CO 4th season deer success?

Gunnihunter · Nov 30, 2021

I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been any postings for CO 4th season bucks. Even with the very unseasonably warm weather, I was expecting to see some large bucks being taken. Anyone know of any special deer having been killed?

sb2017 · Nov 30, 2021

I don't have a picture of it but I saw a picture on someone else's phone of the supposed gov tag buck. It's hard to tell in the picture I saw because it's a rear view and they always look huge from that angle, but he looked like an absolute giant. Maybe someone on here has more info/photos

elkassassin · Nov 30, 2021

4th Season Bucks & Unit 40 are Secrets!

COLOelkman · Dec 1, 2021

Heard 1 of the gov. tags was punched in 44.

hawkbill · Dec 4, 2021

Come on, someone should know of a Deer or two.

Bluehair · Dec 4, 2021

The guns in the hayfields here started going off the last day. I don’t have any evidence that means anything, but there are less forkies hanging around.

But there weren’t any deer in sw CO anyway.

The_Coloradoboy · Dec 5, 2021

4th was extremely tough. A lot of the best bucks taken were in the second rifle season in my neck of the woods.

SanJuan · Dec 5, 2021

I saw a really heavy, deep forked typical, 190 class buck taken on one of the gunny units. I don't have permission to post pics though.

Focoelkman · Dec 5, 2021

Saw a real nice buck early yesterday, a real brute , on my hunt for a doe. Big neck still in the rut?
Crazy weather.

coloradoman · Dec 5, 2021

Your still hunting does in December?

zekers · Dec 5, 2021

I drew 67 after 16 years. Grew up hunting the unit but haven't hunted it since high school. Found this buck opening morning 300 yds from where my uncle saw him during 3rd rifle.
I was extremely nervous knowing the weather was terrible but I'm tired of holding these points. Super happy with the results! By far the largest buck I saw from Sunday prior to the hunt, until Sunday when we left for home. I stuck around hoping to find something for other hunters with no luck.
192" with matching inlines!!
Now I can finally bowhunt at least every other year!!!

zekers · Dec 5, 2021

zekers said:
I drew 67 after 16 years. Grew up hunting the unit but haven't hunted it since high school. Found this buck opening morning 300 yds from where my uncle saw him during 3rd rifle.
I was extremely nervous knowing the weather was terrible but I'm tired of holding these points. Super happy with the results! By far the largest buck I saw from Sunday prior to the hunt, until Sunday when we left for home. I stuck around hoping to find something for other hunters with no luck.
192" with matching inlines!!
Now I can finally bowhunt at least every other year!!!View attachment 61731 View attachment 61732

View attachment 61729

View attachment 61730

Sorry for the double pics, been awhile since I've posted pics...

hawkbill · Dec 5, 2021

Great Buck Zekers, I new there were a few nice bucks taken. I heard of one real bruiser out of another Gunnison unit, maybe it will pop up

Gunnihunter · Dec 5, 2021

Great buck, thanks for posting. I’m glad you took a good one.

The_Coloradoboy · Dec 6, 2021

This was the best deer that I personally know of coming out of the basin.

yeff2 · Dec 6, 2021

Sweet buck, I showed up there just 20 minutes after he shot it. I saw another tanker shot over there that was like 212 main frame and went 230 over all. I did hunt 44 with a friend for 4th and it was a tough hunt. We passed up a buck on the opener that was would score better than what my buddy ended up shooting. Weather was just not conducive to getting bucks out of the high country. Saw plenty of bucks just no studs.

The_Coloradoboy · Dec 6, 2021

yeff2 said:
Sweet buck, I showed up there just 20 minutes after he shot it. I saw another tanker shot over there that was like 212 main frame and went 230 over all. I did hunt 44 with a friend for 4th and it was a tough hunt. We passed up a buck on the opener that was would score better than what my buddy ended up shooting. Weather was just not conducive to getting bucks out of the high country. Saw plenty of bucks just no studs.

Yep seems like the two biggest deer in the unit hit the dirt second rifle season. It was slim pickings come 3rd/4th. Tons of 3 year old type deer with goofy genetics. Honestly glad that this year wasn’t the slaughter of mature bucks like we feared it would be.

yeff2 · Dec 6, 2021

I agree, I thought it was going to be worse on the big bucks.

MrDoe · Dec 6, 2021

Can you guys share the pics of the 230 buck please? Or direct me to where I can see them?

Thank you! Kevin

yeff2 · Dec 6, 2021

MrDoe said:
Can you guys share the pics of the 230 buck please? Or direct me to where I can see them?

Thank you! Kevin

I was shown a picture on a guy's phone and it wasn't shared with me but I'm sure sometime soon it'll pop up on one of these mule deer sites.

The_Coloradoboy · Dec 6, 2021

MrDoe said:
Can you guys share the pics of the 230 buck please? Or direct me to where I can see them?

Thank you! Kevin

If you are on Instagram they are pretty easy to dig up. I have some pictures of him last year on the winter range.

Snoopdogg · Dec 6, 2021

The_Coloradoboy said:
If you are on Instagram they are pretty easy to dig up. I have some pictures of him last year on the winter range.

Rats--rules me out! But do share some winter range pics of that hoss.

hawkbill · Dec 6, 2021

I turned down a couple of 180 class bucks and saw a lot of Deer. It was truly amazing how many and how healthy they all looked. I spent two weeks in 66. One day I went down to Blue Mesa and was just looking out across the water back into unit 66, I turned around and looked back into 54 and saw one of the most incredible Big Horn Rams I have ever seen, he was a true stud and looked Old and really big. It made my hole trip and I love the old west feel of the Gunnison basin.

The_Coloradoboy · Dec 6, 2021

hawkbill said:
I turned down a couple of 180 class bucks and saw a lot of Deer. It was truly amazing how many and how healthy they all looked. I spent two weeks in 66. One day I went down to Blue Mesa and was just looking out across the water back into unit 66, I turned around and looked back into 54 and saw one of the most incredible Big Horn Rams I have ever seen, he was a true stud and looked Old and really big. It made my hole trip and I love the old west feel of the Gunnison basin.

There was a hell of a ram in Red Creek this November

inthrut · Dec 6, 2021

yeff2 said:
I was shown a picture on a guy's phone and it wasn't shared with me but I'm sure sometime soon it'll pop up on one of these mule deer sites.

MrDoe said:
Can you guys share the pics of the 230 buck please? Or direct me to where I can see them?

Thank you! Kevin

This buck is a tank... held him in my hands with disbelief, incredible is an understatement. BIG!!!

hawkbill · Dec 8, 2021

Colorado Boy that was the Ram, I showed Randy a picture of it down at the trading post and he could not believe it. He thought the Ram had died a year or to ago.

The_Coloradoboy · Dec 8, 2021

hawkbill said:
Colorado Boy that was the Ram, I showed Randy a picture of it down at the trading post and he could not believe it. He thought the Ram had died a year or to ago.

I watched him a lot this summer into early September. Didn’t see him all October guiding hunts. Ended up going over there looking for a buck 3rd season and initially spotted his white butt up in the rocks and thought he was a deer. Threw the spotter on him and couldn’t believe it. There was another ram further up the drainage that was rutting ewes. Always cool to see them.

Coloradoboy

HiMtnHntr · Dec 8, 2021

So let's see a pic of this ram.

Southpawshooter · Dec 8, 2021

I saw the ram while scouting deer during 3rd season. He's without a doubt the biggest ram I have seen alive.

Snoopdogg · Dec 8, 2021

Somebody, post a picture of Mr. Ram and Mr. 230!

hawkbill · Dec 8, 2021

I will try to get a picture it’s on my hunting camera

hawkbill · Dec 10, 2021

it was very windy and hard to get good pictures, but here you go

hawkbill · Dec 10, 2021

I also took a lot of pictures of Mule Deer, I will down load pictures this weekend and put some on here

DeerHunter53 · Dec 10, 2021

hawkbill said:
it was very windy and hard to get good pictures, but here you goView attachment 62152 View attachment 62153

That is a bruiser for sure Wow wonder what he would score and how old he is? maybe 10

sticksender · Dec 10, 2021

That ram is fantastic. Amazing that he's still alive, but that's an archery-only area. Appears to be the same ram I bow-hunted there in 2019. The brooming on the right side seems to match. Had it been legal or ethical, I could've got him as he stood right alongside the road, as seen in this pic below. The Park service rules there require you be 100 yards from any road, even with archery gear. That rule has probably saved him more than once.

wallow · Dec 10, 2021

Here is my 3rd season basin 180 class buck. Feel fortunate as conditions were rough. One of the better bucks I saw in 6 days of getting after it.

wallow · Dec 10, 2021

Here is the link to the video of my hunt.

flycrewsupe · Dec 10, 2021

Nice buck and awesome video. Congrat.

SanJuan · Dec 10, 2021

I enjoyed the video. Thanks for sharing.

ColoGregS · Dec 13, 2021

I had 2 buddies that had 4th season tags in 44. One guy dropped a real nice 4x4 that probably scored 173-183. The other guy scouted for 4 days before opening day and hunted all 5 days and ate the tag. He didn't find anything over 170". The season timing would not allow me to get up there and help them out at all. Something about Thanksgiving..... caused problems at home.

They talked to 2 other buck hunters up there, that were still hunting Saturday that were prepared to eat their tags also. As many have mentioned, Unit 44 still has good bucks but not very many and even fewer great bucks.

The_Coloradoboy · Dec 14, 2021

ColoGregS said:
I had 2 buddies that had 4th season tags in 44. One guy dropped a real nice 4x4 that probably scored 173-183. The other guy scouted for 4 days before opening day and hunted all 5 days and ate the tag. He didn't find anything over 170". The season timing would not allow me to get up there and help them out at all. Something about Thanksgiving..... caused problems at home.

They talked to 2 other buck hunters up there, that were still hunting Saturday that were prepared to eat their tags also. As many have mentioned, Unit 44 still has good bucks but not very many and even fewer great bucks.

That’s every unit in a nut shell. About the only thing favorable this year was the season dates. Conditions were down right horrible all November. If a person could witness about any top unit in Colorado with a foot of snow on the ground in mid/late November their attitude would be much different. Fact of the matter is killing big mule deer is tough, arguably the toughest thing to do in all of western biggame hunting. I’ve became cautious over the past couple years when guys with piles of points reach out to me time and time again asking for “the place to go” because so often with these 15 to 20 plus point tags things don’t go the way they are envisioned. Doesn’t mean that the unit “sucks” but there are so many variables that come into play when getting the stars to align. Whether it be a unit 18 second season tag or a 44/54/55/66/67 fourth season tag.

AZGuy · Dec 14, 2021

Hunted 70 with my hunting partner ( his tag) 6 days total in the field, over 250 bucks spotted. Total we saw 3 bucks over 160 and the largest being low 170s. Tons of deer, between the Brunot Agreement and CPW it has become a very sad unit for mature deer.