maroon bells ER

Flatlander51

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hey guys I should draw the maroon bells ER tag this year with 7 points! hoping to get in a scouting trip or at least pack in a few days before the season. been doing some google earthing trying to narrow down areas. anyone have any advice or experience for this hunt? I will be in shape! lol
 
It's not the hunt it used to be but there's still some good deer to be had. Just not near the numbers there once was, the high country kind of suffered from the restructuring of season dates over the years. Heavy archery pressure hasn't really helped it much over the past 10 years or so also. The big bucks become very elusive come September if they've had a couple archery hunters mess with them.

Coloradoboy
 
I’m with Fullthrottle on this- Sept 2 is pretty late for an archery opener in CO. It certainly doesn’t incentivize bowhunting.

Hunting early is important to high-country bowhunters. Most states openers hover around Memorial Day weekend, the undisputed heavyweight champion of public land usage- so hunting around this weekend is usually a joke. With the looming threat of a bunch of dudes toting long range rifles up in the alpine and bowhunters left with just a few (hopefully) uninterrupted days before those big guns start in the deer- you sometimes have to hunt harder and more aggressive than you want.

It would be great to have a standard archery opener in Colorado; and most Western States the week before Memorial Day to decrease pressure, hunter congestion and recreational user conflicts.
 
My sister lives in Old Snowmass and I spend nearly every weekend in the RFV. That being said, don't get your hopes up. There's still some nice deer around but as mentioned, it's not like it once was. I know a local that spent three weeks in the alpine on horses last summer and couldn't turn up a buck worth the points. He turned the tag back in. Not trying to sound overly discouraging, and there's absolutely the possibility of killing a good deer, just my perspective from someone who knows the area intimately. With enough time spent scouting and realistic expectations, you could have a very enjoyable hunt.
 
What caliber of buck would make you happy? 160? 180? 260? If up to 180 would make you happy, then it's doable if you can put in some time scouting. Trying to scout right before the hunt is going to be hard to do. To effectively scout, you'll need to hit different areas, and trying to pack into one area for a couple days, then out and back in somewhere else the next, then do it a few more times, is really tough. The trails aren't overly steep, but in most areas you're still climbing 3k to 4k vertical feet. That's work, especially with all the gear needed to deal with weather. Snow is quite likely.

I would recommend trying to scout 3-4 different areas in the summer over a couple 6 day trips. I think if you can do that, you'll find a 180+ buck, maybe even 190+. If not, then hopefully there's one in whatever area you decide to hit. You just do the best you can. I'd imagine there's a 170-180 type buck in most areas, with "area" equaling 4 - 6 square miles of high country.

Just like everywhere, they become much harder to find in September than in July and August.

There's a lot of places in there where a big buck could be......no secret spots where all the big bucks live. It's sure awesome country though. Amazing place for backpacking......
 
Remember also they give 53 mountain goat tags in there between two seasons in September. Take that into account while scouting/researching
 

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