How many days for scouting 2nd season CO

tnvol · Oct 16, 2023

Hey guys! My son and I have drawn a couple of deer tags for 2nd season CO this year and this will be our first time hunting Colorado. How many days does everyone typically give to scouting before opening day?? Just curious to hear opinions on when hunting a new area. Good luck to everyone this fall!

elkassassin · Oct 16, 2023

I Don't Know How Many Days?

But I Do Know You Don't Learn A New Unit/Area Quick!

Letshunt · Oct 16, 2023

How many years did it take you draw? If it’s a tag that you are only going to get to hunt once in your life then I’d take as many as you can prior to opening day. If it’s a unit you plan on drawing every year and your plan is to learn it over a few years of hunting in the unit then I’d say 1-2 days prior to the start of your hunt.

tnvol · Oct 16, 2023

Letshunt said:
How many years did it take you draw? If it’s a tag that you are only going to get to hunt once in your life then I’d take as many as you can prior to opening day. If it’s a unit you plan on drawing every year and your plan is to learn it over a few years of hunting in the unit then I’d say 1-2 days prior to the start of your hunt.

This is unit in southern CO we can probably draw every 3-4 years as it sits right now. Not a top end unit but supposedly a decent one.

1989Cohunter · Oct 16, 2023

I would only do one or two. Deer are pretty mobile that time of year. It’s a tale old as time, finding a nice buck day before season just to never see it again.

wweaver79 · Oct 17, 2023

I know where your going and I think that committing to staying the whole 9 days during 2nd season is more important than days on the front end. Half the people have left and are gone Monday morning.

tnvol · Oct 17, 2023

wweaver79 said:
I know where your going and I think that committing to staying the whole 9 days during 2nd season is more important than days on the front end. Half the people have left and are gone Monday morning.

Hey man! How’s your season been so far??!!

wweaver79 · Oct 17, 2023

tnvol said:
Hey man! How’s your season been so far??!!

Not bad, helped my cousin in NM on his archery elk hunt and leaving Nov 6th for third season co deer with my cousin, he owes me some glassing days, lol, and a couple friends. Need to get out around here more however.

Mallardsx2 · Oct 17, 2023

If I had never been there before, I would show up 1 day early and drive as many roads and check as many access points as possible.

Thats just me.

Deercy · Oct 17, 2023

I like a day and a half in my normal areas. That is stretching it in my life. Ideally I wish I lived on those mountains....

Ridn9high · Oct 17, 2023

If I don’t know the unit and am able to stay the whole season and scout 1-2 days prior to opener, that’s what I like to do. Some years I might only have 7 days for a hunt, so I’m not going to show up early to scout. Instead, I will use all those days during season.

Focoelkman · Oct 17, 2023

We had deer in our camp , guess dinner smelled great?! No bucks were seen but plenty of does. How big is the unit and do ya have a few places and plans chosen? I’d say have a day to at least hike in and look around for deer / sign.

tnvol · Oct 17, 2023

Focoelkman said:
We had deer in our camp , guess dinner smelled great?! No bucks were seen but plenty of does. How big is the unit and do ya have a few places and plans chosen? I’d say have a day to at least hike in and look around for deer / sign.

It’s big country..it’s a large area, however it’s an otc elk unit. I’m curious to see how that plays into our plans. We’ve got lots of areas marked on OnX from escouting but nothing compares to boots on the ground. We can hunt 8 of the 9 day season but I have the flexibility to come out 2-3 days early so I suppose we will!

nmbighorn · Oct 17, 2023

Find a spot in the middle of the area you are looking to hunt, roll your window down and listen for shots, that'll tell you where the animals are at. ?

tnvol · Oct 17, 2023

nmbighorn said:
Find a spot in the middle of the area you are looking to hunt, roll your window down and listen for shots, that'll tell you where the animals are at. ?

Where I’m from road hunting is called trolling..I could just troll instead of bottom fish..”trolling” works well with a sunroof..gives you 360 degrees.

Servehim · Oct 17, 2023

I'm retired and am blessed with an understanding wife, a big plus as getting time off work isn't an issue anymore. I always spend 3- 4 days maybe a month before the hunt, I'll drive every road and track that on my OnX. So much of the data on topos and OnX isn't correct. I'll go home and study what roads are actually open and find areas I can get to that are away from road traffic without to much effort ( gotta be able to get the critter out). I'll try to get back to my designated spots a couple days before the season opens to see what other hunters are doing and make decisions on where I want to be at daylight on opening day. Couldn't do this for many of my working years but definitely taking advantage of it now.

Muley · Oct 18, 2023

I live in the unit that I hunt. I've hunted it for decades. I know it well, but I still scout 4-5 weeks before the season starts.

I do it because I love to scout and I want to know for a fact where the deer/elk are hanging out. I hunt the muzzleloader season, so they aren't disturbed by gun shots before I start hunting. That makes my scouting more effective.

Yes, i'm an old fart, retired, single, and lot's of time to do as I please.

Luckily, there are no roads where I hunt, so I don't have to deal with road hunters. I use the word hunters loosely.