Colo monster muley bucks 2021

J

jims

Long Time Member
Messages
3,758
Taking a look at all the meat pole, give away, success and photo/buck contest photos it appears that a lot of upper age class bucks were harvested west of I25 this year in Colorado. This is exactly what the CPW wanted by issuing more tags and later rifle season dates. According to the CPW they advised that increasing tags and harvesting older age class bucks that travel more and do more of the breeding could potentially decrease the spread of CWD. Pretty much anyone that has spent time in Colo's CWD hotspots knows that this is totally untrue and is only an excuse to sell more tags.

It was somewhat of a blessing having nicer weather for most of the 3rd and 4th seasons with little snow to push deer down into winter ranges. Now that the 4th season is almost over, how many guys that spent time in the hills in November believe that mature bucks will be highly impacted by this for years and years to come? What do you expect Colo's mule deer to be like in 5 years?

I'm not sure if it's possible to put an end to this travesty? Although it was exciting to see so many hunters harvest great Colo muley bucks in 2021, I can't imagine what will be left after the current 5 year season structure has ended? I wonder if it is possible to end this nonsense before that time? Over the past 15 to 20 years, Colorado has become the mecca for great bucks throughout the Western US even with CWD. If anyone has any suggestions on how to end this, lets get started!
 
The new herd bull.
ED5B5337-457A-4F01-A379-893E4C400874.jpeg
 
Ridn9high said:
Better shoot the antlers off that one! Only way he’ll survive all the poachers. Would hate for someone to kill such a magnificent buck after the season.
Click to expand...
Tikka said:
I hope you sit on him all winter long to get those sheds?
If you don’t somebody else will and they’ll get the all the IG likes…
Click to expand...
He’s kinda an ornery little guy; always on the fight. I put the dogs inside when he shows up because I worry he’ll try to spar with them.
 
If you are seeing a lot of big buck pictures from Colorado then social media is doing its job on building unrealistic expectations for what Colorado has to offer. I fell for it and was disappointed like many others. One of the so called best units in the state and I seen tags on yearling two point bucks and 18” 3x4’s bucks. Locals and nonresident alike scratching their heads on the situation but yes I do believe the weather saved a few mature bucks. From what I seen Colorado has started down the slope before this current five year structure and it is a shame. After this year in Colorado it makes me appreciate my home state more than it gets credit for. One thing is for sure and that is all good things come to a end and even Colorado could not weather the storm after being on top for so long. After word gets out I cannot see how this will not have a negative impact on some of the small communities that hunters support during the fall. It was nice to see the welcome hunters sign in the small towns and those people obviously see the value in having good hunting grounds close by their towns. There is a certain guide on this site that has been warning everyone for years about his dissatisfaction with the management in Colorado big game and he is spot on from what I seen. Everyone saying you have to pass up 180” bucks to find a 200” is a little out of touch with the reality of the state of public land in Colorado right now. Someone said it best in another tread in that first if there is no 200” bucks in the unit you are hunting that you better not pass up a 180” buck and I would add if you are so lucky to find a 180” or 160” buck for that matter. I felt like people was throwing out 160” buck talk to loosely because I seen some of the talked about 160” bucks that they were talking about and they looked like 140”-145” bucks to me but everyone is different. Points only guarantees you a tag in Colorado, after that your tag may end up on a two point buck like I was seeing this year. It was crazy. Anyways just my thoughts. Happy hunting to everyone.
 
twopointdn said:
Points only guarantees you a tag, after that your tag may end up on a two point buck like I was seeing this year.
Click to expand...
This has always been my beef when it comes to the opportunity vs quality discussion (btw, I'm not directing my comment to you or any one person).

IMO, points are too heavily used to analyze what type of outcome should be expected. Whether that be experience, animal maturity, etc. There just aren't any guarantees when it comes to hunting. I get the points game, but it takes years to learn units and animal behavior on those units.

I'm young enough to not know what it was like when people refer to the good ole days, but old enough to remember being able to go buy a deer tag and hunt every year in my home state. Makes me cringe when the discussions of cutting opportunity to help quality come up.

Best advice I can give anyone that draws any tag. Go hunt, take the time to enjoy the opportunity, and don't base your happiness on the end result.

End of rant.
 
GLEDEASY said:
This has always been my beef when it comes to the opportunity vs quality discussion (btw, I'm not directing my comment to you or any one person).

IMO, points are too heavily used to analyze what type of outcome should be expected. Whether that be experience, animal maturity, etc. There just aren't any guarantees when it comes to hunting. I get the points game, but it takes years to learn units and animal behavior on those units.

I'm young enough to not know what it was like when people refer to the good ole days, but old enough to remember being able to go buy a deer tag and hunt every year in my home state. Makes me cringe when the discussions of cutting opportunity to help quality come up.

Best advice I can give anyone that draws any tag. Go hunt, take the time to enjoy the opportunity, and don't base your happiness on the end result.

End of rant.
Click to expand...
I use to be on the train to cut more tags, but not as much anymore. There are sooooo many factors hurting the deer herds across the west, and I don't think over hunting them is one of the BIGGEST concerns. Hopefully we can solve the riddle and help our deer herds.
 
I mostly agree with you guys, BUT……

How many threads did you see this year that said “I saw some nice ones, but they were all on private”?

There are two major differences between public and private: agricultural feed/water, and restricted hunting.

Of all the things ruining our deer hunting, wildlife managers can really only affect human predation.

My observations from a region of formerly OTC tags. IMO, that’s what got us here. It’s unsustainable with all 185 things on the Hell f’n Right list we throw at them.

I apologize for the somber post. I will go back to posting pisscutter’s.:)
 
(take this with a grain of salt because im not that well educated on CWD) in my opinion stopping CWD is a pipe dream just like stopping covid is.

Unless they can somehow come up with a way to find a cure to it, there is no getting rid of it and hopefully one day deer start getting immune to it.
 
Where are you seeing all these older age class Bucks in pictures That are being killed. I just came out of the Gunnison Basin on third season, spent two weeks there. I saw a lot of Bucks, alot of Bucks between 1 and 3 years old a handful of 41/2 year olds and one older Buck. The biggest Buck being in the 180 class, I did not shoot a Deer. The big problem I see is all the Big talking 200” trophy hunters that after the second day of the season have to whack a Buck and start pounding on the 3 year old Bucks in the 160 to 170 class. The best Buck I have heard of was a 209 out of unit 54 and saw pictures
 
hawkbill said:
Where are you seeing all these older age class Bucks in pictures That are being killed. I just came out of the Gunnison Basin on third season, spent two weeks there. I saw a lot of Bucks, alot of Bucks between 1 and 3 years old a handful of 41/2 year olds and one older Buck. The biggest Buck being in the 180 class, I did not shoot a Deer. The big problem I see is all the Big talking 200” trophy hunters that after the second day of the season have to whack a Buck and start pounding on the 3 year old Bucks in the 160 to 170 class. The best Buck I have heard of was a 209 out of unit 54 and saw pictures
Click to expand...
Was that a typical with very deep forks?
 
According to several posts above, age class is already down in Colorado. I agree! What do you think it will be like 4 years from now after the 5 year season structure is done with later dates plus more tags?

The big question is….Will the CPW’s plan of doing this truly prevent CWD from spreading and from severely impacting Colos mule deer? There is no doubt in my mind that CWD will still be around at similar levels as it is today. The number of CWD infected deer are relatively low even in the hotspots and the number of truly sick deer with CWD are an even lower percentage of the total deer population. The extremely low fraction of total deer population that are truly sick are often killed by predators. We already know that slaughtering deer in the hotspot areas doesn’t work and CWD continues to spread. The sad part about it is the deer haven’t recovered in those slaughter zones and CWD is still present.

The big question is….is there any way to change the later season dates and decrease tags to levels they were a couple years ago… before the end of this 5 year plan is complete?

I guess I’ll ask critics to my suggestion “How many truly sick mule deer have you seen the past few years while scouting and hunting?” I’m out in the field with mule deer in what is considered a CWD hot zone in Colorado just about every day at work and haven’t seen a visibly sick deer in over 10 years!
 
Last edited:
It would appear CPW is using the same method as when they re-establish native trout populations- eradicate everything and start fresh.

I realize that’s ridiculous because it would pretty hard to get everything out of the nooks and crannies. But it’s a fair question to ask when does this end.

I have never seen a deer acting sick. I’ve seen a few mortally wounded by cars and hunters though.
 
I got into a huge migration one day after the second season closed and it lasted for days before the Deer dispersed into small herds in outlying pockets. I saw a lot of Bucks and Does, probably over a thousand Deer in two days. I have not seen that many Deer since I was a kid growing up in north west Colo.I am looking for needle in a haystack or a real monster Buck. I know what CWD is and was looking for sick Deer and did not see a one instead I saw some of the healthiest, best looking Mule Deer I have ever seen. As far as what do I think it will be like in 5 years, as long as guys keep whacking 3 year old Bucks in Throphy units that are turning into Oppurtunity Units with to many Buck tags, very few older age class Deer will survive.
 
The number of deer that carry CWD are a fraction of the total deer population in Colorado. The truly sick deer that are destined to die from CWD are only a fraction of the population of deer that carry CWD. As I mentioned before the sick deer get eaten in a hurry by predators. Predators are a great friend for getting rid of sick and dying critters! The CPW already knows that culling hotspots doesn't work!

Is the late season dates plus increase in tags really going to do anything other than severely decrease the old age class and total number of bucks found in every Western Colorado unit? It's obvious that this will generate more income by selling more deer tags! It's sad to see Colorado's top standing as the mule deer mecca of the West go into the toilet! If you are like me, you can't just sit back and watch this happen!
 
Colorado is watching Idaho and all that revenue the Farm, Fish and Game is bringing in, especially on the second controlled hunt apps.
 
It's obvious every Western state is taking full advantage of revenue generated from license and pref/bonus pt sales. Some states are getting a little carried away with this! It's obvious that Colo is one of them! Sad to see a mule deer mecca turn to trash in the name of $! CWD is a very POOR EXCUSE! Public hunters shouldn't buy into this and let their voice be heard!
 

Similar threads

J
Mule Deer and CWD
Replies
45
Views
1k
HIcountryman
HIcountryman
D
Beware of Guided Mule Deer Hunts in Huntsville UT
Replies
97
Views
5k
wstrntines
wstrntines
J
Colorado CPW Commissioner Debate!
Replies
36
Views
2k
jims
J

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos

Member Gallery Photos and Videos!

91B124F6-5B79-4EFF-889D-726B14A2346B.jpeg
7C1362FC-5852-4552-A8D4-CE6188328E84.jpeg
IMG_1894.jpeg
Wyoming Archery Success
20190627_111316.jpg
20210713_115254.jpg
392E31C2-0F71-4234-AE12-D30EBF35B93F.jpeg
80FF7E17-2D1C-45FC-AE2D-71AF77801B7D.jpeg
received_3157262317864012.jpeg
6704A658-5FE3-48A2-9E99-9EA32060FA12.jpeg
IMG_1891.jpeg
E23F4897-8D88-49A6-AA75-93AC8613EBFF.jpeg
Back
Top Bottom