CO 3rd or 4th season?

[Brandon_SPC]

I need assistance with picking a season for a rifle mule deer hunt in CO. I got the unit picked out and the elevation is sub 8,000 feet for the average. There is a good amount of public land and plenty of area to glass but I am stuck on which season to pick. I have enough points for 3d and 4th rifle and honestly want to burn them before the 2028 change.

-3rd rifle is November 7th-15th.
-4th rifle is November 18th -22nd. If I go out there for 4th rifle I will arrive a few days early to scout/glass before the opener due to how short the season is.

For both 3rd and 4th rifle, elk hunters are a draw so I don't have to worry about OTC. With that said, 3rd rifle seems to have a higher tag allocation so there will be more added pressure due to the elk hunters. I am sure I could find mule deer in either season but it would be nice to see mule deer, do mule deer things (aka the rut). I'm not looking to shoot the first forkie etc I see. I really want to be able to sit back and enjoy either one of these seasons and just hunt/glass until I find a respectable buck. If I got to eat tag soup, then so be it. I kill enough whitetails every year for me to be completely okay with not just shooting any mule deer I see.

What season would you pick and why? I use to live in CO years ago but this is my first mule deer hunt mainly because I devote most of my time to chasing elk vs mule deer.

 

[eggerhunts]

Tough to say without knowing a lot of the other factors. 3rd and 4th rifle deer hunts in CO are so dependent on weather and the best way to hunt them in my opinion is to just cover as much country as you can, unless you know the unit well from previous seasons or scouting. With that being said, I think a lot of the better late season bucks in CO are killed before 4th season, so the best bucks could be gone by then. Also depending on what kind of hunt you are going for, you may want to think about access. The later into the season you get, the more likelihood of weather (snow), but that could also mean more difficulty with access, especially if you do not have access to an atv or good 4ws vehicle.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

Tough to say without knowing a lot of the other factors. 3rd and 4th rifle deer hunts in CO are so dependent on weather and the best way to hunt them in my opinion is to just cover as much country as you can, unless you know the unit well from previous seasons or scouting. With that being said, I think a lot of the better late season bucks in CO are killed before 4th season, so the best bucks could be gone by then. Also depending on what kind of hunt you are going for, you may want to think about access. The later into the season you get, the more likelihood of weather (snow), but that could also mean more difficulty with access, especially if you do not have access to an atv or good 4ws vehicle.

Appreciate that insight. I'm leaning more to 3rd rifle due to the weather you mentioned but the later season bucks being killed earlier definitely is something I should think about.