Colorado 3rd verse 4th season choice

[Wapiti1]

Suppose an intrepid hunter has a few points jingling in his pocket. Suppose he wants to hunt mule deer in Colorado and those points happen to match up with that notion. This scholarly fellow has done a bit of research and has two lists of units he could draw one for each season.

The 3rd season list has "better" units on it than the 4th list. Season lengths are different as well. Does a longer 3rd season outweigh possibly better weather and the rut potential of 4th?

Pros and Cons to each season?

Jeremy

 

[cnelk]

Well, one thing to consider is the 3rd Season is OTC elk and the 4th season is all draw for elk.
Depends on if you want hordes of elk hunters when you're hunting deer.

 

[coues craze]

Id Take 3rd season in 2021...

 

[Jimss]

I believe the CPW may be changing season lengths and dates in the near future so things may change in dramatic fashion. There is no guarantee there will be better conditions and rut during the 4th season. Every year may be a little different. If there is a full moon, crunchy snow, 70 degree weather, etc during the 3rd or 4th seasons it can be a difficult hunt.

Depending upon the weather and year the rut can be almost nonexistent through all 4 seasons with the current season dates. As mentioned above, having OTC elk hunters the 3rd season can be frustrating in some units. You might take a look at approximately how many OTC elk hunters were in different units vs limited elk during 4th seasons. There usually are a chunk fewer deer hunters in the field the 4th seasons. Obviously some bucks are shot during the 3rd season so won't be available during the 4th.

Keep your fingers crossed that there isn't a bad winterkill this year! That alone can be a deal changer! Lastly, if season dates change there may be a lot of guys that were just applying for pref pts that suddenly decide to apply if the season dates are better? This may mean more pt creep? There are a lot of considerations!

 

[wannakillabigbull]

3rd season is about to switch to 7 days seasons (instead of 9), and 4th will be 5 day seasons as it has been. I would check the stats and see the difference in numbers of deer and elk hunters, and use that to help guide my decision.

 

[Wapiti1]

Forgot about OTC elk hunters. That is a double edged sword in a couple of ways. It allows for two tags in ones pocket, but it increases pressure. Pressure can work for or against you. 4th lowers pressure, but may be a single tag deal. I have a really hard time not shooting elk.

I'm aware of the season changes, and figure that a lot of points will burn in 2021. 2020 dates are still good for both seasons. Is the two extra days you get in 3rd worth it? Maybe, but I suppose it is a wash if I show up 3 days before the 4th opener and get a line on a deer or two.

Thanks guys.

Jeremy

 

[cnelk]

The thing about 3rd Season is most all of the hunters leave after the first 5 days.
Same applies for 2nd Season.

I was up poking last Saturday in an OTC area and didnt see a single hunter

Starting in 2020, 3rd season will be like this:

Third Combined Deer and Elk Regular Rifle Season
New 7-day season, followed by a 4-day break.
Deer and elk combined season. Opens on a Saturday.
Unlimited licenses available for antlered elk in OTC units. Limited either-sex or limited antlered elk licenses available in remaining limited units.
All antlerless elk licenses are limited. Limited licenses issued by GMU/DAU.
All deer licenses limited.
Antlered and antlerless deer or antlered deer only, issued by GMU/DAU.

 

[Steve O]

Yeah it’s a whole new world next year. I predict most 3rd season tags will cost more points than 4th season. Some years the ( days 4th season ends Nov 28. That seems really late to me. Thru a lot of circumstances I have 14 or 15 CO deer points and now I have to figure out again what to do with them.

 

[mcseal2]

With 4th season so late in the future you have to consider how many deer will be holed up on private by then also. That will depend a lot of the weather each year. It's really going to come down to picking a few units and researching the heck out of them to decide.

That's pretty much what it takes now, just a few different variables to consider. A buddy and I burned our points this year on what's normally a good 2nd season tag. We saw far fewer deer than expected. According to a warden we spoke to the record rainfall this summer and lack of harsh weather this fall had delayed the migration. We stuck it out and ended up with a couple of bucks we were pretty happy with despite the lack of deer numbers.

At some point you just have to roll the dice and burn the points. I don't think I'll ever hit double digit points for any species anywhere. I will just hunt more often and take my chances on decent units. There will always be a lot of factors that nobody can predict early during application season. I just get one hunt a year out of state, so I'll just draw the best tag I can and hunt it as best I can.

 

[Wapiti1]

3rd it is......…...or maybe 4th...…...…..or maybe...…..ah, hell.

Jeremy

 

[Nickofthewoods]

I strongly feel like it is very unit dependent. Third season in a unit with OTC Elk hunters is going to be way different than 3rd season in a limited Elk unit. Fourth season variablilty is a factor as well. On one of 4th hunts I observed strong rutting action and never so much as saw another hunter. The other was loaded with hunters in small parcels of public land where there were a ton of does and the only mature bucks seen were on private land, plus no rutting activity was observed. Different deer herds in different Colorado mountain ranges.

Third season is probably a safer bet if you can't pre-scout. Fourth is more of a gamble to me from the vastly differing experiences I have had.

 

[sndmn11]

Forgot about OTC elk hunters. That is a double edged sword in a couple of ways. It allows for two tags in ones pocket, but it increases pressure. Pressure can work for or against you. 4th lowers pressure, but may be a single tag deal. I have a really hard time not shooting elk.

I'm aware of the season changes, and figure that a lot of points will burn in 2021. 2020 dates are still good for both seasons. Is the two extra days you get in 3rd worth it? Maybe, but I suppose it is a wash if I show up 3 days before the 4th opener and get a line on a deer or two.

Thanks guys.

Jeremy

Solve the dilemma by hunting 3rd season elk OTC (assuming your block of prospects have OTC elk) and then 4th season deer. 3rd season is hunt/scout time.

 

[Wapiti1]

Now that could be a solid plan. Have to look at the ol' vacation schedule and see how that lays out. While I have an elk tag, I won't see any elk anyway, but I'll see bunches of deer.

Hmmmmm.

Jeremy

 

[justinspicher]

Now that could be a solid plan. Have to look at the ol' vacation schedule and see how that lays out. While I have an elk tag, I won't see any elk anyway, but I'll see bunches of deer.

Hmmmmm.

Jeremy

Lots of truth here.

 

[Steve O]

Solve the dilemma by hunting 3rd season elk OTC (assuming your block of prospects have OTC elk) and then 4th season deer. 3rd season is hunt/scout time.

The only problem with that plan is you will need three weeks to do that as they added a week off between 3rd and 4th.

My plan was not to gain so many points. I had some great boots on the ground info from a close friend. Both times I was ready to apply for that unit it got crushed with winter kill. Now that I have more than enough points for any archery tag in the state, I want to use them for rifle...I won’t ever have that many points again.

 

[cnelk]

The only problem with that plan is you will need three weeks to do that as they added a week off between 3rd and 4th.

You may want to check on that ^^^

See page 6 for season dates for the next 5 years - https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/H...al_BGSS_Proposals_Approved_in_September19.pdf

 

[BH107]

It’s going to be much different next year I have a feeling that they are going to significantly cut 3rd season tags because of the rut. In one unit I know of it took 10 points to for a non-res to draw a 4th season tag of 40... No way they have 300 for the same week next year. I’ll put money on 3rd and 4th being extremely limited this driving the points creek through the roof.

 

[Steve O]

You may want to check on that ^^^

See page 6 for season dates for the next 5 years - https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/H...al_BGSS_Proposals_Approved_in_September19.pdf

Thanks CN...9 days between 1&2, 5 days between 2&3, and 4 days between 3&4.

so next year to do 3rd season elk and 4th season deer it is Nov 7-22

2021 would be Nov 13-28

 

[197]

Well, one thing to consider is the 3rd Season is OTC elk and the 4th season is all draw for elk.
Depends on if you want hordes of elk hunters when you're hunting deer.

This may sound weird, but I have seen less elk hunters during late in the old 9-day 3rd seasons than in the 4th seasons. Many of the 4th seasons gives out tons of elk tags, so I would definitely look at that.

Also with the change in the new 3rd seasons going to only 7 days, I might lean more towards the fourth. Those dates change significantly though in 2021 where 4th season is over Thanksgiving (could be good or bad for hunters).

 

[Wapiti1]

I suspect folks are correct in the tag allocations going down.

Initially point creep will be awful, but will it stay that way? It may spread the pressure out over the state better and actually reduce point creep. Primo units being excluded from this comment. Those will stay at stupid levels for a long while regardless of actual trophy quality output.

Jeremy