CO 3rd Rifle Thread

Poser said:
I was out for the last 3 days in the 11k elevation range hunting elk. Didn't see anything except for 2 elk crossing the highway at 11k, but fresh tracks and sign still up high. Even a few deer tracks still at that elevation. Haven't heard a single gunshot either, which is odd for 3rd rifle. Seems as if the animals are pocketed up and locked down hard. Of course, the deer in town are still out and about doing their thing, but no sign of rutting.
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About what I've heard from everyone around here. I've been hearing shots down low, but there are about 10 million people running around the low country.
 
I was out in NW CO for opening weekend and was able to connect on this guy Sunday night!

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I started out lower ~8700 but with the weather and lack of snow saw very few deer, 2 bucks and a handful of does, still on opposite sides of the basin and not really interested in each other. Decided to go high up to ~10k and the bucks up there were still bachelored up, not really interested in does either. By Sunday I was starting to see some signs, maybe a hot doe came into the area but one buck was trailing her and sniffing/chasing. This guy was solo, but it looked like he was marking some fence posts or something, he was a bit preoccupied and gave me the chance to hustle closer for a shot.

The weather was definitely an interesting factor this year, I've seen nastier weather in some 1st rifle hunts. Check those earlier season spots! lol.

Also an interesting dynamic, which makes sense given the rut progression, but opening weekend was fairly slow. Not many hunters and almost no shooting but pulling out on Monday AM and it was noticeably busier. Things are heating up! Good luck out there!
 
BigLou said:
Zero signs of rut in south central CO. Seeing bachelor groups of bucks. Saw 40 does in a hay field at first light, not a single buck…
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Hunting south also. 0 rut action at all. Little forked don’t even care. Killed 1 nice buck the second day and we haven’t seen a branch buck since. Tons of does tho. Killed him at 10,500’ since everyone asks
 
This is more of a rut report than a 3rd rifle. Location Southern Wyoming. Central to Utah state line (not all that far from the Colorado state line).
The past 2 days, I’ve seen 23 bucks. All but 2 have been in with does rutting hard. Of the 2 not rutting, 1 was a stag.

Fawns are born at the same time every year to ensure species survival. The rut happens the same time every year. Mule deer gestation period never changes.

Have the buck numbers truly been decimated the past 5 years in Colorado and buck/doe ratios that low? Or does hunting pressure keep the deer tucked into the cover?

This is the first year in a long time I haven’t had a 3rd rifle tag. Stick with it fellas. Does are being bred daily right now.
 
Plainsman79 said:
This is more of a rut report than a 3rd rifle. Location Southern Wyoming. Central to Utah state line (not all that far from the Colorado state line).
The past 2 days, I’ve seen 23 bucks. All but 2 have been in with does rutting hard. Of the 2 not rutting, 1 was a stag.

Fawns are born at the same time every year to ensure species survival. The rut happens the same time every year. Mule deer gestation period never changes.

Have the buck numbers truly been decimated the past 5 years in Colorado and buck/doe ratios that low? Or does hunting pressure keep the deer tucked into the cover?

This is the first year in a long time I haven’t had a 3rd rifle tag. Stick with it fellas. Does are being bred daily right now.
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I mostly agree but there is definitely some variation in doe estrus. We see fawns born down here in SW CO late every year. It could be anecdotal though as I mostly am paying attention to the resident deer around town and in my neighborhood. A fawn with its spots in August sticks out.

But I definitely agree the deer are around and getting bred, probably a lot of night movement. I came out of a spot the other night just after legal shooting light and there were 2 decent bucks and about 15 does 100 yards from my rig.
 
huntsd said:
Question about checking does right now. I found a group of 10 does today with 2 130-140 bucks that were rutting hard. How often would you check that group of does with hopes something bigger shows up? Everyday? Every other?
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Anybody’s guess. Last time I hunted Colorado there was a doe group of about 20. Two big bucks would come through during the first hour of light, check the does, and if nothing was in heat saunter off into the quakies. One of the bucks did that two days in a row before we killed him, the other buck did that only once and disappeared to who knows where.

Depending on where you’re at..if the doe group is in a fairly hard to get to spot, or surrounded by really good cover, maybe higher elevation…essentially nearby to a place a buck could easily survive second season, then I would key in on them a little more than a group in the open sage down by the road.

Then again a monster could show up there overnight and some dude will blast him from the road. Never know!
 
lak2004 said:
I mostly agree but there is definitely some variation in doe estrus. We see fawns born down here in SW CO late every year. It could be anecdotal though as I mostly am paying attention to the resident deer around town and in my neighborhood. A fawn with its spots in August sticks out.

But I definitely agree the deer are around and getting bred, probably a lot of night movement. I came out of a spot the other night just after legal shooting light and there were 2 decent bucks and about 15 does 100 yards from my rig.
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I agree that rut timing is almost exactly the same year to year as it was firmly established at the end of the last ice age where fawns born outside of a narrow window could not survive. However, this happens in a non symmetrical “wave” that is variable between micro regions. Even though I only hunt locally in the 4 corners region, it does appear that the rut timing is a bit later than what hunters observe most anywhere North and East of the divide. I also routinely see spotted fawns in July and August.

The week around thanksgiving’ is when I consistently see ruttijg in town: giant bucks walking down the street with limps and eyeballs missing from fighting, hot chasing etc. it’s too obvious to deny, but I routinely talk to hunters who insist the rut should be happening in 2nd and 3rd rifle seasons. Around Durango, you should count yourself lucky to see pre ruttijg during 3rd rifle. 2nd rifle is October lock down. 4th rifle can be wild depending on how the timing falls that particular year, but it’s so short, you could also miss peak rut by 1-3 days depending on calendar variations

Hunters tend to convince themselves that they should be seeing rutting when they are hunting -whether that is tag dependent or time in the field dependent. The Calender is imperfect, has leap years to account for. While rutting may technically take place on the same days year to year, that aligns with the calendar imperfectly. Additionally, hunters tend to rely on wives tales and classical misinformation and then make up every excuse in the world why reality doesn’t align with observation. We probably all do this to some extent: moon, weather, pressure etc, but the hunting community at large is extremely prone to this in an entirely illogical manner and many attach some sort of emotional outcome to it. This aspect always drove me crazy about whitetail hunters: “the rut is weird this year” -please tell me about all of the times you have experienced a “normal” rut. What most hunters consider a “normal” rut is something they likely only experience a handful of times in their lives? Maybe even only once or twice. So, that’s not normal, that is the exception. What they describe as “weird” is in fact “normal.”
 
Came here to check and see if anyone has been seeing any rut action yet. Got what I came for so thanks everyone!
I don't have a 3rd rifle tag but I do have a 4th. Took 7 points so I'm pretty pumped.
Can't wait to get out there!
 
TheViking said:
Sure did!
260 yard shot, hit him a little further back than I wanted to. Pretty no frills kill. Stumbled a little bit and went down. Both lungs destroyed (back of them), quarter sized exit wound. Did a great job! Factory 108 ELDM. Impact velocity 2545ish
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Fantastic! Haven’t had a chance to use my 6cm yet but pretty confident in what the end results will be
 
Finally saw a little rut behavior this morning in South Central CO. Couple bucks cruising around checking a couple doe groups. But still seeing many bucks in bachelor groups.
 
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