Colorado Unit 35/361

Cohunter22

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Hi Everyone,

I am new to the forum, but just wanted to say hello and ask one straight forward question if I may. I am a Colorado resident and have been hunting unit 15 for a few years with no luck but this year I decided to try a different unit.
My group of 3 all had 1 point so I think we have a good chance of drawing a 3rd season rifle tag in unit 35. I was looking at the Pisgah Mountain area along the river for a camp site then hiking down the ridges towards the river to get away from the crowds, hopefully. My question is, can you get a truck up those roads in that area to the top pleatueau of Pisgah mtn or is it pretty much impassable with anything but an ATV or on foot? I fully intend to scout the area well before the season but wanted to see what information I could get on here. The access looks kinda rough form what I can see either way. Anyways, thanks ahead of time for the responses. Best of luck to everyone this year!
 
I picked up a 3rd rifle tag last year off the leftover list and hunted the opening weekend as kind of a last minute hail mary trip. I spent 3 days in the unit and can honestly say I was not that impressed. It kind of felt like i was hunting in utah with all the Utah guys running all over the place. There were some big bucks killed and I saw a couple good bucks but there are truly people everywhere and I found access to be difficult as people have highlighted on here in the past.

If you have the whole season to hunt and are willing to grind it out i'm sure you can turn something up but just be ready for a tough hunt with a lot of pressure.
 
Yes you can get a truck there. I hunted it in 2015 and was planning on doing the same thing you are and all I seen was trucks with utah plates. Ha ha felt like I was I utah all over again. We had 3 tags and hunted the last 6 days of 3rd season and we all went home emptied handed. Never seen anything bigger then 150in. Tons and tons of hunters. Beautiful deer country. It was hot and dry that year. We stayed in Eagle and we didn’t have a morning with frost on the window. CRAZY TALKED with a lot of local hunters and they said when they get 2ft of snow on the mtn 35 comes alive, we never had the weather
 
I hunted that country for about 15 years, from 2002 to a few years ago. I won't go back. Too many people. Too many unethical people. We killed some good bucks 10-15 years ago, but it has gone downhill measurably.

You could still kill a solid buck there, but I hunt as much or more for the experience than the harvest. My recent experiences have been less than stellar.
 
Thanks for all the replies. Seems to be the case in a lot of units these days. Now, I'm hoping we dont get drawn, haha. We had our second choice for 444. Maybe that would be better.
 
Pretty much any unit that has OTC elk hunters is going to have the orange army in Colo. As mentioned you can hunt hard but it's tough to get away from OTC elk hunters even if you hike into super remote and rough areas. 35/36 hands out an incredible number of deer tags during the 3rd season so you also have lots of deer hunters to contend with.

In regard to Pisgah and any 2 track road in Eagle County....Things can change dramatically from 1 year to the next. You may need 4 chains to get anywhere 1 year and the next year it may be dry. Your guess is as good as me! Be prepared for the worse and you'll be ok.

There is a town not far away called Gypsum. If you know what gypsum is it's pretty much slimy mud that they make drywall out of. That's exactly what the roads in that entire area turn to when wet! It's not fun and can be dangerous if you get on hillsides with steep side slopes. I'm not sure how many chains I have broken in that country trying to get back into areas. There's the chance you may not get very far on some of those roads with all 4 tires chained up! If it's cold at night or early morning those are the 2 best times to get around.
 
Jims, Thanks for the info. I am very familiar with the orange OTC army, and I always plan for the worse so Im sure ill find a way in there, even if it means a long hike. Ill do my usual, find a spot to start from in the summer, get in there crazy early on the opener in the hopes that if someone sees me they will turn the other way. Hopefully it will thin out a bit during the week as I plan to spend 5-6 days out there.
 
The two track roads you're referring to on top of Pisgah are closed to vehicle traffic. You can park down at the base and walk up or take a horse but you can't drive up to the top. The LEO ticketed a couple folks for taking their 4wheeler up there the last time I hunted 35 when I drove by them on the lower road.
 
I've hunted this area multiple times, it used to be good hunting but now its about like a Utah general unit. Even with snow it will not come alive nor will you be able to find a spot to get away from the people!
 
Remember that those units are otc for elk and there is an orange army just about anywhere you can legally drive. You would be amazed at where orange shows up without roads as well.
 
You cannot get away from people on these units. They far far from what they used to be. Everywhere you go there will be someone hunting it with you. Like I said Utah General.
 

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