Radios/phones legal for CO hunting?

[Elkduds]

I read a post in the elk hunting forum that raised this question: Is pursuing game via electronic communication legal in CO? I always thought the answer was Hell No, but I decided to research before shooting my mouth off. I asked CO Parks/Wildlife about this via Email. Here is the reply:

Thank you for your question regarding using radios while hunting. Like many things in the law, this one is somewhat gray. The individual's technical read of the law is correct, however if ANY violation occurs, this charge can be added and because it carries 10 points. It can put people at risk of more severe penalties from what could otherwise be a minor violation (ie, failure to leave evidence of sex attached, etc.). One common situation is an individual herding animals toward another person... "there's a buck just over the ridge, I'll cut around and see if I can move him your way." That may seem simple but could be seen as harassment of wildlife for the herding action (and then an electronic communication violation).

While the law may allow some use, we try to establish regulations that maintain the "fair chase" of the hunt. So, when the radio becomes an instrument that lessens fair chase, we have concerns.

We encourage individuals to use family channel radios for things like emergencies, communicating with camp, etc. but we typically discourage use of radios in the act of hunting because it may violate either regulation or the ethics of fair chase.

That's a long answer. Ultimately, the technical read is correct - they could use the radio if no other laws are broken but the risk can be high and the ethics can be gray.

I hope this answers your question.
--

Shawn Nicely
Customer Service Representative/Hunt Planner

303-291-7526

303-291-7183

shawn.nicely@state.co.us

Colorado Parks and Wildlife

6060 Broadway

Denver, CO 80216


My reply to Mr. Nicely (wasn't he in Guys and Dolls? "Sit down, you're rocking the boat") was that using phone/radio to direct each other to game is NOT ethical nor fair chase. I was on a RFW hunt some years ago, with multiple guides directing each other to elk via radios, which sucked in my view. What do you say? Is CO's law not enough or too much?