full line-up on outdooredge.com and I can see about 10 other options I would be interested in trying. Whether it would fill a hole in my at home butchering set or be a blade that would be part of my bread and butter for the backcountry, they are worth taking a look at. Besides, Christmas is coming and what hunter wouldn’t be happy with another knife to separate the meat from the bone and fill the freezer?
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On August 16 we had the typical dry hot weather the high elevation desert is known for in western Wyoming and Brandon Mason and I were chasing antelope. He had the tag in his pocket and I had the responsibility of capturing his hunt on film. The hoody provided a cool experience in the desert heat as well as concealment from a w
This year I had the opportunity to put Sitka’s Core Lightweight Hoody to the test in multiple areas across Wyoming. True to form and the Sitka brand, it performed very well in multiple early situations on several species.
On August 16 we had the typical dry hot weather the high elevation desert is known for in western Wyoming and Brandon Mason and I were chasing antelope. He had the tag in his pocket and I had the responsibility of capturing his hunt on film. The hoody provided a cool experience in the desert heat as well as concealment from a wary buck that caught me in the open setting up a camera tripod as we waited. He never saw me and I was able to capture the whole encounter on film.
I also brought the Ascent Hoody with me to Wyoming’s famous region G for the mule deer opener. I was leery of having the piece pull double duty as a base layer and warm weather shirt for afternoon glassing. On the way to one of my favorite basins the weather took a turn for the worse in a matter of minutes and I soaked the Hoody. After setting up my shelter I was able to “cook” the hoody dry in short order by firing up my internal furnace with a Mountain House meal and coffee. The synthetic material performed well in the high country.
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There are very few single items in our homes that protect much of the evidence that we actually exist. Birth certificates, social security cards, payment stubs, bank notes and of course our heirloom firearms, all these end up inside our secure safes. We put these precious documents and family treasures inside the safe expecting them to be protected in the case of theft or fire.
But what about when other things happen? Like a humid climate? Liberty safe has a solution for that too with the Eva-Dry Dehumidifier that takes the moisture from inside the safe and stores it safely to prevent corrosion on firearms.
Paper’s worst enemy is moisture in the air and over time its integrity is worn down when humid climates work against it. Steel rusts and so it is very easy to see why removing moisture from the air inside a safe is so important.
Give the Eva-Dry Dehumidifier a look, it might just be the key to preserving the integrity of some of the most valuable physical items in your safe!
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