Mt Zirkel Wilderness (CO) Help?

All - plan on hunting the Mt Zirkel Wilderness north of Steamboat Springs the 2nd or 3rd rifle season. My plan is to hike in with my gear 3-6 miles and try and locate a nice mulie. Anyone have any experience in this area? Any info is appreciated. Thank you.

come on fellas--uncle sam moved me to CO last year so I will take any info you guys can give. I don't want anyone's honey hole...I am planning on hiking into this wilderness for a few days and hunting off my back. Any info????

Sorry I haven't hunted that area before. Have you tried monstermuleys?

The last time I was back in there was 1985. Had a beautiful backpacking trip to a high altitude lake. Didn't see any deer though.

Don't let the lack of info stop you. Go and have a great time. You never know what will happen anyhow. Being out in God's country is what it's all about.

I would take a look at the area you're considering using Google Earth. Look for an area that has a variey of covers. Fields, waterways, that will be a lot better than dense timber alone. Plan on doing some glassing and moving to another spot if you're first one doesn't pan out. Just a few suggestions.

Sorry only areas I can help with are 37,371,54,55,551,181,43,47,471. I am going to explore 444 archery never hunted there but am going to give it a shot.

Jason - check your PM's

Guy

I would rent a pack horse, wouldn't want to get caught coming out of a wilderness area with horns and no meat.

Have driven over the pass east of Steamboat and the other pass coming south from Encampment Wyoming, it is some gorgeous lush high country.

It would be a great adventure for a young guy in good condition. It looks pretty much like the same vegetation, just get some maps and plunge in.

We hunted this area forty years ago, so I don't have any current information. At the time, I lived in southeast Texas, as did the other members of our party. The altitude got to several of my older hunting partners, as we were camping right around 10,000 ft and hunting even higher. We saw lots of elk and no deer. After three days, we dropped down and set up a new camp at about 7,500 ft or so, and started seeing deer right away. Apparently, we had been hunting above them for the first few days.

If I were your age, I would take my pack and hunt in slowly, taking time to glass and look for sign, rather than charging hard to make a predetermined camping spot. A lot depends on the weather--you could have blue bird days or tons of heavy wet snow, or both, in the span of a five-day hunt. I would take a small battery-powered weather radio and check the forecasts every evening.

One strategy that I employed when I used to hunt the San Juan Wilderness by myself was to rent a small mule to carry my camp and pack out my deer. I carried my rifle and my pack with personal gear and put the camp, the food and some oats on the mule. This enabled me to take a day to get in to my hunting area, a couple of days to scout, and then hunt the entire five days without having to walk back out for supplies. It also made getting the meat and horns out a breeze.

mudhen,
I envy you for hunting the San Juans, I remember seeing a giant mule deer rack that was taken east of Chromo.

Yeah, I sure miss it, but it's all changed now--lots of outfitters and obnoxious nonresidents--not like the guys that taught me to hunt. The early hunts above timberline were really special--incredible scenery, big muley bucks still in the velvet, and spectacular afternoon thunderstorms. I'm a pretty confirmed Coues deer hunter now, but the years have crept up on me--it may be back to desert mule deer in a year or two...

Not the best deer country in the state, but they are there. 2nd and 3rd season you'll find them in the transition zone, aspens, could be from 10k on down depending on the weather. Look for does the bucks shouldn't be far off that time of year.