Best ideas for elk mule deer draw

grouse

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2010
Messages
6,407
Location
Great State of Michigan
I am a midwest flatlander and have been collecting points for mule deer and elk in Wyoming and Colorado. Should probably add another state to the mix soon.

Hoping to hunt in Fall of 2021 or 2022. Ill have probably 3-4 points for each. What sites or tools do you all use to help decide units that you want to hunt? Is gohunt worth it? Anything else? Appreciate any help you can provide. Thanks!
 
Go hunt makes it pretty easy to narrow down units, much deeper than simply draw odds and harvest stats.
On x will make finding boundaries easier. They arent marked out here
 
CO has nice on line tool called CO Hunting Atlas that allows you to see every GMU and separate private from public. You can switch view to aerial photo with contours etc. Lot more options to work through to filter out different aspects as well. Plus add in campgrounds etc for potential places to stay. There is a hunter resource report function that is ok as well.
https://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/index.html?app=HuntingAtlas

Draw statistics for CO:
https://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspx
Each report includes:
  • number of licenses available by hunt code
  • number of hunters that applied for each hunt code
  • number of hunters that successfully drew a license
  • preference-point information
CO has a lot of good info that you just need to root around to find.

BTW - just a heads up and license tips if you hunt CO:
  1. Sign your license immediately upon receipt.
  2. Do NOT detach any part of it including the fishing license. If you do, it will invalidate your license.
  3. If successful, complete kill tag IMMEDIATELY.
  4. Meat MUST be transported out FIRST. If you transport out the head first you can or will get cited. Every year it seems like I run into someone on 2-track that gets into this bind.
  5. Evidence of sex must accompany the meat. So cut off the "evidence" of sex and keep with the meat. I know this sounds weird but it is required. Makes me cringe to do so since it seems so personal LOL! Rocky Mountain oysters comes to mind...
Muddy


 
Muddy-- I run into the CPW officers every year I hunt public land-- none of them have ever given me any grief and I have made just about every dumb mistake in the books
I forgot to sign my license one year, they just asked me to sign it right there in front of them,
My "tag" became detached and fell off in my wallet one year and I just taped it back on-- got my license checked and the officer didn't say a thing about it being "detached"
--same thing goes for the filling out the kill tag part-- got "caught" once with the tag still in my bag and I had not filled it out yet-- I was just getting back to my atv with the 1st quarter and the officer just said to fill it out now and attach it to the carcass before I transported it anywhere in my truck "off site" (of course he had lots of questions for me before he made his decision)
-- meat/head transporting-- I was checked once while bringing my kill back to camp on my ATV, had the head/rack, but also had a quarter of the meat-- after checking my tag the officer didn't say anything except "you need any help getting the rest of the kill out?" (told him " nope, Im going right back to get the rest"-
- never made the mistake of not keeping "evidence of sex" so I can't comment on that one ...
I actually signed the bottom portion of my tag this year, and not the license part-- it was the "sign here after kill" part that I signed-- got checked by cpw this year too without a kill and he didn't say a thing about signing the wrong part of the license ( I didn't even realize it until I got home)

every CPW officer I have run into in the field has been nice, but then again I am there legally hunting just made some dumb mistakes--- was hunting with my daughter one year and they even sat down to talk to her and teach her a few things to help out her hunt, really nice guys if you ask me-- and they are human too-- but remember, they do watch you, had several tell me that they sit in "special spots" up high and glass the hunters all day-- they know where you are and where you have been when they come to "meet" you and check your tag

I have never made the mistake of having a loaded rifle on my atv or in my truck though, but every single officer I have met that is usually their 2nd question, after "can I see you hunting tag" then -- "is your rifle loaded?" -- "show me"

I feel that they know that people make mistakes and they are there to help, as long as its not a blatant violation they seem to be lenient-- at least the ones that I have met

I have never met one when I was out walking, they always meet me at my atv or truck-- I think they would rather stay near the road by their truck than hoof it out to meet you miles off the road-- even had a few just come down the main road and checked all the camps-- asked every person for their hunting tag even if they weren't hunting, seemed kinda weird but when my wife told them she wasnt hunting they just said "ok, thanks for your time, hope you are having a good time" ( I wasn't even there, I was up on the hill)
 
cohunt,
Totally agree on CO's I've run into. They understand sometimes the excitement can affect your do's and don'ts. My comments were for someone that has never hunted there and may not realize the basic requirements which can be easily overlooked in the regulations but did not imply they are SOB's at all. One of my guys this year detached his fishing license, was "educated" by the CO but not ticketed. Also had situation where the evidence of sex was not brought out with the meat but given time to retrieve it. They are not looking for an average joe that makes simple paperwork error but the blatant violator like you said. In fact, I wish some other states CO's could learn from these folks. I was actually being checked during a heavy snow forecast bug out but they understood what was happening and even offered some additional guidance on some of the 2 tracks we were considering. In fact. they were laughing saying Don't go out the way they came in! The track was virtually impassable! I appreciate what they do and how professional they are doing it.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top