Colorado GMU 18/28 thoughts

[COHunter33]

I have been hunting these units for a few years and finally drew a 4th season buck tag (took a few preference points) and wanted to get some opinions on which unit would be worth focusing on. The tag is good for both units and there are a lot of variables in play that were not in play for my previous hunts in the area. These include the mule deer rut, potentially significant snow, and the east troublesome burn scar in unit 18. Any thoughts or experience on which unit to focus on would be much appreciated. The number of 4th season buck tags is relatively limited, but there are a fair number of elk tags sold so I expect a decent amount of hunting pressure as well. Thanks guys!

 

[Mountainrancher]

If you’re hunting those units 4th season hopping for a good buck be prepared to be very frustrated with elk hunters bumping every deer for miles out without a care in the world.

 

[JakeNeathawk]

I hunted 28 last year for 4th season elk. I saw a few deer but mostly elk hunters. One thing that seemed to help a little was that some of the forest service roads closed on Nov 15 and that kept some of the pressure out if you’re willing to hike a little further

 

[BruinPoint]

I have been hunting these units for a few years and finally drew a 4th season buck tag (took a few preference points) and wanted to get some opinions on which unit would be worth focusing on. The tag is good for both units and there are a lot of variables in play that were not in play for my previous hunts in the area. These include the mule deer rut, potentially significant snow, and the east troublesome burn scar in unit 18. Any thoughts or experience on which unit to focus on would be much appreciated. The number of 4th season buck tags is relatively limited, but there are a fair number of elk tags sold so I expect a decent amount of hunting pressure as well. Thanks guys!

Well, how'd it go? That can be a tough hunt.

 

[COHunter33]

I ended up shooting a smaller sized 4x4 on the 4th day. I saw plenty of deer and the deer rut was on for the most of the trip. I passed on 7-8 small bucks the first 3 days, but couldn't pass up the shot on the 4x4 the 4th day. There were a lot of elk hunters and we had to hike quite aways to get into pockets of deer. A lot of the deer hadn't started their migration to winter range yet due to the lack of snow and cold. We found a lot of deer around 10,000 feet and I ended up shooting mine around 9,000.