Colorado Late Cow Season

[Wilhelm]

I am looking at putting in for a late season cow tag (December) for Colorado. Went out muzzle loader hunting last year as a first timer, and due to work schedule can't make that work this year. Thinking of trying for a cow in December, but I am not seeing much on the forums about this season. I have heard that there is a good sized herd in the Meeker area, and am looking at putting in for one of the units around there. I see a substantial amount of public ground in unit 22, and am thinking of putting in for a tag there. Any thoughts on the late cow season? Is public ground good that late in the year, or will the elk be all on private? Any personal experience you can share to help make the decision is appreciated.

 

[JimP]

Late season cow tags can be hit or miss depending on the weather. If there is a lot of snow that pushes them down into areas that are public then you could have a great shoot. If they stay high you might just have a vacation without seeing a thing.

The best advise that I could tell you is to call the area biologist for the area that you plan on hunting and talk to them. But you better hurry they could take up to a couple of weeks to get back to you.

The office number in Meeker is 970-878-6090

 

[CODAK]

Access will be your biggest enemy. I used to hunt late season due to football and we always had 20-30" of snow. Unless you have snowmobiles or quads it's a tough trek around on the boots. We always got elk tho!

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

CPW uses cow tags as a management tool to keep elk numbers in line with their projections of herd sizes. There used to be a lot of them here in the SW portion of the state. Very few now. They also issues tags, especially private land tags, to landowners to lessen property damage.

My point is that number and areas of tags very every year, so don't always count on them in the same unit every year. Hope you draw and fill your freezer, good luck.