unit 31,32,33 in CO

[graybeard]

Just wondering if anyone hunted bucks in these units and how the hunting was. I'm trying to gather some info for future hunts. The buck to doe ratios look to be increasing, and some of the rimrock country looks great for big bucks. Thanks, Steve

 

[northwesthunter]

We hunt 31 above DeBeque Lots of private land and locked in blm and the blm you can get to usually has hunters on it. We do see quite a few deer and average bucks22-24 with a few bigger ones occasionally. This year was poor with the weather 3rd season. Can be great hunting if you have a good spot. nwhunter

 

[crcountry]

Hello Steve-
BLM is pretty locked up on Unit 33 North and east of Rifle and is extrodinarily steep/rugged country with few access points. I like the White River National, especially on the west side, but once again the access is pretty crazy....you better have alot of gas for your ATV or a nice jeep willey's.......then......get your but off the seat and get down into some country at first light!!!! This would require a longer walk than 100 yards down hill. Once in the oak scrub/gulch country you stand a great chance at taking a 140+ buck. I like the scrub/pinion/mixed aspen and dark timber over the pure dark timber areas....however, I'd bet there's some whales that never come out of the dark timber througout the rifles seasons......
Good Luck
Chris
PS.....We went (o) for (3) on Muley's this season in 33 and took several nice bulls up to 290".....get a bull tag if you plan on getting off the main road.....otherwise save your money.

 

[BUCKSPY]

LAST EDITED ON Nov-22-05 AT 01:36PM (MST)[p]The eastern Book Cliffs and southern Roan Plateau is one of the few areas in the state where deer herds haven't rebounded as well with limited licensing. I think the drought took a serious toll on the herds there and the sagebrush winter range seems to be pretty sparse. The areas winter range is pretty heavily grazed during the spring and the gas drilling is going on balls to the wall. There are still some stud bucks as the biggest typical at last years CMDA banquet was from 31 I believe. A 195 typical was roadkilled near Parachute last week and some pretty good bucks are still stomping around. Big rough country. Muzz season would be a great time to catch a stud buck up in the oakbrush if you have time to scout. After that the deer are on a slow move. Some of them from 31 go all the way over the book cliffs into 30 the area north of GJ.

By the way. I didn't know guys even measured 140" mulies. Wouldn't that be about a 1 1/2 year old scrub buck?

 

[crcountry]

Buckspy:
I agree.....I should have said a nice 20-22" 4x4 with no spectacular mass or length.....saying 155+ is a nice buck for public land (unit 33), and although there's certainly greater bucks than that around, taking anything over 140" is a decent buck for public land in Unit 33. In 04' I had (4) bucks standing right in front of me with the smallest being a 165" and the whopper was 185"+......(north of Rifle), but I just can't post unrealistic chances when people ask.....but yes, the chances of taking a unit 33 175" is certainly there.....we just couldn't come up with them this year during the 2nd season.....there's water everywhere this year and in fact had a better chance taking a B&C black bear than a nice muley buck......PS.....Are they closing the Roan Cliffs? We drove through there attempting to hunt the low BLM east of there and saw permanent closure signs for 06'?!?!?
Chris

 

[Buckman]

The oilfield workers are being pretty tough on the mule deer herd in 31 in the name of vehicle/deer collisions. I don't know why the deer in 32 and 33 would be any safer. These workers should drop their cocks and grab their socks about 15 minutes earlier every morning so they would'nt need to speed up and down the county roads to get to work on time.As with most places deer are always crossing to get from the grazing area's or water to their daytime bedding area's or vise versa. The other posts here seem to be pretty accurate and should continue if someone can get the local county mounties to enforce the speed limits on these county roads. The buck that is mentioned in the post above was hit in broad daylight.