Gunnison Moisture

bigsky2

Member
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56
I have a third season deer tag in a Gunnison unit. It sounds like Colorado in general has been really dry, I was curious if the Gunnison Basin has been in a severe drought as well. How does drought typically affect where the deer will be? Do they stay higher for longer if its really dry?
 
It's bad. Almost no rain the entire summer. Sage brush is not looking good. It could be a tough winter for the elk and deer herds. Higher elevations seem to have better forage right now.
 
Waygoner,

is it same as last year or worse? Seems the winter range was in rough shape last year and the higher you got, the better the forage.
Rich
 
Summers are getting hotter every year.

I hope it cools off for my Sept muzzy hunt but I kind of doubt it.
 
I am kinda dreading going to Kansas in a couple of weeks for ML whitetail...gona be hot !!! They got 15" of rain in one storm a few weeks ago...really green...a lot of agricultural damage...washed away the family beagle. ! Bugs are gone be thick !!!
 
How does drought typically affect where the deer will be elevation wise? Does this mean even in the 3rd season the deer are likely to be high assuming there's not a bunch of snow? Sorry for my ignorance, I'm used to hunting badlands/prairie deer so this mountain deer hunting is all new to me.
 
IMO, deer will be more concentrated on the best water/feed sources. In some cases that could be up in the high country if there's water available from springs/lakes, but in other cases it could be lower around ag fields with natural or man made water sources.
 
How does drought typically affect where the deer will be elevation wise? Does this mean even in the 3rd season the deer are likely to be high assuming there's not a bunch of snow? Sorry for my ignorance, I'm used to hunting badlands/prairie deer so this mountain deer hunting is all new to me.


Mountain weather is pretty unpredictable. We can have a hot dry summer and still have an early winter with lots of snow. It's one of those deals of being prepared for anything.
 
For the scouting I've done this summer, I'm not seeing deer at the low elevations. I would start at the quakies and higher.
 
It's way too early to know where the deer will be in 3rd season. They should be low by then. Deer move down not so much the weather unless it really bad but move by the hours in the day of daylight. They must have some built in clock/instinct to know the hours in a day and it's time to move.

Elk are different. They come down when the snow covers their food.
 

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