A Kinda Fun Deer Tag Dilemma

[AntelopeEater]

Help me decide on my fun deer tag application decision.

Background facts:

I am a Nevada Resident with zero points in Nevada (got a deer last year in NV).

I also have two points in California, and zero points in Colorado (just decided to add Colorado this year as another opportunity/money sink to apply for, lol).

I'm still a somewhat newish adult-onset hunter, just 3 years of big game experience so far, so I'm still happy harvesting any legal deer, big antlers would be cool, but not that important to me.

I'm cool with using either a muzzle-loader or modern rifle. I also like quail and dove hunting, which are the only game animals (besides cottontails) I can realistically hunt near my desert home. My local dove season is in September, with early September being the best, and my local quail season starts in mid-October.

My work/family situation is such that I can't take enough time off to just hunt all the units all over, haha.

I have narrowed down my choices to three options for 2026 which seem to have great 1st choice draw odds for me, and success rates that aren't as terrible as some:

Option # 1: 100% draw odds, 27% harvest success rate. A Nevada Muzzle-loading buck-only tag in Unit Group 101-109 that includes the famous Rubies Mountain range, season is 9/10-30. Pros: Cheap in state tag, no hassles transporting game across state lines. Also, CWD has never been found in that area. Lastly, I like that the the deer season dates here won't interfere with me hunting doves in early September, and does not overlap the quail season at all. Cons: A HUGE area that I am not familiar with. 5-ish hour drive each way to and from my house, so I could probably only do one 3-4 day hunting trip during the season, and maybe a long weekend or two to scout beforehand. Would also prevent me from getting a bonus point this year in NV if I draw any NV deer tag. Also, I cannot combine this with a bear hunt. Muzzle-loader can't have a scope, so would be limited to 125 yards maximum shot distance for me.

Option # 2: 100% draw odds with my two points, 20% harvest success rate in past. A California "forked or better" rifle/any legal weapon buck only tag in D17, which includes the Mohave National Preserve, season mostly in October. Pros: I am fairly familiar with the preserve as I have hiked there for years before I even got into hunting, and the past couple years have hunted quail there. I have actually never seen a buck there yet, but last year I saw a doe, and I found a cool antler shed last year while quail hunting. Also, this is by far the closest unit to my home, a 2-ish hour drive one way, so I can spend more time scouting and hunting there than the farther away options. No CWD in this unit ever. Lastly, I can use a scoped bolt action center-fire rifle here which gives me a much longer effective range. Cons: It will probably be really damn hot in mid-day thru mid/late afternoon most or all days of the season. Probably the option with lowest chance of a having a successful harvest, also I hate that California requires personally taking the deer head in to be inspected, and Nevada requires I butcher an out of state deer out of state and take back only the meat and skull with no flesh which is extra hassle for me. And it would reduce my time quail hunting.

Option # 3: Colorado muzzleloader DOE deer and bear tag in Unit 22 in September. Not sure the exact DOE draw/harvest odds, but for the buck tag the draw chance is 30% and 46% harvest success rate, so I imagine for the DOE tag the draw and harvest rates would almost certainly be much higher, right? Main pros here are that: (1) I suspect I'd almost be certainly able to harvest a Doe, and more experience plus meat in the freezer is better than getting skunked; and (2) I can get a bear tag OTC and allegedly the unit has good populations of both deer and bears. If I don't get it this year, I'll get a point I can use next year. Cons: Never hunted in Colorado before and it's so far away, I'll probably just be able to e-scout and then just do one trip during the season. Also, hassle bringing the animal across state lines, etc.

Any advice?

 

[Hammsolo]

I switched my vote after reading. I voted California first, but it sounds like a huge pain. Is that the strategy to drive down hunting and hunting pressure.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I didn't cast a vote because it doesn't seem like you're gonna have enough time for any of those hunts to do it justice.
Hunting the Ruby's for 3-4 days is just not enough time. I say that because I'm quite familiar with those mtns.
And you probably won't have much more time even if you hunt CA.
Hunting CO doesn't seem like a good idea either especially since you've never hunted there.
That being said if I had to choose between a 3-4 day hunt and not hunting at all I'd go with NV.

 

[Bryerific]

You should double check me, but it looks like the CO ML doe tag you are looking for would require at least 2 points to draw. Unit 22 is part of DF011O1M and in 2025 the quota was only 10 doe tags total. It surprises a lot of people, but it’s not uncommon for the doe tags to take more points than buck tags in CO because so few doe tags are offered in many “easy” to draw buck tag units. Maybe you could consider the buck tag though?

 

[AntelopeEater]

I switched my vote after reading. I voted California first, but it sounds like a huge pain. Is that the strategy to drive down hunting and hunting pressure.

HaHa

 

[AntelopeEater]

You should double check me, but it looks like the CO ML doe tag you are looking for would require at least 2 points to draw. Unit 22 is part of DF011O1M and in 2025 the quota was only 10 doe tags total. It surprises a lot of people, but it’s not uncommon for the doe tags to take more points than buck tags in CO because so few doe tags are offered in many “easy” to draw buck tag units. Maybe you could consider the buck tag though?

Thank you Bryerfic!

Go Hunt did not have the draw odds broken down for gender for that mule deer muzzleloader unit, so I naively assumed the doe tag would be an easier draw than the buck.

 

[Bullshot]

NV hunt by a mile! Don't bother second guessing it.

Gather some points and hunt bucks in Colorado when you have them and more experience and more time.

California - just drop it!

Start collecting points in WY.

You could always try drawing in NM or AZ too, nothing to lose.

SD, Neb, Iowa, etc. could be fun trips too with a bow if you want to hunt some whitetails. MT and WY also probably have great opportunities.

 

[AntelopeEater]

NV hunt by a mile! Don't bother second guessing it.

Gather some points and hunt bucks in Colorado when you have them and more experience and more time.

California - just drop it!

Start collecting points in WY.

You could always try drawing in NM or AZ too, nothing to lose.

The majority consensus so far from everyone I asked in person or online has definitely been to do NV this year and save the points for the other states.

I actually just watched some YouTube videos of guys harvesting bucks in the Rubies a little while ago, and now I'm def getting excited for it.

I have been collecting elk and antelope points in Wyoming (and got to "burn" my WY point last year on a successful antelope hunt which was awesome!)

This year is the first year I threw in for Oryx and Elk in New Mexico.

As to California, it actually has some good small game areas closer to Vegas than many Nevada spots, and bear tags there are OTC, so I figure my ultimate fallback whenever I have a year with no other tags for the fall, I'd get an OTC bear tag and hunt the Eastern Sierras. Since I'm already getting the hunting license there each year, I figure I might as well pick up a deer point each year there as well.

 

[Bullshot]

Sounds like you are absorbing and processing the info very astutely for an adult onset hunter. Congrats on the antelope hunt, good luck on those draws. Enjoy all the the multi-state application addiction and fun.