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Post by mellonhead on Dec 15, 2012 21:08:54 GMT -5
Last year was my first year to hunt elk. We hunted the early draw season in Colorado. We are planning on going back again next year. We(me and my hunting buddies) are wondering if any of you guy hunt the second season and hunt elk and mule deer both. We are trying to decide whether to hunt the early season again or try the second season and hunt both deer and elk. We are all relative newbies to hunting out west so any help would be great. Thanks.
Toby
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Post by bushog on Dec 16, 2012 10:14:44 GMT -5
Snowshoes?
I killed a 5x Mulie buck and a 4x5b ull several years ago on opening day of muzzleloader Season here. Was a loooong day.
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COR
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,529
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Post by COR on Dec 16, 2012 15:56:33 GMT -5
Second season is fun but you need to work a little. The past 7 years the weather in NW Colorado has gotten unseasonably warm almost progressively although we got hit with 18" late in the week. That is my first reason for liking the second season, the other is flexibility since it is an OTC bull tag. They were still bugling during second season.
An argument for first season is more calling possibilities and less pressure. Tough choice but I like second season and public land, get in deep and hunt areas no one else will go.
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Post by mellonhead on Dec 16, 2012 20:03:33 GMT -5
The weather is one of the reasons we are thinking about the 2nd season. We were in NW Colorado and it was 60 degrees most of the days we where out.
Toby
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Post by Plagioclase on Dec 16, 2012 21:16:43 GMT -5
I hunt the second season in NW CO and have every year for the past 5-6. Last year was an anomaly as far as I'm concerned. It was very warm and windy - I've never seen wind like that. As a result the elk were tucked away in the dark timber. I hunted dark timber for 6 days and saw elk. Twice I jumped bedded elk right at dark. It was a weird year.
I've also considered hunting both mule deer and elk but have found that concentrating on one or the other yields better results. I tend to pass up small bulls trying to find a bigger bull. Tag soup isn't uncommon but I have managed to kill 2 - 6x6 and a good 5x5 in the past 4 years. I've seen some dandy mule deer while elk hunting but killing one would likely be an opportunity kill rather than on purpose. I think if you concentrate on one or the other, you'll end up with decent deer or elk. If your not picky about either species, doing both can be done. The other bonus is that the second season is 8-9 days long compared to 5 for first season. If you know each species, hunt areas where they are, and hunt hard, it can be done.
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bud
.30 Stingray
Posts: 233
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Post by bud on Dec 20, 2012 12:19:26 GMT -5
I've hunted Wyoming & Colorado since the 80's. One thing I have noticed is that I never see many muleys in elk territory and vice versus. In Wyoming we had this wonderful ranch to hunt w/huge muleys everywhere. Never saw any elk then, but when the elk started showing up the muley's left. From what I've read about Montana...this isn't the case up there. If you do find a place in CO with both deer and elk consider yerself lucky.
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