Outifitter traffic in August???

[glacial21]

I am planning a DIY backcountry mule deer archery hunt for 2008 and am currently considering hunting pressure.

This hunt will take place in a wilderness area in Colorado (somewhere in the Gunnison/Aspen area). It will be a backpack/bivy hunt at least 3 miles from the nearest road - and probably much farther. I plan on hunting for the first 7 days of the season, which starts in late August.

My question is: what kind of pressure would you generally expect from outfitters during this early part of the season? Do many wilderness camps do high country archery hunts for mule deer? I have checked out the web sites of many outfitters in these areas and have a hard time finding much about their early season archery mulie hunts. Would the elk outfitters be going strong this early?

Any of you have any thoughts based on past experience?

thanks

 

[Packout]

You will have more problems from the air than you will from the ground. Seems flying these areas is getting more popular every year. Nothing will irk you more than making a stalk on a buck in the high stuff only to have a plane buzz and bust the deer. I won't tell you the bs we had to put up with this year.

 

[zekers]

Outfitters using forest/wilderness must be registered. Contact the forest service office in charge of that forest. They will tell you more than outfitters websites on who and what time they are utilizing them. The closer you get to Aspen, stay clear of popular trails as well as roads. A lot of bunny-huggers and their dogs out enjoying the colors.

 

[glacial21]

Good point, I will call the Forest Service soon.

The wilderness area I am really starting to focus in on is not known to be a "favorite" among hikers - it does get some traffic though. It does seem to be very popular with elk hunters (and elk outfitters) though. It is an OTC area. The good thing is that it takes at least a couple of pref. points to draw an archery deer tag. Maybe that will reduce the number of elk hunters who just happed to be carrying a deer tag.