duck911
Member
Well, I am not really an accomplished big game hunter (waterfowl and upland are my passions) but I drew a good tag this year on Colorado and headed down to the Gunnison area for a hunt!
This area (unit 67) is known for LARGE mule deer and even though it had a bad winter kill a few years back shooting a 26-30 inch buck is certainly possible. Most experienced deer hunters would be disappointed with the deer I shot but under the circumstances I am ticked pink.
I headed from Loveland, CO to Gunnison, CO for the 9 day season on Friday morning, to get a little scouting done before the season opened on Saturday. I was pulling the camper and planned on hunting 3 days or so to start the season, then I head to head home to work for 2 days, followed by another 3 days at deer camp. This is my gas stop just north of the Hwy 285/Hwy 50 junction. Notice the nice weather... :sick:
I rolled into Gunnison, grabbed a tank of gas, and headed south of town into the BLM land. I found a nice spot to park the camper... Home sweet home!
I started Saturday morning by hunting some areas lower in elevation that by this time of year, typically are heavy with deer. The weather in this area has been abnormally mild though, and by mid morning of opening day it was 60 degrees and I was in short-sleeves. The deer were holed up and on day 1 I never even saw a deer. I did end up having a nice view of Blue Mesa Reservoir, however:
On day 2, I continued hunting in the same area. Again, blue skies, and warm temps. No deer, but BEAUTIFUL country!!
With no deer and no weather, I headed home early to work a couple of days, and left the camper parked out in the middle of nowhere.
I returned to the area Wednesday evening with a plan to check out some areas I had started to discover earlier, that were higher in elevation and looked promising... Some weather was starting to move in, as well. It was spitting light snow and the second half of my trip greeted me with 20 and 30 degree temps.
After hunting at 8500', I headed up to 9500' and beyond...
Finally, I started to find some deer....
On Thursday I continued hunting at around 10500'. After not seeing much at all the first weekend, I finally started seeing some deer. Mid day I still hunted through some areas and kicked up 2 different decent bucks but didn't get a shot as they left their beds on the run and bobbed and weaved through the aspens and sage brush. Later in the afternoon I crossed paths with a number of smaller bucks (spikes and forkies) but passed them up hoping for a better deer. Reminder - I am not an accomplished big game hunter and this marks the first time in my life I passed up on easy shots on legal bucks :blush:
Finally, 15 minutes after sunset I spotted a buck feeding with 5 does. I got into position for a shot but I wasn't steady and the buck was quartering away at 175 yards. I jumped in the truck and headed up the ridge to a spot where I figured I could make a stalk on the buck. I used a small ridge and a rock outcropping to my advantage and moved to within 100 yards. I stood up over the boulder, took aim, and the .270 barked. The mulie had a mouthful of grass and never knew I was there. I heard the THWACK of the bullet, and he reeled and ran 40 or so yards before he stacked up, expired. My first mule deer was on the ground!
Like I said, he's not a monster but I am pretty happy with the hunt - I adapted to the conditions, found where the deer were located, and made a nice stalk on a nice little buck. Can't eat the horns!
--Duck911
This area (unit 67) is known for LARGE mule deer and even though it had a bad winter kill a few years back shooting a 26-30 inch buck is certainly possible. Most experienced deer hunters would be disappointed with the deer I shot but under the circumstances I am ticked pink.
I headed from Loveland, CO to Gunnison, CO for the 9 day season on Friday morning, to get a little scouting done before the season opened on Saturday. I was pulling the camper and planned on hunting 3 days or so to start the season, then I head to head home to work for 2 days, followed by another 3 days at deer camp. This is my gas stop just north of the Hwy 285/Hwy 50 junction. Notice the nice weather... :sick:
I rolled into Gunnison, grabbed a tank of gas, and headed south of town into the BLM land. I found a nice spot to park the camper... Home sweet home!
I started Saturday morning by hunting some areas lower in elevation that by this time of year, typically are heavy with deer. The weather in this area has been abnormally mild though, and by mid morning of opening day it was 60 degrees and I was in short-sleeves. The deer were holed up and on day 1 I never even saw a deer. I did end up having a nice view of Blue Mesa Reservoir, however:
On day 2, I continued hunting in the same area. Again, blue skies, and warm temps. No deer, but BEAUTIFUL country!!
With no deer and no weather, I headed home early to work a couple of days, and left the camper parked out in the middle of nowhere.
I returned to the area Wednesday evening with a plan to check out some areas I had started to discover earlier, that were higher in elevation and looked promising... Some weather was starting to move in, as well. It was spitting light snow and the second half of my trip greeted me with 20 and 30 degree temps.
After hunting at 8500', I headed up to 9500' and beyond...
Finally, I started to find some deer....
On Thursday I continued hunting at around 10500'. After not seeing much at all the first weekend, I finally started seeing some deer. Mid day I still hunted through some areas and kicked up 2 different decent bucks but didn't get a shot as they left their beds on the run and bobbed and weaved through the aspens and sage brush. Later in the afternoon I crossed paths with a number of smaller bucks (spikes and forkies) but passed them up hoping for a better deer. Reminder - I am not an accomplished big game hunter and this marks the first time in my life I passed up on easy shots on legal bucks :blush:
Finally, 15 minutes after sunset I spotted a buck feeding with 5 does. I got into position for a shot but I wasn't steady and the buck was quartering away at 175 yards. I jumped in the truck and headed up the ridge to a spot where I figured I could make a stalk on the buck. I used a small ridge and a rock outcropping to my advantage and moved to within 100 yards. I stood up over the boulder, took aim, and the .270 barked. The mulie had a mouthful of grass and never knew I was there. I heard the THWACK of the bullet, and he reeled and ran 40 or so yards before he stacked up, expired. My first mule deer was on the ground!
Like I said, he's not a monster but I am pretty happy with the hunt - I adapted to the conditions, found where the deer were located, and made a nice stalk on a nice little buck. Can't eat the horns!
--Duck911
