Colorado Trying to Attract Non-Resident Hunters

The state of Colorado is launching a nationwide ad campaign to attract non-resident hunters to the state.

From this story in the Denver Post:
After years of watching sales of elk licenses slide, Colorado wildlife officials are launching a nationwide ad campaign to bring more hunters to the state. The trick will be convincing people who pay hundreds of dollars for a nonresident hunting license in some states that the 23 million acres of public land and 300,000 elk in Colorado are the best in the West. “We have exceptional elk hunting. It’s very good in many of the western states,” said Al Langston of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. “It’s up to the hunter to decide what system fits.” The Colorado Division of Wildlife gets about two-thirds of its $110 million budget from hunting and fishing licenses, but sales of elk licenses in Colorado dropped by more than 37,000 from 2005 to 2009, with revenue falling by roughly $8 million in that time, Director Tom Remington said.
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_About 229,000 limited draw and over-the-counter licenses were sold in 2009, with thousands left unsold. The division largely doesn’t get money from the state’s general fund, drawing instead from lottery funds, federal excise tax revenue and mostly, licenses. “It’s critically important for us to attract elk hunters. It’s our very survival,” division spokesman Randy Hampton said. This week, the division is launching its “Elevate Your Game” marketing campaign with a new website˜huntcolorado.org˜that went live Monday.

In related news, groups representing Colorado’s resident elk hunters are launching their own competing ad campaign entitled *”Don’t Listen to Those Dudes, Just Stay Home.”

*not really