Co unit 66 for deer, anyone have any exp
Mule Deer
Juat drew unit 66 for deer. Can anyone share any intel on some of the better areas???
Well, it would appear that no one on this forum hunts unit 66. Kind of odd.
It was always rated one of the best units by Huntin'Fool before the '07-08 winter, should be coming back. This unit is on my short list for next year, let me know what you find.
What time of year are you hunting? I've hunted it in November. The bucks are in completely different areas in November compared to September. I can help if you are hunting late when they are migrating, but don't know much about the very high country you would probably hunt in September.
Bucman.... We will be there in early sept but hope to hunt where density is high and not at timberline for trophy class bucks.
Been several years since i was out but saw many nice repectable examples in mid levels if you can call 9500-9700 mid level. A couple would be in the 28" wide range with deep forks. Didnt see a single one up high which is where a lot of guys I know have killed them. Of course I had no Mulie tag and was elk hunting. Pull a couple camera stalks on them during my scouting the week before my season opened.
I would recommend calling the Game Department. Thats wat I did. They gave us good intel for finding elk with being covered up with other hunters.
I elk hunted there last year with the intention of deer hunting this year. I am not deer hunting there this year based on what I saw. Granted I was elk hunting, but I did not see very many deer at all and nothing really big. I saw more deer on the western side of the unit than elsewhere. Good luck.
Sounds like things have changed a bit since I was there. We had a big buck and a group of does come lay in the yard of our cabin at wagon wheel every night. Saw quite a few in our elk scouting. A couple were really big. Lots of 2-3 year olds....but that was 2008.
DOW tells me that right now the deer numbers in unit 66 are above the target levels for the unit and that the buck/doe ratio is 1/2
I was there in 2012 and we easily saw over a hundred deer each day. Not many big bucks, but a lot of 23-27" bucks. They could be big now. My dad and I hunted in November and we stayed at the edge of the timber just above the sage brush and fields. All the elk hunters were higher up than us, and we only saw a few cow elk. Weather was real warm and most the bucks were up in the timber. We didn't figure this out until the very end of our hunt though. We hunted the northeastern and north central part of the unit.
"We will be there in early sept but hope to hunt where density is high and not at timberline for trophy class bucks."
I've seen a small handful of good bucks the last few years but deer in the areas I've been seem to be in pockets. It would be hard to hunt the timber very effectively, but there are always some deer down in the low country too.
You will find bucks down in the lower country sagebrush with timber pockets and up in the high basins above treeline. You will just need to keep poking around till you find them. Ought to be a good hunt this year.
Almost all of my mule deer success has been at 8000-10000ft around aspen stands where they finger into the oak brush on the low side or where they finger into the timber on the high side.
Rain has been so good here this year, Bucks are growing fast. Should be a good year for deer up there. Good luck.
did a quick scouting trip to 66 a couple weeks ago, the grass was knee high and the mosquitoes were relentless.
If the bugs are bad, I would go high. Deer and elk will go high to get away from them. Look in the basins above treeline.
Good luck!!
glassed the high country this weekend, didn't see a single animal above treeline ,deer or elk. Been out at first light and sundown, nothing. Did see a big black bear down in the lower country.
Just got home, here is some feedback for anyone considering unit 66 in the future. Unless you know of some private land with a good resident herd, dont go. We spent six days ranging from 8000ft to 11,000ft and i didnt see a single buck I could have killed, even with a rifle. My partner saw 3 small bucks in a group in rifle range. We moved camp halfway through the hunt by about 20 miles and started over, still nothing. we spent mid days driving two track roads just looking for tracks crossing the road that would indicate decent density, no luck . We did not hunt above timberline. I have done many mule deer bowhunts in the last 38 years, this was the worst.
Not sure where you were hunting? I shot a nice one out there last year and saw many deer on public land. There were pockets of deer and I never saw many in dark timber. All were in oak brush or out in the open
Any reason not hunt above timberline? That would've been where I would start this time of year.
Thornton, we spent days around Alpine Plateau and everything north of there till the public land stopped. We also spent days covering the 10 mile spring and indian spring areas all the way north to the highway and then north of the highway till we were hitting private land again.
Bentstick.. I recently turned 65 and didnt think I was in shape for a above timberline hunt.
Thumper,
In the summer in that type of country, most of the bucks go high into remote basins above treeline. Not many decent bucks stay in the low country. The big boys stay hidden out in the timber from about mid-September until November when the rut kicks in.
If you don't think you can make a high-country hunt, you should be looking at different types of hunts.
The Eastern Plains hunts may be a lot better to look at - long seasons thru the rut and the potential to hunt out of a tree stand or ground blind. Minimal public land and a lot of outfitters tying up ground out there, but if you have the time, you might be able to go meet some people find some access out there or work a deal for a low priced lease.
Thumper
scouted it this summer , defiantly slim pickins in those areas. Hope you at least got to do some fishing while you were there.
