Search results

Check out Flat Top Adventures. Similar area but a bit more personal and individualized experience.

Sounds like you did everything right to get close, just bad luck that he picked you off. One suggestion that has been helpful for me in the past is to hunt like the animal is still where you last saw it bedded. Don't assume it moved, or isn't where you thought unless you or a "spotter" visually...

I like the Diamond Infinite Edge series bows. Pretty reasonable, and very adjustable in terms of draw length and weight, which could be helpful if you are trying to build back up to your target draw weight. I think the original idea was to be able to grow with kids as they get older. But I shoot...

8 as a NR.

79 3rd season deer, here I come

Pass. With the key details being day 3 and rifle hunt. This is likely my only chance to hunt the "best" deer unit and I'd feel uneasy about punching a tag on day 3 without getting to experience the whole hunt. Never know what might show up those last 4 days and I'd want to make sure to soak up...

Thanks Jake for posting these data!

Send it

I am curious how many of those are people who formerly picked up an OTC elk tag, but now with many archery units going to a draw, maybe they are actually applying. I'm sure this doesn't account for all of the new applicants, but could explain some of them.

Dall's Sheep in the NWT

Toprut, now included with onX elite, has the most accurate data, IMO. It was a good deal at $20/year as a standalone, but can't convince myself to pull the trigger for onX elite.

For me the answer depends critically on whether it is a 250 yard rifle shot or 40 yard archery. If I've made a good stalk to get to 40 yards of #2 with an archery tag, I'm letting one fly. If I am rifle hunting, #5

Agree with lots of options. I like toprut personally, but to each their own.

According to the CC thread, looks like bear was day one last year, followed by deer/moose on day 2.

That is awesome. Every serious hunter deserves at least 1 sheep hunt. Unfortunately, once you do one, it's never enough. Or so I've heard. In any case, that is a beautiful ram. Congrats!

Tough to complain about that buck, nice work! I hope to shoot on that pretty next month in WY.

I would've had a real tough time not pulling the trigger in 2020, but it looks like he could turn into a very unique buck this year.

Sounds like you have the right attitude, good luck Rowdy!

A tough life nfh, but someone's gotta do it! Good luck on the sheep hunt, I hope to be in your shoes one day.

Nice! Bear baiting is one of the hunts with long-lasting enjoyment. Even when you aren't there, the pictures are still fun to see and remember.

On average, it is quantity over quality. There's not a ton of places for a big old muley to hide and get any age on them. If you can get access to a big private ranch you'd have a much better chance at an older age class buck. But even then, with a mid-Nov rifle season, the bucks are pretty...

That's a good point Rich, the party app rules vary by state. For instance, I believe WY is the opposite. If there is still at least one tag available when a group gets picked, everyone in the group gets a tag.

disappointment

How many class IV rams are you expecting to find? :ROFLMAO:

I think the Colorado system is somewhat clever, but it was also designed over 20 years ago, when western hunting and applications were much different than they are today. Any changes that are made now are either going to disenfranchise new applicants or seasoned applicants, and you can almost...

I think it was pretty clear when they dropped the requirement to front the tag fee that the move was made to benefit the state by generating more $. I'm curious if they ever considered increasing the preference point floor. For example, instead of 3 points, moving it to 5. Or, maybe having a set...

I imagine some of the new elk applicants are applying for formerly OTC archery units that are now on a draw. A couple thousand archery elk tags are now distributed in a draw in SW CO. Last year, many of these didn't draw out and had leftovers, but with proposed quota cuts and increased apps...

Good luck Marley! Any sheep tag is a great tag, hope you post a story for all of us to read.

Agreed, NV point sharing not as big of a concern. And for NRs, you are spending a pretty good chunk of change to get those points, so it would be a pretty substantial commitment to continue putting a non-hunter in for points just to get slightly better random odds.

No personal experience hunting bears in CO, but I would be voting for late September. The cooler temps will keep more of the day hiker traffic out, and you have a better chance of bears out trying to load up on food before denning. Also might luck into an early skiff of snow that helps with...

I think that's a good perspective to have, but you also need to realize that there's a good chance you never catch up to those best tags. For instance, it took 22 points to draw a Kaibab rifle tag last year. But three years ago it took 19, so you aren't really gaining anything by saving points...

If your goal is just to mule deer hunt, I agree with the advice above to hunt more often and not save points for the future. You'd probably be better off hunting general tags in Idaho/MT every year rather than waiting 10 years to snag a "good" Colorado tag. Much of the "value" for me having mule...

Good info, I've been looking at a few of these hunts with my 6 points. Good luck to those of you in the draw this year.

In Utah, the preference point deadline is an extra week or two after the drawing deadline, but you still have to have a license either way.

Agree with Founder, if a deer is ever on alert from a sight or sound, your best bet is to freeze until he settles. As long as you have the wind right, you may still get a chance if he doesn't hear/see something else.

IMO, a larger amount of points should gain you more limited hunting pressure per mature animal in the unit. As an example, if I find a mature animal in a general/low point unit, I better be trying to harvest it right then. By building points to access more exclusive units, I hope to be able to...

Thanks for all the feedback, it sounds like there were several factors at play, some of which might be reproducible elsewhere. With all the talk of returning the land to the way it once was, I think fire should be a much larger part of the equation.

It seems like nearly every "classic" mule deer destination is dwindling in both quality and quantity of deer. Yet, in the last few years it seems like Oak Creek has cranked out a few really nice bucks and the drawing odds and auction tag prices clearly reflect that. Is this just an isolated...

So they build a system that they know is going to cause crashes and then allow themselves an extra two hours to fix the crashes? Seems like you should just try to do it right to begin with

If true, i like that two hour window process much better.