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Colorado 3rd Rifle Deer in GMU 3/301

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Two of my teenage children drew Colorado 3rd rifle deer tags in GMU 3/301. I've not been to the unit before, so I'm e-scouting and planning for the hunt. At this point, I anticipate hunting only on public land, which appears to be predominately on the north and west sides of the unit. Any advice on how and where to hunt on the public lands in this unit would be helpful. We aren't after giant bucks, just decent three or four points (of course, we won't pass up a giant if we see one). I have a few specific questions that I'm looking for advice on.
1. Are there opportunities to camp on the public lands in the unit (accessible, etc.)?
2. If we choose not to camp, is it feasible to hunt the public lands and travel back and forth from a hotel in Craig, or possibly Baggs?
3. It appears from Google Earth that there are a number of stock tanks in the unit. Do the tanks have water in the during the third rifle hunt. Do the deer use those tanks?
 
Lots of room to camp, might have to search a little to find a spot out of the wind. Most people glass from their trucks. I've not paid any attention to the water tanks. The deer like to hang out in the pinion junipers.

Check out the museum in Craig if it's open, it's nice.
 
Lots of room to camp, might have to search a little to find a spot out of the wind. Most people glass from their trucks. I've not paid any attention to the water tanks. The deer like to hang out in the pinion junipers.

Check out the museum in Craig if it's open, it's nice.
Thanks for the info - I'll be sure to be looking for the pinion juniper during my e-scouting.
 
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Don't be afraid to road hunt that area. 3rd season if you find does the bucks won't be too far away.
 
Outside Maybell, not far from the campground north on 19 there is a small bit of public just before a cattle guard that has a nice campsite. Hunted PH out of that spot.
 
Two of my teenage children drew Colorado 3rd rifle deer tags in GMU 3/301. I've not been to the unit before, so I'm e-scouting and planning for the hunt. At this point, I anticipate hunting only on public land, which appears to be predominately on the north and west sides of the unit. Any advice on how and where to hunt on the public lands in this unit would be helpful. We aren't after giant bucks, just decent three or four points (of course, we won't pass up a giant if we see one). I have a few specific questions that I'm looking for advice on.
1. Are there opportunities to camp on the public lands in the unit (accessible, etc.)?
2. If we choose not to camp, is it feasible to hunt the public lands and travel back and forth from a hotel in Craig, or possibly Baggs?
3. It appears from Google Earth that there are a number of stock tanks in the unit. Do the tanks have water in the during the third rifle hunt. Do the deer use those tanks?
How was your hunt? A buddy and I drew 3rd season last year.
 
Also interested in your hunt as I drew unit 3 4th season this year
I've hunted that general area in recent years and have seen a pretty noticeable drop in age class/quality over the last 3 seasons. Congrats on pulling the 4th season tag; hopefully you see what you're after.
 
How was your hunt? A buddy and I drew 3rd season last year.
As you saw in my post, my teenage daughter and son both had tags (I did not), so we weren't necessarily looking for trophy bucks. We saw deer everywhere, and several bucks every day, so it was fun for the kids to see deer frequently, even in the middle of the day. The main challenge was finding a mature buck on public land (we hunted primarily in an area with a patchwork of private and public land). There was significant hunting pressure throughout most of the unit, which I think kept the bigger bucks hanging out on private property. My daughter connected on an average-sized three point on the last day, and my son passed on several smaller two- and three-points. Due to my work schedule, we were only able to hunt the last three days of the hunt. I did notice that the bucks were getting more rutty by the last day of the hunt, and the majority of the hunters had pulled out by Thursday night. If the hunt had lasted another day or two, I wonder if we would have been able to connect on a more mature buck. All in all, it was a fun hunt for us for a variety of reasons, and it met my expectations based on my research before the hunt. One of the things the kids enjoyed the most was seeing so much wildlife, both in the unit and on the trip to and from our home. We saw deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, wild horses, coyotes, a fox, a badger, sage grouse, countless raptors, and more.
 
As you saw in my post, my teenage daughter and son both had tags (I did not), so we weren't necessarily looking for trophy bucks. We saw deer everywhere, and several bucks every day, so it was fun for the kids to see deer frequently, even in the middle of the day. The main challenge was finding a mature buck on public land (we hunted primarily in an area with a patchwork of private and public land). There was significant hunting pressure throughout most of the unit, which I think kept the bigger bucks hanging out on private property. My daughter connected on an average-sized three point on the last day, and my son passed on several smaller two- and three-points. Due to my work schedule, we were only able to hunt the last three days of the hunt. I did notice that the bucks were getting more rutty by the last day of the hunt, and the majority of the hunters had pulled out by Thursday night. If the hunt had lasted another day or two, I wonder if we would have been able to connect on a more mature buck. All in all, it was a fun hunt for us for a variety of reasons, and it met my expectations based on my research before the hunt. One of the things the kids enjoyed the most was seeing so much wildlife, both in the unit and on the trip to and from our home. We saw deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, wild horses, coyotes, a fox, a badger, sage grouse, countless raptors, and more.
Thanks for the insight!
 
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