game4lunch

I've read and understand what the Ranching for Wildlife program is, but I'm currious why Colorado saw the need to implement this kind of thing. What is the end result of the program supposed to be?
And whay don't more states do it?

willhunt4food

I think the initial premise was to let Joe Average have the opportunity to hunt some of the best private ranches for various species of wildlife across the state. In exchange they let the landowners set their own seasons within a broader range of dates. I think its a great deal for the ranch owners but since its inception non-residents have been eliminated from the drawing pull and many of the ranch owners have learned that they can put strict enough rules in place for the residents that do draw to make the hunt much less successful than for their paying clients. That being said, I'm sure that some lucky residents that draw these tags have some really good hunts each year.

SILVERTIP-CO

There are two things paramount to understanding living and life in Colorado:

1. Water rights... it's all private and belongsto someone else.
2. Private land... if it ain't Federal, it's private and belongs to someone else.

The RFW program allows hunters access to private ranches larger than 12,000 acres which are otherwise off limits to average Joe's(like me) that dont have 8750.00 for an elk hunt or 5000.00 for an antelope hunt etc. I drew a RFW tag for antelope on theUte Prairie Ranch (consolidated) last fall after 5 yrs of applying and building points. I paid 25.00 for the tag and the ranch owner sentme a 25.00 giftcard to a sporting goods chain storeI had never had the pleasure of visiting.

I had the most fun, met a great ranch family, and got the most shooting since I came to CO 7 yrs ago. And as I hunted with 'camelcluch' from our board here I met a great new hunt companion who had all the good toys...gps and rangefinder. He was a great spotter, and had I done my job as shooter I would have scored the first day. As it was I hunted three days and burnt up a half box of ammo only to finally figger out my scope was somehow off by 12".

So I put in for aRFW tag for 2007. My scope's ready now.

For allowing my access the ranch owner gets some good tags from the DOW that he can sell for a premium $$$ and have hunts for other species on his ranch. So it supplements his agricultural income. And we ALL ought to be supporting our ranchers and farmers.

Other states dont do it cause they may not be as perceptive as Colo in private land use, and may not have the millions of acres of private land that should be hunted with the graces of the owners. Other states may also not have the vast ranches we do here in the west. As an example the Three Forks Ranch is 200,000 acres and the Purgatoire Ranch is 120,000 acres etc. Having lived in PA for 40 yrs and ten yrs in GA I dont recall any farms that large.

RFWROCKS, try it.