MuleyMadness Hunting Forums

Is it true that you can now buy spike tags and go into the limited entry units? If it is true
I can't draw a tag I have 13 points and have been putting in for the bookcliffs rdls. They need to give more limited tags insteed of spike tags. I feel with the spike hunters going in there it will make it worse the less hunting persure the better. You guys have any thoughts about that and is it true?

it's true......

a new way of killing more bulls.....


a good idea on some units.....



a bad idea on others.......


the part that is currently bothering me is this:
on existing spike/LE units.... there is a small amount of poaching going on during the spike hunts. I beleive it mainly comes from "flock shooting". Hunters locate a herd of elk across the canyon that has a few spikes in it and they open fire! often times resulting in wounded or dead elk that were'nt the intended target! I hunted spike elk ONCE! on the manti..... In the four days I spent hiking around, I found 3 dead cow elk and one 2X2 yearling bull. GPS coordinates were given to the local authorities. They acted as if it was a normal opening day event......... bad experience for me, I wont be spike hunting again.
Also increasing the number of humans with weapons on units holding large amounts of mature bulls is a bad idea. I hate to say it, but there are too many fellow sportsmen that are too easily tempted. I'm sure some get away with it. Maybe it's a good time for me to roam the hills looking for poachers, the odds of catching one and being rewarded with a tag have got to be better than actually drawing one!!!

I really hope I'm wrong on this, but there are more than a few units that I am nervous for.

I agree with you chet about letting more people with guns in those LE units. Add to the fact that anyone can go and buy a spike tag and go where they want. I think it is another way the division can more money.

The division isn't making much more money opening it up to all units. They only increased the tags by 1000 from what they were last year. the whole reason for it is to create more opportunity and to try and level the bull to cow ratio on some units. Like chet said i think it is a good idea on some and wont hurt the herds but some units i fear will be devastated by doing this.