Early Season Muley ?s

TravisIN

WKR
Joined
Oct 8, 2017
Messages
974
Is there a consistent date you usually see mulies start shedding velvet? For example I know in my area of the Midwest I know that in usually start seeing the very first hard horned bucks sept 5th. I’ve seen them shed as early as August 28th and still carrying past the 15th.

With Colorado’s season opening sept 2 for the next five years it obviously shortens the amount of time you’ll be able to hunt them In velvet. Everything I’ve read/heard says that once they shed their velvet they seem to drop out of the high country basins and into the timber. Does that have to due with velvet shedding or is it just because of the timing with weather and the feed getting killed off bc of colder temps.

I’ve been after elk the last few years and as much as I’ve enjoyed chasing them I’m wanting to make the switch to mule deer. A couple of the reasons are 1) as awesome as I think elk are I am pretty much always solo and packing an elk out is quite a bit bigger undertaking. 2) I’m not as concerned with what I’m hunting as much as I am where. I could cut my drive much shorter and hunt mulies In the Sandhills of Nebraska. But I’m more concerned with being in the high country. I’ve spent the last couple years chasing elk near or above timberline and love that country. Im not dead set on Colorado, my only real requirement is that Is the deer be in the high country where I have to backpack in. So I’m looking through all the states that offer that. I bought robby’s book and have started on it and am trying to digest as much info as I can. Thanks fellas


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robby denning

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Feb 25, 2012
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14,990
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SE Idaho
Hey man, thanks for buying the book. I’ve noticed around Southeast Idaho Western Wyoming Central Idaho and a little bit of Colorado high country that I’ve done, I would say September 5 to the 10th are the magic dates for velvet rubbing. And yeah, it’s certainly a bell curve with some bucks going early and some bucks going late. They do get harder to find after that but they’re still around. I think getting the velvet off makes them less sensitive and more likely to enter the cover. But that’s just my opinion, I have no proof on the science. Subscribed!


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mt100gr.

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Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
2,908
Location
NW MT
My experience with high mountain bucks is similar to yours and robby's. And I have found them fuzzy horned as late as the 15th of September in NW MT. They do seem to disappear once the velvet is off but with lots of time behind glass, I have almost always been able to find them very close to or in the same areas.

The high country is so fun to explore during the early season but you have to park it and stay on the glass.
 

ckleeves

WKR
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Messages
1,520
Location
Montrose,Colorado
Talking Colorado here, it’s pretty random. There have been years I have found a few hard horned the end of August. The buck I killed this year looked like he still had a week to go before he shed and I killed him on the 11th. The buck I killed the previous year I watched him rub the 13th and killed him the 14th. I would say if I had to pick a 5 day span I would guess the 7th-12th for 50% of the bucks the the other 50% are earlier/later.


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