Eastern Colorado Plains DIY Mulies

[cdbing]

Just got back from an eastern plains CO DIY public land mule deer hunt. We applied as a group (3 hunters) for 2nd rifle mule deer bucks back in March and were fortunate to draw tags with no points.

 

We set up camp on Friday 10/25/19, with season opening 10/26/19. First day we split up and each covered a decent amount of ground averaging about 6 miles each without any deer sightings. We tried different ground the next 3 days and saw lots of critters, just no mule deer bucks. Highlight of the trip was seeing 3 big horn rams within 150 yards of the truck. Had a nice mature whitetail half rack 8 at 100 yds on day 3 who put on a show chasing does and grunting.

 

Weather got progressively colder. Normal would be 60s for a high and 20s for low. We hardly got above freezing from day 2, had snow day 3 and hit 0 degrees by day 4 for a low with a steady 20 knot wind. Only the first and last days were close to normal. By 10/30 we were down to 2 hunters.

 

After talking with some locals we targeted smaller patches of public next to crop fields. And we even got permission to hunt one of the fields. On 10/30 I saw over a dozen mulies including 1 definite shooter, one 3 by 3 (maybe shooter) and a forkie. Next day we were back where I'd seen the deer and my buddy got the 4x4 we were targetting in the field we had permission to hunt.

 

I hunted the same public ground next to the field the next 2 evenings. I stalked the 3x3 and missed an easy 150 yd shot on 11/1. On 11/2 the forkie gave me an 80 yd chip shot, which I blew by shooting high. Still can't believe I missed clean at 80 yds, but I did.

 

By 11/3 it was down to me alone. After checking the rifle, I sat the same area and only saw a doe and fawn.

 

I am happy to scratch the DIY muley hunt off the bucket list and had a good time in spite of the unseasonably cold weather. I am also happy that my buddy tagged a real nice buck.

 

 

 

 

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[Skillet]

Sounds cool. Sorry you didn't get one. Did you drive out?

[NYBowhunter]

Well done, pretty cool to see a mulie with brow tines.

[BizCT]

Nice. The most important thing when rifle hunting out west is knowing your rifle and being able to shoot. Practice, Practice, Practice


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[cdbing]

I flew into Denver and rented a pick up from there. I thought that I had put in a decent amount of practice. Put about 100 rounds downrange at 200 yards and my best groups were in the 5-6" range. I am mainly a bowhunter and pistol shooter and have only shot 4 deer with a rifle, most within 75 yds. Really there is no excuse for the misses....I simply flubbed the shots.

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[BizCT]

5 minutes ago, cdbing said:

I flew into Denver and rented a pick up from there. I thought that I had put in a decent amount of practice. Put about 100 rounds downrange at 200 yards and my best groups were in the 5-6" range. I am mainly a bowhunter and pistol shooter and have only shot 4 deer with a rifle, most within 75 yds. Really there is no excuse for the misses....I simply flubbed the shots.

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wow, that's a ton of practice shots actually. What went wrong? was it buck fever or you just pulled them? I tried practicing with shooting sticks once and hated it. I was way off. I'm much better just sitting on my ass and shooting off my knee.

Edited November 7, 2019 by Biz-R-OWorld

[Al Bundy]

How typical is it to draw tags that easily? I am assuming you guys got very lucky.  You have the land scouted or go in cold? You guys tent camped or rent a cabin? This sounds like an excellent trip.

[cdbing]

The unit we applied for had 50-50 odds of drawing with zero points. My buddy did most of the planning and had contacts with at least one other guy who had hunted the unit previously. If one goes by statistics the success rate is about 25% for a ton of hunt hours, so not a very productive unit hence relatively low draw odds. Many deer are taken on private land also, so I went into this hunt knowing the odds were not in our favor. CO game and fish website gives lots of info if you do the research.

We tent camped, but after that 0 degree night and with everything frozen solid, we went to a motel for the last 4 nights.

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[Nomad]

Shooting sticks .

My friend in Montana took his mule deer at 225 yards and his antelope at 375 this year . He never steps foot In his hunting grounds without them .

We tent camp ,but it’s a wall tent with wood stove ,lowest I experienced was minus 6 . My two buddies are out right now , Sunday high is 17 low of -10 .

[BizCT]

Shooting sticks .
My friend in Montana took his mule deer at 225 yards and his antelope at 375 this year . He never steps foot In his hunting grounds without them .
We tent camp ,but it’s a wall tent with wood stove ,lowest I experienced was minus 6 . My two buddies are out right now , Sunday high is 17 low of -10 .

It’s funny, I never feel good on sticks. Always shoot better prone on a bookbag for sitting with knee up


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[bartm]

Thats awesome to hear you got permission on some private land. Any plans to go back again?

[cdbing]

No plans at this time. Next trip will probably be for prong horn in WY 2021 or 2022.

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