Your chance to shoot an elk at the Great Sand Dunes NP. Are you a good enough shot?
Colorado Parks and Wildlife seeks sharpshooters to kill elk
Miles Blumhardt
Fort Collins Coloradoan
More than a decade after Rocky Mountain National Park used marksmen to kill elk to protect the park from an overpopulation of the iconic animal, another national park in Colorado is using the same strategy.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said it is seeking qualified sharpshooters to cull elk in Great Sand Dunes National Park and National Wildlife Refuges in the San Luis Valley as part of an elk dispersal project set to go through February 2023.
Rocky Mountain National Park used trained volunteers to shoot 52 elk in the park from 2009 to 2011 as part of its 20-year Elk and Vegetation Management Plan launched in 2009, according to park spokesperson Kyle Patterson. The plan also implemented other methods of reducing elk's impact on the landscape.
Patterson said culling elk via shooting was discontinued in February 2011 because the park reached its population objective and has been "at or below the wintering elk population objective since that time.'' She said approximately 100 elk overwinter in the park, 200 overwinter in Estes Park and 300 to 500 elk overwinter in the Estes Valley. Some of those elk migrate to lower elevations in winter, especially west of Loveland.
Colorado has the largest elk herd in the world with around 300,000 animals.
Great Sand Dunes shooting qualifications 'difficult for even the most seasoned elk hunters'
Colorado Parks and Wildlife isn't looking for just any hunter; the agency said it is looking for exceptional shooters.
Those hoping to be selected must complete an application process, and those selected from this pool will be required to pass a shooting test. The shooting part requires hitting targets 12 inches by 14 inches, the size of an elk's vital organs, at 200 and 300 yards three times in a row without a miss within a three-minute period.
"This qualification has proven to be difficult for even the most seasoned elk hunters,'' Rick Basagoitia, the state wildlife agency's area wildlife manager, said in a news release. "This standard is likely the minimum allowable standard given the difficulty of the work we need volunteers to do.''
Applicants must be at least 18 years old and are required to pass a background check and sign volunteer agreements. They will operate under a dispersal coordinator. Volunteers will be contacted about scheduling the shooting qualification after they submit their application.
Those selected will have a volunteer commitment of as much as two days. Volunteers who take an antlerless elk are allowed to possess the carcass.
For more information, contact the wildlife agency's Monte Vista office at 719-587-6900.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Your chance to shoot an elk at the Great Sand Dunes NP. Are you a good enough shot?
I signed up.
Couples things off the top of my head to note about the application.
1. Qualification requires a separate trip from volunteering, only option is the one range to qualify.
2. Minimum commitment of 2 days likely during the week separate from qualification.
3. Unlimited photo release.
4. Proof of Vaccination or agreement to wear mask in vehicles/indoors.
5. Majority of area requires lead free ammo.
Must provide exact details or rifle, ammo, and range equipment. Can only use what you list on application when qualifying. Can only shoot with what you qualify. Inspection of equipment required.
I was literally laughing out loud doing the app thinking of the people on this site and likely responses. I also expect my application to be rejected for hand loads since they can't verify the manufacturer as required.
Talking to someone that participated in RMNP. This will not require hiking. Drive until you find elk, drive up to them, any animal that does not run you can shoot and throw in back. It is not hunting, just shooting. I am guessing the CPW agents do not have the man power, desire, or legality to make sure the meat is used without help.
Edit: Lead free was the challenging part for me. The rifles I use lead free in are generally not well suited for 6 round timed strings. All my long range oriented guns shoot lead based bullets.
Your chance to shoot an elk at the Great Sand Dunes NP. Are you a good enough shot?
Check your email if you previously signed up, looks like they are taking a new approach and need people to sign up for range slots, first come, first serve.
Edit: This is for people that have already applied and the email has a unique applicant code.
