hunting

Hunting loophole cause of concern for Pitkin, Eagle counties

A loophole in Title 33 of Colorado’s Revised Statutes makes it difficult for CPW to punish hunters who illegally hunt on county open spaces that are designated as “closed to hunting.”

A bull Elk puts out his tongue, a courting maneuver, during the rut in a meadow near Moraine Park on Sept. 24, 2023 in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park. A herd bull will approach cows slowly and carefully, with antlers high and tongue flicking, doing everything he can to win over a cow. If a cow is not ready to mate, she will move away with her head low, weaving her neck side to side and the bull will stop his immediate courting. Fall is approaching, and elk are entering their mating season, also known as the elk rut. Beginning September 1, annual meadow closures go into effect in Rocky Mountain National Park to prevent park visitors from disturbing elk during their rut. According to a press release from the park meadow closures are in place between the hours of 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. Meadow areas that are closed include Horseshoe Park, Upper Beaver Meadows, Moraine Park, Harbison Meadow, and Holzwarth Meadow. During the specified hours, these areas are closed to all travel on foot or via horseback off established roadways and established trails. The elk rut lasts from late September to mid-October in the park as well as Estes Park. During this period, hundreds of elk descend to the lower meadows of Rocky Mountain National Park looking to mate. RMNP is home to over 3,000 elk in the fall months. Elk are highly social animals and travel in various herd sizes throughout the year. Herds can grow as large as a few hundred individuals. Elk have a large range and move according to seasonal food availability. In the summer, herds move to higher elevations to feed on tundra vegetation, while in the winter they move down to lower elevations of the park and down into the Front Range. Elk primarily graze on grasses and forbs but they also browse shrubs. They feed mostly in the morning and evening, and seek sheltered areas during the middle of the day to digest. They eat an average of 20 pounds

In an undated photo, members of the Colorado Arlberg Club skin up the Mary Jane Trail in the early 1930s. Winter Park opened in 1940, and the resort's Mary Jane expansion debuted on Jan. 10, 1976. A 50th anniversary celebration will be held on Saturday. (Colorado Arlberg Club archives/Provided by Winter Park Resort)

Winter Park’s Mary Jane turns 50, ‘On Fire for God’ and more things to do in Denver

2 weeks ago

A new Bison Calf chases other bisons in the spring snow at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Denver on Wednesday, April 18, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Colorado Parks and Wildlife launches potential hunting opportunity for wild bison

2 weeks ago

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-NM, speaks ...

Western senators cannot support this Trump nominee who wants to liquidate public lands (Opinion)

By Aaron Weiss

December 1, 2025 at 11:05 a.m.

Trump's BLM nominee Steve Pearce’s vision for our public lands is not conservation or even...

A mountain lion was found dead in Taylor Canyon in Gunnison City Mountain Park on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. (Photo provided by Colorado Parks and Wildlife).

Mountain lion illegally poached, dumped in Colorado canyon

By Lauren Penington

November 24, 2025 at 12:57 p.m.

State investigators are searching for suspects after the body of an illegally poached mountain lion...

Garrett Harper-Bischof carefully crosses a large beaver dam during an exploratory field trip with participants of the Colorado Beaver Gathering on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, in the foothills northwest of Boulder. (Photo by Timothy Hurst/The Denver Post)

Can Coloradans coexist better with beavers? State wildlife officials craft plan to manage industrious rodents.

By Elise Schmelzer

December 2, 2025 at 1:15 p.m.

"We're not concerned about long-term persistence of beavers by any means, but we know they're...

A heron flies over the arid land of the San Luis Valley near Hooper on March 30, 2017. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)

Colorado land board agrees to sell 46,000 acres in San Luis Valley, despite worries about federal policy

By Elise Schmelzer

November 13, 2025 at 3:33 p.m.

"We were all-in until the world went nuts," said Commissioner Christine Scanlan, who expressed concerns...

A heron flies over the arid land of the San Luis Valley near Hooper on March 30, 2017. The State Land Board is considering selling nearly 46,000 acres of land farther south in the valley, between Alamosa and Antonito. (Photo by Joe Amon/The Denver Post)

Colorado public lands deal faces unexpected scrutiny after years of planning — and reason is unclear

By Elise Schmelzer

November 11, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

"We had pretty much put it in our rearview mirror, because it looked like a...

Sam Seeton, the CEO of Infinite Outdoors, poses for a portrait on the Colorado School of Mines campus in Golden, Colorado, on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Mines grad’s app helps solve access question for some of Colorado’s 704,000 acres of inaccessible public lands

By Elise Schmelzer

October 13, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

"Along this whole journey, I wanted our app to be an overall access app," said...

CREEDE, COLORADO - AUGUST 7: A jeep makes its way slowly along the difficult and technical 4x4 road leading to the Wheeler Geologic Area in the Rio Grande National Forest on August 7, 2020 near Creede, Colorado. The Wheeler Geologic Area is a highly eroded outcropping of layers of volcanic ash, in the La Garita Mountains of Mineral County. The ash is the result of eruptions from the La Garita Caldera approximately 25 million years ago. The unique area is one of the most fascinating geological features in the San Juan Mountains. The geologic formations are contained in a tiny 60-acre section of the Rio Grande National Forest. In this area a mound of volcanic ash has eroded into a bizarre and beautiful landscape. It is now part of the La Garita Wilderness and administered by the Rio Grande National Forest. Lying just below the crest of the range at an elevation of 11,960 feet and can be reached either by an 8.4-mile hike on the East Bellows Trail (FS790), or by a difficult 14 mile four-wheel drive road. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

Another hunter dies in southern Colorado wilderness, sheriff says

By Lauren Penington

September 28, 2025 at 10:45 a.m.

Another hunter died Friday in southern Colorado's Conejos County, just over a week after two...

Conejos County Coroner Richard Martin said two elk hunters, Ian Stasko, 25, of Salt Lake City, left, and Andrew Porter, 25, of Asheville, N.C., were killed by a lightning strike while on a hunting trip. He said lightning most likely struck a tree and continued into the men. The pair were found dead on Sept. 18, 2025, after last being heard from on Sept. 11, 2025. (Photo courtesy of GoFundMe.com)

Elk hunters found dead in Colorado were killed by lightning, coroner says

By Lauren Penington

September 23, 2025 at 8:32 a.m.

The two elk hunters found dead last week in southern Colorado were killed by lightning,...

A bull Elk chases a cow while flicking his tongue, a courting maneuver, during the rut in a meadow near Moraine Park on Sept. 24, 2023 in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park. A herd bull will approach cows slowly and carefully, with antlers high and tongue flicking, doing everything he can to win over a cow. If a cow is not ready to mate, she will move away with her head low, weaving her neck side to side and the bull will stop his immediate courting. Fall is approaching, and elk are entering their mating season, also known as the elk rut. Beginning September 1, annual meadow closures go into effect in Rocky Mountain National Park to prevent park visitors from disturbing elk during their rut. According to a press release from the park meadow closures are in place between the hours of 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. Meadow areas that are closed include Horseshoe Park, Upper Beaver Meadows, Moraine Park, Harbison Meadow, and Holzwarth Meadow. During the specified hours, these areas are closed to all travel on foot or via horseback off established roadways and established trails. The elk rut lasts from late September to mid-October in the park as well as Estes Park. During this period, hundreds of elk descend to the lower meadows of Rocky Mountain National Park looking to mate. RMNP is home to over 3,000 elk in the fall months. Elk are highly social animals and travel in various herd sizes throughout the year. Herds can grow as large as a few hundred individuals. Elk have a large range and move according to seasonal food availability. In the summer, herds move to higher elevations to feed on tundra vegetation, while in the winter they move down to lower elevations of the park and down into the Front Range. Elk primarily graze on grasses and forbs but they also browse shrubs. They feed mostly in the morning and evening, and seek sheltered areas during the middle of the day to digest. They eat an av

‘Massive’ search and rescue operation continues for 2 missing elk hunters in southern Colorado

By John Aguilar

September 18, 2025 at 10:47 a.m.

Search and rescue crews are conducting a massive operation to find two men who went...

This video still from a remote camera video shows a wolf pup from the King Mountain Pack and was taken in Routt County during the summer of 2025. At least four pups were born to the pack in 2025. (Video still via Colorado Parks and Wildlife)

Bid to halt Colorado’s wolf reintroduction through ballot is the latest strategy to fail. What’s next?

By Elise Schmelzer

September 8, 2025 at 6:00 a.m.

"They're not going to stop bringing wolves and, overnight, they're not going to fix their...

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