Last year (2017) I had enough points to draw elk (22), deer (10), antelope (20), and bear (4) up there in either 2 or 201. I am also sitting on max points for moose in Colorado.
I chose to focus on elk and only put in to draw the elk tag.
I did see some nice mule deer, but I would not consider it a top end trophy unit based on what I saw. I see better overall quality in a number of units that can be drawn on second choice. There were many comments about the mule deer vanishing as soon as they rubbed out, but I was finding good bucks all the way through the season. They were just doing what mule deer do. I think it may be more that most people see them early next to the roads from atvs or the truck and expect them to stay there. They don't. I know several people that had archery tags last year and they were very frustrated at the lack of deer. They were focused on Douglas Mountain and did not venture away from that area. The biggest bucks I saw in the unit were in July/August and were just out of Greystone but I did not see them during the season. I did see some good bucks (170 class) farther up on Douglas and way north. If you have good optics and are looking in the right kinds of areas, you can find them.
I saw very few antelope in Unit 2. The only ones I saw were north of the fence around the "wild horse" area. I did see two very good bucks, though. Those two probably got shot by muzzle loader or rifle hunters unless they ran across into Wyoming. The overall numbers are very low in there, however. I think that the extreme overabundance of horses in the "wild horse" pen has pushed the antelope out. There were a lot more antelope in 2 and 201 back 20 to 30 years ago. Pretty sure I will not put in for antelope up there this year.
I did not see any bears nor any sign of bears. Not unusual in Colorado as I have had probably close to 30 tags and have yet to shoot one. I think Colorado bears hate me.
I did not see any moose. I am not sure where they hang out. Maybe down by the river. It would be pretty weird to see a moose in most of the country I was in.
Based on the number of horses up there, there should be unlimited tags for horses. The horse population is so high that they are seriously impacting the range conditions, water sources and native wildlife use of the area that they are penned into. There were a few elk and deer out there that I saw moving in and out of the "wild horse pen" but they were obviously either only moving in to get water at a couple of springs or only bedding in there and moving out to feed.
I'm not sure about the hunting potential, but the base numbers sound good.
Feral horses and the inability to manage them are a huge issue. One of the worst examples of Federal Legislation to mismanage resources based on emotion rather than science that I know of.
Kind of makes a guy wonder how much impact the overpopulation of these feral, non-native horses are having on the sage grouse across the west.
