Colorado Mule Deer Strategy

[Steve O]

Looking for some wisdom from some of the hard core mule deer hunters here.

Bit of background...

I have spent the past 25 years hunting just about every type of game in NA. No super slam stuff but I have hunted something out of every "group" we have. I don't need all 5 caribou for example. The couple I have from Alaska are good enough for me. At 45, I am getting close to the point where I want to settle down and pick an animal to hunt every year. Mule deer are the one...they give me the terrain and tactics I love from sheep hunting and unlike an elk, I don't get intimidated at the thought of packing one out by myself. I have a lot of points in a lot of states, so will have quality hunts come up for other species as well, but very soon I will focus on and hunt muleys every year until I can no more.

I have 10 CO deer points now as a NR. I have other hunts planned for 2014 and 2015. I bowhunt 95% of the time and don't really feel the need to wait out a 4th season rifle tag.

With all that said would you use your decade plus of points on:

1. One of the top archery units (say 2,10,21) that I will never be able to draw again.

2. One of the early high country rifle tags that I could go back and hunt every year or even every other year with my bow.

3. Some other option I have not thought of.


Please don't just pic a number I would really like to hear your reasoning behind the advice.


Thanks guys.

 

[muleman]

Robbie Denning is a mule deer expert. He'd be one of the people I would reach out to.

 

[Colbyqueso]

I hunt unit 22 every year. 6 points for certain seasons. I would get two years out of it if I was you. 6 points now. Wait 2 years do it again. I have seen alot of monster Bucks in there. But don't have the points yet. Using up points sucks because you want them to go to good use. I would break it up.

 

[Foldem]

You can't point bank in CO. They tried it for a year or two (where you only lose as many points as it took to draw the tag), but it's not that way anymore. I would hunt one of the high country units then start archery and muzzleloading the high country if you are comfortable with the bow.

Kevin

 

[TRIPLE]

Burn the points on a great rifle hunt. Then go back and learn an archery area that you can hunt consistently.

 

[In God We Trust]

If I were you I would burn em up on a early rifle high country tags. If you draw the tag in a trophy unit and do your scouting homework through the summer you should be able to shoot a toad. I have always wanted to do one of those hunts but the smokepole tag I draw every year doesn't allow me to save points. Plus like you said you can go back into the unit after you burn your points and hunt with a bow or smokepole year after year. The early tags are killer IMO and I hunt the high country every year for at least 2 weeks plus all of the scouting I do in the summer. Good luck.

 

[a3dhunter]

If I were you I would burn em up on a early rifle high country tags. If you draw the tag in a trophy unit and do your scouting homework through the summer you should be able to shoot a toad.

I would agree, and like you mentioned in the OP you can then draw it as an archery tag every couple years.

 

[TrophyHunter_colorado3322]

I'm new here but am a mule deer freak... Or at least i try to be. I spend over a 100 days a year in 21/30 following those deer, scouting, hunts and shed hunting. It still is a awesome unit even though people say its now over rated. For a three day hunter or road hunters it probably has declined a lot over the years. As a one time hunt for archery or muzzy would be a good option, a little homework and to the ability to look past the obvious could land you a giant buck. After that you can come join us above timberline with a stick and string and become a lunatic, mountain house eating,mule deer freak

 

[Colbyqueso]

O ya. Forgot about no bankin points. Use it up on an awsome hunt.

 

[Steve O]

Thanks gents. Still looking for more opinions to ponder.

 

[VANDAL]

My Colorado strategy is somewhat opposite of what is recommended above. I don't want to be in a position burning a decade of pts on a unit I have never hunted or know little about. It puts a lot of pressure on the hunt and can take away the fun. Maybe consider choosing a unit where you can buy a reasonable priced LO tag for a couple years, hunt while learning the unit, and then blow the pts once you feel comfortable with the area. There are a few awesome high country rifle hunts that you can get a muzzy or archery tag for $800-2k. If you can afford spending more money you could buy a $2-3k second season and burn the points on a 3rd or 4th season hunt. Just another way of looking at it...although point creep is a variable that tough to plan around.

 

[TrophyHunter_colorado3322]

My Colorado strategy is somewhat opposite of what is recommended above. I don't want to be in a position burning a decade of pts on a unit I have never hunted or know little about. It puts a lot of pressure on the hunt and can take away the fun. Maybe consider choosing a unit where you can buy a reasonable priced LO tag for a couple years, hunt while learning the unit, and then blow the pts once you feel comfortable with the area. There are a few awesome high country rifle hunts that you can get a muzzy or archery tag for $800-2k. If you can afford spending more money you could buy a $2-3k second season and burn the points on a 3rd or 4th season hunt. Just another way of looking at it...although point creep is a variable that tough to plan around.

I agree with the method you stated VANDAL, I think out of state hunters have a tough choice to make with points sometimes. Like you stated learning the unit is key to having success. High country units are rising in popularity so much that second choice tags are almost non existent and landowner tags keep going up. Take unit 43 for a good example, demand now exceeds supply. Over the next 5 years you are going to see point creep on your favorite high country units. Choosing second season tags is tough to go with to try and learn a unit because the deer are in a transition that makes hunting them tough. The dynamic of 2nd season is so different then third and fourth that I would have a hard time judging the potential trophy quality. I would go to the units your interested in during the season and compare what you see to what you have researched. I do it all the time and it helps tremendously, I just buy a additional cow tag if available to give me the feel of hunting. Or if your loaded buy a landowner tag in a trophy unit for the rut and all problems are solved

 

[parshal]

I don't want to seem like I'm hijacking the thread but some of my research may be helpful since I'm in a similar predicament. I've got 10 points to burn next year (2014) and have been pouring through the statistics to figure out where to go. For a high country hunt, I'd been eyeing unit 74 but it's unlikely I'll pull that tag given point creep. The other two units I like each required 5-7 points the last four years while 74 has inched upward every year. As far as I can tell, the high country buck hunts with low point requirements are fairly low in success rate. However, nearly every unit with a high country hunt only has about 20 tags available. A couple have 30 and 10 and one has 50 but the number of early season tags overall is fairly limited.

All of the late season tags require at least 5 resident points. There are a few that require 6 - 8 and five require 10 or more (as high as 17 this past draw). As a non-resident, I'd expect that to be even higher. Once I burn my points I'm not sure what I'll do for future deer hunts. I want a memorable hunt rather than a trophy hunt and it seems a high country tag is it, at least for me.

 

[Steve O]

You guys are making a LOT of sense. I have 15 Utah elk points and spent the last 10 days of September covering ground and taking notes on my map in the unit I plan to use them up in. No reason not to do that for these deer points as well!

 

[robby denning]

The early high country rifle units are only as good as the time you put in scouting them. I'd never spend 10 points on any unit unless I scouted it before drawing it. Too much at stake. I've had 9 points in Colorado before and it is STRESSFUL! Scout, you won't regret it.

If you want to buy cheap landowner tags for archery, then you could scout and hunt and still save your points. A grand for a landowner tag is a good investment if you're protecting those 10 points.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This post hits home, I am sitting on 8 deer points now and want to use them very soon in 14 or 15 but am tired of chasing certain units and anticipate that point creep will really hit soon. I'm starting to search out other areas where I can draw in the next few years and hopefully get a shot at a good buck(170+).

 

[HellsCanyon]

I almost feel bad for you guys with more points.... heck I have 3 points now and an worried about where to spend them next year or to keep saving. Especially since we're hunting a 3rd season unit that requires 0 points to draw in an attempt to learn a lesser unit.

Mike

 

[HOT ROD]

I have four points now. But it will be a few years before I burn them. I will try to find a 3rd or 4th season to burn them in. After that it will be a 2 or 3 point unit. It's just not worth building years worth of points. And not hunting. When U probably can have a good hunt. Every couple of years.

 

[TXCO]

I realize this may start a firestorm- but where are people finding/securing LOTs? Even when I lived in CO it seemed outfitters had them all locked up.

 

[drthornton]

Here are a few online ones

http://www.huntinfool.com/landowner.asp
http://www.trailblazehunting.com/model/LandownerTag
http://www.huntersdomain.com/category/Colorado-Landowner-Tags-buysell/21549.html
http://www.landowner-tags-vouchers.com/
and craigslist.com