mooretitan
WKR
Not sure really how to start this. The last few months have been pretty rough for everyone and this would be the only big hunt we were going to be able to do. We had to cancel my youngest sons Utah Elk hunt and my daughters New Mexico deer hunt but I was hoping that things would work out and we could make this happen. Sometime life is just hard and not many people can make it through without a lot of scars. Hopefully this hunt would help lessen the pain of life. My son was excited and knew this was probably his only chance to hunt this type of tag. He was holding out for a big buck and hopefully get one to score over 180. I knew this was a tall order and probably not going to happen but he said he was going to hold out until at least the last 2 days of the hunt before he would lower his standard.
We got there a few days early to drive the roads and see the country we would be hunting the next 7 days. We saw lots of deer/elk/big horns ect... but nothing worth getting excited about. the forecast was going to be pretty much warm and clear skies not necessary great for big buck hunting.
Opening morning we made a plan that would hopefully put us out in front of the elk hunters and other guys driving the road. It was important for my son to make a hunt out of this. He is really not the drive around all day type of kid. He wanted to get out and find some spots that maybe could not be noticed from the roads. Hunting this area/unit made it hard to get away from roads and people but we tried our best. After the 1st day we had only located one pretty nice 3x4 that we had less than 200yards. We watched him for about 30mins that evening and decided to back out and make another plan. The deer we were hunting never really showed any rut activity and with the weather we weren't sure what would show up this week. Back at the house we made a new plan to hunt the same area but focus a little lower in elevation. The 2nd day started off great with tons of deer and bucks spotted but still nothing he was excited about. Mid morning we spotted what looked like a good buck but need get a lot closer to make sure. We got with in 200yards of the bedded buck and just watched him. He was a pretty nice 4x4 roughly 26inches wide but had weak fronts. We watched this deer for awhile and even got the gun set up but in the end he passed again. I pretty much let my kids decided what they want with their tag. Later the evening we headed to a new area and after talking to a few locals made a plan. As we drove into a new area we could glass a cross the mountain and watch my dad and other son work there way up a ridge. We noticed a herd of elk on the backside of the ridge with what we thought could be a legal bull. We kept the glass on them and watched by dad and son work into range. The whole thing lasted about 20mins but in the end we got to watch my dad shot a small rag horn. My son was pretty excited and said that was one of the coolest things he has seen. We made our way off the ridge towards my dad and other son to help get the bull off the mountain. A few more days of hunting pretty much produced the same thing. Lots of deer/bucks/cows and spikes. We could never find another legal bull for my other son and no bucks really got my oldest excited. We were up at 4:30 most mornings and put a lot of miles in each day.
As day 5 came to an end I ask my son what he wanted to do and we made a plan to head back the 26inch buck and hope we could get on him or maybe new bucks had moved in. The hunting is suppose to be the best the last 2 days so we stayed with the plan to hold out. We woke up to snow and maybe this would have the deer up and moving. As we came to ridge the buck was suppose to be on we noticed birds in the air and as we glassed we spotted the dead deer. Somebody else had decided that buck was big enough for him. With the back up buck dead we came up with a new plan and hunted the ridge all the down without turning anything else up. The boys were a little down but thats part of it. We got the truck and made a new plan with my dad. We would take the quad all the around to the low land and he would elk hunt with my other son and meet us back at dark. As we made our way down we ran into a couple other hunters that said there was a couple nice 4x4s low. We got off the quad and started looking. Its always amazing how the land unfolds on foot. Hopefully somewhere a good buck was tucked in somewhere. We started turning up deer and bucks but nothing worth shooting. As we crested a ridge i looked down low and noticed a doe at the base of the hill. I did not pay to much attention and kept heading around the ridge. Something just told me to take one more look at her. As i turned I noticed a buck bedded in the shade of the ridge. I knew he a good buck but not great. I showed my son and he said he wanted to take him. I think the pressure of letting everything go to the last day and already having his backup buck killed he did not want to risk it. We slipped into a small depression and worked our way to the buck. As we crested the last ridge we got everything set up and I called out the range. 182yards. I told him to wait until he stands. He said I am good and I am going to take him in his bed. Again I let my kids make their decisions. I would have waited but I am not him. He has killed lots of deer/an elk/antelope and lots of pigs. He has earned the right to hunt his way. The shot rang out and the buck never made it to his feet. We had just end a great week of hunting. We got everything into the packs and made it back to the truck a couple hours after dark. In the end he shot a solid 150plus deer. It wasn't the trophy that he wanted but probably a solid presentation of what is now in the Gunnison basin. I know there are bigger and hopefully some 4th season guys kill some toads with the amount of points it take.
What we noticed is the deer herd in the basin looks great for the future. We saw well over a hundred bucks. Can't count the number of spikes and small forks we saw. Lots of does had fawns and they looked great. We never saw much if any rut action. Planning a 3rd season trip here will be hard. You will never be able to time the weather and rut. For guys who have 17pts I just dont think its a great hunt anymore. You will see lots of deer and it will be a good hunt. Just not going to turn up many big bucks or maybe we just did it wrong.
Seems that increasing the tags and moving the season back has removed the upper class deer which is what I guess the goal was. The herd is in great shape and I am sure if the changed the season and decreased tags it would not take long for the age class to come back. I am not from there and can't compare to other years just what I saw.
For us I am great full that I got one more hunt in with my sons, dad and uncle. Great trip for us. 2 out of 3 tags filled and lots of stories we will tell over the years from this hunt.
Thanks Colorado for offering chances to kids to hunt these classic units.
We got there a few days early to drive the roads and see the country we would be hunting the next 7 days. We saw lots of deer/elk/big horns ect... but nothing worth getting excited about. the forecast was going to be pretty much warm and clear skies not necessary great for big buck hunting.
Opening morning we made a plan that would hopefully put us out in front of the elk hunters and other guys driving the road. It was important for my son to make a hunt out of this. He is really not the drive around all day type of kid. He wanted to get out and find some spots that maybe could not be noticed from the roads. Hunting this area/unit made it hard to get away from roads and people but we tried our best. After the 1st day we had only located one pretty nice 3x4 that we had less than 200yards. We watched him for about 30mins that evening and decided to back out and make another plan. The deer we were hunting never really showed any rut activity and with the weather we weren't sure what would show up this week. Back at the house we made a new plan to hunt the same area but focus a little lower in elevation. The 2nd day started off great with tons of deer and bucks spotted but still nothing he was excited about. Mid morning we spotted what looked like a good buck but need get a lot closer to make sure. We got with in 200yards of the bedded buck and just watched him. He was a pretty nice 4x4 roughly 26inches wide but had weak fronts. We watched this deer for awhile and even got the gun set up but in the end he passed again. I pretty much let my kids decided what they want with their tag. Later the evening we headed to a new area and after talking to a few locals made a plan. As we drove into a new area we could glass a cross the mountain and watch my dad and other son work there way up a ridge. We noticed a herd of elk on the backside of the ridge with what we thought could be a legal bull. We kept the glass on them and watched by dad and son work into range. The whole thing lasted about 20mins but in the end we got to watch my dad shot a small rag horn. My son was pretty excited and said that was one of the coolest things he has seen. We made our way off the ridge towards my dad and other son to help get the bull off the mountain. A few more days of hunting pretty much produced the same thing. Lots of deer/bucks/cows and spikes. We could never find another legal bull for my other son and no bucks really got my oldest excited. We were up at 4:30 most mornings and put a lot of miles in each day.
As day 5 came to an end I ask my son what he wanted to do and we made a plan to head back the 26inch buck and hope we could get on him or maybe new bucks had moved in. The hunting is suppose to be the best the last 2 days so we stayed with the plan to hold out. We woke up to snow and maybe this would have the deer up and moving. As we came to ridge the buck was suppose to be on we noticed birds in the air and as we glassed we spotted the dead deer. Somebody else had decided that buck was big enough for him. With the back up buck dead we came up with a new plan and hunted the ridge all the down without turning anything else up. The boys were a little down but thats part of it. We got the truck and made a new plan with my dad. We would take the quad all the around to the low land and he would elk hunt with my other son and meet us back at dark. As we made our way down we ran into a couple other hunters that said there was a couple nice 4x4s low. We got off the quad and started looking. Its always amazing how the land unfolds on foot. Hopefully somewhere a good buck was tucked in somewhere. We started turning up deer and bucks but nothing worth shooting. As we crested a ridge i looked down low and noticed a doe at the base of the hill. I did not pay to much attention and kept heading around the ridge. Something just told me to take one more look at her. As i turned I noticed a buck bedded in the shade of the ridge. I knew he a good buck but not great. I showed my son and he said he wanted to take him. I think the pressure of letting everything go to the last day and already having his backup buck killed he did not want to risk it. We slipped into a small depression and worked our way to the buck. As we crested the last ridge we got everything set up and I called out the range. 182yards. I told him to wait until he stands. He said I am good and I am going to take him in his bed. Again I let my kids make their decisions. I would have waited but I am not him. He has killed lots of deer/an elk/antelope and lots of pigs. He has earned the right to hunt his way. The shot rang out and the buck never made it to his feet. We had just end a great week of hunting. We got everything into the packs and made it back to the truck a couple hours after dark. In the end he shot a solid 150plus deer. It wasn't the trophy that he wanted but probably a solid presentation of what is now in the Gunnison basin. I know there are bigger and hopefully some 4th season guys kill some toads with the amount of points it take.
What we noticed is the deer herd in the basin looks great for the future. We saw well over a hundred bucks. Can't count the number of spikes and small forks we saw. Lots of does had fawns and they looked great. We never saw much if any rut action. Planning a 3rd season trip here will be hard. You will never be able to time the weather and rut. For guys who have 17pts I just dont think its a great hunt anymore. You will see lots of deer and it will be a good hunt. Just not going to turn up many big bucks or maybe we just did it wrong.
Seems that increasing the tags and moving the season back has removed the upper class deer which is what I guess the goal was. The herd is in great shape and I am sure if the changed the season and decreased tags it would not take long for the age class to come back. I am not from there and can't compare to other years just what I saw.
For us I am great full that I got one more hunt in with my sons, dad and uncle. Great trip for us. 2 out of 3 tags filled and lots of stories we will tell over the years from this hunt.
Thanks Colorado for offering chances to kids to hunt these classic units.
