511 Colorado Mule Deer

[Shangobango]

I would say I have gotten more relevant "secret" info from a simple call to a Wildlife officer for a specific unit over the years. It is weird, they don't hesitate to share information. Someone should tell them their public sharing is a detriment to western hunting. Hell, they even have specific videos for units on Youtube to provide more info that are published by CPW. The righteous arrogance in this thread is quite the spectacle. You guys might want to start a GoFundMe or something to start to work on de-platforming GoHunt, TopRut, OnX, etc., I think they are giving out too much precious info to the public.

For example, a great unit in Wyoming I like to pronghorn hunt has crept up over 3 points since 2019 to draw. I can barely find a shred of info online about it outside of the afore mentioned websites. Forum discussion does nothing more for a unit than anything else currently out.

Apples to oranges.

Those sites you mentioned are subscription based. Takes money and effort. Those videos on YouTube provide basic info about the units.

How many calls does a wildlife officer get about unit info a year compared to how many people can see google results by typing in a few key words. You can find this thread along with several others that have a wealth of info really quickly and effortlessly using the google.

The naivety of some folks on how flapping of the lips on social media blows up units and areas is astonishing.

This seems to be one of those situations where " you don't know what you don't know".

Much, much better deer than what we found in unit 22 near Meeker a few years ago. Took 16 points to hunt unit 22. I had/have bigger bucks in my drive way. The buck in the image to the left is in my backyard during 4th season.

If you don't think that the above quote doesn't get the social media google sniper's attention, I don't know what to tell ya.

The folks I was brought up hunting by would have slapped the taste out of my mouth for making a statement like that to one person that lived in a neighboring State, can't imagine what they would have done if I put it out there where potentially thousand or tens of thousands of people could see it.

 

[rogerthat]

Maybe these were elk, now that I think about it. Actually I’m not even sure what state I was hunting.

Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. The amount of info out there today is crazy. A little bit of good information is mixed in with a whole bunch of bad. Will my prior post affect draw odds? Maybe. But I think the cat was out of the bag decades ago. I don’t think posts on an obscure message board affect much at all these days. After all they are mostly likely bullchit right? Or are they?

 

[stk]

Maybe these were elk, now that I think about it. Actually I’m not even sure what state I was hunting.

Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. The amount of info out there today is crazy. A little bit of good information is mixed in with a whole bunch of bad. Will my prior post affect draw odds? Maybe. But I think the cat was out of the bag decades ago. I don’t think posts on an obscure message board affect much at all these days. After all they are mostly likely bullchit right? Or are they?

They’re elk if you put an elk tag on them. Mule deer if you put a mule deer tag on them. Duh. Biggest white tail I ever killed was at 11k feet in a herd of about 20. Each one probably weighed 600-700 lbs. Crazy that you can buy those tags over the counter.

 

[rogerthat]

They’re elk if you put an elk tag in them. Mule deer if you put a mule deer tag on them. Duh. Biggest white tail I ever killed was at 11k feet in a herd of about 20. Each one probably weighed 600-700 lbs. Crazy that you can buy those tags over the counter.

Touché! You took that in a direction I didn’t see coming

 

[s10]

Apples to oranges.

Those sites you mentioned are subscription based. Takes money and effort. Those videos on YouTube provide basic info about the units.

How many calls does a wildlife officer get about unit info a year compared to how many people can see google results by typing in a few key words. You can find this thread along with several others that have a wealth of info really quickly and effortlessly using the google.

The naivety of some folks on how flapping of the lips on social media blows up units and areas is astonishing.

This seems to be one of those situations where " you don't know what you don't know".



If you don't think that the above quote doesn't get the social media google sniper's attention, I don't know what to tell ya.

The folks I was brought up hunting by would have slapped the taste out of my mouth for making a statement like that to one person that lived in a neighboring State, can't imagine what they would have done if I put it out there where potentially thousand or tens of thousands of people could see it.

Not at all apples to oranges. If someone isn't willing to cough up the money to pay for those subscription services, especially non-res hunters, then I would say they probably are not too fond of out of state tag costs. Especially when just paying to accumulate preference points. Weeds out plenty of people. Seeing it, thinking about, and actually doing it take different actions that require effort from all the lazy hunters you fear. I bet you would be shocked how many calls a CPW officer gets in a year.

 

[stk]

Touché! You took that in a direction I didn’t see coming

It gets crazier! They weren’t even where they were supposed to be! I bought the tag in Montana but I found them on the Wyoming side of the park.

 

[rogerthat]

It gets crazier! They weren’t even where they were supposed to be! I bought the tag in Montana but I found them on the Wyoming side of the park.

Hot tip: (I really hope this doesn’t affect draw odds!!) The best hunting is in the park.

 

[jlmatthew]

Woodland Park, Colorado, in unit 511, is a small mountain town with one of the highest if not highest number of deer per sq mile in the entire state according to the DOW. Around or over 40 per sq mile. Like the huge bull elk walking the streets of Estes Park, CO, there are record book mule deer bucks happily walking the streets of Woodland Park during the rut with lovely ladies at every street corner. Why? Because there is no hunting allowed in the city. But, there are also "hidden gems" in the same areas open to hunting if you put in the time to find them. Something that doesn't show on Onx or Google Earth.

I miss Woodland Park when it was a small mountain town 20+ years ago. Now I cant stand going up HWY 24 anymore, especially in the summer.

 

[PikesPeakElkHunter]

Apples to oranges.

Those sites you mentioned are subscription based. Takes money and effort. Those videos on YouTube provide basic info about the units.

How many calls does a wildlife officer get about unit info a year compared to how many people can see google results by typing in a few key words. You can find this thread along with several others that have a wealth of info really quickly and effortlessly using the google.

The naivety of some folks on how flapping of the lips on social media blows up units and areas is astonishing.

This seems to be one of those situations where " you don't know what you don't know".



If you don't think that the above quote doesn't get the social media google sniper's attention, I don't know what to tell ya.

The folks I was brought up hunting by would have slapped the taste out of my mouth for making a statement like that to one person that lived in a neighboring State, can't imagine what they would have done if I put it out there where potentially thousand or tens of thousands of people could see it.

While you have a point that all these things you mentioned are factors in contributing to crowding, and most importantly, the fact there is less supply and more demand...

It's still important to have people do their own research. Yes, forums can be a part of that.

However, asking for SPECIFIC info on a SPECIFIC unit isn't research, in my opinion.

And you, giving that specific information on the public forum, not even on a private message, just contributes to the overall problem. At least you could acknowledge that it isn't overall helpful.

Regardless what the OP says, if it has helped, it's not helpful to others. Please, stop giving out unit specific info. And to others who find this helpful, please, stop asking for unit specific info. At the very least, do a PM.

It's just as easy to send a PM as it is to start a forum convo

I guess you guys didn't realize what this forum and Hunttalk were created for or what they're about when you signed up. Sending things by DM is great if you choose to. Although this forum wasn't created for that reason. It was created for hunters and potential hunters to ask questions of their peers. For friendship and camaraderie. No one is forced to answer questions. No one is forced to read the responses. There is a search function on this forum and website to help members find things related to their topics of interest. That search engine can only search forum content not DMs.

Do you have any freakin' idea how many forum members are active duty military stuck in new locations where they know no one, have no family, limited resources, and are simply trying to learn about where they can hunt and fish while they are stationed. Most ask very direct questions just like this OP and many others. If you met them at your local bar and struck up a conversation you might personally be nice enough to maybe even take them hunting or fishing with you.

But for some reason, along with your holier than thou self importance about what should or shouldn't be posted, you just want to give them crap online like they're asking for national secrets. This website wasn't created so you could badger people trying to help others. It wasn't created to allow anyone to harass helpful responders to the point where they feel they need to cancel themselves by deleting their own helpful responses to appease you. Like Stk decided to do. This forum doesn't exist so you can be a keyboard jackass! Not one of you offered the OP a single bit of helpful information. Not one of you added a single bit of positive support to the OP.

I've been a member of this website/forum since early 2001. I have made thousands of posts. My previous member account was hacked so I had to create this new one. We all know the saying, "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything." Well this forum has VERY SIMPLE RULES too. You've disregarded rules #1,#2, and #4 and completely ignored #3. Why don't you all just delete the worthless posts from this thread and go on with your day somewhere else?

 

[PikesPeakElkHunter]

Projection

Reality which EVERYONE can read for themselves. Including the Administrator.

While you have a point that all these things you mentioned are factors in contributing to crowding, and most importantly, the fact there is less supply and more demand...

It's still important to have people do their own research. Yes, forums can be a part of that.

However, asking for SPECIFIC info on a SPECIFIC unit isn't research, in my opinion.

And you, giving that specific information on the public forum, not even on a private message, just contributes to the overall problem. At least you could acknowledge that it isn't overall helpful.

Regardless what the OP says, if it has helped, it's not helpful to others. Please, stop giving out unit specific info. And to others who find this helpful, please, stop asking for unit specific info. At the very least, do a PM.

It's just as easy to send a PM as it is to start a forum convo

The above are your exact words. You even acknowledge "in your own words" that the OP found the posted information in HIS forum thread helpful!!

Did you even read Rule #3 of this forum which you agreed to abide by when you signed up? Or, do you only choose to abide as long as the rules match your own personal opinion?
------------------
I'll stick with my factual statement. "But for some reason, along with your holier than thou self importance about what should or shouldn't be posted, you just want to give them crap online like they're asking for national secrets."

Just Realty. No form of Projection.

 

[GrantK]

I'm sure one more post telling the two parties that can't shut up on this on this to take it to DM's and delete this thread won't make any difference but here you go...

I wouldn't classify myself as lazy but this thread is everything I would be looking for when thinking about what unit to apply for in a new state, frankly, gohunt, hunting fool, etc are useless, other than telling you about access- the rest of their info is suspect at best, it's largely subjective and the objective parts are possibly colored by outfitters, private land, any number of confounding variables, however, when I stumble across a post from a local, with photos and promises of secret locations within the unit I become very interested, I don't want or need more info, I don't need years to figure the unit out, I have all I need to start digging and seeing if I am interested, you make the point that there are "only 35 tags" for 4th season, well, if I roll in with a point or two over the required, as many have because they got tied up in chasing a unit that was creeping faster than they could gain on it, and 34 other people out of the 50K people who will see this also look at things in a similar way then suddenly your unit takes 7 points... I'll get one good hunt out of it and never come back, you live there, it's not in your interest to blow it up even if there are a ton of similar units in the state...

FWIW I've helped a ton of people on some high points hunts in my area, nothing against providing info, just use your brain and think of the consequences, if you wouldn't say it to a stadium full of people don't say it in a public forum.

I don't really think the forum rules obligate anyone to blow up their home unit but I may be reading them wrong... or this is the strange troll I've seen in a while...

 

[TOGIE]

I feel that some on this thread underestimate how lazy some hunters are. Last year, on the landscape pics thread, I posted a few skyline pics of a unit near my house and said the unit. I said NOTHING about seeing any wildlife, the quality of said wildlife, nothing. Just that I took a hike in the national forest. Since that post from July / August '22, I have received no less than 15 DM's asking me for information on what kind of animals I saw, their quality and quantity, whether they should put in for the unit, where in the unit I would recommend, etc.... from a single post that mentioned nothing but hiking.

This post takes my post, and gets way more specific, adds species photos and then starts mentioning city centers around which someone could focus a hunt.

Your naivety on this issue is a bit startling. Which is why people tried to kindly suggest you to maybe bite your tongue a bit. Or move to a DM

Also, look at some other threads that focus on a specific unit and you'll find the questions are often highly specific and involve a lots of responses that say "DM me" or "I'll DM you"

i've probably received over 50 PMs asking for places to rabbit hunt due to that thread.

i usually drop them pins at a random PetSmart

 

[Shangobango]

I guess you guys didn't realize what this forum and Hunttalk were created for or what they're about when you signed up.

Last time I checked none of us were @Big Fin .I won't speak on the intent of the forum because I don't own it and run it.

I just don't think a little common sense and common courtesy are against the forum rules my man.

 

[PikesPeakElkHunter]

I'm sure one more post telling the two parties that can't shut up on this on this to take it to DM's and delete this thread won't make any difference but here you go...

I wouldn't classify myself as lazy but this thread is everything I would be looking for when thinking about what unit to apply for in a new state, frankly, gohunt, hunting fool, etc are useless, other than telling you about access- the rest of their info is suspect at best, it's largely subjective and the objective parts are possibly colored by outfitters, private land, any number of confounding variables, however, when I stumble across a post from a local, with photos and promises of secret locations within the unit I become very interested, I don't want or need more info, I don't need years to figure the unit out, I have all I need to start digging and seeing if I am interested, you make the point that there are "only 35 tags" for 4th season, well, if I roll in with a point or two over the required, as many have because they got tied up in chasing a unit that was creeping faster than they could gain on it, and 34 other people out of the 50K people who will see this also look at things in a similar way then suddenly your unit takes 7 points... I'll get one good hunt out of it and never come back, you live there, it's not in your interest to blow it up even if there are a ton of similar units in the state...

FWIW I've helped a ton of people on some high points hunts in my area, nothing against providing info, just use your brain and think of the consequences, if you wouldn't say it to a stadium full of people don't say it in a public forum.

I don't really think the forum rules obligate anyone to blow up their home unit but I may be reading them wrong... or this is the strange troll I've seen in a while...

"if I roll in with a point or two over the required, as many have because they got tied up in chasing a unit that was creeping faster than they could gain on it, and 34 other people out of the 50K people who will see this also look at things in a similar way then suddenly your unit takes 7 points... I'll get one good hunt out of it and never come back"

Your above content expresses exactly what is happening in EVERY UNIT WITH PUBLIC LAND across the entire state of Colorado and with every game species across the state. It's only getting worse every year. Many if not most draw tag hunts in Colorado, regardless of species, are already one and done hunts for most hunters. Why are most hunters over 50 now burning their points? Because the creep in their dream hunt units have now exceeded their likely life expectancy.

If you've never actually been here, Unit 511 isn't some hidden unit or unknown mecca for deer hunters. Sorry if you've never heard of the unit. Only about 1.5 MILLION people living along the front range have. They have even known about it for decades. The DOW, State Parks, Fort Carson, Air Force, Mule Deer Foundation, Colorado Mule Deer Association, Local TV stations, newspapers, B&B's, ranches, and to many more organizations to list have been telling people about this and many other units for years. They even hold seminars on how to hunt mule deer and elk in these units.

Did I mention unit 511 is a very difficult hunt if you're hoping to locate and take a mature animal? 511 is one of the smaller game units. It's basically rock and dense trees. There are minerals everywhere and gold is still being mined here. It's nearly impossible to hunt by glassing from a road or ridge top. Far to many dense trees. It's taken me 35 years to walk thousands of miles during all archery and rifle seasons to learn and understand where I might find a nice buck during the 4th season.

If I can help the OP with some basic info about a unit, I feel that's great. Same way I was helped when I first moved here by a local outdoor photographer and an outfitter friend.

We'll have to wait and see if a single forum thread regurgitating common information about a well known unit next to a million people breaks the DOW draw platform next year. I'll have to start a new career in PR or maybe write a book on how to hunt a unit by saying absolutely nothing that isn't already in print, on YouTube, or handed out for free by the DOW.

 

[Shangobango]

"if I roll in with a point or two over the required, as many have because they got tied up in chasing a unit that was creeping faster than they could gain on it, and 34 other people out of the 50K people who will see this also look at things in a similar way then suddenly your unit takes 7 points... I'll get one good hunt out of it and never come back"

Your above content expresses exactly what is happening in EVERY UNIT WITH PUBLIC LAND across the entire state of Colorado and with every game species across the state. It's only getting worse every year. Many if not most draw tag hunts in Colorado, regardless of species, are already one and done hunts for most hunters. Why are most hunters over 50 now burning their points? Because the creep in their dream hunt units have now exceeded their likely life expectancy.

If you've never actually been here, Unit 511 isn't some hidden unit or unknown mecca for deer hunters. Sorry if you've never heard of the unit. Only about 1.5 MILLION people living along the front range have. They have even known about it for decades. The DOW, State Parks, Fort Carson, Air Force, Mule Deer Foundation, Colorado Mule Deer Association, Local TV stations, newspapers, B&B's, ranches, and to many more organizations to list have been telling people about this and many other units for years. They even hold seminars on how to hunt mule deer and elk in these units.

Did I mention unit 511 is a very difficult hunt if you're hoping to locate and take a mature animal? 511 is one of the smaller game units. It's basically rock and dense trees. There are minerals everywhere and gold is still being mined here. It's nearly impossible to hunt by glassing from a road or ridge top. Far to many dense trees. It's taken me 35 years to walk thousands of miles during all archery and rifle seasons to learn and understand where I might find a nice buck during the 4th season.

If I can help the OP with some basic info about a unit, I feel that's great. Same way I was helped when I first moved here by a local outdoor photographer and an outfitter friend.

We'll have to wait and see if a single forum thread regurgitating common information about a well known unit next to a million people breaks the DOW draw platform next year. I'll have to start a new career in PR or maybe write a book on how to hunt a unit by saying absolutely nothing that isn't already in print, on YouTube, or handed out for free by the DOW.

You are a obviously an intelligent individual, and I an not trying to rude so don’t take it that way, but you can’t see the forest for the trees on this one.

 

[PikesPeakElkHunter]

Last time I checked none of us were @Big Fin .I won't speak on the intent of the forum because I don't own it and run it.

I just don't think a little common sense and common courtesy are against the forum rules my man.

Big Fin is Randy Newberg. He owns the forum and he set the mission years ago and here's its intent- "I keep Hunt Talk around because it is a huge benefit to the WHY of our operation - To promote self-guided public land hunting and create advocates for that cause."

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/read-this-and-behave-accordingly.297340/

Last time I checked, and I do it frequently, I've never seen even one of Randy's thousands of videos or written projects where he has ever told anyone to "stop watching or reading this useful hunting information I'm sharing and just DM me." Just sayin'

Common sense and courtesy is acknowledging a man who is asking a question requesting some help and answering him to the best of your ability. There is absolutely nothing that I have shared with the OP that I have not also shared with hunters I meet in the woods or even standing in line at Walmart to get my tag printed if they ask. It's their option whether to listen or not.

 

[D_Walt]

“bIG bucks Up ROcK CREeK in CoLLardraDO uNIT 511!! BeST UNt feR BOne and CReWCutt BuCKs in NoTrh ‘Merca!!!” A wise man once might have said..

 

[Shangobango]

Big Fin is Randy Newberg. He owns the forum and he set the mission years ago and here's its intent- "I keep Hunt Talk around because it is a huge benefit to the WHY of our operation - To promote self-guided public land hunting and create advocates for that cause."

https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/read-this-and-behave-accordingly.297340/

Last time I checked, and I do it frequently, I've never seen even one of Randy's thousands of videos or written projects where he has ever told anyone to "stop watching or reading this useful hunting information I'm sharing and just DM me." Just sayin'

Common sense and courtesy is acknowledging a man who is asking a question requesting some help and answering him to the best of your ability. There is absolutely nothing that I have shared with the OP that I have not also shared with hunters I meet in the woods or even standing in line at Walmart to get my tag printed if they ask. It's their option whether to listen or not.

Man…I am trying here lol.

I know who Big Fin is.

I subscribe to Fresh Tracks TV or whatever his platform is called so I am pretty sure I have seen the majority of his content. I also listen to the Hunt Talk podcast and Elk Talk on the regular. I don’t know of any of his recent content that includes unit numbers or anything but the very general area of a State he is hunting and maybe some info on if it is LE or general tag and the like.

You are comparing apples to oranges.

You do you brother, but I know if I spent 35 years learning a unit I wouldn’t be drawing attention to that unit. Not in a million years.

With that, I am going to try my best to bow out of this one.

 

[LuketheDog]

Man…I am trying here lol.

I know who Big Fin is.

There's only so much we can do, I tried, you tried, the other guy tried...sometimes you gotta just walk away man

 

[MtnElk]