Hey guys! Looking to take my son on a deer hunt in either (eastern) Montana or Colorado in November this fall. We have points to draw the Montana tag but zero points for Colorado. So our choices are a Colorado unit that we can draw with zero points or Montana?? What’s your guys’ thoughts on that?? We are looking for an opportunity hunt(not trophy) and a good experience. Would possibly like to camp, my concern with Colorado is the otc rifle elk hunts during the deer hunt dates..anyone have any knowledge of hunting pressure good or bad with eastern Montana vs Colorado? You can Pm if you don’t want to comment..thanks for anyone’s advice..good luck in the draws to everyone!
Montana or Colorado Mule Deer Hunt?
- Thread starter TN VOL
- Start date
i know nothing about montana
as far as colorado i'm not gonna name units, and hope nobody else does either, but there are plenty of units that can be drawn at the 0 point level that are limited for elk during the 2nd and 3rd season
there are even units that can be drawn for mule deer at zero points that are otc for elk during 2nd and 3rd season, but have elk hunter number that would reflect a limited unit
start with looking at limited elk units and peruse the mule deer odds for those units. for what it's worth i shot a mule deer buck opening morning 3rd season in 2019 in a cluster of an otc elk unit
EYJONAS!
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2017
- Messages
- 6,714
Don't come to mt. See the 10000 other threads
Also want to add that we have 3 points for WY, but I’m aware you can draw some units as a 2nd choice in special draw..I’ve never hunted WY public land for deer and wanted to save our points for an early rifle deer hunt in WY in the west part of the state..hopefully we can catch up to get enough points for that.
Carnage2011
Well-known member
It’s going to depend on location within each state and what kind of trophy quality you want. I see far more deer in MT but trophy quality is way lower. If you want to see a fair number of deer and have a chance at a 2-3 year old 4 point then I’d choose MT. If you want to grind out a hunt and have an opportunity at 170+ Id go CO.
people can say what they want about the pressure the deer receive in MT, but I see waaaaay more hunters in a week in CO than I do in MT. Most of that is due to OTC elk units.
I’ve hunted CO a couple times so my sample size is small, but the two states are polar opposites. One year we hunted a unit in CO and seen 10-25 deer a day and shot two bucks over 190”. I can seen 10-25 deer from the truck in places in MT, but finding two bucks of that quality won’t happen.
people can say what they want about the pressure the deer receive in MT, but I see waaaaay more hunters in a week in CO than I do in MT. Most of that is due to OTC elk units.
I’ve hunted CO a couple times so my sample size is small, but the two states are polar opposites. One year we hunted a unit in CO and seen 10-25 deer a day and shot two bucks over 190”. I can seen 10-25 deer from the truck in places in MT, but finding two bucks of that quality won’t happen.
thusby
Well-known member
Colorado has bigger deer. No question. There are some zero point units that you can have a really good opening weekend in.
Bambistew
Well-known member
A zero point or left over tag in CO is as good or better than a general MT tag. Access to private land in MT makes a huge difference.
In my opinion, CO just has way more and better public land deer habitat compared to MT. You can find deer in both places and can get away from hunters as well, but there is no comparison to potential of killing a big buck, CO wins every time.
In my opinion, CO just has way more and better public land deer habitat compared to MT. You can find deer in both places and can get away from hunters as well, but there is no comparison to potential of killing a big buck, CO wins every time.
When you say opening weekend? Do you mean the first rifle hunt or second rifle hunt the first few days of each of those hunts?? Or the first rifle hunt of the year??
thusby
Well-known member
First couple days of 2nd is pretty good.
8andcounting
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2013
- Messages
- 3,401
Montana’s deer hunting has gone to complete shit . See the 1,000,000 other threads on it . There’s not that many threads cuz it’s good .. I’ve hunted Colorado for elk many times 2nd season and always saw some nice older age class mule deer . In Montana they all have milk on their lips still
Labman1127
Member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2020
- Messages
- 33
Honestly there’s a reason why Eastern MT gets sooooo much bad press on this site...I will tell you that the buck to doe ratio in Eastern MT is so far out of whack it’s not even funny. Honestly, I would say 50 to 1 from what I observed this fall.
It really just depends on what you are looking for. If you are happy seeing some awesome country and killing a 1 1/2 year old fork horn or small 3x3, or possibly getting frustrated and killing a doe for meat then eastern MT is the place for you. Sure there are some really nice bucks but they likely spend 99% of their life on areas where you can’t touch them that are leased by outfitters. Killing a 170”+ off public access land would be like hitting the lottery unless you had a local resource that could do a ton of scouting for you prior to your hunt.
I have no base line to give advice on CO, but I can honestly say I was shocked by the amount of hunting pressure in some very desolate areas of Eastern MT.
On a plus side, there’s some great bird hunting in Eastern MT if you tag out or need a break from deer hunting for a day.
I am sure you will have fun whichever direction you go. Good luck!
It really just depends on what you are looking for. If you are happy seeing some awesome country and killing a 1 1/2 year old fork horn or small 3x3, or possibly getting frustrated and killing a doe for meat then eastern MT is the place for you. Sure there are some really nice bucks but they likely spend 99% of their life on areas where you can’t touch them that are leased by outfitters. Killing a 170”+ off public access land would be like hitting the lottery unless you had a local resource that could do a ton of scouting for you prior to your hunt.
I have no base line to give advice on CO, but I can honestly say I was shocked by the amount of hunting pressure in some very desolate areas of Eastern MT.
On a plus side, there’s some great bird hunting in Eastern MT if you tag out or need a break from deer hunting for a day.
I am sure you will have fun whichever direction you go. Good luck!
LCH
Well-known member
There was definitely something different in Montana this year, at least the areas I have hunted. Last year, I was seeing 10x the number of bucks that I observed this year. This year I had better "rut dates", but also unseasonably warm weather.
I've had deer hunts in Colorado where I've seen dozens of bucks, and hunts where I struggled to find any.
Overall though, IME, I've seen bigger deer and much higher hunting pressure in Colorado. I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite.
I've had deer hunts in Colorado where I've seen dozens of bucks, and hunts where I struggled to find any.
Overall though, IME, I've seen bigger deer and much higher hunting pressure in Colorado. I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite.
matechakeric
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2020
- Messages
- 451
is mule deer hunting in western MT any better?
SaskHunter
Well-known member
I hear SE Montana has great opportunities at giant forkies!
I’ve hunted for elk in SW Montana and we seen a few deer..didn’t seem to be a very good population where we were
Bambistew
Well-known member
The majority of elk hunting occurs in SW MT... and the majority of hunters have a deer tag in their pocket. Antlered bucks older than 2-3 years of age on public land are near unicorn status.
The mule deer population in SW MT fell off a cliff 1993/94. IMO the "worst" unit in CO is better than pretty much any general unit in MT.
brownbear932008
Well-known member
CO all day long and twice on Sunday. You will get more bang for your buck also. Not to mention easier drive from TN.
J
Jason73
Guest
There is not a deer hunt in CO during first elk. First deer season is the same as 2nd elk.
buck137
Member
I live in western Montana, and I go to the eastern part of the state to hunt mule deer. We do have them here, but not in the numbers or size like the eastern part, unless you are wanting a 1.5 year old 2x2.
I’m definitely more interested in the eastern units..In particular the units that border north and South Dakota. Not sure if I should focus on areas that have more trees/vegetation or other types of terrain. Looks to be plenty of blm land there. I’m still interested in Colorado as well..so many options there even with having zero points pref points for that state. Thanks for everyone’s replies and advice! Maybe we could do both!
