Colorado season 3/4 elevation help

[Treeratslayer]

I’m not looking for someone’s honey hole. I’m not even going to name a specific unit. I’m just looking for some input on elevations. I’m from WV and we’re looking at doing a 3rd or 4th season rifle in Colorado. I’m trying to narrow down units as I’ve found a few scattered over the whole state and just curious what general elevation range to look at. Are deer still up high? Mid range? Clear down on the flats? Or is it all snow/weather dependent?

I’ve only hunted Colorado once and it was archery so not a great peek into the system.


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[Hnthrdr]

These questions are hard to answer, the state is very very diverse, range will vary unit to unit, and season to season, 3rd was very warm this year. Some of the units I like to hunt have alpine down to 6k ft deer trend lower typically… but this year loads of deer at or around 10k, there is no straight forward answer. Pick a unit, one with an overwhelming amount of public land, with terrain that appeals to you and go hunt. Be mobile. Find does and there will be bucks around generally. Well there will be a forkie or two at least

 

[justinspicher]

In my area, all of the deer are between 6-8k right now, above that there’s snow.

 

[Treeratslayer]

These questions are hard to answer, the state is very very diverse, range will vary unit to unit, and season to season, 3rd was very warm this year. Some of the units I like to hunt have alpine down to 6k ft deer trend lowers typically… but this year loads of deer at or around 10k, there is no straight forward answer. Pick a unit, one with an overwhelming amount of public land, with terrain that appeals to you and go hunt. Be mobile. Find does and there will be bucks around generally. Well there will be a forkie or two at least

I appreciate the honest answer! I’m really just starting to dig in, so lots of ideas at the moment. Just trying to find everything I can to better narrow it down.


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[PathFinder]

Since Colorado varies so widely, you have to actually go there to find that answer. There are places deer will hold out until snow forces them down, some where they leave at a certain date regardless of weather, some with transition zones, and some where they drop straight to winter ground.
Whenever I start hunting a new unit, the standard is 3 years to truly understand the deer herd. That includes summer scouting->rifle/transition/migration season->winter range. The best advice I can give is look at it from a longer term perspective, not just trying to guarantee success on one hunt. Scout if you can, and use your hunt as a time to learn if not.

 

[Hnthrdr]

^this is the truth, heck I am really familiar with a handful of units near home, then we get record rainfalls, or record drought or early snow or late snow, and it can change behaviors a bunch that season