2014 Deer Quotas; Gunnison

[ICMDEER]

Saw the recent posts by Tomichi and BeanMan and wondered if there's any chance the Colorado DOW will increase the Gunnison Basin deer license quotas in the near future.

Are the deer rebounding enough to increase the quotas?

Is there any talk of reinstituting the 4th season?

I'll never have enough points to play in the 4th season game, but I'm just curious as to what you guys (and others)think might be in the future for the G-Basin deer seasons.

Thanks in advance for any help or thoughts.

 

[lostinOregon]

Jim,

I follow the process pretty close and they have increased the tags slightly the last two years. Brandon Diamond is the expert at DOW on gunnison deer. The locals are hoping for a fourth in 14. Tomichi is the expert but he is guiding 2nd season elk right now. I am in Colorado now but when I get back i will call you and give you my contact numbers. The seasons are set early but the numbers are set about a week before the deadline.

Rich

 

[BeanMan]

ICM,

I don't really know anything about the Gunni basin deer herds. I go there to play occasionally but live 2.5 hours away.

 

[ICMDEER]

Thanks guys. I know where you live Bean; just thought you might have intel.
Maybe Tomichi will reply when he gets back to town.

 

[Tomichi]

Hunt codes are not set in stone yet, but I am hearing NO 4th for 2014.
With out winter kill expect a 15% to 20% increase.

 

[DnkyPunch]

baby steps...

 

[skullman]

howdy everyone i am a cali out of stater and me and my dad have hunted colorado (gunnison) for sometime now. i have hunted the area in bad times and in good. Ive hunted all my life in cali i am 51 years of age. And it is really sad to go into the local stores and talk to the folks and watch some of them almost come to tears when the deer herds get leveled by a bad winter. we drew elk tags in 08. and all i can say is WOW! it was bad! With that said I wouldnt want to be the folks who have to think about the deer herds and the local economy at the same time. because in that country they go hand in hand.I think these guys are probably doing the best they can with MODERATE!increases in tags.I absolutly love that basin.It deserves the best managment posible. Best Regard gentelmen! Skullman!

 

[DnkyPunch]

Well said.
It feels like the states totally miss the fact that healthy deer and elk herds bring in huge amounts of money to their states and the local communities. The sales taxes, room taxes and gas taxes alone have to be huge in most of the western states.

Silly me for thinking that politicians that can't balance their budgets could grasp such a simple concept.

 

[ICMDEER]

Tomichi - did this storm hammer the basin? Looks like the start of 2007-2008 all over again. We're cold, snowy and NASTY here in Wyoming, but the critters can get to lower elevations and windswept ridges here in our country. Hope it is not too bad down that way.

I know the ski areas need the snow, but I carry my biases. They can have a little, but not so much it stresses the critters.

 

[Tomichi]

On December 7 2007 we went from bare ground to the 3rd wire In 24 hours on the valley floor. This year I still have my whole fence so far. We are getting good snow in Crested Butte 8 inches today. The winter range is fine as of the tail end of this storm. The South slopes will be bare in a day or two. We need to stay vigilant but our DEER are fat happy and YOUNG for now. We get a die off every decade we have a lot of winter left but are in good shape as of today.

 

[skullman]

PRAISE GOD! Tell ya what. Shure is nice to have an honest assesment. Hats off to ya Tomichi! Thanks!

 

[ICMDEER]

Thanks again, Brad. Keep sending good news any time.

 

[Tomichi]

No more snow through the 19th. Over Night Lows get above 0
next week.... Saw some fawns "Playing" run and jump.. on the way to work today. We were South of the last front so you North guys have more snow cover then us. Our Bitter Brush had a good year. It is still in tough shape from the past dry years but greened up in August. The sage tops yearly bloom is as good as it gets. 1 less coyote in 551 today.

Road kill...3 deer 2 elk last night between the fish hatchery and home. The bull at HWY 50 and 114 took the grill and fluids of the Freight liner Target truck out with him. I would love to see the speed limit down to 50 mph "Dusk to Dawn"
East of Gunny. They have it Out West around the Lake it helps a little. I grind my teeth pretty hard every morning clocking the semis at 67 in a 65 at 03:45 right through the heart of the winter range....I should be carful what I wish for the 50MPH would mean I would never get home before day light.

 

[skullman]

LOL. on that 50mph thing.Just as long as you get home without taking one trough the windshield.I had a little honda hit a buck in front of me years ago.So i got busy with my knives. hamed him and loined him. thinking i was going to go home and give my family some good young table fare! YA RIGHT! toughest Piece of vinason I ever tryed to eat. The whole family spit it out on thier plates.And called me hick! we ended up eating pizza that night. Cant blame a guy for trying.hate to see anything go to waste

 

[Jerry]

No more snow through the 19th. Over Night Lows get above 0
next week.... Saw some fawns "Playing" run and jump.. on the way to work today. We were South of the last front so you North guys have more snow cover then us. Our Bitter Brush had a good year. It is still in tough shape from the past dry years but greened up in August. The sage tops yearly bloom is as good as it gets. 1 less coyote in 551 today.

Road kill...3 deer 2 elk last night between the fish hatchery and home. The bull at HWY 50 and 114 took the grill and fluids of the Freight liner Target truck out with him. I would love to see the speed limit down to 50 mph "Dusk to Dawn"
East of Gunny. They have it Out West around the Lake it helps a little. I grind my teeth pretty hard every morning clocking the semis at 67 in a 65 at 03:45 right through the heart of the winter range....I should be carful what I wish for the 50MPH would mean I would never get home before day light.

Tomichi- I’m impressed with your responses to others about deer hunting in the Basin- plus I see you live in Parlin too. I’ve hunted in 551 back in ‘05 & went thru there many times , but never found the big one I wanted so TAG Soup ?. Now I’m up to 12 points & wondering what might be the best action to take for ‘21. It seems 67 3rd season might be best shot at tag ? plus season length & the late dates too. I’m only looking to drop a very big buck, but at 73 going on 74, the walls are closing in on me at every point. Still going good however. Thinking a great guide might help too. Never hunted 67 before either. Don’t have any guide yet in mind . Just doing research . I’d really appreciate your thoughts on 66/67 & seasons too & what this years hunts were like ?. Or any other unit too- like 551 or 55/54. Thanks so much !!
Jerry Gold - Windsor, Colorado , near Ft Collins, Co ?
EM: [email protected]
Cell/Text: 307-772-1623 (my old Wy #)- it works !!

 

[DW]

Reviving an 8yr old thread. CPW thinks mature bucks are the superspreaders of CWD. They've poured the coals to em recently, and it won't get better soon.

 

[jims]

The CWD hype is a bunch of bull crud!!!! When CWD is only a fraction of 1% in the so-called hotspot areas. Only a fraction of that fraction of 1 % is bucks....of which only a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of 1% is mature bucks. You can bet that coyotes and mtn lions will kill the few CWD sick bucks that exist! It's a great excuse to increase tags to create higher revenue! In reality the CWD de-boggle is hogwash!

The Gunnison mule deer haven't ever recovered since the "good ole days" around 15 years ago. If you scout and hunt hard you may find a good buck? I have 16 Colo pts and am in the same boat....scrambling to figure out a strategy before Colo B&C mule deer become a thing of the "good ole days" past!