Hard Horned Mule Deer Archery
Mule Deer
Aloha guys, My first time in the mule deer forum. I have 3 deer points in Colorado. How would one go about hunting mule deer with archery equipment after the velvet is gone. Seems like the archery season only occurs when the bucks are still in velvet I'm not a fan of velvet bucks. Does an archery season even exist in Colorado during the rut.
To your last question, no, no archery rut hunt in CO at all. 4th season rifle comes pretty close and they can be killed with a bow while wearing an orange hat ;). Really the only velvet mulies available are during the very first few days of the bow season. After that they lose it so all deer seasons in CO offer hard horned mulies. Tactics for killing them won't change. Still glassing, spot and stalk. They'll just be in different terrain. Have you looked at any general areas? This photo was taken in a 0 pt unit
Eastern plains units are loaded with archery rut hunts, so the answer to your question is yes. Getting access is the tough part though.
OTC rut hints in AZ in certain units
Hunt after Labor Day. Problem solved (mostly).
Bucks will be void of velvet towards the last 1/3 of the archery season in Western Colo. Unfortunately once they shed their velvet they disappear into the trees and are nearly impossible to find until the rut and snow drives them into the winter ranges.
As mentioned above the Eastern Plains is a great option for rut hunts if you can get permission or go on a guided hunt.
Thanks guys. I've focused all my efforts for the past seven years on elk hunting, and just realized I have some deer points in a couple of states. Time to start researching mulies too.
What's "thread owner tools" next to everyone's post. Never saw that before.
"What's "thread owner tools" next to everyone's post. Never saw that before."
That's TBM volume control.
Seriously, it's only visible to you, the thread owner, and allows you to delete posts and/or block the poster.
Good luck on your quest for a muley....I have some CO points I need to burn one of these years myself.
After seeing some of the whoppers that consistently get killed each year on the Eastern Plains of CO, I decided this is the year, November cant get here soon enough!
Even if you shoot it in velvet you can just rub it off and color them yourself!
Not many people take bucks in full velvet
Yes, there are a lot of archery deer hunts in the rut - in units east of I-25. The season is typically October through December with the bow season closed for muzzle loader and rifle seasons in October and November-December. Out there, you can get either a whitetail or mule deer. There are really good deer of both species in a lot of the units out east. The down-side is that there are only a handful of public land areas that you can hunt out there and the units with much public access take more points. From my experiences out in the eastern plains, it is a tough hunt on public land and can be really good or really tough on private - depending on how they manage for deer. Outfitted hunts out there can be really good, but will cost you a lot.
West of 25, the hunts in the rut are all rifle hunts.
A velvet deer is a pretty rare prize. Where I usually hunt, the bucks shed their velvet around the 10th to the 15th, so you better get on them quick if you want a velvet deer. I have several mulies mounted in velvet and they are some of my favorite mounts. West of 25, your archery hunting is in late August-September. I typically focus on mule deer first as my trophy animal and an elk later in the season to fill the freezer. Still have trouble grasping why everyone in Colorado is so nuts about elk that won't even make P&Y and will ignore a B&C mule deer to chase those elk.
You might also want to look into Arizona or New Mexico for late mule deer hunts if you are focusing on hard horned deer. Some really good hunts there in December and January.
Washington has some rut archery hunts where you have the opportunity to kill a pretty good buck. Hunter pressure can be an issue, but you can also get away from the fools if you put any effort into it. Tags are a little expensive, but not too bad.
