Unit 70

bear1945 · Jul 10, 2018

I drew a 3rd season deer tag and was wondering if anyone has any info on how the unit has been doing the last few years. Also, any places to start searching for deer or places to camp would be appreciated

fullthrottle · Jul 10, 2018

I hunted the unit last year same season. It was warm and fairly dry. Tons of deer and small bucks. For the amount of deer I saw I was shocked I didn't see any big ones. That was my first time in the unit, but from what I saw a 2 year old deer is dang near a guarantee. The 2 best bucks I saw in 6 days were in the mid 160 range. It seems like the area has all the right things to grow giant deer and I'm sure they are around but I couldn't find them.

Paul_Crawford · Jul 11, 2018

Pray for snow! Done. PC

DM770 · Jul 15, 2018

I know you don't want to hear this but the unit is way down. Not that there aren't good bucks there but they are few. I have been in the unit for 8 of the last 10 years during the third and my family owns some land in the unit. There are a ton of dink bucks and guys are shooting them. There are huge sections of private that the deer need to move through to get to the winter range and without snow they will stay hung up. Currently a 160 is a top end buck here. Even the 4th was pretty dismal this last year. Another challenge is guys are just hunting a lot harder here. Ten years ago I hardly saw guys out hiking and working the foothills but now I see people everywhere for the entire hunt.

bear1945 · Jul 18, 2018

I appreciate the input. I've been trying to find areas on google earth that look good but it doesn't show me any deer ??. I've only been in the unit once and it was 5 years ago. I didn't see anything big then so I will probably look for a different area to hunt than the one before. I hunted lower elevations before so I think getting in higher elevation might work better. I just don't know much about the unit or migration routes

SlinginLead · Jul 19, 2018

They are right in that it is not what it used to be.
You can check out some of the "Walk-in" areas along Disappointment Road. This road is a dividing line for 70 and 71/711. It also works it's way to higher elevations. Areas in the Dry Creek Basin can be productive. I have seen some toads in there in years past. A GPS with a chip would come in handy if hunting the basin. There is some natural gas development going on in parts of the basin that you wood have to deal with. Used to see good numbers of deer behind the old general store in the basin as well. Good luck.

bear1945 · Aug 29, 2018

Anyone have any good information on migration routes? I'm going to be staying in Naturita so any good information near there would be extremely helpful. I only get 4 days to hunt because work is going to get in the way. You can PM me if you can help me out

HiMtnHntr · Aug 30, 2018

A good map will show obvious migration routes from high to low elevation in that area. Many deer will head west, but there is usually not a big enough weather event to cause deer to head down in large numbers in a short time, at least until after the hunts. They'll stay high and hang in the transition area where there is a lot of private land for a long time. Always deer down low, and everything in between. With the mild winters deer are just spread out.

SlinginLead · Aug 30, 2018

Try "My Topo Maps" out of Billings, Montana. I ordered GMU 70 &
GMU 71 Winter Concentration and Migration Routes maps several years ago from them.

sagebrush · Sep 3, 2018

Just got back from 8 days of bowhunting. The driest I have ever seen it. People in Norwood are hauling water because their wells are running dry. One gal I talked to getting gas was hauling water, said her well was dry at 120 feet. She asked a driller about going deeper and he said he tried two wells in her area down to 600 feet and got nothing but mud. We saw about 1/3 the deer we normally see and very few big bucks. Oddly, water in the form of springs and seeps was not that difficult to find but the feed is terrible. I would hunt as high as possible during your hunt.

"You can fly a helicopter to the top of Everest and say you've been there. The problem with that is you were an a$$hole when you started and you're still an a$$hole when you get back.
Its the climb that makes you a different person". - Yvon Chouinard

ByeByeObamas · Sep 27, 2018

LAST EDITED ON Sep-27-18 AT 11:12PM (MST)[p]I was there last year. I have a few ideas.

Dont get your hopes up. I doubt it will be anything but hot. Lots of deer alot of little (2pt) bucks.

Not sure what type of hunter you are, but if i had the tag again, i would do it again, i would go way up. If you have onyx, i will tell you a spot.

I was there last 6 days. Felt like sept.

callsalot · Sep 28, 2018

I hunted the 3rd season in that unit in 2006 and it was off the hook awesome. Then back in 2015 and wondered if I was in the same unit with a lot fewer deer and bucks, it was a disappointment. From what I heard its crawling back but still a shadow of what it used to be. I've known others that have hunted it since and actually bumped into a guy elk hunting this year in Wyoming that guides sheep and deer in that unit. He and the other hunters I've talk to say you have to be willing to hold out until the very end since new bucks migrate into the area daily and they've still taken some nice bucks. So if you can stay the whole season great but if you only have a certain amount of days it's wiser to go the end of the season than the beginning.

Good luck.