Contacting biologist and game wardens

[Pasteve]

I hear of people contacting game wardens and biologist for areas they are looking to hunt. How do I go about getting their contact info? I there specific questions I should or shouldn't ask?

[Mike_Parson]

Here in SE NM, i just called the local office and asked for the name of the officer that currently in my area. i phoned him and left a message and he called me a few days later. he spent an hour talking about the areas i had planned on Elk hunting and gave me some great tips and possible locations. He was super friendly and even told me if i needed help getting one out, as i was going to be hunting solo, to give him a call and he would be happy to help me if he wasnt tied up.

[Lefty]

Some biologists and CO are very helpful,.. and some aren't

Three years back, or was it four I called the biologist for an area,.. Once he found out I was hunting he was close lipped.
In the same region I met another biologist working on Sage grouse and asked similar questions. The fellow wasn't a hunter and was also from an eastern state and said he didnt know much about elk. This was his first job,. It just killed me listening to his comments about Sage grouse. He tried to tell me there were only two grouse leeks in the region. And this was in Idaho

Same with some CO's Some wont share because of family hunting where you are asking, Last year I asked a CO about larger moose locations the answer was something to the effect that it wouldn't be fair chase if I didn't scout myself. I found out later my wife had talked to the same CO about late season muzzle loader elk tags.
What I have learned, get your info from older experience CO's and biologist.

I do want to include I have also gotten some of my best permissions for hunting and trapping from CO's

[husky390]

The Wardens in Colorado are helpful. I call the local office where I'm hunting and ask for that warden. I'm very polite on the phone, introduce myself, have my stuff together such as "I'm planning to hunt unit X during this season and am considering area X. What's your thoughts on that area? What kind of pressure can I expect? Are there other areas you can recommend?". Thank them for their time and ask to follow up with them if you have other questions.

A warden I called was very helpful to me the first year I hunted here in CO and without her help, I probably would not have gotten an elk.

[Elkduds]

In CO the game wardens are titled DWM, District Wildlife Manager. Many are helpful, some are tightlipped. My first call is usually to a CPW Hunt Planner, (303) 297-1192. I have not gotten great help from the few Wildlife Biologists I have contacted. The more specific info I had before calling, the more helpful the CPWs have been. I prefer to call in early summer, DWMs seem less busy then.

[Backyard]

I got some great info from a Colorado Biologist this year. I gave her info on myself, experience, age, fitness level, where from etc. and specific info in the area(s) that I plan on hunting/need info on. Ended up chatting about an hour or so. the conversation ended with a "if you have any questions or need any more info, feel free to contact me". Good experience.

[Swede]

In Oregon the game wardens are part of the State Police. I would look up their number on the internet. Most of them are out a lot, so you might have to wait to talk to one. The biologists are in regional offices. If you can stop by their office when you go to your hunt, it could add to and improve your quality of information.

[swmoelk]

Don't overlook the forest service and other land managers as well. It seems I've had good luck with them. It may take a few calls to find the right person to talk to though. Just remember there are a ton of people calling and most ask for an X on the map. I've had positive conversations with most everyone I've talked with. Show them you've done your homework and they'll be more likely to help. Also don't forget about emailing. It takes some people a few days to get back to you but it a worked for me.

[saddlesore]

Overall,I would say,I have had very poor service.The WCO's are nice enough and will sit down and talk to you,but for actual useful information has been lacking. Mostly because I think they never get more than 100 feet from their truck and depend on computer modeling as to what/where the wildlife is. They will sure drive up and down the roads checking licenses in camps, but it's been 20+ years since I have seen them anywhere close to what I call the back country.

Here are a few examples and this is indeed only a few of them. I have been a CO resident for42 years and have hunted all those years.

In 2009 I drew an elk tag for a trophy elk area. It took me 21 years to draw that tag. This was a unit with special dates and only 25 tags given out per year. 2-3 times checking with the local biologist and warden, I was told where the elk supposedly frequent. I never saw an elk track or hair in those areas, but finally found them quite a ways off.

Two years ago,I had 8 pref points for deer and wanted tom go to eastern CO to hunt. Prior to the draw I checked again with the biologist and was told there was some very local die off because of EHD with whitetail but it was only about 25% of the deer. After I drew my tag,I checked back and got the same story. The week of the hunt, I saw one small buck and one fawn. Talking to the locals,they said it was more like a 75% die off. When they usually run 30-40 deer out of a corn field during harvest, they would see 4-5 at most. I have friend that farms 10,000 acres or so ,and he said he saw about 20 deer thru the entire harvest.

After the 2009 elk season,many hunters told the CPW that there was a fairly bad winter kill from the 2007/2008 winter. One of the units which I hunted, the CPW had issued about 5000 cow tags each year for 5-8 years. We told them we found a lot of entire skeletons from the previous winter kill.They strickly denied it and kept selling those cow tags for another two years.Then they sheepishly admitted that they had found out there was indeed a severe winter kill. They were too interested in selling those cow tags for the income. You try to talk to them and they talk down to you like they know all there is to know about big game management and the hunters know nothing.They don't know diddly squat unless they cans see it from their pickup or on their computer.

I get more info from the forest service than the Wildlife department. If I were traveling 1500-2000 miles to hunt elk, I would sure take what the CO CPW tells me with a grain of salt.