denverteacher
Active member
If you had to choose which rifle season would you prefer?
3rd or 4th Rifle for Mule Deer in CO
- Thread starter denverteacher
- Start date
denverteacher
Active member
For sure, I just had noticed in previous threads how many people were putting in for third and was curious.
JohnCushman
Well-known member
Deer ruts have been getting pushed further and further back. 4th season tags are almost impossible to get because of that.
renello
Active member
I think it depends on the unit to some extent. Nothing is black and white. Third season is 9 days long vs the fourth season being 5 days long, at least for now. That too me is a big equalizer if you can spend the full 9 days. Weather is always a factor in 4th season. Mule deer will move, they have some seasonal migration patterns. So big snow could mean deer pushing out of some areas and heading towards other areas. The number of tags in 4th season seems to be very small compared to other seasons which is nice. I don't think the difference in 3rd vs 4th justifies the point spread in many cases in my opinion. This is from a flatlander who has only hunted Colorado a few times. Ha Ha. Is the prerut, early rut not a good time for mule deer?
BrentD
Well-known member
When I read the thread title, I was afraid you were looking at your 3rd or 4th mule deer rifle and I was wondering why so few? And what if you wanted to hunt mule deer in Wyoming. Seems that trying to get by on 3 or 4 rifles would be quite a challenge. But I see it is something much more mundane... 
denverteacher
Active member
Haha my apologies for the lack of clarity!When I read the thread title, I was afraid you were looking at your 3rd or 4th mule deer rifle and I was wondering why so few? And what if you wanted to hunt mule deer in Wyoming. Seems that trying to get by on 3 or 4 rifles would be quite a challenge. But I see it is something much more mundane...
Bambistew
Well-known member
I'd take 3rd over 4th all day every day. There is a perception that 4th is better, but as mentioned the longer season is far more appealing than the "rut" hunts. I've done very well in 2nd and 3rd season in CO, and its weird that so many big deer are killed in Wyoming... in October.
Last edited:
Coloradoshedhead
Member
I’m curious because I have never heard of this before what kind of evidence do you have of this or is this just conjecture?
LuketheDog
Well-known member
I like 4th because there fewer people in the field...
Coloradoshedhead
Member
I second this. Fewer people in the field can increase a hunts value immensely in most cases. The only time I can recall more people being in the field a good thing is on the earlier rifle hunts for elk in the flattops where more people keep the elk up and moving out of the timber like pinballs, back and forth.
HighDesertSage
Well-known member
Whatever one I could get a tag for. My best bucks have come from 2nd season. Honestly I have hunted 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and always found good bucks. The 2nd and 3rd otc elk hunters are a PIA.
renello
Active member
I would hazard this as conjecture not based on evidence or fact.
denverteacher
Active member
Agreed, question might be, what triggers the rut for mule deer? Is it a weather thing? Or is it similar to elk?
JohnCushman
Well-known member
I guess hunting 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seasons and seeing rutting behavior starting later, I'm guessing due to weather being warmer later into the fall, makes me stupid. Elk are bugling later and rutting behavior is being seen later, even antelope are starting to rut later. I feel a lot of this is weather related. But hell, I guess I'm just stupid after hunting all of these animals.
renello
Active member
I would say photoperiod is the main driver of rut timing. Each deer is different, does come into estrous at different times but there will be a peak and it should be roughly the same every year. A biological trait honed over many generations as timing of spring birth a key component of survival. Evolution and adaptation at work. What you see and experience any given day may not be what another hunters see's in another area. There is a random element to it all when you are taking a small sample size. Yes, cold fronts, temperature, moon phase, air pressure changes, will have some impact on activity but overall I have always been able to predict with pretty good certainty the peak rut for whitetails in northern states and all of Canada. It is the same.
renello
Active member
Shit no brother. Far from stupid. The experience you have is valuable to me and others. Would make sense to me that abnormally warm weather might delay things a bit but I think it would take some time before a species of ungulate shifts it's normal rut dates by any significant amount. I could be wrong. Always open to other opinions and evidence that is contrary to what I think is true.
4th season would be sweet, but I like the idea of being able to hunt a place every year and a lot of good 3rd rifle units can be drawn every year, especially as a resident. You'll see rutting activity during 3rd rifle too. You should watch Brady Millers Gohunt videos about hunting Colorado.
WyoDoug
Well-known member
When certain hormones reaches a certain level in the blood it induces estrus in does. This increases as the daylights start to shorten. Similarly in bucks, a decrease in daylight produces melatonin, which in turn increases testosterone production. Simply put, decreasing daylight causes hormonal changes in deer that triggers “the rut.” So in short, when the daylight starts getting shorter, deer start rutting. Not same time as elk. Most of the time this is by mid-October and into November. The does go into estrus for only about 24 hours then if she's not bred, she goes into heat again in about a month. Buck continue to try and breed as long as they sense a doe in heat by sniffing her urine. Unlike elk, buck deer do not spend as much time in recovery like elk do in their sanctuary areas. They do move to winter feeding grounds though if food supply runs out, but with a steady food supply and water source, along with good shelter from the elements, they sometimes stay put.
Last edited:
denverteacher
Active member
Appreciate it. I put unit 18 during 4th as my first and 3rd season as my second. Next year I may have to put 3rd rifle as my first to get out there.
Similar threads
