Colorado 2nd vs 3rd Rifle

[shall12matt]

I am having an internal debate about which season to choose for a 2025 Colorado deer hunt. I have the ability to draw some "better" units for second rifle and was leaning that way for awhile. I like the idea of hunting an area that has a better age structure and trophy potential but if the deer are difficult to find it wouldn't really matter how big they are. I guess the question is, do people prefer to hunt third season in a "lower" quality unit or hunt second season in a "better" unit? I understand that the quality of the unit is somewhat subjective and based on data that a person has available to them.

 

[Dsnow9]

How much experience do you have deer hunting? Do you want to fill a tag or shoot a certain caliber animal? How many points we talking about here?

 

[Hyhunter]

Feel like that's all on the individual... Advantage to me of 2nd is often it's the first rifle season in the unit and deer will be where I scouted them.
2nd takes less points normally and I can then repeatedly draw the tag faster.

Quality stats is subjective to me. I'd rather have these 2 first things. But... out of state i prefer late seasons because I won't have time to scout like my home state and usually the later seasons have less hunters in the woods.

 

[WVmike]

I had the same issue this past year but it was my first year hunting in Colorado and it was also for elk. Both are OTC and we were just trying to find a legal bull to shoot not a trophy elk. Would have been a plus sure, but that wasn't what made us pick where we hunted. I will say we picked 2nd due to possible hunting pressure and also for the time of the year with my friend and my schedule. It was a big learning curve for my buddy and I since we had never hunted out west before. In WV during rifle season which is always two weeks starting the week of Thanksgiving, the first few days the deer will be moving around more freely, then once the bullets start flying, they start moving at different times or become nocturnal all together unless you have a huge amount of private land where there isn't a bunch of hunters. Also the weather was a huge factor for us because of the snow it was calling for and not having a PLB in case we had an emergency. We also flew to CO and rented a truck which is all well and good but when it calls for snow, in the 24-36 inch variety the roads become closed and we were 4-5 hours west of Denver. So getting back to the airport was a priority towards the end of the hunt instead of get in your truck and head home and you have x number of days to get home. If I had to choose again we would go 2nd again and now we know more about CO in general and what we need vs what we don't need.

 

[shall12matt]

How much experience do you have deer hunting? Do you want to fill a tag or shoot a certain caliber animal? How many points we talking about here?

I've deer hunted a lot but mainly in eastern WY and the western Dakotas. This will be my first deer hunt in Colorado and first time deer hunting in a more mountain setting. For this hunt I'm not looking to shoot the first buck I see but hoping to find a mature deer. I have 4 points going into the draw.

 

[wsco3506]

2025 will start the new season structure (it changes every 5 years) moving 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rifle seasons earlier in the year by several days. This will make it a little harder to find bucks during 2nd season because it is farther away from the rut. 3rd season, especially towards the end should see more mature bucks on the prowl looking for does. Depending on the unit, the mature bucks might not have moved down during 2nd season.--R

 

[TheGreek]

Likely to see More rut action in 3rd rifle which can make it more fun.

 

[Antique0lc]

I’m putting in for a 3rd rifle deer, That is a more realistic expectation.

 

[ccc23454]

If i had my way I would only hunt muleys in mid September (still in summer range) or november as rut kicks in, many mountainous places that also may include some migration. October can be the absolute worst if weather aint perfect. The date is different in every region but it can often be like a switch gets flipped and new bucks show up every day, that's when it's fun if your looking for a better buck.

 

[COraggy]

Im in a similar situation as you and leaning toward 4th rifle... mostly because I have 15 resident points and 3rd season doesn't offer much in the use of my points... and more likely the big guys will be around.... but hopefully not all on private.... id choose a season based on how hard you want to hunt? seems like 2nd season would require more miles? guess it would depend on the unit terrain too. 14 I think is mostly below timberline but maybe not low enough for rut activity???? ive never hunted that area though

 

[CdnHunter]

I am having an internal debate about which season to choose for a 2025 Colorado deer hunt .

Me too. Will be watching this thread.

 

[shall12matt]

I’m leaning toward 3rd rifle as of right now. I think I found a couple units that fit my criteria.

 

[BuckhunterBen]

I’m leaning toward 3rd rifle as of right now. I think I found a couple units that fit my criteria.

IMO I don't think you can go wrong with 2nd or 3rd, had a lot of fun over the years hunting deer successfully during both across the state. All just depends on what you want out of your hunt. My personal preference would be a better unit during 2nd, that being said when I get the points I continue to go back to the same better unit so I know my way around and where they are hanging out that last week of October. If you want the chance to see them chasing go 3rd.

 

[elkduds]

Looks like a round of Welcome to HT for the house here.