Gunnison area deer/elk heard condition?

[Sjackson]

Was wondering if anyone with any local knowledge of the Gunnison Co. area could give me any insight into the general health of the mule deer and elk in the unit 54 area. Ive heard multiple reports regarding last years winter and am not able to scout my unit before second rifle opens up. I will be purchasing an OTC elk tag as well. Ive read about the sever winter kill of 07/08 and was wondering if the winter or 16/17 was as bad. Just not able to get away from work to scout unfortunately, wish I could. Any info on general heard condition would be much appreciated. Biologist will be called closer to the hunt, just to clarify. Thanks for your time.

 

[nrpate05]

Not really sure on the herd condition. I think the deer got hit pretty hard in 16/17 but the elk were OK. I'll be hunting 54 during 1st rifle.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Elk are fine, deer got hit pretty bad 2 winters ago. I still see some smoker bucks all over the unit, but not as many as what's typical for CO. If you got a muley rifle tag you'll do fine as long as your not to picky. CPW cut deer tag numbers pretty drastically. What season do you have? Good Luck!

 

[Sjackson]

2nd rifle, oct 20th to the 28th. I can’t wait.

 

[dallsheep]

Was down there many times over the summer. Everything's in really good shape. A very mild winter which helped the recovery from past years.