Colorado unit 61 3rd season mule deer

Muleykenobe · Feb 26, 2018

Looking for someone that enjoyed their unit 61 3rd season hunt. I have enough points to draw, but have read and heard a lot of folks have been disappointed. I've only hunted high country muleys in the past. Thanks, I know sometimes new guys don't get a whole lot of love on here. PM's would be great too.

Jerry · Feb 26, 2018

Be very careful with 61 deer, I've been told deer are way down in numbers & quality from other hunters from '17. Way too iffy there. I am only going to get another point this year as I cannot find a good unit to try-- I have 9 points now. Sorry to bring bad news.
Jerry Gold

Blank · Feb 26, 2018

A good friend burned a lot of points on it last year and was disappointed. Never saw a good buck to shoot.

ByeByeObamas · Feb 26, 2018

If i had that many pts (which i believe took 13 last year) i wouldnt go to that area. It was hot and not too productive. Thats a ton of pts. No one i saw saud they even got eyes on a big buck. In fact, i didnt see little bucks acting silly.

I definitely blew off people saying pray for weather.

Elkhunter96 · Feb 27, 2018

Call Ryan Weimer from Weimer hunt Camp. He can tell you about 61 and the quality. I hunted in back in 2014 or 2015. It was good, but not great. I killed a 170 class buck, probably could have waited for something better. But, I liked the look of him.

I have heard that it has been on a steady decline for deer. Elk numbers seem to be going up and deer down, but there are still some great bucks that come off it. But in reality, which is true for most CO trophy units, its a 160-180 type hunt with a few better being taken.

elks96 · Feb 28, 2018

On the flip side most of Colorado was a bust for deer last year due to weather. I would venture that with the warm weather and a delayed start to the rut action many of the bigger bucks stayed hidden and as a result this year could be great for bigger bucks

txhunter58 · Feb 28, 2018

For those nay sayers that say that is too many points for the quality, please tell us another unit that takes the same or close to that which has better quality?? Not many choices in that point range for "can't miss" trophy quality I would say.

If you want a hunt that is not too crowded with hunters and the chance to see a good many deer, and the potential for a wall hanger, then 61 may be a decent place to spend points. My brother is in the same boat (13 points) and wants to cash in probably next year, so he is having trouble deciding too.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

Muleykenobe · Feb 28, 2018

LAST EDITED ON Feb-28-18 AT 04:34PM (MST)[p]I'm thinking the same thing about 61. I would think at some point it would have to be good. I have 15 points right now. I've just read of several people struggling to even find deer which kind of scares me. There's not many early archery or muzzy tags, no 4th season, and limited elk tags. The success rate has been creeping up, but would hate to make a mistake with 15 pts. I'm also looking at 74 early rifle too. I've had some success early with archery and muzzy, but kind of like to hunt the rut sometime. Thanks to everyone for the replies.

Gjkimber45 · Feb 28, 2018

I agree with elks96 the weather was horrible last year 3rd season. I picked up a returned deer tag for unit 62 third season. Unseasonably warm and the wind was blowing extremely hard for the first 5 days. Non stop and gusting to 40+mph. It made for some hard glassing.

txhunter58 · Feb 28, 2018

Problem is, when was the last "good" weather for the late seasons? I hunted the 4th season in 16 and it was warm and dry then. Not much action/deer movement then as well. We probably deal with only 1 good year in 4 on average? So have to make your plans based on 75% chance the weather will be warm and dry.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

Coloradoboy · Feb 28, 2018

61 can be a brutally tough hunt... numbers are down and without weather (which seems par for the course these days) alot of bucks hang up in the thick stuff and become ghost like. If you know the unit well it could be worth while but without it could be very frustrating to say the least..

Coloradoboy

El Gringo · Mar 1, 2018

I spend a bit of time over there, from Sept. all the way through 4th Rifle Season. I personally wouldn't burn 5, much less 15 points on that Deer tag. If you do, I would Highly recommend booking with Garvey Brothers or Allout outfitters. The Garveys produce some very nice bucks, but they're all on the lower private.

For reference, I probably see 100 Elk, for every deer I see in 61. I'm sure there are a few Giants, but without years of knowledge on the unit, I wouldn't want to gamble on turning one up.

El Gringo · Mar 1, 2018

>For those nay sayers that say
>that is too many points
>for the quality, please tell
>us another unit that takes
>the same or close to
>that which has better quality??
> Not many choices in
>that point range for "can't
>miss" trophy quality I would
>say.
>
>If you want a hunt that
>is not too crowded with
>hunters and the chance to
>see a good many deer,
>and the potential for a
>wall hanger, then 61 may
>be a decent place to
>spend points. My brother is
>in the same boat (13
>points) and wants to cash
>in probably next year, so
>he is having trouble deciding
>too.
>
>txhunter58
>
>venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore
>I am)

53 or 54 3rd would Smoke 61 for a good quality deer hunt, with equal top end potential, and one hell of a lot more opportunity for nice bucks.....

TrophyDeer · Mar 5, 2018

I enjoyed hunting unit 61. I hunted 10 days last year during the third season. It is a bitter sweet place. It was very tough! I did not see, let alone, kill a Monster Muley. I love the country but it is extremely frustrating at the same time. One would think you would be seeing deer throughout this beautiful country. That is not the case. It is very easy to go days without seeing a deer. I know there are some great deer in this unit but you have to be very lucky to find one.

gburk · Oct 28, 2020

How is 61 looking after a bit of weather earlier this week? Anyone been in the area recently and are the deer moving lower?
We will be in there third season for my son’s deer tag in a little over a week. Weather looks to have stabilized a bit unfortunately! Haven’t been there before so we’ll hopefully learn a lot!

Thanks!

coloradoman · Oct 28, 2020

Hope you didn’t invest any points on a tag for this unit... just saying

gburk · Oct 29, 2020

That bad??
No, it was a leftover. And my sons a notorious meat hunter who will refuse to pass a legal animal when hungry... does that help? We won’t be holding out for anything special.
Would a bear tag make for a more interesting trip?

coloradoman · Oct 29, 2020

That’s good
Go have fun and good luck. You never know you may stumble into an ass kicker!
I would definitely pick up a bear tag if you can!

gburk · Oct 29, 2020

thanks! will get a bear tag, and will keep an eye out for a cow tag too!
it's hard to believe that in this, the information age, non-residents are spending upwards of 11 points on a hunt so universally criticized online! Don't they read "the forums"? maybe not

coloradoman · Oct 29, 2020

If you get lucky and find a cow tag call me and I will come up and put you on a cow!

gburk · Oct 29, 2020

Sweet!
Warning, I've been known to take people up on offers like that!

Appreciate it.

dihardhunter · Oct 29, 2020

coloradoman said:
If you get lucky and find a cow tag call me and I will come up and put you on a cow!

I've got a cow tag for 3rd 61, will reach out if we glass up a big muley. Got a deer tag for 62 too, looking forward to it but wish the cold weather would stick around - doesn't look like that's going to happen.

southernutahhunter · Oct 29, 2020

I have a deer tag for 62. Not trying to ask for spots you will hunt, but wondering if you think the deer will be transitioning to lower country by the 3rd season.

gburk · Oct 29, 2020

dihardhunter said:
I've got a cow tag for 3rd 61, will reach out if we glass up a big muley. Got a deer tag for 62 too, looking forward to it but wish the cold weather would stick around - doesn't look like that's going to happen.

cool man, sounds good.

maybe, just maybe, there's another front rolling in the first weekend of 3rd season, if long term forecast can be believed. looks pretty weak though, at this point.

dihardhunter · Oct 29, 2020

southernutahhunter said:
I have a deer tag for 62. Not trying to ask for spots you will hunt, but wondering if you think the deer will be transitioning to lower country by the 3rd season.

Yes, there are lots of deer (notice I didn't say all the quality bucks) down low due to the snow storm this past weekend. I've got that on multiple good accounts from folks in the area, that said - if this warm weather continues to peel off the snow cover quickly, many (most) of the bigger older bucks are going to hang back a little in the transition cover. Going to take one more big nudge to knock the big boys out of hiding...that said, rut is right around the corner!

Osprey · Nov 5, 2020

It's no secret that the deer numbers in 61 and 62 are way down. I wouldn't use points in the area. Just returned from there a saw very few deer. Not a buck over 150