Unit 39/46 - Mule Deer & Elk

[MileHighTiger]

Does anyone have any experience with Unit 39/46 for Mule Deer or Unit 46 for elk? Looking to use first choice for those on both species as my first official hunt as I can draw with 0 resident points. Feel fairly comfortable with the terrain and doesn't look like a lot of private land interference. Only issue is you can only get 3-4 miles away from a road before you start approaching another.

Not looking for honey holes, but any previous experience in those units or if there is a better unit I can cut my teeth in for both species would be greatly appreciated! Planning a DIY backpack hunt for 4-6 days

 

[taskswap]

3-4 miles from roads is more than a lot of folks bother with. Doesn't mean you won't run into other hunters, just that you should be giving yourself a good chance. I've hiked that area more than I've hunted but seen plenty of sign in all seasons, and carcasses from other successful hunters. The Mt Evans wilderness is popular with sheep hunters, especially out-of-staters. My wife and I stayed at a B&B in Georgetown just after Rifle 2 in '19 and the guy told us a group from Texas had booked the entire B&B (5 rooms) for a week just after we were leaving. It was like $8k altogether. Big money for that stuff.

As always, access is the biggest question. I'd spend the summer roaming the roads around the area looking for likely spots to park and punch into where you want to go. A lot will depend on your target season. In archery or Rifle 1, figure the elk are going to be very high - at least 10-11,000' while the muleys are probably going to be lower. By the later rifle seasons there's a good chance snow will start pushing the elk down. There's actually pretty good access right off I-70 itself to a lot of that territory. During rifle seasons it seems like every turnout has a truck or two in it...