The Jan. 11 decision is the latest in the ongoing debate surrounding mountain lion hunting in Colorado. Photograph by Jacob W. Frank / NPS

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission voted last week to cut back on mountain lion hunting by canceling the April hunting season and outlawing the use of electronic calls statewide. These changes passed even though Colorado’s current mountain lion harvest falls well within CPW’s harvest goals, and as CPW’s wildlife biologists point to a growing and healthy population of lions in the state — thanks in part to decades of closely regulated hunting. The new rules will impact the current season when they go into effect March 1.

Colorado has traditionally held its primary mountain lion hunting season from late November through March and a second season during the month of April in certain units. CPW spokesperson Bridget O’Rourke confirmed in an email to Outdoor Life that the commission’s decision was reached unanimously. She says the rule change made sense because the low harvest numbers during the April season and the use of electronic calls were not contributing much to the overall statewide

It’s unclear how much these rule changes will affect mountain lion hunters in different parts of the state. Electronic calls were already outlawed in all but two special management units, and an outfitter on the Western Slope tells Outdoor Life that it’s been years since hunters have had an April season in his area.

“It doesn’t affect me because we haven’t been able to hunt in April over here for quite awhile,” Scott Summers of Canyon Rim Outfitters says. “But when we did have it, it was a great time to get out and hunt. You could run around in a flannel shirt and a jean jacket. And I have friends [in other parts of the state] who do still hunt in April.”

Still, the timing and reasoning behind the commission’s Jan. 11 decision are concerning for Colorado hunters. Changes to hunting and fishing regulations always draw some level of skepticism from sportsmen, but Colorado’s hunting community remains on high alert due to some recent shifts surrounding wildlife management there. Last July, Governor Jared Polis appointed three new members to the state’s Parks and Wildlife Commission whose backgrounds are more grounded in animal rights than traditional wildlife management. Then, in September, anti-hunters filed a highly controversial ballot initiative that would outlaw the hunting of mountain lions statewide.