Still haven't dedided what unit to try to draw for mule deer in Co. 54 or 55. I have 5 points nonres. Leaning towards 54. If tag drawn, my hunt will be DIY and will be second season. Friday I plan on calling the DOW office with some questions. Five points may not be enough anyways?.

5 points is an automatic tag in 55 or 54. You're actually wasting points for those units.

Good luck with the crowds and ATV's in those zoos.

http://wildlife.state.co.us/SiteCol...me/Statistics/2011/2011DEERHuntRecap.pdf

Mauser Hunter is right about unit 54. I've hunted elk and deer there since 1978 and it use to be real good for deer. But there was some bad winter kill a few years ago and the deer herd is still recovering. Two years ago I spent four points on a mule deer tag in unit 54 and didn't fill it. I saw a few bucks but nothing very big.

KC

I might try it in muzzleloader , or archery seasons. Less hunters, and you can get high without too much of a worry about weather.

However, during 2nd rifle with all the deer and elk hunters, and possible bad weather. It's not my kind of fun.

Use your points for a better unit around Grand Junction. Don't throw those points away on a mediocre unit.

I'm sitting on 6 Colorado deer points and want to hunt deer there in the next few years myself.
I'm really looking forward to that.

Funny! I dont think I've ever heard of 54 or 55 be referred to as "mediocre" units. Even after the winter kill a guy can find big deer in there. Its not what it was but there are a lot of units that arent what they were because of the harsh winters.

I'm not going to give out a bunch of information on a public message board as draw odds are tough enough anyway but here are a few facts. Every unit in the state has the potential to grow 200" mule deer, some units grow more than others. I feel sorry for the guys with 10+ points as there isnt a unit in the state that I would look at right now and say that its worth that many points and 5 years ago this wasnt the case, there were a number of units that were worth burning that many points for. 54 and 55 are not "mediocre" units, they have some incredible genetics there and I have personally seen giant bucks in the Gunnison basin both before and after the winter kill

I sort of agree. When I said waste your points. I was talking about not needing 5 points to get a tag.

When was the big winter kill? 07?

Are you seeing the numbers rebound yet? Are things on the up-swing?

You were spot on IMO

It was the winter of 07/08. It was devastating. I think that the DOW downplayed how bad it was at first. A lot of deer died that winter.

The numbers are coming up but I dont know if it will ever be like it was before that winter. For a guy thats willing to hunt hard, and hunt it the right way, there are big deer to be had there

I hunted the Basin in the fall of 06, at that time I actually thought there was possibly too many deer in the area I was in, believe it or not.

It's time to start thinking about heading back....

And to think, 40 years ago there were 50% more deer in the Gunnison Basin and the Western Slope in general then there was 5 years ago.



Casey

I have been hunting 54 on and of for several years.Last year I hunted 2nd season with one of the OTC w/cap either sex elk tags.
I did not have a deer tag,but for the entire season, I saw one 3x buck that was decent,but not what I call even exceptional or even mediocre. I saw no other bucks and know of only one fork horn killed.

I was hunting the ramparts,mostly just a hair above timberline where the big bucks would be,and there sure are not that many.In fact for ten + day, I saw very few deer. I can't even say I have been impressed or saw that many deer all the years I have hunted the area.You do see a lof deer down in the basin after migration.

As for hunter pressure, the 1st season was crowded,but I only saw 2-4 hunters all season in the woods,except at the trailhead where I camped, and no ATV's are permitted in the West Elk Wilderness.

Concerning the 07/08 winter kill.Many of us hunters tried to tell the DOW immediatley after the 08 season,but they blew us off as they always do when hunters try to give them info.They consider only the wet behind the ears biologist know what they are doing by sitting at thier desk using computer modeling.

I know Huntsonora is a guide and all,but I hunt the area and have 7 deer points and I sure would not blow them on 54.

There might be a few nice bucks in 53 which is generally west of 54,higher and harder to get at. If pressed I would try Storm Mtn Pass area, SW of the Castles, but most guys won't or can't get in that far and don't have horses. I'm not shy about giving out info.

I do not guide in 54 or 55. The only place I guide in Colorado is on private land out on the plains. I spend a lot of time in Gunnison Basin with friends and have been with them when they have had tags just as they will be with me when I have a tag. As for 7 points, I almost feel sorry for a guy that has that many. As I stated earlier, there just are not a lot of units I would want to burn that many points on. Its a crap shoot whereas before the bad winter of 07/08 there were units that you could draw and be in a damn good position to kill a big deer




Not to be Captain Obvious here but if you havent seen that many deer in that area in all of the years you've hunted there then maybe you're not looking in the right spots or you need to move to a new area. In my experience I dont see as many deer in 54 as I do in 55 but the difficulty of accessing country make 54 very intriguing, you never know what you'll find.

To the OP, with 5 points you can draw some damn good hunts. You can draw in 54 and 55 and many other units across the state. What defines a "good hunt" for you? Do you have to see a pile of deer or are you looking for that one specific buck and sheer numbers dont matter? I have friends that have used 7+ points to draw units that can be drawn with 2 or 3 because they knew they had a real opportunity at a BIG deer. In the end, if you're able to have what you consider to be a quality hunt then I guess it doesnt really matter how many points you had to burn

By comparison and during the past few years, I would consider them mediocre. Based on trend count data and harvest information, there's better trophy units in which to expend those valuable points. If I were trophy hunting - which that's the very reason why points are accumulated - I sure wouldn't waste those points on a unit which doesn't have supporting data in terms of inordinate opportunity.

I only hunt elk in 54 as I have not seen that good a deer herd in many years of hunting there.High,low and in between.I do good in elk season and that is why I have not changed areas,although I also hunt 12 and 25. If there were that many good bucks in the area, I and several others, like KC would have seen some on occasion while glassing and that has not been the case.

I can't see hunting any area that has a significant count of less deer on the idea that there may be 2 -3 good bucks in the area. As an example,I see some dandy bucks on the backside of Pikes Peak, not many but definitely in the 180+ class. They vanish onto private land or the COS watershed property right before hunting season opens.If a person hunted there maybe 5 years,he /she might be able to tag one of them.I could kill a decent buck every year just out in back my barn, but that isn't much of a hunt to me.

One problem on the eastern side of 54 is that there are miles and miles of blow down thick timber with many small meadows ,etc that cannot be reached easily ,except in daylight hours.The deer (and elk ) frequent theses areas and then go back into the timber. Another problem is all of the valley bottom land is private and that ties up access into good areas.

Most anyone with knowledge of CO deer herds know that the better bucks are coming out of eastern CO. Although there is mostly private land there, hunting is still doable, but outfitters are continuing to lease up more and more ground.

I am building points for some of those areas.

Arikaree River area has some good mulie bucks around.

How many days in the field have you spent in 54 and/or 55 to be able to form an educated opinion? Are you just looking at "trend count data and harvest information"?

Trying to figure out how good a unit is by looking at "data" is an interesting thing. It has its place but there is no substitute for being in the field. The "data" you look at doesnt take into account the ability of the hunter or the physical capabilities of the hunter, all it will tell you is how the average guy did and what the numbers look like. Having spent many days in the field in that area I can tell you that the average guy doesnt have a clue as to what they are doing and the average guy didnt get out of his cubicle and hike enough before the hunt.

If you want to make decisions based on "trend count data and harvest information" thats your choice but I dont think that necessarily make you qualified to tell others this this particular unit is better/worse than other units.

Really? I would hunt an entire mountain for an entire hunt if I knew it held just one BIG deer. I hunted one particular buck for 12 days once and had never seen him, had just been told that he was there by a cowboy that had seen him weeks prior. We killed him when we finally saw him and he was a 207" gross, 197" net typical.

Just this past season on the plains my hunter asked me if we were just spinning our wheels looking for a big deer. I told him that it was the toughest year I had seen in a decade but that we were not just "spinning our wheels" and that there were big deer where we were. On the last day of his hunt we found and killed a 202" buck. I had never before seen that buck but knew that there were big deer in the area

Another time I caught a fleeting glimpse of a buck on opening morning of a hunt and I told my hunter that we needed to hunt that deer and that deer only as he was a giant. He agreed and we hunted him for 7 full days and never saw him again. We went out the morning he was due to fly out and we killed him, that deer grossed 203" as a typical and ended up on the cover of Eastmans Journal

True giants are rare animals and as a trophy hunter all I can ask is that there be a deer in the area that is big enough and old enough to hunt. I dont care if its one buck or a pile of bucks. If I can find a hunt where I can chase giants and not have a lot of competition then thats a hunt I want to draw and hunt. In the past years I feel that Gunnison Basin has fit that bill for myself and my friends.





Eastern CO is one of my favorite places to hunt! Its neat country and grows big deer but if you compare top end to top end the bucks in certain areas west of I-25 are much bigger deer. It is pretty damn awesome to be able to hunt mule deer and whitetail at the same time though.

I love the fact that you mention the Arikaree River, my family homesteaded a place thats just off the Arikaree River and my grandmother was born in a farmhouse there in 1924

Nowadays I have my spot in another unit that I've come back to. So, for me, 54 is now mute in terms of attraction. But anyway, if you like it, have at it. Also, I'm glad you appreciate your opportunities on the plains. That is something to be thankful for. In any case, I like qwhere I'm at and trophy potential is excellent, thus the reasdon I've steered clear of the other options which now aren't as attractive.

Everyone's idea of hunting is different.I can see a paying client wanting to/have to kill a 200 point deer.It's not all a that important to me. I like to shoot bigger animals,but I'm not going to waste an entire season on one animal.Too many passes to go over, mountains to climb, sights to see and I realy don't think that is what the OP was really interested in.

I have probably spent 50 days or so in area 54 in the last few years and I don't even look at hunt statistics, tables and charts.It would be interseting to know if those giant bucks are seen on private or public land.If on private,that takes the entire discussion out of bounds.

Time and time again, the CO DOW has proven to me they don't know what the hell they are talking about and do not spend enough time in the field to back up thier office work. I make my decisions based on my boots ( or hoofs ) on the ground).

Actually, I have to confess though, I am not much into deer hunting.They are just long legged rats to me. However,I think I put enough time into areas that I can realistically determine if it has quality or the amounts of animals I am willing to chase.

I dont know where you boys are looking or what you're doing when your out scouting and/or hunting but in the past years in the Gunnison area I've seen many 200"+ deer including what would have been the world record typical with a bow and a 40" typical. Not bad for a "mediocre" unit

Thanks for all the replies and conversations. I still will more than likely hunt one of these units eventually. Maybe this fall or the next. My wife and daughters and I have vacationed in this area for 10 summers and I did an otc elk hunt once in '05.
I just really enjoy spending time in that area and am familiar with the area, though no doubt, have not been as far in to the wilderness as any that have added to this topic.
I do have to say that I have seen numerous large deer in that area dating back to my first visit in '96. 2 deer in paticular, seen in '05 elk hunt have left a burnt image in my mind. Both were in the national forest/public land, unit 54. They are surely dead now, either from a hunter or that terrible winter that I am well aware of. I believe that there is great potential in this area because of genetics, just like there is tremendous whitetail genetics in unit 14 where I live in Kansas.
I am actually contemplating an elk tag this year, and deer next. This would help me beings I will only get one chance with a deer tag. I totally understand, that I would not be hunting the same deer in '13 that I may or may not see this fall. It would just allow me to pick a basin or mountain and get more familiar with it, for the next year. Once again, thanks, I have been enjoying this discussion.
AB

I have been hunting the south ramparts of the Anthracites, up and over Swampy Pass. Further before they made Unit 53 .Then both sides of the Castles. Up towards Storm Mountain Pass, Castle Pass and SE of the Castles.
Huntsonora. Again,were the bucks you saw on public or private land?I don't need to know the local.

I have never hunted private ground in the Gunnison area. Every big buck I've ever seen up there was on public ground

I want to make it a point that I'm not trying to be a jerk, disagreeable for the sole fact of being disagreeable or trying to be a braggart. I go to that area for the sole purpose of looking for big mule deer just as I go to a lot of areas in the state of CO. It's my passion.

When I see somebody claim that a unit is "mediocre" based on stats on a sheet of paper it makes me laugh. I don't go with my family, I'm not sightseeing, I'm not looking for elk or anything else. I have a buddy that goes out and looks for arrowheads on my families ranch in TX, he finds more than anybody else because he knows where to look and what to look for. I stumble upon a few but I'm not really looking for em. Same principle

The eastern plains is certainly a sleeper area for big deer, but it is all private so pointless for the average Joe to even apply.

That being said, i agree that no unit in CO is worth waiting 5-10 years to hunt. There are big bucks in every unit...

Good for you. That's great. So, have at it then.

We saw 2 large bucks in unit 54 (close to where Vince hunts). We were elk hunting on public ground, they were bedded on private ground and never moved all day. Wish I had a good lens on the camera at that time.

That said, the entire week I spent elk hunting, I only saw a handful of deer, all does, on the public ground.

Heres a couple bucks from this "mediocre" area. I took both of these pictures after the winter kill of 07/08 and I'm not at liberty to post any more unless I crop or alter them

200" typical



40" typical


Nuts and bolts, anybody that calls a unit where a guy can consistently find deer of this caliber "MEDIOCRE" is either uninformed, ignorant, crazy, knows the best kept secret in CO or relies on a piece of paper to tell him what units are better than others

I've seen those snapshots before.

I took em

So? Like I said - go for it. That unit doesn't hold interest for me anymore. In any case, you guys should try to kill some of those deer over there, if you want.

We did

Same here, but not up there.

Huntsonora said: "I want to make it a point that I'm not trying to be a jerk, disagreeable for the sole fact of being disagreeable or trying to be a braggart."

I never figured that.Unlike another member here who is always bragging of the big animals and trophy he takes and most on land not accesible to Joe Blow. I'm just trading info as far as I'm concerned.It's always interesting to get someone else'e perspective.

Providing guiding for a client that pays a couple grand + for an exceptional mule deer is a lot differnt than me doing a hunt for the sheer enjoyment of it.

I have no doubt that if I wanted to expend the time and energy,I could find one of those bucks. However,I have arrived at a point in my hunitng career ( or maybe I'm just getting senile) that I don't need to kill another elk or deer or?, but if and when I do go hunting,I give it all that I am capable at my age.I don't figure I am just going on a camping trip and hike in the woods.

I do have a question though.You mentioned that a client shot a big deer on last day of the hunt,on the morning he was suppose to fly out. What happens after that.Do you take care of the meat,cape, etc,get it to a taxidemist or? Does the client usually not want the meat? I have always been curious when things like that happens.

Yeah, only a very few times have I ever hunted private land. For the most part, my personal hunts are DIY public land affairs. But, some guys like the private land stuff.

BTW, off topic, but the reason I am posting more is that there is 2 ft of snow on the ground and if not snow,it's ice. The gun range is snowed in or muddy.Except to go out and feed or shovel manure ,there isn't much on do around here. Too much crust on the snow to ride or pull a sliegh. My truck is going in the shop tommorrow to fix the hydraulic operator on the clutch. I have loaded about every piece of brass that I have powder or bullets for and I have no current gunstock projects.

2 feet? I have to go to 11,000ft to see that much. Not a good year for snow here.

For sure. Anymore, most killed big bucks have hours of scouting behind them, and even people flying with airplanes, hiring bounty hunters to locate them, using dozens of game cams, etc etc etc. For an average working stiff, with a family, who has time to scout all the time?

(I am not implying that is what Drummond does, but it is the norm anymore for people with fat wallets.)

Not legal to use planes here, so scratch that one.

Bullschit, you can use a plane all you want as long as it isn't within 24hrs of the hunt...

Not much good after that, but whatever. Not looking for an argument.

"Scouting an area from the air well before the season starts is not illegal," said Renzo DelPiccolo, area wildlife manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife in Montrose. "But we have seen and have had reports that aircraft are being used to harass animals so that they move into a specific area. That type of activity is illegal."

The federal Airborne Hunting Act prohibits hunting or harassing animals from aircraft. Anyone convicted of that activity can be fined and sentenced to a year in jail.

DOW regulations prohibit using aircraft for hunting, for directing and communicating with hunters on the ground, and for hunters on the ground to take directions from someone in an airplane. State rules also prohibit hunting in an area the same day or the day after a scouting flight was made. The penalties can include a fine of $2,000 and 15 penalty points."

Unfortunately, it has gotten so bad that people are even out looking for deer and elk sheds with chuteplanes, etc. Utards mostly...

I think you misunderstood, we killed those bucks in the pictures I posted.

All of the bucks that my friends have killed west of I-25 were all basically DIY hunts. Granted, we all go out even if we arent the ones with a tag because we just love the comraderie and the hunt but it was all public ground with tags we drew.

As for the clients I hunt with on fully guided hunts, most are fantastic guys that are good hunters and share our passion for hunting. They do it because they LOVE to hunt, just like us. Every know and again we get an A-hole in camp and we hunt just as hard for them as we do for the others but we just dont rebook them for future hunts.





The man I was hunting with had hunted 8 days with me the previous year and we didnt connect on a 190" type buck on the last evening on that hunt, he then came back and hunted another 8 days and we killed that giant on the morning he was to leave. He missed his flight so we were able to freeze the cape and clean the skull cap and then salt it so he could fly home with them the next day. As for the meat, it fed the cowboy and his family on the ranch. Every single bit of the deer we kill in Mexico are used in some form or fashion

Here in the states if the hunters want to donate the meat they will pay for the processing and they will donate it directly to a family that needs it. It works out pretty good, I know the families really appreciate getting their freezers filled with good venison

Yep, recently donated some meat to the DOW, and they were very thankful. They told me there is a waiting list of people wanting it.

Congratulations.

What bugs me about meat donation is it must be processd commercially. My own processed meat is better than any commercial.

I would usually have meat to donate but $200+ for an elk is a might steep to only turn around and donate it.Even the raptor center in Pueblo now wants it done commercially

Man isn't that the truth. I've had some given to me because it "wasn't fit to eat". After I opened the package, I could see (and smell) why. Fat, silver skin, bone marrow, the glands in the middle of the ham, etc all in the meat and smeared around. Nasty stuff.

Then don't donate or, process it yourself and then donate. Or, just consume it. But, if a person doesn't want the meat from the animal they killed, there's actually a lot of options.

Not many options in CO. You can only donate more than 20lbs after it is processed or 20 lbs prior.You can't give the whole animal to someone unless they have a like license and then it voids both license. None of the food banks will take noncommercial processed meat.

In Co, legally, you have to keep the carcass tag until all the meat is consumed.

I can eat a smallish elk myslef in a year so it's no problem,but some years I can kill 2. Meat in the freezer is like money in the bank, butI could help some folks who need the meat once in awhile.

You might check with your local SCI chapter. Our chapter has spent over $20K in the last couple of years on this program:

http://www.safariclubfoundation.org...Content_ID=324&Parent_Content_ID=238

Back to Unit 54.I recieved the yearly Pref Point issue of Co Outdoors today and it listed last year required points to draw buck tags in 54.

2nd seaon arequired 1. So 2 will guarantee a tag. 3rd season required 3 & NR 5.

Unit 55 was 2 required for 2nd season and 6 for 3rd season,NR 7.

Buck to doe ratio unti 55 was 43:10 and unit 54 was 31:100.

Looks like Unit 55 is more desireable

I'm a little late in joining this discussion, but I'll throw my $0.02 in. The DOW down played the die-off from '07-08, probably because they didn't want the bad PR to impact license sales. I volunteered to help feed that winter and saw 1st hand how bad it was. I saw a ravine in the sage brush where the deer were piled up like cord wood. It was terrible. Fawn mortality was high. We've had a few mild winters and I believe the herd is slowly recovering.

One thing to consider about 54/55 are the OTC elk hunters. You'll bump into a lot of orange. Access is easier in 55. I'd go 3rd season if possible.

I took my brother elk hunting in 551 for 3rd season last year. We were all over that unit and saw lots of elk. I didn't see a single deer. Not even a doe. Maybe just a weird coincidence, but alarming.