CO GMU 61 Mule Deer

[Vids]

So I was quick (and lucky) enough this morning to snag a second season mule deer tag in unit 61. I'm excited to go check out the unit as I've heard a ton about it in recent years!

I'll be going in blind, might get a chance for one scouting trip but doubtful. Any advice on certain areas of the unit to look at would be highly appreciated! Also info on access roads would be useful. I am already aware of the large fire currently burning in the unit.

I do have some experience hunting 2nd rifle in 551, and it was a blast. There is some similar terrain between the two units. My experience there was that the bucks were starting to come down to the BLM and chase does a little at the end of October. I had a lot of fun glassing that open country and watching things happen. So, as far as areas to try in 61, would it be a good idea to use that same tactic of glassing BLM like I did in 551? Or will bucks be higher? There isn't much for high country in 61 though, so anything above BLM would be timber.

One specific question about roads. Would it be useful to bring my ATV or can a F150 handle most roads out there?

Any input is appreciated! PMs would be fine.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Bull Draw Fire Information - InciWeb the Incident Information System

That's about all I hear any Junction people talking about right now. It's going to be a different hunt this year than it's ever been I would imagine.

 

[Vids]

Yep, I'll be watching that. I would imagine by late October that fire is pretty well tamed.

How soon after it's out do people think the deer would be back in that area? Would it be worthwhile to watch the edges of the burn? Or would it take until next year and some new growth for deer to be back in there?

 

[jray5740]

Theres a reason why DOW is offering anyone who drew a 61 tag complete refunds and complete point restoration......I dont wanna be a spoil to your excitement but if they took it that far as to offer that, Im sure it means something

 

[Vids]

I'm not worried about it. I've seen the size of the fire compared to the unit, there's no way everything has been run out of there.

If anyone has something productive to say I'm all ears.

 

[Felix40]

I dont know much but I will say that looking for deer in the spring creek fire burn from this summer hasnt been super productive. It burned pretty hot in a lot of the area and from what i can tell theres not much coming up for the deer to eat yet. Id say its not worth trying to hunt the burn this soon. I did see a couple nice bucks in the timber near the burn but I never saw them coming out in it.

I bet you will still be able to find some bucks in 61.

 

[Vids]

Felix40 - I agree, I wasn't planning to focus on the burn area but there is still plenty of land in the unit that didn't burn. That fire certainly displaced animals, but didn't completely run them out of the unit. Might possibly concentrate them more in non burned areas? The ones that went over to 62 will likely get pushed back into 61 from the OTC pressure. I'll find out I guess...

I know very little about how fast grasses re-grow, my assumption is there won't be much of anything in the burn area to eat by October. Next summer should be good though.

 

[Ranger185]

Have a buddy who is doing a guided elk hunt in 61 this year...they had to turn in their tags and move to 62 due to the fire. Outfitter got the news from CPW. Don't know what that means for muley, but I'd assume that it's going to be tough hunting...or...it's comes down to $$$ and the guide doesn't want to lose the clients. Either way, I'm sure their is a good reason for the decision.

 

[Vids]

For perspective (from the DPW E-20 Herd Management Plan which covers 61 and 62):

Unit 61 is 948 square miles total, which equals 606,720 acres. 75% of E-20 is USFS and BLM land, so approximately 455,040 acres in Unit 61. (assuming 61 and 62 have equal percentages of public land, which I can't determine for sure) Bull Draw Fire is 30,208 acres. So, approximately 6.64% of the public land in 61 has burned. It's definitely a stretch to say that every animal has been run out of the unit.

Ranger185 - That's interesting and my thought is that the guide certainly doesn't want to cancel all his hunts for this year, so they were able to get their permits transferred to an adjacent unit (if they didn't already have permits in 62).

As far as the DPW offering refunds and point restoration: I think that's just good customer service. People waited a long time to draw 61, then an Act of God happened, access roads were closed off, etc. If I had waited 10-20 years to draw 61 and then the DPW told me "tough luck" I'd be pretty pissed about it, so I'm sure they had to offer that. Same thing happened to front range units in 2013 after the heavy September rains. Roads were impassable, and the DPW offered everyone refunds and points back.

So anyways........I am looking for general info on 61. As I said in my first post, I'm already aware of the fire.

 

[ckleeves]

2nd season in 61 your gonna have your work cut out for you. Some bombers have come out of there for sure but it can be a pretty tough unit during second season.

I doubt your going to find a concentration of deer anywhere that time of year. Lots of time behind the glass and 61 isn’t lacking thick cover so it’s gonna take some time to really glass it.


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[tracker12]

But for the price of the tag and no points it’s a no brainer for me I’d hunt it