Colorado PPs

[Deertick]

I know there\'s no great answer to this question, but I thought I\'d get some input from others.

I\'m sitting on 9 PPs in CO (for deer and elk) ... 10, once I purchase more this year ...

What do I do with them?

I\'m not a resident of Colorado. I am close, though, making scouting of northern portions of CO possible.

What am I looking for? Well, I\'d like to hit high opportunity units, not necessarily \"trophy\" units. I\'m after the memory, not the antlers. With regard to elk, I\'d like to find an archery spot, but I\'m not opposed to muzzleloader (I\'ve got several that haven\'t been out of the safe for years!) or rifle hunts.

For deer ... I\'m pretty open to thoughts, but I\'ve never hunted mule deer (successfully!) and I think I\'d enjoy a rifle trip for one.

I\'m willing to wait any number of years necessary, but I\'m not convinced that waiting will push me into a better position.

These \"points\" are not exactly burning a hole in my pocket ... but they do need to be spent someday, and I\'m just hoping that people on this board can give me some possibilities to consider.

BTW ... I\'d prefer unguided options. I\'d be willing to consider paying a trespass fee if it would get me a relaxed, high-opportunity hunt, but I\'d prefer public land, DIY. It doesn\'t need to be \"back-country\" and pack-in-style hunting, but I\'m not opposed to it. Nor am I opposed to road camping.

My goal for a trip would be to look back on it and say \"I sure wish I had the points to hunt there again because I sure had a great time,\" rather than \"Hey, look at this giant dead critter on my wall.\" But I\'d take either one!

 

[Jason Balazs]

Deer tick,
I am sitting at 10 PP for deer right now. Saving for are 2 3rd Rifle. That is when the big boys come off black mountain and migrate through there. Takes about 13 the last time I checked.

Brad would recommend unit 61 for elk in archery season. I am saving for 201, which will put me there in about ten years when I retire from the Navy. Just wished I would have started saving PP way back when I joined 25 years ago.. LOL

 

[cnelk]

John
Here is a link to the Minimum Pref Points required. Its a good start to see where a bunch of points can be used.
Remember that it shows MINIMUM required. That means if only one person drew a tag with that many points, it will indicate it.
Be sure to ADD one or 2 PP to the numbers to get a true baseline

<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/Statistics/Deer/2014DeerPreferencePoint.pdf\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href);return false;\">http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Huntin ... ePoint.pdf</a><!-- m -->

The unit Jason mentioned takes 13 Res, and 20 NR.

As you know, MD populations arent what they used to be. But some good bucks can be had hunting the Early seasons and Late seasons.

Just to the south of you in North Park, the deer populations are finally rebounding from the 2007 spring storms.
Some good bucks are showing up in the late seasons. Those units take 5/Res and 10/NR for the 4th Season Rifle
and Unit 4 shows 12 PP for 4th Season rifle

Elk... Hmmmm.... Well...

Here is that list
<!-- m --><a class=\"postlink\" href=\"http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/Statistics/Elk/2014ElkPreferencePoint.pdf\" onclick=\"window.open(this.href);return false;\">http://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Huntin ... ePoint.pdf</a><!-- m -->

All depends on what you want.
Unit 76 Archery would be first choice [11]
Unit 4 ML should be considered [14PP]
Unit 61 Archery is still a long wait [18]

You will have point creep each year in the elk draw that you dont have in the deer draw.

After doing this little exercise, Unit 4 is rising to the top for your situation.
Its in Northern Colorado
Good use of points for both deer/elk
You could hunt one species and scout for another hunt there.

I hope this helps

 

[Deertick]

That\'s a great help ... I\'ll start looking into this stuff more over the next year or two, but it has to start sometime.

 

[otcWill]

John, you\'ve got a friend who\'s been scouting 76 extensively for a few years in preparation to hunt in 2016. I\'d be glad to help. We can talk next time we get together or you can get my number from Brad

 

[Deertick]

76 would be great for the elk ... looks like wonderful country and plenty of animals ... but I\'m worried that point-creep will keep it out of my grasp for years. If someone told me \"Don\'t worry, wait for 76, you\'ll make it in the next 5 years\" I\'d do just that ... but with 9 points now, can anyone tell me that?

 

[otcWill]

I can\'t say for sure that you\'d draw in the next 5 years but I\'d bet with confidence that you\'d draw before that. If not 76, your in no man\'s land here in CO. Unless of course you\'d consider 40 which would require an outfitter, a TON of scouting, or some local intel. If I were you I\'d plan on hunting 76 archery in 2018. Odds are you\'ll draw. This is your best option for archery elk. If rifle is a consideration I might look at Bosque Del Oso, some giants in there.

 

[cnelk]

John
Based on the data for 76 you should draw it 3-4 years, 5 tops, including point creep

47 NR drew it in 2014.
3 used 17 PPs, 3 used 16 PP, 1 used 15 PP, 1 used 14 PP, 7 used 13 PP, 15 used 12 PP = 30 NRtags
38 had 11 PP and 17 of those got lucky and drew the remaining 17 tags.

This data shows that 8 people were tired of hanging on to their high PP and used them

 

[Deertick]

That\'s good to hear ... that it is realistic to look at that unit.

76 Archery elk ... and maybe a late season mule deer hunt (rifle) in North Park somewhere. Hmm.

\"All is proceeding as I have foreseen.\"