Thinking Of Hunting In Colorado?


Think Again. Major L. Boddicker


Joel Boddicker with his fi rst bull elk. Big game hunting in Colorado can be the biggest thrill of a lifetime. It also can be so nasty that a hunter will never hunt again. The difference? If you are ignorant, on the wrong side of the road, are in the wrong management unit, trespassing, and/or hunting without permission, etc., you can be in big trouble.


familiar with the plethora of restrictive laws and regulations that have been created to keep us safe, in jeopardy of a violation, and under control. The critters we hunt generally are so abundant that there is no need to restrict the numbers we take, so the regulations must be made for other reasons. Many of these laws and regulations are created via the Animal Rights Folks (ARFs) and are generated with the support of the state and federal wildlife agencies. The agencies see these laws and regulations as employment guarantees and empire builders. Most recent regulations have zero impact on wildlife populations. They are, “I don’t do it, so I don’t want


G Page 72 Winter 2012


enerally speaking, American varmint hunters are very


you to do it,” regulations. ARFs are basically anti-hunters of some species, usually unhappy urban folk needing to strike out at happy rural folk. Picture “Two and a Half Men” and “The Swamp People,” popular TV shows. Before 1980, Colorado was a sol-


idly Western, cowboy state. Our wildlife laws were great. Then the ARFs arrived in big numbers, migrating to Colorado with John Denver and other unhappy celebrities. They quickly decided to make Colorado a playground heaven for the rich and a poor man’s hell. Now, 31 years later, they have won, and Colorado is a tutti-frutti land run by urban eco-freaks. Everything they can do to screw things up for hunters, trappers, fi shermen, loggers, miners,


A big bonus! A nonresident can shoot a coyote on an “unfi lled big game license.” After the big game is shot, no coyote can be shot. Why? Will the coyote be offended? Not enough coyotes in Colorado? No, the Colorado Division of Wildlife is afraid you will help your buddies get their elk if they let you continue to hunt coyotes on your $551 license. If you buy a regular nonresident small game license, you can continue to hunt coyotes, but only with a 22 centerfi re or lesser caliber.


cowboys, taxidermists, sheepmen, and wild meat processors, they do. Gener- ally, this is done a small bit at a time, a warming-the-frog strategy. If these ARFs can’t get their way with an issue in the legislature, they hire an outfi t to collect signatures for an initiated referendum. They get advertising and promotional money from the national and international ARFs and use the TV media to misinform the public and win elections. Roughly 70 percent of Colo- rado is strictly urban folks who are ARFs or are so ignorant that they vote with ARFs. The TV and print media back up the ARFs. So what is new? Consequently, Colorado has a


constitutional amendment that bans spring bear hunting, hunting bears


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212