Deer Rifle Seasons

[sniper14]

I've never hunted deer in Colorado but I've been buying points for 8 years. I know they have different hunting seasons and I assume not all the units are the best during the 4th season. How can you research and find out if a unit is better to hunt in the early rifle or if it is better to try and hunt that unit in the 3rd or 4th season? The last thing I want to do is burn points on a unit and hunt it before the deer are there or draw a 4th season and find out they leave this unit and winter somewhere else.

 

[Joe2Kool]

I've only hunted CO a few times, and like you, have accumulated deer points, as well as elk.

Suggestion, take a look at the drawn out reports,

https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics-Deer.aspx

or use TopRut. If you have OnX Elite, (the $99/year option) you can access TR thru OnX.

Anyway, look through the potential GMU's you can draw, and compare the points required for Archery, Muzzy, 2R, etc... If you see a trend from 20 points to 1 point, or 1 point to 20 points, you know something is up. Maybe it takes weather to push deer into a unit. Or maybe they migrate out of a unit as weather moves in.

Once you have a couple of specific units, post a question about them. Once you look at the draw reports, it will narrow down your options considerably.

I recently did this with an elk unit and got some good intel, specifically related to timing of the rut.

Something else to be aware of, NR tags have been decreased from 35% to 25% this year. I'm not quoting this from the CPW site, but from replies I've gotten on other posts. I believe the info is correct, but I did not confirm it, and it may apply to elk and not deer. In other words, trust but verify!

Good luck!

 

[sniper14]

I've only hunted CO a few times, and like you, have accumulated deer points, as well as elk.

Suggestion, take a look at the drawn out reports,

https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics-Deer.aspx

or use TopRut. If you have OnX Elite, (the $99/year option) you can access TR thru OnX.

Anyway, look through the potential GMU's you can draw, and compare the points required for Archery, Muzzy, 2R, etc... If you see a trend from 20 points to 1 point, or 1 point to 20 points, you know something is up. Maybe it takes weather to push deer into a unit. Or maybe they migrate out of a unit as weather moves in.

Once you have a couple of specific units, post a question about them. Once you look at the draw reports, it will narrow down your options considerably.

I recently did this with an elk unit and got some good intel, specifically related to timing of the rut.

Something else to be aware of, NR tags have been decreased from 35% to 25% this year. I'm not quoting this from the CPW site, but from replies I've gotten on other posts. I believe the info is correct, but I did not confirm it, and it may apply to elk and not deer. In other words, trust but verify!

Good luck!

Great advice. Thanks

 

[sniper14]

As you do research on areas, how do you find out areas that allow and don't allow OHV?

 

[HntHrdr]

As you do research on areas, how do you find out areas that allow and don't allow OHV?

On X shows some road use, be careful Co doesn’t have near as many OHV roads relative to AZ or some of the other western states generally the western slope has a lot more OHV access than front range or central Mt.

 

[oldmossback]

joe2cool is right on with his advise and yes most units are better 4th season, But with the later season dates lately, 3rd can be just as good although more crowded.

 

[Joe2Kool]

As you do research on areas, how do you find out areas that allow and don't allow OHV?

I'll defer on that question. The only western hunt I've had an ATV, my hunting buddy did all the research. He did have to buy an OHV permit.