Question for Colorado elk hunters

[cnelk]

Others can chime in too...

Questions -

Let's say I have a bull elk Muzzle Loader tag AND a 'B' List Archery cow elk tag. Both are valid at the same time in same unit

1- Can I carry both a bow and a ML at the same time?

If the answer is YES,

2 - Is hunter orange required while carrying both weapons?

[Buglemaster]

Brad, where do you come up with this shnitt?? Going out on a limb here, but I don't believe you can poses both. If it is possible, you certainly would have to be orange if you were packing a smoke pole. Someone else chime in!

[>>>---WW---->]

I have actually seen a guy that had both tags. He had his hands full packing both weapons and said he would never do it again. So long as the MZ season is in, you would need orange on when packing the smoke pole.

Now that I think about it, He may have had a MZ elk tag and an archery deer. It was many years ago. They may not had B tags back then.

[bowhunter99]

You can have both tags but you must wear orange carrying the MZ tag. In CO you can fill either tag with your bow as long as your muzzleloader tag is for that unit (as you specified you had).
I am not sure though if you are required to wear orange if you are hunting with only your bow and are trying to fill your MZ tag.
I can find out though if you havn't called CDOW.
Not sure if I helped you or raised more questions!

[mtnmutt]

As long as it is ML and the ml tag is in your pocket, I think you must have orange on. The regs refer to the tag type (firearm), not the weapon you carry. Of course, you better have the ML tag if you have a ML in your hand.

[Indian Summer]

It sounds like you might be in the market for Rockchucker's Gun-Hook.... or a Sherpa.

[cnelk]

I already asked this question to the CPW.
Below is their answer.

bowhunter99 - you cannot harvest either tag with a bow. See page 12 of the Regs.

"1- Can I carry both a bow and a ML at the same time?
The answer is: You are not prohibited from carry them. Assuming that the "tags" are valid for the corresponding dates and Units when you are in possession of both methods of take, and you are in compliance with all applicable season restrictions, etc.

If the answer is YES,

2 - Is hunter orange required while carrying both weapons?
In the scenario above you must meet the Daylight Fluorescent Orange requirements at any time you are in possession of the muzzleloader while hunting.

NOTE:
("archery, or muzzleloading, provided further that license holders must comply with all applicable season restrictions, including, but not limited to, applicable manner of take restrictions. Except for archers hunting during a limited bear season, archers with an auction or raffle deer, elk, pronghorn or moose license hunting outside of a regular rifle season, and archers hunting with an archery bear, deer, elk, pronghorn, or moose license, all persons hunting bear, deer, elk, pronghorn or moose shall be required to wear daylight fluorescent orange garments which comply with the requirements of §33-6-121, C.R.S.")"

[bowhunter99]

cnelk-my bad. I was thinking of rifle season. You can harvest an elk during rifle seasons with a bow, but not during muzzleloader.
My mistake!

[tdiesel]

as already stated if the smokepole is in your hand the orange must go on. If you decide to only carry the bow you could go without the orange and with proof of sex the officer should be able to tell if it was a bull or cow. just cause you have the tag doesn't mean you have to wear orange but if hunting with the ML you must!! I had a friend do it a couple years ago but he had a ML deer and archery Elk. if he only carried his bow we only hunted elk and he could go camo (of course thats when we saw the big deer)

[itsnlkthing]

Not to hijack or derail things but on a related question, can someone please clarify the whole a tag b tag thing and how many elk can be harvested?

[cohunter14]

In the regulations brochure, you will see that each tag is either an A, B, or C tag in Colorado. You can only get one A tag a year, but you can get two tags if one is a B tag. So you can get a list A and list B tag in one year, or you could get two list B tags in one year. List C tags are unlimited, but are mostly for the eastern plains area where it is all private land.

[itsnlkthing]

In the regulations brochure, you will see that each tag is either an A, B, or C tag in Colorado. You can only get one A tag a year, but you can get two tags if one is a B tag. So you can get a list A and list B tag in one year, or you could get two list B tags in one year. List C tags are unlimited, but are mostly for the eastern plains area where it is all private land.

Thank you. Things changed quite a bit in the 30 years I was out of state. It used to be that you just bought a license, now it looks like a lawyer or 3 wrote the big game brochure
No offense if any of y'all are lawyers...

[Jaquomo]

Adding to cnelk's original question:

If you have a September rifle bear tag for the same unit in which you're hunting archery elk, and are carrying both at the same time but only hunting with a bow, are you required to wear hunter orange for the rifle bear requirement? (Note - if you hunt elk during rifle season with a bow, you must wear hunter orange)

I know the answer....

[cnelk]

Lou
Isnt your question answered in the bottom note from the CPW?

[Jaquomo]

Sort of, but not clearly. The key phrase there is "archers hunting during a limited bear season". Archers hunting during September are hunting during a "limited bear season", even if they don't have a bear license, so they are exepmt from the orange rule.

But what if you DO have a rifle bear license during that limited bear season but choose to hunt them with a bow while you're also hunting elk?

[cnelk]

The answer is on the top of page 13 of the Regs

[mtnmutt]

I am confused. Top of page 13 regarding wearing orange only refers to firearm license. It does not say anything about what weapon you are carrying. It is likely just a short summary of the full regs.

I agree if you hunt with bow with a rifle tag, you must wear orange. I know someone who did that.

[Jaquomo]

Sure, but the conundrum occurs when you are primarily hunting elk with an archery elk tag, but just happen to have a September limited rifle bear tag in your pocket. What do you do? Do you quickly put on orange when you see a bear, then take it off again to resume hunting elk? Or wear orange all the time if you are carrying the tag? Or not carry the tag when elk hunting and hope you don't see a bear, which you certainly will if you don't have the tag.

I try to get a rifle bear tag for September whenever possible, not only for the weapon choice, but also because in most years it extends the bear season by a week (though not this year with the date shift).

I have a very funny quote about how to deal with this from the DWM from the Steamboat Region.....

[CrazyElkHunter]

I have never hunted elk with a firearm and have been bowhunting them for over 35 years, so I would never have that problem. The answer is not that hard. Common sense. You abide by all regulations for all methods and pursuits. If you are not sure, contact the Fish and Game office for the area your going to hunt. If you have a firearm in one hand and a bow in the other, you wear orange. I can not imagine anyone would or even want to carry both. If you are hunting from a tree stand and both weapons are in the tree with you, you wear orange. This could also promote temptation to fill the cow tag with the muzzleloader if the cow is standing broadside at a 100+ yards. Not exactly the same, but I witnessed a lot of buddy hunting years ago in Colorado, when 1 hunter had a muzzy elk/deer tag and the other had a archery elk/deer tag and all were taken with the muzzleloader. Since they were locals from Cortez, they were able to get tags regularly and get the meat home the same day of harvest. I ran into these hunters often and knew there routine over several years. Really nice guys to talk to, but hated what they were doing. Nothing against muzzy hunters, made a lot of new friends while hunting the same woods with them, I just wish the seasons did not overlap.
Like the other post, Brad, where do you come up with these questions? LOL

[Jaquomo]

So to the question about wearing orange with a "rifle" bear tag in your pocket while primarily hunting elk with an archery tag, the CPW DWM told me, "Technically, you need to wear orange if your are PRIMARILY hunting bear. If you are bowhunting elk and happen to see and shoot a bear when you are in camo, just be sure you take trophy photos of yourself wearing orange." I could hear her smiling through the phone.

For those of you wondering why I wouldn't just get an archery bear tag, the way CO does it is strange. You can draw a rifle bear tag in the general draw, often with zero points, can hunt with a bow throughout all of September, from the 2nd - 30th.

Archery bear tags are limited but sold OTC. The archery bear season runs concurrently with deer-elk, so it can end a week earlier than Sept 30. But the real kicker is that they are limited in number, by unit. In the units I hunt, if you aren't online with your form filled out and ready to hit "send" at exactly 9:00 a.m. that day, or somehow the system gets overloaded and you're kicked off (not unusual), all the tags can sell out in 4-5 minutes, before you can get back into the system and fill out the application form again. If work (or other) constraints prevent you from doing that, no bear tag for you for that year.

So applying for a rifle tag is a sure thing, and you hunt with a bow or whatever else you want to use.