Will CO 76, 66 & 67 every recover?

DonVathome · Jun 1, 2016

What are your thoughts. I was there before bad winter for elk (bow and saw a lot of huge mulies. It was amazing! Hindsight is 20 20!!!

Do you think it will recover in the next 5-10 years? By recover I mean get back to where it has similar quality and quantity (say 80% as good.

Having never been back but hearing a lot I say no (not in 5-10 years). Deer numbers not rebounding and later seasons hurting trophy potential (everywhere).

Your thoughts?

Chacoblue777 · Jun 2, 2016

Hello

Having hunted the areas you mention in your post both pre and post 07/08 winter, I would say that the area is recovering somewhat. I don't think it is anywhere near a "rebound", or what you may have experienced or seen there many years ago. I guess time will tell, but personally I am not confident it will get there in the next 5 years. There are many factors to consider, and some of them, cannot be controlled. Hopefully conditions and management continue to support a healthy deer herd in those areas, while still allowing for a good balance of hunting opportunity.

Coloradoboy · Jun 2, 2016

I would say 66 and 67 are on an upward trend. Can't speak for 76 though. I honestly think there is a very good chance we may never see the gunnison basin restored to what it once was if they keep managing it like they are currently.

HiMtnHntr · Jun 3, 2016

We'll probably never see numbers like pre-07/08, mainly because the CPW admit there were too many deer going into that winter for the available severe winter habitat.

Also, years of too many deer in some areas probably has a negative affect on the range resource, as do increasing numbers of elk.

Not too many places in the west where there are more deer now than there used to be. . .

jims · Jun 3, 2016

Those units totally revolve around winterkill and tag numbers. It takes around 7-8 winters to produce B&C quality bucks. The Gunnison Basin is known as the "Icebox of Colorado" and deer are pretty much boxed into that winter range. If snow is deep they literally die and have no way of wandering to areas with less snow and cold. Winters prior to the 07/08' were mild and tag numbers were fairly conservative for the number of bucks available. A "normal" winter in the Gunnison Basin is pretty severe and the harshest in Colo. Your guess is as good as mine if there are 7+ winters in a row without deep snow and severe temperatures to grow monster muley bucks. Maybe global warming will help?

tx_packmule · Jun 3, 2016

From how the headwaters looked it went from winter kill into drought. Quality won't change bc that's locked into the doe herd, but getting age on them to show that seems to be an issue.