Colorado Unit 15 fourth Season.

[400bull]

My father-in-law wants me to apply with him on a late season deer tag for unit 15 in Colorado. I have never hunted in Colorado and could use a little onsite on the potential this unit has. I don't want anyone to share you favorite hunting spots. I'll find them when I get there. I just need to know if this unit is worth putting in for and what the possibilities are on coming home with a 180+ buck.

Thanks for your input.
400bull

 

[BUCKSPY]

I can't give you much onsite, but I can give you a little insight. To answer your question. The possibility of you coming home with a 180+ buck from a unit you have never set foot into..........well, they are slim at best.

The fourth season starts the day after the third season(which can be bought as a leftover) and will probably take 3-4 preference points for a non-res. Unit 15 is one that is managed for quantity, not quality. There are always left-over tags that can be bought every year and that should give you a rough idea of what kind of management plan the area is under. That being said there are 180+ bucks in probably every unit on the West slope and probably a few in 15. I didn't see any when I spent a couple of days hunting coyotes in January there.

 

[jims]

If you look at the number of tags issued for the 2nd and 3rd seasons in 15 and other units included in that hunt it gets hammered during those rifle seasons. If there is no snow it only complicates things because the deer are generally pushed on to private land where there is literally no hunted pressure. I hunted the 4th season in a different unit this past season and the conditions were very tough. Full moon, a crunchy snowline that receeded up to the 8,500' elevation, and 50 degree temperatures. A 5 day season with no break between the 3rd and 4th seasons didn't leave much time for the deer to settle down or to mess around trying to locate giant bucks. To compound things even more, the DOW allows hunters to hunt deer 3rd season and elk hunt the 4th season. This only adds to the crowded conditions...and 15 and the other units included in that hunt are over the counter tags for elk.

There are a few great bucks in those units, but if you don't have the right conditions it can be a frustrating hunt. I just wish the DOW would get their act together and limit the number of deer and unlimited elk hunters in those units! The genetics and everything else are there, but the bucks don't stand a chance to age with all the hunting pressure.