3rd or 4th season is the question….

[Yooper906]

I know this is a very vague question and weather/area specific, but hear me out. With the dates for CO this coming year, I’m looking to burn my points (6).

I’m torn with what season to try for, 3rd or 4th. I like the fact that 3rd is nine days long and that is a good chunk of time to find the deer. Obviously, 4th is going to be prime rut. Another factor with 3rd is I can draw some units, that I won’t be able to draw 4th for quite some time.

I know there some of you that are in the same predicament as me or have hunted both. Just would like some experiences/opinions.

 

[WeiserBucks]

4th is almost always better than 3rd if you can draw it.

 

[Brianb3]

3rd


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[bigmoose]

I would go 3rd season. Depending on the unit, by the 4th season the deer could be mostly on private ground.

 

[cnelk]

Definitely 4th if you have the PPs [or Early Season]

 

[Yooper906]

Appreciate all the suggestions. I have enough preference points to draw some 4th rifle, more 3rd rifle, but not in the same exact units. Tough decision.

 

[Poser]

Where I live, I'd go for 4th, but it may very well be the case that the further South you go, the better the later dates get: 3rd rifle hunted near the WY border may be a similar experience to hunting 4th rifle near the NM border.

 

[Ktm500]

We hunted 3rd season this year and we never seen any rutting. Not even by a little buck. I would go fourth season and scout a few days before season if I wanted a longer hunt.

 

[robby denning]

4th is almost always better than 3rd if you can draw it.

You read my mind

OP, some guys worry by fourth season. the better bucks may have been shot, I agree in a fairly accessible unit where the deer reach winter range by third season that could happen.

But there are some fourth season units that have enough protection and elevation change that not all the bucks make it to the winter range where everybody’s at by third. And what @bigmoose said can be a real issue

Just a question you might ask as you narrow down your units.

But at the end of the day, you can’t go deer hunting if you don’t draw the tag. Building many points in Colorado right now seems to be the road to nowhere so I’d get hunting pretty soon if it were me.

Take it for what it’s worth

 

[Plainsman79]

The last 3-4 days of 3rd can bring some really good rutting action. Taking into account the 9 day season length, most (but not all) of the hunters are either filled or burned out and went home.

Something else to think about, are the units your looking at OTC bull tags during 3rd and limited draw during 4th? What’s the number of cow tags during each hunt? Elk hunting pressure will definitely put more people on the hill.

Do your units have enough accessible public land winter range for 4th? Don’t overlook mid elevation hardwood browse country.

 

[Yooper906]

But at the end of the day, you can’t go deer hunting if you don’t draw the tag. Building many points in Colorado right now seems to be the road to nowhere so I’d get hunting pretty soon if it were me.

Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking as well. I am going to be hunting mule deer in Colorado this year with the points I have! Just need to get a tag!

 

[Kwmountainman]

For me in this same decision it came down to hunting pressure. I looked at the number of tags given out 3rd compared to 4th, weighed that against the unlimited OTC elk hunter numbers in the unit from years past and decided i'd rather hunt a shorter 4th season than deal with 400 other deer hunters and 1,000+ elk hunters. Been there, done that, just not that fun for me. With a 4th season tag there'll be less pressure, potentially less bigger bucks but i hopefully won't have to feel rushed/pressured to get one on the ground quickly before someone else is shooting at the same deer over my head like has been done before.

 

[justinspicher]

If I can get a 4th season tag, that’s my choice, without a second thought.

 

[Yooper906]

I applied for a 4th season. Left a point buffer too, so hopefully I’ll get a tag!

 

[Kwmountainman]

I applied for a 4th season. Left a point buffer too, so hopefully I’ll get a tag!

Odds show i should draw mine but I'm not overly optimistic. We'll see.

 

[Indian Summer]

I will be very interested to read your hunt report. Please post one regardless of how it goes.

I’m in the same boat. But I’m looking at a Hunt in 2026 or 27. I’m sitting on 14 points.

I’ll be hunting in the south part of the state so there is the potential for milder weather. But the area is fairly high in elevation and known for heavy snow and snow that comes early.

But if you stop and think about it, nasty weather is what you want. Yes, it can limit your access. But if it’s that bad, you know the deer will be on the move. If the deer moved prior to that they should be more accessible and also concentrated. One strategy would be to hunt as high as you can. Unless you determine that the deer have already dropped too well below snow line. That’s when private property can become an issue so I try to hunt in areas where deer don’t have as many options to do that.

Not only will the deer be concentrated, but there would be more rutting activity. Priceless! Big bucks dropping their guard when earlier in the season they are like ghosts.

I’ve seen some success rates in the third season equal to that of the fourth. But like KWmountain man said… I’d rather not deal with the complications of a couple hundred deer hunters and who knows how many elk hunters. If I see a buck, I don’t want to be pressured. I want to have the time to make wise decisions which could mean coming back the next day.

If I can make it happen, my plan would be to go out during the third season and start locating deer. Not just bucks but concentration of does where I would have a good chance of spotting rutting bucks later. I do like the idea of being able to talk to all of those elk hunters and 3rd season deer hunters as they get ready to head back home. Since the deer tag is so limited, I think they would be more than happy to share up to the minute information. I thought about a summer scouting trip, but I don’t need to look at high country to plan a fourth season hunt. I need to be there when the conditions are right.

So that’s my plan. At this point, my only question is how quickly do the deer push the button on migrating down and do they hightail it to any private tracks of land by the time the season starts.

Good luck!

 

[Yooper906]

I will be very interested to read your hunt report. Please post one regardless of how it goes.

I’m in the same boat. But I’m looking at a Hunt in 2026 or 27. I’m sitting on 14 points.

I’ll be hunting in the south part of the state so there is the potential for milder weather. But the area is fairly high in elevation and known for heavy snow and snow that comes early.

But if you stop and think about it, nasty weather is what you want. Yes, it can limit your access. But if it’s that bad, you know the deer will be on the move. If the deer moved prior to that they should be more accessible and also concentrated. One strategy would be to hunt as high as you can. Unless you determine that the deer have already dropped too well below snow line. That’s when private property can become an issue so I try to hunt in areas where deer don’t have as many options to do that.

Not only will the deer be concentrated, but there would be more rutting activity. Priceless! Big bucks dropping their guard when earlier in the season they are like ghosts.

I’ve seen some success rates in the third season equal to that of the fourth. But like KWmountain man said… I’d rather not deal with the complications of a couple hundred deer hunters and who knows how many elk hunters. If I see a buck, I don’t want to be pressured. I want to have the time to make wise decisions which could mean coming back the next day.

If I can make it happen, my plan would be to go out during the third season and start locating deer. Not just bucks but concentration of does where I would have a good chance of spotting rutting bucks later. I do like the idea of being able to talk to all of those elk hunters and 3rd season deer hunters as they get ready to head back home. Since the deer tag is so limited, I think they would be more than happy to share up to the minute information. I thought about a summer scouting trip, but I don’t need to look at high country to plan a fourth season hunt. I need to be there when the conditions are right.

So that’s my plan. At this point, my only question is how quickly do the deer push the button on migrating down and do they hightail it to any private tracks of land by the time the season starts.

Good luck!

I’ll post back about the trip to this thread! An acquaintance will be hunting the same area on a third season tag, so I should have some decent intel going into the hunt. I also will be arriving three days before season to get familiar with the area/location of animals.

Just have to get the tag first!

 

[Nickofthewoods]

Following along as well. This topic gets brought up quite a bit so a post hunt report should be interesting. My personal thoughts are that 4th is almost always better -if- you know the unit really well or can at least scout it thoroughly in the few days before the season. Even then there are several units I know on the front range and a few in the southwest where deer have mostly moved to private land by 4th and the few available public parcels at lower elevations get absolutely hammered with pressure. That might be something people don't realize until the season has already started and suddenly there are people everywhere that weren't there the day before when you were scouting. To recap, I think 4th is generally better but 3rd is the safer bet for a unit that's unfamiliar to the hunter or when pre-scouting isn't an option.

 

[MallardSX2]

I always worry that by the 4th season so many bucks have been picked over. I would go with the 2nd or 3rd.

 

[wildwilderness]

Please follow up on your hunt.

For me it would depend on the unit. If you could draw the same unit and could decide between 3rd or 4th then generally go later.

But if you had to pick a “lesser” unit to go 4th season I would reconsider.

I’d rather hunt 3rd season in a “better” unit than 4th season in a unit that may not hold many deer of the caliber I want.

figuring out which unit and where you want to hunt is more important to me than 3rd or 4th season.