colorado 3rd season unit 12

Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
5
drew a colorado 3rd season mule deer tag for unit 12. which i will be able to hunt units 12, 13, 23, 24 on one tag. been doing quite a bit of research on maps and forums. also talked to the local biologist for that area. just looking for some local knowledge. not looking for any "honey holes" or asking an " exact spot" to go, not the type of guy to ask for hand outs. Thank you to anyone that takes the time to read this or write back!!
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
673
Location
Knoxville, TN
Can't help with any advice but, I'll be hunting the same unit but on private land. When I was at this ranch 2 years ago we saw a lot of mule deer. Most were about 7500 to 8000 feet and in the oak scrub. There was snow at that level. They were right at the snow/no snow line. We were hunting elk. This year I have an elk and mule deer tag. What the guides said were dink bucks, I thought were pretty nice, at least for an East TN whitetail hunter!

What surprised me was that they were not as skidish as whitetail. We stalked up on several large groups. Not sure if this is the norm or not???? The little bucks were hanging with groups of does and the big boys were pretty much by themselves.

two funny stories, we were walking up a trail and a doe with an orange radio collar and fawn started walking toward us. Got to about 20 yards and stopped. Guide said she probably thought I was a pumpkin!

the camp had some apple trees and the mule deer were eating them. One of the guides wanted some apples so we went over and started picking some. A doe was watching us. So I threw her an apple. Next thing we knew there were a dozen does around. Then a couple of younger bucks showed up. Pretty funny kept throwing them apples and they were fighting over them.

Good luck!
 
OP
C
Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
5
Thank you guys for a response!! I didn’t think I was gonna get any haven’t used a forum to much!! Im
 
OP
C
Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
5
Can't help with any advice but, I'll be hunting the same unit but on private land. When I was at this ranch 2 years ago we saw a lot of mule deer. Most were about 7500 to 8000 feet and in the oak scrub. There was snow at that level. They were right at the snow/no snow line. We were hunting elk. This year I have an elk and mule deer tag. What the guides said were dink bucks, I thought were pretty nice, at least for an East TN whitetail hunter!

What surprised me was that they were not as skidish as whitetail. We stalked up on several large groups. Not sure if this is the norm or not???? The little bucks were hanging with groups of does and the big boys were pretty much by themselves.

two funny stories, we were walking up a trail and a doe with an orange radio collar and fawn started walking toward us. Got to about 20 yards and stopped. Guide said she probably thought I was a pumpkin!

the camp had some apple trees and the mule deer were eating them. One of the guides wanted some apples so we went over and started picking some. A doe was watching us. So I threw her an apple. Next thing we knew there were a dozen does around. Then a couple of younger bucks showed up. Pretty funny kept throwing them apples and they were fighting over them.

Did you get a buck or bull last year? And how much snow was over there? Thank you for the response!!
 
OP
C
Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
5
It was good. Ended harvesting a decent buck. But it took boots on the ground to figure out the hunt. Tons of people and hunting pressure. But if you sit down and glass you watch people walk past bucks.
 

Stalker69

WKR
Joined
Apr 12, 2019
Messages
1,747
We hunted unit 23 for archery elk, we hunted 10 days, did not have deer lic. and we seen a doe and a fawn on the forth day. We parked at a trail head and hunted five miles back in. Not sure what it is like any more there in rifle season as we haven’t hunted that unit with rifle sense my dad passed.
 
Joined
Dec 11, 2020
Messages
46
It was good. Ended harvesting a decent buck. But it took boots on the ground to figure out the hunt. Tons of people and hunting pressure. But if you sit down and glass you watch people walk past bucks.
Did you have to glass and stalk the buck? Or did shoot the buck from your observation point?
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2020
Messages
619
drew a colorado 3rd season mule deer tag for unit 12. which i will be able to hunt units 12, 13, 23, 24 on one tag. been doing quite a bit of research on maps and forums. also talked to the local biologist for that area. just looking for some local knowledge. not looking for any "honey holes" or asking an " exact spot" to go, not the type of guy to ask for hand outs. Thank you to anyone that takes the time to read this or write back!!
We’ve seen some monsters in 12 during 1st rifle for elk. We see lots of does, the bucks are few and far between, but the quality is very good. We are elk hunting tho so we only see them if they walk up on us
 
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