Unit 68 4th season deer info needed

a3dhunter · Mar 25, 2024

Hello guys, former member from 20 years ago that stopped posting much and evidently got deleted due to inactivity.

Anyway, Colorado resident, looking at burning 11 points for my wife to draw a 68 tag 4th season. Have any of you hunted it that can provide info?
Feel free to pm me.
I've hunted a lot of Colorado, but i usually burn my deer points by the time I get to 1 or 2, so no experience with these higher point deer hunts.
Is there a unit doing better right now?
I know the stats, been through cpw statistics for years on these units, and have been watching stats for the last 4 years on about 12-13 different hunt codes. Just checking to see if I missed something.
Not looking for a huge buck, she would be thrilled with a nice 160-165" but hoping for potential of a little better.
Thanks guys.

coloradoman · Mar 25, 2024

Welcome back.

a3dhunter · Mar 25, 2024

coloradoman said:
Welcome back.

Thanks coloradoman, I've been here reading threads off and on, guess i just wasn't posting. Lol.

Jerry · Mar 25, 2024

a3dhunter said:
Hello guys, former member from 20 years ago that stopped posting much and evidently got deleted due to inactivity.

Anyway, Colorado resident, looking at burning 11 points for my wife to draw a 68 tag 4th season. Have any of you hunted it that can provide info?
Feel free to pm me.
I've hunted a lot of Colorado, but i usually burn my deer points by the time I get to 1 or 2, so no experience with these higher point deer hunts.
Is there a unit doing better right now?
I know the stats, been through cpw statistics for years on these units, and have been watching stats for the last 4 years on about 12-13 different hunt codes. Just checking to see if I missed something.
Not looking for a huge buck, she would be thrilled with a nice 160-165" but hoping for potential of a little better.
Thanks guys.

I’m not up on unit 68 recently for hunting, but you might want to check out Unit 53- 2 nd or 3 rd season- it may be a decent possibility. Worth a check I think. The rest of the Gunnison Basin areas are just not

good now, from what I understand about them. I drew 67-3- several years ago, but it looked way off & I turned the tag back to save the points for another day.
Glad I returned that tag. Sorry I’m not much help !
Best of Luck !

a3dhunter · Mar 25, 2024

Jerry said:
I’m not up on unit 68 recently for hunting, but you might want to check out Unit 53- 2 nd or 3 rd season- it may be a decent possibility. Worth a check I think. The rest of the Gunnison Basin areas are just not good now, from what I understand about them. I drew 67-3- several years ago, but it looked way off & I turned the tag back to save the points for another day.
Glad I returned that tag. Sorry I’m not much help !
Best of Luck !

Thanks Jerry, I'll check it out.

one_dryboot · Mar 25, 2024

68 has gone down hill. You should be able to turn up 150-160 with a decent chance at turning up bigger during 4th.

But it has been tough to turn up bigger bucks the last 4-5 years.

Jerry · Mar 25, 2024

a3dhunter said:
Thanks Jerry, I'll check it out.

You are most welcome! Always glad to help ! Many hunters have assisted me over the many years - no one does it alone ! Jerry

Deercy · Mar 29, 2024

68 isn't Gunny in my opinion. That being said, I've always wished I could try a later season tag there. I don't worry about how bad it is now compared to how how awesome it was.

a3dhunter · Mar 30, 2024

Yeah, I feel like things have gone downhill all around, now we just have to accept it and move on. Make the best of the hunts we can draw.

Togwotee · Mar 31, 2024

Deercy said:
68 isn't Gunny in my opinion. That being said, I've always wished I could try a later season tag there. I don't worry about how bad it is now compared to how how awesome it was.

Exactly. I wasted 20 years on some hunts waiting for it to come back and they're worse now than when they went bad. there are few if any hunts for any species that are getting better so just hunt.

liecabucks · Apr 1, 2024

Had a tag in 68 a few years back, killed an ok buck. I’ve heard it’s not producing in the most recent years. I do like the unit though. Really fun hunt.

verticalslope70 · 2024-05-31T12:50:22-0600

I have a 2nd Season tag there this year. Looking forward to it!!!

one_dryboot · 2024-05-31T13:27:08-0600

liecabucks said:
Had a tag in 68 a few years back, killed an ok buck. I’ve heard it’s not producing in the most recent years. I do like the unit though. Really fun hunt.

In the last 4 years, our group has had 20+ tags in the unit. Only 3 bucks over 160” has been killed

For comparison… 2008-2012 50% or more of our group killed 180”+ bucks every year.

Sad to see how bad it is now. But there’s always a chance

feddoc · 2024-05-31T15:27:53-0600

I've hunted 68 since 1968 and one_dryboot is right.

Up until the late 80s, there were lots of good deer.

Then the weather changed from cold/snowy to why the heck am I here and the bigger bucks were harder to find.

If there isn't cold/snow in the forecast for 4th season, I would reconsider my choice of 68, given the 160 - 165 guidelines you mentioned.

I'm hoping for deepish snow.

MrDoe · 2024-05-31T20:01:55-0600

I am not trying to disrespect @Jerry Gold but I think he gets all his info from the internets. Just go freaking hunt and if it doesn’t work out, sorry make sure you gave it 100%.

jims · 2024-06-01T07:33:26-0600

It's pretty sad to see late rut rifle dates in units that are struggling with overall deer populations and lack of age class. The CPW has done exactly what they have wanted to do and cropped what used to be an amazing state that was re-writing the B&C record books.

Times have certainly changed. Several winterkill years haven't helped. The CPW has used CWD as an excuse to eliminate old age structure of bucks with an aggressive number of deer tags issued. The total deer population across Colorado is pathetic! Plain and simple, the CPW has obviously sold more tags in the process.

From those of us that have lived in the center of where CWD first existed on the Front Range in Colorado in the late 1970's, even culling CWD hotbeds does nothing to prevent prions from spreading and infecting areas for countless years. Culling old age class bucks eliminates the best resistant alleles and genetics in the herd.

At the end of your hunt be sure to return your harvest report. Be sure to add comments in regard to the lack of deer and mature bucks you saw in the field. You may want to comment that it would be a lot better experience if there was a higher proportion of mature bucks in the herd after so many years of applying for your tag.

With that said, I sincerely hope you have a great time hunting. Enjoy your experience in gorgeous mule deer country!