Colorado muzzy, high or low?

[elkmo41]

I am taking my 17 yr old son to CO unit 67 for the muzzy deer hunt. This unit has limited amounts of alpine/timberline country with lots of 9000-9500 aspen country. My first thought is to hit the alpine bowls/timberline but with the the archery season opening 3 weeks prior to the muzzy opener on 9/14 and assuming the bulk of the muzzy elk hunters will be hitting the high country as well, will the deer be knocked off the tops? Also with the 9/14 opener, most will have shed by then and probably be hitting the timber. Would you guys write off the tops and concentrate on the aspens, or spend the time checking out the tops first and see first hand whats going on? The good thing with 67 is tags are fairly limited for all seasons but so is the amount of high country, so it could get beat up fast. Hopefully you guys with more first hand knowledge of the CO muzzy season can provide some insight. The bio has suggested this unit holds deer in the 9-9500 range but I enjoy hunting the high country.

Thanks
Elkmo

 

[packmule]

I wouldn't set a plan in stone until you figure out where all the cattle are. If conditions have stayed similar they didn't have a lot of water either

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

There will be lots of bow hunters, but usually they thin out that far into their season. A lot depends on the weather too. The important thing is be flexible. Spend a day or 2 high and see what shakes out. Good luck.

 

[Old Hunter]

Mature bucks will be high. They don't hide in the timber like elk do. They'll bed down in the open where they can see everything.

I only hunt the ML season, and weather is a non issue, except it can be too hot.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Except it can rain for 5 solid days like it did last year during M/L season!

 

[Old Hunter]

It only rained one day last year for me. Why, do you shrink in the rain?


My point was, the weather won't affect where the bucks are. They'll be up high that time of year.

 

[HiMtnHnter]

It only rained one day last year for me. Why, do you shrink in the rain?


My point was, the weather won't affect where the bucks are. They'll be up high that time of year.

Yep! Go as high as you can! When you start seeing sheep you know you're in the right country! Big timberline bucks prefer the remoteness and feed of the lush high mountains, and they should still be in their summer haunts in mid September.

 

[elkmo41]

Great, sheep and cattle! That's a new one, first I heard they were in 67 too. Found sheep in the flat top years ago and cattle in the pecos wilderness in NM as well. Looks like I will need to check it out and see what's on top b4 writing it off. Hope to get out this summer and at least learn the access and hopefully find some bucks for a starting point.

Thanks guys

 

[packmule]

Go to the Mason Family State Wildlife Area if you want to find some sheep, they'll lay up in the rocks and watch traffic.....and can usually find them right off the rd in Cathedral. Hope that will help pinpoint how high them big bucks can be

 

[HiMtnHnter]

I was referring to bighorn sheep in an attempt to explain how high you should be looking. A better reference would have been at or above timberline (far above).

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

It only rained one day last year for me. Why, do you shrink in the rain?


My point was, the weather won't affect where the bucks are. They'll be up high that time of year.

While your point is very valid about where the deer are, MY POINT was that rain like I experienced made access to a couple of areas I wanted to hunt almost impossible because of the road conditions. A couple of the 4 wheel drive roads were almost totally blocked because of mud, rock slides and some downed timber that were not there a week before when i was scouting.

The bucks may be still there, but you may not be able to get there without a 20 mile hike just to start your hunt.

 

[Old Hunter]

I sure didn't get any rain like that in my unit. I do have some spots I can go to that rain wouldn't be an issue, but my Jeep wouldn't require me to go there much. It takes a bunch of bad weather to stop my Jeep.

 

[packmule]

That's a clean looking jeep. That and a chainsaw can get you a lot of places. We usually take a 6w Ranger to keep the abuse off the trucks.

Cattle might not be too big of an issue, there'll be a heavy concentration of them up on Huntsman bc of all the pools, but past that they've usually been scattered. They'll thicken up again from Spencer Rd on North to Big Mess bc of the creeks and guzzlers, but they shouldn't be bothering much of anything being there.

 

[Old Hunter]

That's when I first built the Jeep. It's been through hell since then, and I wouldn't call it clean anymore, but it still gets the job done.

 

[Alabama]

NICE Jeep Old Hunter! Maybe I need to start driving a truck.

 

[elkmo41]

I just assumed ranch sheep after seeing them in the flat tops...thanks for the monsoon season reminder. Solid rain for 2 days on a solo hunt wilderness hunt had me sewing all the holes in my clothes and reading every letter of a magazine I took in. It was one year after 9/11 and they read every name of those who died that day on the radio...may they RIP.

 

[HiMtnHnter]

I just assumed ranch sheep after seeing them in the flat tops...thanks for the monsoon season reminder. Solid rain for 2 days on a solo hunt wilderness hunt had me sewing all the holes in my clothes and reading every letter of a magazine I took in. It was one year after 9/11 and they read every name of those who died that day on the radio...may they RIP.

Monsoon season is really mainly late june through mid july or so. Yes, it can ran lots during September, but usually late august/early september are the flattest months in the high country. Go high!

Oh, nice jeep . . . But the rig will generally only get you a fraction of the way to a giant high country muley!

 

[Old Hunter]

Depends on where the hunt is. I have one unit I hunt, and the Jeep gets me above timberline.

I also have good boots.

 

[HiMtnHnter]

That's why I said "generally"! More power to ya if the road gets ya there . . . I wish I would have had a closer vehicle to get either of these two muleys out . . .

 

[packmule]

Rd system in 67 are pretty dang good. But if you go into town and see that some above avg bucks for the area never leave it'll make you question where exactly you need to be looking for one.