Whitetail hunting in Colorado

[continentscolide]

I have 6 deer preference points this year. I am an avid whitetail hunter. I have never hunted whitetail in CO. I know the challenge is its mostly private land. I don't have money to pay an outfitter and I don't know any land owners. I have heard there is some public land that you can hunt whitetails on. Does anyone know what unit to hunt in and where the public land is? I would prefer to hunt a trophy unit (if possible) since I have so many preference points. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[mntman]

Haven't hunted whitetails here in CO but the very small amount of public land out east is going to be hammered in each unit. There are a couple national grasslands out east you can correlate to units. Personally I wouldn't be expecting a trophy whitey off that land though (I could very well be wrong though)
Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"

 

[bowhuntinnut]

Try 103

 

[scab]

This may be a little late since the deadline has already passed---but for me---I would not burn 6 points on unit 103 or any unit in eastern Co without using an outfitter or having access to good private ground, up front. It would be both a waste of your time and precious points. The Bonny Reservoir is dry, EHD burned thru the area a couple of years ago, the DOW keeps leasing up and destroying all the good river bottoms in the area and the hunting pressure on public ground is nasty. I have hunted eastern Co every year for the past 15 years but you need to be on good private ground, which is very difficult to find. I'm not trying to be a downer but every year I see people show up with a tag in their pocket with no backup plan after the public land deal doesn't work out and I would hate to see that happen to you. There is very little public ground in eastern Co and what is there is not worth the effort. The Bonny has whitetails but it is not a quality hunt in my opinion. I wish I could tell you differently. Good luck.

 

[continentscolide]

I appreciate the insight. I decided to use my points to hunt unit 6 for muleys instead. What you just stated is why I made that decision. All of my research shows that you need to hunt private land to have a good hunt for whitetails. The unit I choose for muleys has a high buck to doe ratio and high success rate.

thanks again for your insights!
Jesse

 

[LoneWati]

Private is best, but I have seen some Pig Whitetails on some of the Public areas..Bonny is dry, but the habitat is amazing and plenty of water around!! More Bobcats out there then Coyotes!! Not sure if I would use that many points as well, unless it was the rut hunt with a bow!!