Colorado Deer Seasons

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colo_junk

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I wish I could pose this question in a poll but its not as straightforward as I want it to be.

Essentially what's going on is that I've been using leftover deer tags to hunt Colorado for the past half decade. Doing so allows you to build up some points while still getting out in the field. I've already got my plan in place for 2022 but putting in for tags also makes you think about what the next half decade might look like.

Those type of thoughts led me to the draw recap reports to figure out what I might have a prayer of pulling some day. Those documents tell me that depending on the unit, my expectation for pulling a tag based on the season can be described as follows:

2nd season - Maybe... Maybe
3rd season - Yeah... No
4th season - You're joking, right?

All of this obviously depends on how long I want to wait and where I want to hunt, but in general the pattern holds that the later in the year your tag is for, the longer you'll have to wait for it. And my question is: Is it worth it to wait?

My gut says no but having never had a deer tag in Colorado that took more than a point to draw, I don't have any experience to draw from on this one. And don't throw Randy's line at me, "You'll run out of health before you run outta money." Cause I'll be hunting every year regardless, it'll just be a matter of how "good" my tag is and how often I'll have a "good" tag to try to punch.

Appreciate your thoughts, extra points go to guys who have hunted the same unit during different seasons
 
I suppose your odds increase with the later seasons and there are usually fewer tags issued so it could be a more "quality" hunt, but as far as shooting a nice deer goes I don't think it really matters. Reality is that there are 180" deer in probably all CO units. I'd rather hunt the same unit that takes 0 points to draw every year and figure it out than stack up points for a glory hunt in a unit I've never been in. The deer I shot this year was 1/4 mile from where I shot a buck the year before. Same with the deer my hunting partner shot.
 
colo_junk said:
Appreciate your thoughts, extra points go to guys who have hunted the same unit during different seasons
Click to expand...

There are 2 different units that I've hunted during 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seasons. One unit is sort of the classic Colorado Mule Deer hunt and absolutely gets better the later the season gets as the majority of deer migrate out of the higher elevations and concentrate down in the sage/pinon/juniper country for the rut. But if you know the migration routes well, you have a better than good chance at some stellar bucks as they make their way down during 2nd and 3rd. 4th is still king in this unit though.

The other unit has some migratory deer, but a lot more resident deer. I would watch the same bucks around 7k ft elevation all summer and then get a leftover second season tag and relocate them fairly easily. This is not a highly desirable unit yet holds some of the best bucks I've seen anywhere in the State. Sometimes I would see lots of rut activity 2nd season with big bucks absolutely slugging it out, and then no rut activity at all during 4th, but the bucks were always around somewhere.

In general later is better. I don't think anyone would argue that. I would personally rather go blind into a new unit on a later hunt since it would likely be more predictable. If I already knew a unit well, or had time to get in a few days early and figure out where the mature bucks generally are prior to opening day, 2nd season could really pay off.
 
I also believe later is better, USUALLY. It’s true that the bucks are in the same unit in archery and 2nd rifle and 4th rifle but the rut makes it much easier to locate them. If it’s 3rd or 4th season all you have to do is look for does, and you’ll find bucks. That means looking for a heard instead of a solitary buck, and also does tend to be in areas that are easier to find.
I say all of this, but I’ve also hunted an area where the deer mostly migrate out of there for the winter. So in archery/muzzy season they’re in the high country, then 2nd rifle they’re moving through, and in the later rifle seasons ~80% of the deer have migrated into other units. So do your research before burning a lot of points.
 
Last year I burned 23 NR points for a 66 3rd rifle tag. I saw lots of bucks, but no really mature bucks, not the experience I was hoping for. Just didn't get the weather to really push the deer down and make them more concentrated. I personally will never try to save that many points again, was not worth it to me. My plan at this point is to do a decent hunt every 5 years or so.
 
What's your objective? A big buck? If so how big? My opinion is that with Colorado starting to hammer their bucks with the later seasons, the longer you wait the less chance of a good hunt for a good buck you will have. Also in a lot of the units, weather is more important than the season dates. Last year was a testament to that. You may also find that depending on how things go with weather, etc, the leftover tags you have been hunting aren't that much different than the draw hunt you have been building points for. We have killed some damn big deer on leftover draws.
 
The bigger, the better, right? I'm not looking for a specific size of buck. That day might come after I have a few more mature bucks under my belt but that's not where I'm at yet. Appreciate all the thoughts. The weather had always been on my radar especially after this past year. Migration less so for deer. That's always been a consideration for my elk hunts but it makes sense to look at that for deer especially given the calendar and potential weather differences between 2nd and 4th rifle and deer potentially moving into or out of the unit. I think I'm leaning more toward cashing those points in sooner rather than later. My dad will be retired for the fall of 2023 and he's got one more point than I do so maybe that'll be a good enough excuse to burn them
 
If I don’t have to step across/on/in someone else’s boot tracks, then I’m good. That’s why I would choose 4th seasons, even after they changed the dates.
 
I had deer all over for the past 2 years but no license. This year I applied for a license. 95% successful draw but I don't want a deer to a screw up my elk hunting. Backstraps would be nice though ???20210910_081245.jpg09F6F8149B18499C95ED08D78F9580BE.jpg
 
colo_junk said:
I wish I could pose this question in a poll but its not as straightforward as I want it to be.

Essentially what's going on is that I've been using leftover deer tags to hunt Colorado for the past half decade. Doing so allows you to build up some points while still getting out in the field. I've already got my plan in place for 2022 but putting in for tags also makes you think about what the next half decade might look like.

Those type of thoughts led me to the draw recap reports to figure out what I might have a prayer of pulling some day. Those documents tell me that depending on the unit, my expectation for pulling a tag based on the season can be described as follows:

2nd season - Maybe... Maybe
3rd season - Yeah... No
4th season - You're joking, right?

All of this obviously depends on how long I want to wait and where I want to hunt, but in general the pattern holds that the later in the year your tag is for, the longer you'll have to wait for it. And my question is: Is it worth it to wait?

My gut says no but having never had a deer tag in Colorado that took more than a point to draw, I don't have any experience to draw from on this one. And don't throw Randy's line at me, "You'll run out of health before you run outta money." Cause I'll be hunting every year regardless, it'll just be a matter of how "good" my tag is and how often I'll have a "good" tag to try to punch.

Appreciate your thoughts, extra points go to guys who have hunted the same unit during different seasons
Click to expand...
You're a resident. There's no reason to be holding more than 2-3 points for deer in Colorado. When I was a resident I went 9 for 9 on pretty decent bucks, in units I could draw every year, and I'm fat, and borderline lazy.
 
thusby said:
If I don’t have to step across/on/in someone else’s boot tracks, then I’m good. That’s why I would choose 4th seasons, even after they changed the dates.
Click to expand...
I always worry with the higher pressure hunts if you won’t just be hunting gut piles on the 4th season. Be like hunting Montana at Thanksgiving 🤷‍♂️
 
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