55 3rd Season Deer

[Mooretitan]

I have read over lots of posts that I could find on 55 3rd season, so I thought I would reach out and see if anyone is willing to share a little information.
My son was lucky enough to draw a tag on the 2nd draw and this is a hunt that more than likely he will never have the pts to draw again or at least not for a long time if he chooses to save pts. I know the unit is not what is once was but its better than sitting at home and I am sure at 16 he will enjoy the hunt. A little about him, he is an avid hunter and has taken animals in 4 different states. He has passed on animals before and believes in trying to take a mature animal for the area he is hunting. I am not sure where all this developed, maybe watching to many hunting videos or reading to many books on the subject.. Anyways hunting has become pretty much his passion that I get to be part of.
I am going to call the warden this week and see what information I can get that will be helpful. So here are a few questions:
1. Is the elk hunting pressure really that high for this unit. Looking at the success rates, its not one of the better OTC tags.
2. With that is it worth picking up an elk tag for him? ITs pretty much one of the cheapest youth tags you can get. But on the other end do we really want to mess around with an elk and burn days away from deer hunting packing it out if he gets lucky???
3. With 3rd season is it worth camping in a tent or is the weather really that cold during that time. I have been told its best to get a hotel room. I also have the possibility of having a trailer.
4. We will probably get there on Thursday/Friday what is typically the best place to try and find a place to camp. I would like to go earlier but my other son has a elk hunt in September and my daughter has a deer hunt during Thanksgiving, so vacation time and missing school are going to be tight this year.
5. How bad are the roads when wet and snow. I have a Tacoma but could also bring a quad.
6. So with that, if anyone has any suggestions on where to start that would be great. We hunt hard and have the right gear to get it done. Just need to put a solid plan together. If anyone can point us in the right direction that would be great.
Thanks

 

[El Gringo]

PM Sent

 

[norby]

PM sent

 

[Mooretitan]

Thanks - hopefully everything works out

 

[Togwotee]

I was in Gunnison 3rd season last year but I had a 66 tag. met a guy staying the same place we were that was hunting with his dad in 55. they never did see anything big but he was setting his dad up to shoot on a couple so so bucks and both got shot out from under him before he could shoot. they ended up eating their tags. a couple residents shot 3 points and went home mid season, said there were too many hunters for them.

Obviously road hunting is productive on these late hunts but their description of the hunter pressure leads me to believe you might need to use quads or something to get away from the crowds a bit. if that's possible.

No first hand experience but that's what they had to say.

 

[Mooretitan]

I keep looking at the maps trying to figure out the plan of attack to use the roads but also where we can get off the beaten path and into something most a driving by or won’t climb a ridge or two away from the roads.
Not a huge fan of road hunting but it does have its place in cover large amounts of ground

 

[HntHrdr]

Might as well grab an elk tag for him. I will say unit 55 is not what it was even a handful of years ago. You still hear of the occasional monster showing up but the basin has been hit real hard by the later seasons for 3 years now

 

[Mooretitan]

Everything seems to be on a downward trend when it comes to mule deer. Problem is that it’s probably not going to get any better anytime soon. Out look for mule deer is bleak, which sucks because I would rather hunt deer than any other a animal. But I am sure my son will find something that excites him. If not we will put the time and effort and have something to laugh about. I am sure between the two of us we can turn it into an adventure.
Any insight from anyone who is willing to help it’s appreciated. If everything works out I think he can put a good one on the ground.
Thanks

 

[nripepi]

For the price, I would definitely buy a youth elk tag. I am sure you will have a blast!

 

[fallguy]

Agree on getting the elk tag. Where else can you buy a NR deer tag plus an elk tag for $233? Good luck.

 

[Packout]

I bought my daughter an elk tag last year to go with her basin deer tag. She shot a good bull 10 minutes into the hunt, then passed on a couple mature bucks while we were dealing with the elk. She shot a decent 4x4 the next day- she liked the heavy, chocolate antlers.
You know a good way to ruin a deer hunt? Shoot an elk.
Hunting with kids is way more fun if you just let them choose what they want to shoot rather than holding their bullets unless it is one Dad wants to shoot.
I'd also recommend getting a hotel in Gunnison and enjoying the trip. It gets dark early so you have time at night to relax.
Have a warm dinner at Marios or El Paraiso. Lunch at the Dive or fast food if you are traveling between areas or just eat on the mtn.
Plenty of roads to drive, you could find a mature deer anywhere on the public. I'd bring the ATV. You can be more mobile and have more options.
I can't imagine it'd be much fun hauling an atv and all the gear it would take to make a decent camp in a tacoma. Your trailer will probably just freeze and be a tin freezer tent.
Get there Friday and go hunt Sat. I would rather spend limited days hunting than scouting.

 

[Bigwiffy]

Just go shoot the biggest one out of the graveyard.

 

[littlebighorn]

My son and I hunted next door to your unit last year. We stayed in a motel and I would go that route again if I had the tag. Those later seasons when the rut is kicking in seem to favor being mobile and going where the bucks are moving in.
We used a covered heated side by side and it made things much nicer than a cold ATV. On snowy days it saved our bacon. Most of the area was accessible by something like a Tacoma so that could also be your transportation, but even chained it could limit you some. The weather may or may not be an issue.
Having an elk tag could be a catch 22. If we would have had one my son would have likely missed out on his last day 200" muley.
He was holding out for something big, so he'd passed on some 170ish bucks early. The last day we had a herd of elk step out at first light. There were 2 legal rag horn bulls in it and we were lamenting the fact that we didn't have a tag as they walked out of sight. Twenty minutes later he spotted his smoker buck 2 miles away made a mad dash over and killed a buck of a lifetime. If we had an elk tag, we would have never seen the buck.
Congrats to your son and go have a great time.

 

[The_Coloradoboy]

Like others have said before.. things are really down as far as quality goes here in the basin. However there’s always a chance of running into something special. Highly recommend staying in town which allows for you to be mobile and not be committed to one specific area. There will be about 10 million OTC elk hunters to deal with, best advice is cover a lot of ground and stay diligent and you can turn something up. Majority of the bucks harvested will be 3 year old 140 to 160 type deer.