"High Country" Confusion

[bowhunter15]

I'm starting to put in for early rifle mule deer hunts in Colorado. The area I elk hunted this year had a fair number of deer, and they have a rifle season Sept 12-20. Here's my confusion: I often hear about these "high country hunts". My book by Mike Eastman says you can find deer above 12000 feet for those early season hunts. Yet, when we will hunted the 12th-20th, most of the deer we saw were below the elk in elevation. After posting a pic of a deer on facebook, several people commented "go higher for elk, mulie are lower ".

Well where is this discrepancy? Why does everyone I talk to and my own experience show the deer below 9000 feet in the timer in early September, yet the books and articles I read say they're above timeline? Is it that the pattern is only true for the first few days of September, then they travel down by the 12th or so? Is it that a majority of the deer are lower but a few remain high? Please explain.

 

[Eagle]

When they shed their velvet, there's a good chance they'll head down to below timberline, and they should be shed by the 12th. That said, I wouldn't worry about an exact elevation, find the good feed, and I think you'll find deer around, whatever elevation that may be. I killed my deer this year in Wyoming at about 9200', but two days prior saw a bigger deer at roughly 10000' and several other deer above 10000 as well. Pressure in the area I was in seems to be what sends the deer down more than anything else, so if the area of Colorado you intend to hunt gets a lot of bowhunting pressure for deer and elk, then the deer will likely be lower than they would be if they weren't being harassed.

 

[bowhunter15]

That makes sense. We were in an OTC unit for elk, and there were lots of guys hunting around the timberline area for them.