3rd Season Colorado - my First Draw Tag

[steveo_steelhead]

Hi Everyone,

My first post here. Randy Newberg and a few other influencers got me started on gathering points throughout the western states several years ago. While I’ve tried to draw in past years I have not been successful. Despite that I have managed to get an elk for five straight years now with OTC or 2nd choice tags (I can tell those stories separately).

So this year it finally happened, I have a 3rd season mule deer tag for Colorado so the process begins to make the most of this opportunity! The unit has high wilderness, middle National Forest and low BLM sagebrush. My thought is to find and glass over the does on the BLM especially early and late in the day, watching for the bigger bucks to start showing up for the rut. Is this the right strategy? Any insights or advice is appreciated. I have very little experience hunting mule deer, really all I know is from seeing them while elk hunting, reading books and watching youtube. How will the weather and other factors affect the bucks during the third season dates this year?
Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[3855WIN]

The season dates are great. With any luck, snow will push the deer to the low country. What unit did you draw?

 

[steveo_steelhead]

North central bordering Wyoming

 

[ecroofsalot]

I hunted 3rd season unit 3/301 last season and there were a crap ton of deer low. I did go into an OTC elk unit that same trip and spotted bucks in the timber as well. There were much more low though

 

[TexanSam]

Last year I hunted near where you are planning to hunt during 3rd season. I saw a lot of deer right around where the aspen and timber starts thinning and giving way to where the pinion juniper country.

That being said there were some deer up higher and lots of fresh sign so be ready to adapt. If you aren't finding them in one area, be mobile.

 

[steveo_steelhead]

I found success on my hunt and my first out of state mule deer. I passed a few okay 4x4s and then about halfway through the hunt this guy came into a group of does I was watching at dusk. I had thought about buying the OTC elk tag but decided to just focus on my draw mule deer tag. So of course on the second evening a nice 6x6 bull fed out into an area I was still hunting. Would have been an easy 120yd shot. Should have bought that tag LOL!