Colorado-Oregon comparison

[scoutdog5]

Okay, as promised, here is the comparison between Colorado and Oregon for Mule Deer and Whitetails.

Post Hunting season population

Colorado............476,000
Oregon..............214,000

Buck/doe ratio

Colorado...........25 to 30/100 does
Oregon.............12 to 14/100 does

Total Hunters:

Colorado (2009).....78,536
Oregon (2008).......70,126 (Or as not posted 2009 stats)

Buck Harvest

Colorado............24,607
Oregon..............19,476

Rifle Hunters

Colorado............60,254
Oregon..............52,903

Rifle Buck harvest

Colorado............21,209
Oregon..............18,164

Notes: All tags, rifle, archery and muzzleloader are limited entry in Colorado. Oregon has very few muzzleloader tags, but Archery tags are over the counter in most units. Oregon approved 3,000 less rifle tags for 2009, no way to know if archery tags increased. I anticipate a large drop in harvest, given current state of populations in Oregon.

So, Colorado has more than twice as many deer, more than four times as many bucks and issues 10% more tags, and kills about 25% more bucks. According to ODFW trend counts done in Dec 2008, Oregon had slightly more than 20,000 bucks in the state. Given the harvest of more than 19,000 bucks, Oregon harvested almost 50% of the entire buck population in 2008.

Given those statistics, does anyone really think Oregon is not severly overharvesting the buck component of our depressed deer populations?

Scoutdog

 

[440sixpack]

Interesting stats, anyone who's even hunted a poor unit in Colorado will have no argument with them.

I don't know how to answer your question, given the drastic lack of deer in my opinion we should have no deer season in many units but there is a rub. I've hunted a rugged part of the Murderers Creek unit for 30 years, it gets worse with every tag I draw and in the last two times I've hunted it I haven't seen a half dozen hunters other than the road variety. I see very few deer, very little deer sign , very very few hunters and lots of cat sign. this is just one example but I'm seeing the same thing around my place west of there.

In my opinion if nothing else cut the tag numbers to what is considered prudent ( meaning none ) as a starting point, even if that doesn't help it will force ODFW to admit there's a problem big enough to get serious about.

 

[lostinOregon]

One thing that is not in the stats are the size or age of the bucks. I have hunted Colorado for the last 6 years and Oregon all of my life. I have NEVER seen a dead forked horn buck in Colorado, not saying they don't get shot, just saying that is not what everyone's after because there are other bigger bucks around.

I would venture to guess that 80% of the Oregon harvest is forked horns. I have watched these threads about Oregon for a couple of days and have not chimed in. I have hunted a 3rd season unit in Colorado and have seen 40 4X4 bucks in one day, I have not seen that many in my life in Oregon during hunting season.

In numbers you can compare Oregon and Colorado, but in reality it is not even close. I don't believe that Oregon is continuing to do surveys on deer numbers on all units. I believe some of those numbers are estimates and not actual counts due to budget restraints.

I know Dean (440 six pack) has hunted Colorado himself and has seen the difference. I wouldn't have believed it myself until I had actually been there to see it. Oregon is going to have to do something drastic in the future or mule deer herds will be a thing of the past.

Rich

 

[ArrowheadWy]

+1 In Wyoming very few people shoot the baby bucks. Elk thats a different story- for res hunters an elk is to get for the meat.

 

[elkliver]

if Scout dogs numbers are accurate, we have about half the deer that colorado does but offer close to their number of deer tags. That should make it obvious, we need to cut our deer tags in half. (among other things)

I think Colorado would be great for ODFW to look at. They got crippled a few years ago with winter kill, have made drastic changes and are making a difference

 

[Damer]

I have never hunted in Colorado or any state besides Oregon, but I've been told that Colorado's easiest deer hunts are better than Oregon's best deer hunts. If that is true I'm not sure.

I think Oregon even lies about its numbers. The numbers are probably less than what they post.

 

[scoutdog5]

To be fair, I am not saying Colorado has it all figured out, and is doing a great management job. They have a lot of rough roadless country where deer and elk are left alone in the late spring and early summer. Here are the things I believe they do well:

1. Manage for high buck ratios, 20-40/100 does depending on the area.

2. Have large no. of state lands and wildlife areas leased for hunting access, but also completely close them during the winter, spring, early summer time frame.

3. Provide outstanding information on their website, including info about individual units, great draw odds and harvest stats, etc.

Here are the things I think they are screwing up:

1. Like every other state wildlife agency, way too slow to reduce antlerless tags when units are below objective.

2. Apparently don't have a concern about maintaining mature bucks in every population. Have added rut hunts for rifle, extended the third season by two days. top end bucks, which are critical for maximizing reproductive potential, are being reduced across many units. The stupid thing is, if they would protect those bucks by not hunting them during the rut, they would see bigger increases in populations, be able to offer more opportunity, and make more money.

3. Apparently have stopped counting different age classes of bucks on trend counts, or at least stopped reporting the data publicly.

The other major difference between the two states is financial. Because Colorado offers up to 35% of deer tags to non-residents, they can fully fund their wildlife program without offering excessive numbers of tags.

Scoutdog