Best public land Co unit
Pronghorn
Ok I have what I think is enough points for any Colorado archery unit. Here's my thoughts.. With the season starting on or around August 15 which is a Friday. I would leave on the Saturday before the opener to drive out and scout and setup a blind or make a pit blind over a watering hole. I would drive my rv out and pull a small suv to get around in when there.
Now the questions..
1. Is it buck only at the beginning of the season and can you get doe tags also??
2. Can you dig and leave a blind up on public land in Co? Of course I'd take it down and fill in the pit when leaving.
3. How good or bad would a newly built blind be?
4. With a bunch of points which unit would give me a good chance at a good buck?
I have more questions, but I'll start with these ones for now. Trying to decide if I want to put in for Wyoming's elk draw, which the dead line is the end of this month or do this pronghorn hunt.. With gas maybe being hopefully under $2.50 a gallon next fall it may only cost me $1500.00 to drive the rv out.. lol !! Thanks Ed
1. Not in the good units. You could pick up some WYO doe tags though it. 2. Yes 3. Wouldn't matter. They'll come in even if you set that day 4. I'd go 3, 301 cuz I've got some good Intel but for the most part wy has better odds on a good buck even for 0 points. We just don't have great trophy quality in co
How many pref pts do you have? What size buck are you interested in? Do you have a preference to what side of Colo you would like to hunt? As OTCWIll mentioned buck quality in Colo lacks...but if you just want a buck on public land there are lots of options...depending on how many pts you have. Unfortunately antelope numbers have plummeted in recent years in the NW corner of Colo where generally speaking there is more public land and used to be more antelope to hunt.
Not sure what units are good but I bow hunted elk unit 21 and 30 in 2013 and my husband had a coveted mule deer tag, I think he needed 10+ points to get it. Both units were extremely over crowded and just about everyone there had a mule deer tag. There was an okay amount of game but way too many hunters after the same bucks. I'm pretty sure both units were buck only.
Hunted southwest Colorado this past year and the deer numbers were way down from years past so do your home work.
16 Points.. I would love to get a high 70, but mid 70 would be great. Side of Co, not really sure. But was thinking of the NW corner.
The reason I was looking at Colo was first I have 16 points for elk, muledeer and of course pronghorn and with no point banking I'm going to start to burn them.. I've done elk hunts about every year since about the mid 80's and was thinking of doing something different and that being a pronghorn hunt because the gas prices are down and I was going to take the rv and my girl friend, who's a teacher, is going to come along and take pixs and it would be a vacation for us. She's not a hunter but does like to sit in the blind with me from time to time. I think I have 4 points for Wyoming pronghorn.. But I just know Colo better for the nonhunting stuff. Ed
If I had 16 PPs (I have 13)for antelope, I would go to Unit 2 for sure.....only about 5 NR tags and certainly not crowded. Get a BLM map, hunt north of Maybell and pick a waterhole......
Joe
P.S. The Wyoming units close by (57, 58, 112) all require about 6-7 PPs to draw
Some of the better waterholes in 3, 301 have waiting lists posted at the hole! One spot had 9 hunters listed as being in line for hunting that particular spot. As soon as they know if they draw a tag they race to the spot to put their names on the list. When the first guy kills he calls the second one to come and sit and so on. There have been disagreements and near fisticuffs! A friend had his double bull blind stolen overnight! It's a zoo in some areas. But if you really do your homework you can find at least one waterhole without a crowd waiting in the wings.
I did not look it up yet. But how many archery tags are given out in each of these units 2, 201, 3 & 301?? Anyone just happen to know the archery unit codes of hand for these units?? Thanks again for all the help so far.. Ed
Ed, Are you considering hunting with bow or nothing? If you are open to rifle hunting you could always draw a rifle tag and give it a go with bow. If unsuccessful shoot a speed goat with your rifle. I doubt if you would have much company in 2. It is a giant unit with loads of public land. Unfortunately you may be driving miles to find the scattered antelope that are in the unit. The numbers are a fraction of what they were many years ago.
The area within a 10 mile radius of Craig is loaded with antelope...unfortunately that's almost entirely private land. Once you get where the public land begins 10 miles in any direction from Craig there are hardly any antelope. The area with public land doesn't have near as much water as the small acreage private property near Craig. I have a feeling water plus little hunting pressure is the reason there is such a difference in antelope population in that corner of Colo.
With that said, there is plenty of public land in NW Colo to hunt. In that corner of the state, where you find water you will likely find antelope!
You will likely be lost researching Colo unless you are willing to go the CPW website and do some investigating!
Thanks Jims and yes Jim only archery and opening week..
I did find the hunting codes and tag numbers.. If I'm reading and understanding right.. Units 2 and 201 only have 5 archery tags (?) for 2014 and 3, 301 had 110 archery tags.. So if I did hunt 2, 201 I don't think I will see many guys..
I'm planning on getting there about 5 days before the opener if I choose this hunt to scout and setup a spot or two to hunt..
There is a readon 2/201 have almost no tags....
