3rd season heat

wweaver79 · Nov 14, 2023

Sitting here in my baselayer that I have been in since 9am on Nov 14th. Come on Mother Nature help us out. Rut is going good bucks are with does but a little cloud cover and sub 60 degree temps at 7500 feet would be nice. Hope everyone is enjoying archery I mean 3rd season !! Good luck the rest guys/gals the rest of week going to be a grind.

El Gringo · Nov 14, 2023

Yea, I’m feeling bad for the guys that waited years for a 3rd tag this year. Hopefully it’s working out better than the forecast portrays.

HntHrdr · Nov 14, 2023

I just finished up yesterday, tipped an old very crabby 4x4 over. But man super weird to be hunting in t-shirt in Nov at 8500 ft… definitely doing no favors to the elk hunters

That said the rut is rocking, I shot my buck out of a group of 5-8 deer 1/2 of which were bucks and it was a mini rut fest, funny right after I shot my buck who had the bigger body, a super pretty symmetrical 4x4 stepped out… he looked a little younger but man he was pretty

The_Coloradoboy · Nov 14, 2023

Been semi slow here in the Gunnison basin. Finally starting to see some bucks checking does. Very few mature deer sightings thus far

one_dryboot · Nov 14, 2023

I second the very few mature buck sightings in the Gunnison basin.

coloradoman · Nov 14, 2023

That’s what we’re seeing here too

Focoelkman · Nov 14, 2023

It is crazy? Mid 60s all week.
Something to be said about hunting or packin a rack out in short sleeves though

best of luck and good hunting!

Bluehair · Nov 14, 2023

The Elk Gods smiled on our ‘hood this morning and dropped a pretty big herd in the field across the road. It was wild for a while

HntHrdr · Nov 14, 2023

Bluehair said:
The Elk Gods smiled on our ‘hood this morning and dropped a pretty big herd in the field across the road. It was wild for a while
View attachment 126213 View attachment 126214 View attachment 126215

paint me John Deere green with envy… that is one heck of a packout… my back is jealous just looking at that picture

Focoelkman · Nov 14, 2023

Need the story and details Blue. How many trips did ya make with the 480?

Bluehair · Nov 14, 2023

Focoelkman said:
Need the story and details Blue. How many trips did ya make with the 480?

I was just a spectator. The whole thing took a couple hours to unfold, but heres the cliff notes version.

Walk out to the patio at first light with my coffee to listen to the turkeys, and hear a couple hunnert elk across the road.

Within minutes the entire neighborhood descended on them. There must have been a dozen or more pickups and SxS’s chasing them all over hell. There were so many they couldn’t get a clean shot. When the elk started heading my way, I headed for shelter so I wouldn’t get gutshot also.

They split the herd up and I went and did my chores. An hour later I see dudes looking for one in the tall cattails (the guys ovr the tractor hood), and the neighbors across the way packing that one out of the field. Apparently another piece of the herd ran the gauntlet one more time.

One funny moment was when I walked up behind these guys to check my mail. They hadn’t checked their flank. I suppose that’s exactly what the DOW had in mind when they said no shooting from a road.

The_Coloradoboy · Nov 15, 2023

Bucks started acting right this morning.. found one the client liked and we were done by 7am. Saw another 2 solid bucks on the does driving out.. one that was bigger than the one in the back of side by side unfortunately ??‍

LIK2HNT · Nov 15, 2023

Just finished setting up camp in unit 70 for my daughter’s 4th season deer hunt. Sweating my a$$ off. Hope we get some weather. My son’s Wyoming Antelope hunt in early September was cooler. Go figure!!!

TKMulePacker · Nov 15, 2023

Opening weekend was pretty cold in the AM. Scouted and glassed the area I was hunting from tuesday-friday all day prior to the opener. Didnt waste any time when it mattered, happy with my decision. This deer was by himself. Lots of 3yr olds chasing but the more mature deer have been staying away as long as possible. Stayed around for a few days, less and less deer each day as it got more mild.

LIK2HNT · Nov 15, 2023

Saw about 40 deer this morning and 30 tonight. Only a couple small forks in the mix. No sign of rut down here yet.

kscowboy01 · Nov 18, 2023

one_dryboot said:
I second the very few mature buck sightings in the Gunnison basin.

The season dates being pushed back the last couple of years coupled with the snows during the past two 2nd Seasons have really reduced the quality of bucks in the Gunnison Basin. I saw on another site a harvest chart showing the last couple of years have seen 2-3x more bucks taken in the unit than in years past. And why are we issuing doe permits too?

The elk have also taken an absolute beating. There are multiple herds of cows with no branch antlered bulls when in the past, there would be a few with them. I have hunted the unit for years and never seen this lack of bulls when "finding the elk."

I was able to get a respectable 4x4 that I passed multiple times while anticipating a better buck moving in on the herds of does I was watching. After glassing until my eyes bled and seeing legit rut activity, I came to the realization the he was as good as it was going to get. I am happy with him and he's a respectable deer.

bighamr · Nov 18, 2023

Did ya get him Weaver??

1989Cohunter · Nov 19, 2023

I got back from southern arizona on Friday expecting cold. But it’s dang near the same temps.

Bluehair · Nov 19, 2023

We have a couple of inches of snow down here on the winter range.

oilcan · Nov 20, 2023

The weather did not cooperate this year.
We got a little storm mid week but it just rained. First time I can ever remember it raining mid November @7000’+ while hunting in the Rockies. With that said we did have some Rut activity.

tracker12 · Nov 21, 2023

Scouted and hunted 67 for 7 days and saw one really nice mature buck. Guy missed him on the opener and when he came by me I could not get a shot. Same guy killed him on Sunday at first light. I easily seen 70+ deer a day but noting mature. I had a blast but was disappointed in the bucks I saw. Most every buck I saw was a 2 1/2 year old.

one_dryboot · Nov 21, 2023

tracker12 said:
Scouted and hunted 67 for 7 days and saw one really nice mature buck. Guy missed him on the opener and when he came by me I could not get a shot. Same guy killed him on Sunday at first light. I easily seen 70+ deer a day but noting mature. I had a blast but was disappointed in the bucks I saw. Most every buck I saw was a 2 1/2 year old.

Same in 55. Other than we didn’t see a really nice one. Sad to see how far it’s gone down hill.

wweaver79 · Nov 24, 2023

bighamr said:
Did ya get him Weaver??

I took a nice deer and had a great time with my cousin and a couple friends, all you can ask for.

BradA · Nov 27, 2023

wweaver79 said:
View attachment 127305
I took a nice deer and had a great time with my cousin and a couple friends, all you can ask for.

Congratulations

cmbbulldog · Nov 27, 2023

Real nice, congrats!

bighamr · Nov 27, 2023

Nice buck weaver and sweet cape on that buck.

oldmossback · Dec 14, 2023

LIK2HNT said:
Just finished setting up camp in unit 70 for my daughter’s 4th season deer hunt. Sweating my a$$ off. Hope we get some weather. My son’s Wyoming Antelope hunt in early September was cooler. Go figure!!!

How did your daughters hunt go?