During today’s meeting the CPW Commissioners considered and approved the final staff recommendations for limitation of Over-the-Counter (OTC) licenses.

Limitation of OTC Rifle Licenses (Bull Elk Only) 

CPW Staff strongly recommended, and the Commissioners approved, making NO CHANGE to OTC BULL RIFLE LICENSES for the following reasons: 

1. There is a 20-year decreasing trend in OTC bull rifle license sales.  
2. There is a 20-year decreasing trend in total rifle license sales for elk, which is a combined total of OTC bull and limited license sales.  
3. Crowding is less of a concern in OTC rifle seasons than it is for OTC archery seasons.  
4. There are no biological concerns associated with OTC rifle seasons.  
5. CPW has not completed adequate public engagement on limitation of OTC rifle licenses. This would be one of the largest changes in CPW’s history of license distribution, making it premature to limit OTC bull rifle without substantially more public involvement. 
6. Change in demand associated with limitation of OTC licenses is unknown. Therefore, CPW is not able to project actual loss in revenue.   

Limitation of OTC Archery Licenses       

During the May Commissioners meeting, CPW staff initially recommended full limitation of OTC archery licenses for both residents and nonresidents. This recommendation was difficult to make considering it was least supported by resident hunters. From March through May, the Commission and staff listened to the public testimony from many hunters who are passionate about having OTC licenses available to them. Hunters shared their perspectives on hunting heritage, how important OTC licenses are to ensure families and friends can hunt together, about recruitment and retention, and many other reasons to maintain OTC archery licenses for residents. 

After listening to all public comments, the CPW staff came to a new recommendation, which the Commissioners approved, to LIMIT OTC ARCHERY LICENSES (go to 100% Limited Draw Licenses) for NONRESIDENTS ONLY, and to maintain OTC archery licenses for residents. Unlike rifle, staff believes OTC archery elk licenses should be limited for nonresidents only for the following reasons:  

1. There has been an increasing trend in OTC archery license sales over the last 20 years. In 2023 nonresidents purchased more licenses than residents (~47% resident; ~53% nonresident). 
2. There is a 20-year increasing trend in total archery license sales for elk, which is a combined total of OTC and limited license sales, and nonresidents now purchase a higher proportion of the licenses than residents. 
3. Crowding has been a concern during archery season for many years. CPW has engaged the public on limitation of OTC archery licenses during the last two BGSS processes, which means we have been discussing limitation of archery licenses for over 10 years. The majority of resident hunters prefer to maintain OTC archery elk licenses for residents, and to limit OTC archery elk licenses for nonresidents.