As promised, below is trip report for my 2019 Colorado mule deer hunt. There were some real highs and lows, but ultimately we walked away filling both of our tags on our first DIY public land hunt. The least we hiked in a single day was 5 miles, the most over 10. We worked for these deer.
Thursday: Leave Houston at 4:30AM for our hunt area. We drive straight through, nothing too exciting along the way. We arrive at the trailhead in Colorado around 11:30PM. It's cold, about 20-25 degrees. We quickly put up a tent, throw the pads and sleeping bags in there and try to get some rest before hiking back into the wilderness area we intend to hunt. At some point during the night we start to hear snow slowly falling on the tent.
Friday: We wake up around sunrise to 2-3 inches of snow on the ground. Neither of us slept great, but we begin to pack things up and prepare for the hike. Slowed down a little bit because we realize that the foot of both of our bags got wet from condensation during the night. We dry them out using the truck foot dryer before heading out. Another group is also camped at the trailhead in a nice canvas tent with a wood burning stove. After chatting with them we learn they have been hunting the area for the last 10 years and usually have decent success for elk and mule deer, hiking back in during the day and hunting the meadows. They wish us luck as we set out. It snows the entire hike, and we make it back to the area we want to hunt in just a few hours. We get started on setting up camp and try to warm up with a campfire, sitting there for a few hours hoping for the snow to stop so we can do some scouting. Ultimately the snow stops around 4, and we head to a nearby mountaintop to check out the terrain. At this point there is 6-10 inches of snow on the ground. Neither of us are in great spirits as we realize how much harder the hunt will be given the weather. Scouting doesn't turn up anything and we head to camp for a freeze dried meal and sleep. I take an Advil PM and tuck in for the night while my hunting partner does the same. At some point during the night he stands outside my tent, letting me know somehow he woke up to a wet sleeping bag and is absolutely freezing. While he has a 30 degree bag in the truck to use while drying his main one out, I have nothing but what is with me in camp. He needs to warm up ASAP and doesn't have time for me to wait to put stuff together to head out with him. We ultimately decide that the best path forward is for him to head to the truck alone, warm up there and dry out his bag and we will meet in the morning. Hunting partner makes is safely back to the truck after a long hike, and shivers and suffers with near hypothermia while I am back at camp, also struggling bad with the cold. He also begins to suffer from symptoms of altitude sickness including vomiting and muscle aches.
Saturday: Before daylight my hunting partner hikes back in to camp. We evaluate the situation together and ultimately decide we have to go down in elevation (camped at 10,500) so he can recover and we can both get out of the cold. At this point we are both at a real low and build another campfire to boost morale and prepare to slog it back to the truck. The hike is miserable but we don't start for fear of not being able to start back up again. The realization that we probably won't even be able to hunt sets in. We head to the nearest town, about 4,000 feet lower and grab some tacos (probably the best meal I have ever eaten) and book a hotel for the night. We check into the hotel, take a nice long warm shower and begin to see what our options might be. My hunting partner reassures me he is feeling a bit better and we decide to head to nearby public land just to scope it out. We aren't familiar with the area at all and hope to salvage at least the opportunity to hunt. I convince him to bring our guns, just in case something does pop out. The hike back isn't bad and we post up on a hillside to glass a nice meadow and the surrounding areas. An hour or so in I spot a buck around 1,000 yards out and start to make a move as the sun is setting fast. While stalking, I hear two shots nearby and hope for the best. I am ultimately only able to get around 290 yards away before he beds down behind a tree and disappears. A bit dejected, I get a text from my buddy that he got one! It takes a while for us to meet up and head in the direction of where his buck was. After 20 minutes or so of looking, we find the 4x2 buck dropped right where he was standing. Turns out while I was stalking, this one walked out with a herd of does about 600 yards away. He managed to get to 300 yards to take the shot. We butcher the deer by headlamp and hoof it back to the truck, completely forgetting the miserable experience from the previous night and earlier that morning.
Sunday: The morning is cold, 18 at the truck when we head out to hunt. It has snowed about 2 inches over night and continues on throughout nearly the entire day. We set up on the same hill as the previous afternoon. It isn't long before 3 bucks appear, two spikes and a 2x2. I ultimately decide to make a move on them and narrow the gap down from 800 yards to 200. Before I can get the 2x2 in the scope all 3 go over the ridgeline and disappear. On my way back to the glassing spot I notice 3 different bucks and a doe moving to the southeast across a field. Two of them are nice 4x4s and again I attempt to narrow the distance on deer going the other direction from me. I am able to get within 400 yards, the maximum I have shot my rifle out to and know the drop on. At this point the wind is howling and I don't feel comfortable with a shot at that range. While I work to get even closer, they again drop over a ridge and disappear for good. My hunting partner and I are frozen stiff and decide to go into town for some food. The evening is relatively quiet, with only a very young 2x2 spotted. He stays in the same stand of grass and feeds for 3-4 hours while we watch him.
Monday: We set up on a smaller hill closer to the meadow where most of the movement has been over the 2 previous days. A group of 4 does is a quick reward after sunrise but no bucks are with them. We decide to cover more ground that day, and ultimately hike 7.5 miles with intermittent glassing at good vantage points we come across. At one point we come across 2 bucks just 100 yards out but the burned juniper is just too thick and they disappear before offering an opportunity. These are the only bucks we will see that day.
Tuesday: We head back to watch a hillside that we traversed the day before that was absolutely loaded with deer sign. After around 2 hours or so the cold and lack of deer overcomes us and we set out to a vantage point over 2 irrigated fields. Almost immediately after arriving I notice a nice herd of deer crossing the farthest field. I throw up the binoculars just long enough to determine that there is a nice and tall buck in the group and make a move to get closer. I am again able to get 400 yards but they are quickly beginning to push back off the field into the brush. The wind is almost non-existent so I make a hasty decision to take the shot from a seated position, using my knee for support and targeting the largest buck in the group. The deer don't seem to respond at all and naturally move out of the field. Feeling pretty unconfident about the shot, I head to where they were to look for any sign of a hit. I look for about 20-30 minutes without observing anything. Walking back into the field, I quickly notice that 4 of the bucks have moved back around to my left and are traversing the far north side of the same field. I quickly range them at 150 and use a rock to steady myself for a shot on the largest one. The first shot is good and I can see him hunch up his back legs. Before he can move again, I fire another round. Unfortunately for me, my magazine only holds 3 rounds and I didn't put an extra into the chamber so my rifle is now totally empty. I can tell the buck is hit but he isn't going down. I try my best to get my hunting partner on the phone to tell him to get down to where I am, but between his haste and the poor service he thinks I said bring everything when I really said leave everything and bring me ammo. It takes him what seems like an eternity to get to me, loaded like a pack mule with both of our packs and tripods. The other 3 bucks have now moved on, and I've watched mine as he alternates between standing still panting heavily and slowly slinking around. I'm able to grab one more round out of my newly acquired pack and put it into the still standing buck through a small gap in the burned out trees he has moved into. At this, I can no longer see him and know he has finally gone down. This buck isn't the biggest, but he is a great reward to my first DIY public land hunt.
Some beautiful sunsets.
Best mid-afternoon pick me up.
178 gr ELD-X did it's job. One of the rounds recovered under the hide on the opposite side. I'm impressed with the weight retention and overall expansion. This is my first time using this round on game.
Most useful gear:
1. Gore-Tex gaiters. Absolutely indispensable with all the snow.
2. Trekking poles. Helped so much when the packs were loaded down and really saved my knees.
Things to change next year:
1. Glassing mittens. I used my best windproof Outdoor Research gloves but my hands still froze while sitting.
2. Warmer boots. My 400g Primaloft boots were unsuccessful in keeping out the cold.
3. More ramen! We didn't think do this as a snack until the 3rd day and boy did we regret not starting earlier. The extra weight of the Jet Boil was more than worth it.
4. Nicer binos. I now understand why people spend $1k+ when you are sitting behind them for hours on end.
Also way to stick it out when $*** got hairy the first couple days, really cool that it paid off for you.