Colorado high country early rifle hunt

[felis concolor]

I'm thinking about applying for an "early high country" buck tag for units 14 or 161 in the Mt Zirkel Wilderness. Does anyone have experience hunting deer in this area. I've hunted elk many times in units 5 and 14, but never got into the wilderness area. This hunt usually starts the end of Aug. so I know the bucks will be very high then. I'm just looking for some advice, or areas to start my search. I'll probably be going it alone. Its hard to find friends as crazy as myself. Thanks.

[silvertip-co]

Good luck on that. Let us know how ya did and post some pics.

[felis concolor]

Thanks Silvertip. I'll do that. Its hard to believe nobody on this forum has hunted deer in this area. I've seen some pretty good bucks while hunting elk in unit 5, later in the season. I've always assumed that they probably came out of Zirkel. Maybe its just a crummy area.

[Twitch]

If ya stay around for a little more, people will be more inclined to give you some pointers on the area .

[felis concolor]

Twitch, thanks for the advice. I'm not going anywhere. It's a great site.

[sheephunter]

I had that tag a couple years ago. For a couple reasons I did not kill a buck, but I had my chances. I don't know if any real whoppers come out of there. The bucks I saw were not very wide, maybe 24-25" tops, but they were real high. I also don't know how the deer herd fared in that unit after the bad winter we had in '07; I believe in my research I found out a good number of the deer in those units winter up in WY. I think it's a decent tag and I would consider doing that hunt again.

[felis concolor]

Sheephunter, thank you very much for your encouragement. The bucks I've seen while hunting in unit 5 did tend to be narrow, but quite heavy and tall. I'm not after a book buck, just a great experience, and the chance at a good representative mountian buck.