According to the hot-stove league, the recently concluded Colorado big-game hunting season won't be a vintage edition.

When the question, "Get your elk?" comes up in workplaces and other locations where hunters exchange information, the answer generally has been, "Well, no."

That is likely to be reflected in the Colorado Division of Wildlife's harvest statistics for the year, which still are being compiled.

"It's still early . . . but based on what we're hearing from hunters, I'd expect the elk harvest to be down," said Bruce Watkins, big-game coordinator for the DOW.

"But that didn't just come out of the blue. We expected elk numbers to be down somewhat because we have fewer elk. We're closer to our management objectives in some parts of the state, and fewer licenses were available there."

Weather also might have been a factor in lowering hunter success.

Windy, wet weather during the initial rifle season for elk kept hunters close to camp and elk in the timber. Mild, dry conditions followed, making stalking more difficult while keeping elk at higher elevations. While a little snow late in the third season benefited some hunters, elk and deer remained higher than usual, away from hunters who were waiting on traditional wintering ranges.

With hunter surveys ongoing, Watkins indicated the only expected increase in harvest is among pronghorn hunters.

Lower hunter success in 2008 might translate into more game animals available to hunters next year. That will depend on winter survival, and despite the recent arctic blast along the Front Range, game managers are cautiously optimistic a repeat of last year, with severe conditions and significant losses of deer in some areas, will not occur.

"With the long, warm fall, deer and elk were in good condition going into the winter," Watkins said. "The worst case is when we get heavy snow in December and no breaks in the weather. In a normal winter, we get periodic melting on south-facing slopes, and the animals find adequate forage to make it through the winter.

"So far, we're having a pretty normal winter."

DEER RETURN EXPECTED: With snow returning to the Gunnison Basin, mule deer are likely to return to the locations where emergency feeding sites were established last winter. That doesn't necessarily mean they are in trouble.

"Like all animals, deer are creatures of habit and they remember where they find easily available sources of food," J Wenum, Gunnison area manager for the DOW, said in news release.

The DOW reminds people not to provide any type of food for deer and not to approach them during the winter. Feeding big game is illegal unless authorized by the DOW.

LICENSE SALES DOWN: A decline in the sale of hunting and fishing licenses will lead to a $3.2 million drop in revenue for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, according to a report presented to the Colorado Wildlife Commission last week by Henrietta Turner, head of the DOW's license-administration section.

She indicated an overall drop of 45,000 in license sales in 2008, a decline of almost 4.3 percent.

Resident elk-hunting license sales fell by about 2,000 from last year to 150,658 in 2008, and nonresidents bought 7,000 fewer licenses - a total of 84,755. That means a loss in revenue of $81,580 from residents and $1.4 million from nonresidents.

Resident deer hunters bought 71,000 licenses in 2008, down from 78,000 the previous year.

Nonresident sales were 23,541, down from 29,227 in 2007. Lost revenues were $250,000 from resident sales and $1.6 million from nonresidents.

The drop in hunting-license sales reflects a reduction in available licenses and economic uncertainties, according to Joe Lewandowski, a spokesman for the DOW's southwest region. The number of elk permits was reduced in some areas as herds approach management objectives and available deer permits were cut back because of concerns about losses during last season's severe winter.

Nonresident hunters, especially, might have been deterred by fuel costs in the summer.

The DOW's overall budget is $100 million.

CURRENT LICENSES VALID: Colorado fishermen and small-game hunters need not worry about license renewals during the holiday rush.

All licenses purchased in 2008 will remain valid through March 31 as part of a new licensing structure. Walk-in permits and state and federal waterfowl stamps also carry over.

Beginning next year, the license year will run from April 1 to March 31 of the next year.

Fishermen should continue using the 2008 regulations brochure through the interim. Brochures for 2009 will be available in late March.

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