15 yr old daught, Hotchkiss/Unit 52

Sherlock · Oct 30, 2018

Long shot, but throwing this out there for CO Unit 52, 3rd season.

My 15-year old daughter drew 3rd season Colorado unit 52 on a recommendation from my neighbor who knows the area very well and swore the migration hunt would be awesome during that time. He even got himself a landowner tag or voucher and was going to join us. He knows some migration routes near Hotchkiss.

Anyway, a week ago he turned it in and called me to tell me all the deer already migrated down to the low country and onto private lands. However, my daughter has already told me that due to school and other personal issues, next year she may not be able to hunt much, except maybe one or two Saturdays locally, if at all. So we need to make the most of this tag this year.

Long story long...
Anyone know anyone that might be able to provide my daughter with some access or permission to private lands in that area/unit where she could have a better chance of success?

Thanks.

liecabucks · Oct 31, 2018

The deer may have started migrating earlier than previous years but I promise they aren't all out of there. I'll be in the general area all week hunting for myself. Check in with me if you are having issues finding deer, I should be able to share info on their elevations and migration progress.

Sit tall in the saddle, hold your head up high, keep your eyes fixed to where the trail meets the sky...

stilltrying · Nov 21, 2018

Sherlock,

Interested to know how your hunt went?

Sherlock · Nov 26, 2018

Short story...
She tagged out on her biggest buck, yet. But that ain't saying much.

Long story...
We entered the hunt with high expectations, based on a neighbor of mine that said the big bucks would show up for the rut as the week progressed, and we should focus on private lands where we would go "permission hunting" during the day. Having a cute 15 year old daughter probably helped. We stacked up enough permissions on good lands to hunt plenty of deer. Even people that said 'no' were generally nice about it. In any case, we saw plenty of bucks and she even passed up several times on decent bucks as we waited for the really good bucks to show up. As the week progressed, we noticed that the better bucks we had in our back pocket started getting shot and no other bucks were showing up. Never saw anything over 180". So, she decided to take one of those 170" class bucks, but as she made a move on a decent buck, it must have slipped into the trees and in the heat of the moment she picked out and shot a smaller buck in the herd. But she was still ok with it, as it was her biggest.

My take on the hunt is that it's probably a better hunt for handicapped, elderly, or folks that like road hunting and don't mind knocking doors or "permission hunting". We are accustomed to backpack/backcountry hunting, so wasn't really much of an adventure. More just an easy way to get an ok buck without much physical effort. With that said, we didn't spend much time on public land, but I heard the bucks weren't any bigger on the public, unless you got real lucky.

I'll try to post up a picture.

Sherlock · Nov 26, 2018

LAST EDITED ON Nov-26-18 AT 09:24AM (MST)[p]http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos_2018/51361273638c422794479b9a74a5824c16fee.jpeg

http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos_2018/55547ba92b65e9ed84ee59e952d60450163ab.jpeg

cowhitey · Nov 26, 2018

Nothing to be disappointed about there! That's a nice deer and you got to spend time with your daughter. You also got permission on private land too. Congratulations to her!

Would 30" of more antler make it that much better? It wouldn't with my 12 year old daughter who didn't even get to hunt this year.

12point · Nov 26, 2018

Beautiful deer, congratulations to her.

Sherlock · Nov 26, 2018

Cowhitey,
I see how my post came off a bit negative in my effort to provide an objective assessment of the hunt in general, not necessarily of our personal experience. You?re right, we really did have a good time together.

As for size of antler, there was a certain expectation we allowed ourselves to get sucked into. She really wanted to beat her uncles deer and we thought she'd have that chance. And just some other personal background stuff. With all that said, at no time did I indicate to her any disappointment. It was all upbeat about getting her best buck. And we saw tons of deer.

Wapitiwilly · Nov 27, 2018

Great buck. Thanks for sharing

Rimrock · Nov 27, 2018

Congratulations to you and your daughter on a nice looking buck. She looks pretty happy. It's great that you had some father/daughter time together in the field doing what you enjoy doing. Well done!

Rimrock

LIK2HNT · Nov 27, 2018

Priceless!!
Brings back memories of when my daughter was younger and hunted a lot with me. Girls always seem to be more excited when the shoot something.
Bill

hawkbill · Jan 8, 2019

It looks like you had a great hunt with your daughter, congratulations

tylercreek2 · Jan 9, 2019

WTG congratulations

BradA · Jan 9, 2019

Congrats to your daughter! We always want a bigger one but it's tough to pass on a buck like that on any given day.

https://www.sagemuleys.com

Founder · Jan 10, 2019

Congratulations to that youngster. She looks happy and that's what it's all about.

Brian Latturner
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