High country mule deer

[murphyjm29]

I’ve heard mule deer generally shed their velvet by September 10th? I’ve also heard once they shed they drop down into the timber. So with the Colorado archery season starting on the 2nd, you would only have the first 8 or so days to hunt them in the high country? I’m new to this, looking at all my options for an archery hunt 2021.


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[blake_culwell]

Yes, if your looking at killing a deer in velvet I would be out there the week it opens.

 

[Jaden Bales]

I’ve heard mule deer generally shed their velvet by September 10th? I’ve also heard once they shed they drop down into the timber. So with the Colorado archery season starting on the 2nd, you would only have the first 8 or so days to hunt them in the high country? I’m new to this, looking at all my options for an archery hunt 2021.


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Man, I've sure heard of some variation here. Where I was at last year, bucks were tucked out of the alpine and working the edges of timber by the 5th. Finding stalks turned real tough after that. You'll see Colorado guys like Snyder and Big Chief Whackabuck (Henry Ferg.) killing bucks later than the 10th with archery equipment, though!

It's not a bad idea to have a backup area in a burn or low country sage brush stuff that would allow you to keep stalking deer if they drop out of the alpine before you're ready to go home.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

Jaden makes a very good point that it really depends on the country you're hunting. I've found you're more time limited if you're trying to hunt bucks in the alpine, but less so in other terrain like a burn area or oak brush slopes. Last year I guided a buddy into a nice hard horned buck who was feeding in a clearing on September 19th, but that was at 9100 ft in brush country. If you're hunting only the high alpine, get there as early in the season as possible.

 

[ColoradoV]

Not the best news but you won’t have 8 days.. Thanks to the change that the Colorado bowhunters ass pushed the cpw to make - you will have as little as 2 days in many places....

Or the high country rifle hunt starts in many units on sept 4 this year. Archery starts in sept 2nd... So you have 2 days before knuckleballs start hucking shells 800 to 1200 yds across basins. Once that happens for all effective purposes archery is over... So you will have 2 days...

Sad state for high country archery in Colorado now. Make sure to thank the Colorado Bowhunters Ass for basically ruining the early high country seasons (in favor of a later elk season)..

As has been mentioned after the change in dates ( they took about a week from archery = big difference having 9 days rather than 2 to get it done on a high country buck) might look to lower terrain or later seasons..

 

[jlvandersnick]

taggin in

 

[Jaker_cc]

Yep, the season change really screwed up my plan in Colorado for an early season hunt.

 

[ianpadron]

The rules you mentioned are certainly accurate generalizations but I've seen some MONSTER bucks here in WA still in velvet as late as 9/16 and have hunted mature bucks above timberline in October. If my goal was to kill a velvet buck, I would definitely want to be out as early as possible though.

 

[Brendan]

Been thinking about this timing issue as I'm probably hunting archery mule deer this year. Hunt opens on Thursday the 2nd, and that's leading into a holiday weekend where my guess is there'll be people everywhere...

Hmmm. Bad timing.

 

[JamesD]

Timing is awful, but I will still be out there opening morning, not concerned with hard or velvet either, just want opportunities!