Looking for some advice or suggestions on where to go in Colorado where a person could expect to harvest a really good buck? Is there such a place? 190" class or better I realize this might be a tall order, but does anyone know of such a place, where at least there may be a good chance that there could be bucks of this caliber in the area. Holding 8 preference points
A 190" expectation is pretty high. I went a few years back and would have settled for a 175"er. Tag soup for me. Gunny Basin 2nd rifle the fall (2006) before the BIG SNOW winter
Steve 190 bucks are a tall order, don't think that residents are dropping them like cordwood around here no matter what anybody tells you. Most people have never even seen a buck of that caliber wandering around. With that said bucks of this size are killed here every year but no one can expect one regularly. There are several different trains of thought on where to go, some people hunt the eastern plains of Colorado and there are some nice bucks there but getting permission to hunt where big bucks live is usually impossible or based on a fee situation, many eastern plains properties that can produce are tied up by outfitters. The other idea is mountain hunts, go through Boone&Crockett and look at the counties that have produced large numbers of record book deer, find a place or two in these counties that are not accessible to ATV's and pickups and you will be as close as anyone can steer you. Other option is Wildlife for Ranching properties however you have to be a resident to take advantage of this option. Final option is to find a guide/outfitter to put you in one of the above options and there you have it. I have seen bucks in the 190 range and some are in town, some are on ranches, some are way high in Sheep country and some are out in the sage on the western slope but finding one when you have a tag in pocket is completely different than bumping into one here and there. I have 9 Deer points and am at a loss as to where to burn those points myself so it is even more difficult to recommend a place to someone else. Good luck with your hunt.
Posts: 5604 | Location: Eastern plains of Colorado | Registered: 31 October 2005
Thanks guys, this very valuable information,--I am not opposed to using a reputable outfitter any thoughts there. Or possibly any outfitters reading this post
Plainview, that's nice buck but a long ways from a 190...I'd guess him low to mid 170s.
Steve, try www.sierragrandeoutfitters.com for the eastern plains. They take a few in the 190s each year and typically one or two that bust 200. Not cheap but a good deal less than some of the premier areas on the reservations or in Utah.
Posts: 1148 | Location: The Hunting Fields | Registered: 22 May 2002
This is what is so hard about attempting to harvest a true Mule Deer trophy,---even though this guy is not in the 190 class, he is still a beautiful buck, and unless you are truly committed, and more often than not willing to come home without, the temptation all too often becomes too much.
That is what makes taking truly large examples of most species extremely difficult for most hunters. The level of commitment just isn't there for many. Big deer are hard enough to actually find while hunting, but then add in the fear many have of going home empty handed or the temptation to take a smaller buck and the odds drop like a rock. I've went home empty handed on more than one occasion, but still enjoyed the hunts and went back again.
Posts: 1148 | Location: The Hunting Fields | Registered: 22 May 2002
Hey John S--- I couldn't have said it better-----------------Any outfitters on here that might possibly have this caliber of deer on their property?????
Plainview, Are any of these critters that you seem to have eating out of your hand, on ground that can be hunted???? Or are these your own private stach If so can't blame ya!!!!
Actually, the first one travels between the National Forest and my cabin (about a quarter mile--so yeah, he's legal). That shot was taken in February of this year. The other (the bigger, badder one) was on a Ranching For Wildlife unit that takes 14 points. I took that photo in November 2004. Unfortunately, I was elk hunting at the time....Wish I had had my better camera then.
Don't let so much reality into your life that there's no room left for dreaming.
Posts: 263 | Location: SE Colorado | Registered: 24 May 2001
Thanks for the info Plainview, and yea I guess there was a little to mch wishfull thinking on my part, but I was pretty sure I knew the answer before I posed the question!! Thanx---- still great pictures to see during a boring off-season
Well, since we are on the subject....here's one from my other back door...here on the plains. One of my sons took this guy a couple of years ago. No guide necessary. I suppose John would pass on this one too....
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Don't let so much reality into your life that there's no room left for dreaming.
Posts: 263 | Location: SE Colorado | Registered: 24 May 2001
next I suppose your going to tell us that this is just one of many in a long line of bucks like this or better. and judging by the obvious genentics it probably is, some guys have all the luck!!! Congrats to your son, it will be a tall order to do better than that guy!!!!
They're not common, but they seem to be more abundant before and after the season. I've seen better out here...but never made the connection. There's always some guy named "John" running around with a tape measure getting in the way of a clear shot....
Don't let so much reality into your life that there's no room left for dreaming.
Posts: 263 | Location: SE Colorado | Registered: 24 May 2001
Nice deer and congrat's to your son...I might have shot him myself, if he presented me a good shot. I've taken some nice bucks like that, both before and after taking bigger ones and would never say one shouldn't shoot something just because it won't score XYZ. It's up to the individual to decide what he wants out of a hunt and what he will do to get it. The OP was the one who said he was after a 190 or better, not me.
Steve, the outfitter who has the website I posted the link to in the beginning has taken many deer like plainview has shown pics of. As a non-resident you can usually draw his areas with 1 point, and if not he usually gets enough landowner vouchers to cover his hunters if they don't draw.
Posts: 1148 | Location: The Hunting Fields | Registered: 22 May 2002
Very nice buck Slim, is your buddy happy with it? In some areas that buck would be better than you normally expect some areas he would get a pass. In the right situation I would shoot that buck however if I burned a bunch of points to draw a tag I would pass. Couple seasons ago I watched my brother pass on a few quite a bit bigger that were weak in the front forks like he is. It all depends on what you have your sights set on when you have that tag in your pocket and how much will power you have. All nice bucks in the above pictures and all would be keepers in the right situation, but if you have killed a few and are looking for bigger and knew the area you were hunting could produce bigger every one of them would get passed on in my book. I happen to be looking for bigger and if I'm hunting an area that can produce bigger then I'll keep passing until the last day maybe even last light. Been lucky enough to pass on bucks way bigger than what I've shot hoping for an even bigger one but I am always on the lookout for a good buck and not afraid to go home empty I don't have to fill my tag. Yeah I'll probably get flamed for this post but if someone is talking about wanting 190 bucks you'll never get one if you fill your tag with a 170 buck, you have to pass on nice bucks and hold out for that whopper if you want a whopper, simple as that.
Posts: 5604 | Location: Eastern plains of Colorado | Registered: 31 October 2005
Snellstorm you won't get flamed from me. This was my friends second deer ever, first mule deer. This in my opinion is a nice mule deer, but in a year it would have been better and in two years.... He passed up a deer of this quality this past fall, now he has to do better. To find a big mule deer they need time, now my friend and I are on the same page when it comes to pulling the trigger on a mule deer. Now if I could get the folks who hunt on my neighbor's property to let the deer of this quality walk we would all have the oppertuntiy to see some real monsters, oh well I can't control that. They have the right to shoot what they want and they don't let these live.
Don't burn your 8 pts. on a deer like this. if you don't live in mule deer country it's hard to pass a deer like the ones you see in the above pics, but these are not "hogs". A huge mule deer is the hardest "trophy" to find in NA. IMO
I haven't been near a computer for a while, thanks to all of you for your responces. Since I was the one who started this this mess, I feel I need to set the record straight. I realized from the start that I set the bar awefully high, and I couldn't agree more that a Muley in this class is probably one of the most diffucult trophy to come by, that was the reason for the request. I really wasn't sure if there even was such a place left without refinancing the house and giving up the first born!!!(Mexico) to find a buck of this class.. Like everyone else here, I just would like to have the chance to improve on what I have been lucky enough to have taken so far. For me, it's all about the quest. I am perfectly content to come home without---just knowing there is a reasonably chance of getting a look at a really good buck. Afer all if a person REALLY MUST have the meat to survive, then you couldn't afford the license.. The true test is having the willpower not to release the saftey when your lookig at any one of these truely beautiful bucks------IT DRIVES ME NUTS!!!!! and thats what keeps me coming back...
I don't know about 190, but this guy does kill some big mulies, and he's about as straight a shooter as I've hunted with. His name is Doyle Worbington, and he hunts in a several places in colorado. Last time I talked to him he had areas in the plains, the front range near colorado springs, and west colorado near montrose.
All his hunts are on private ranches in the area north of Ft. Collins or on the the eastern plains. Wes offers hunts for either trophy or "management" bucks. I do not believe you have to use your preference points if you hunt the ranch north of Ft. Collins; it's basically a guaranteed tag. In contrast, the eastern plains hunt is a draw tag.
Below is a 3x3 "management" buck I killed in 2007.
Tony Mandile - Author "How To Hunt Coues Deer"
Posts: 3269 | Location: Glendale, AZ | Registered: 28 July 2003
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