# Hunting whitetail in colorado?



## #1DEER 1-I (Sep 10, 2007)

I would like to start applying to hunt deer in colorado, and would like to draw a good area to harvest a whitetail. A couple questions do you have to buy anything besides the deer tag (like utah you have to have your combo or hunting license)? Also what unit would be good for this, and is also primarily public land?


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

No extra license to purchase, just pay the $3.00 application fee along with the tag fee and you will end up paying for a habitat stamp if you draw the tag. But the kicker is if you want a preference point you will end up paying another $25.00 for the point. As for units, any of them in the south east section of the state are good for large deer, but you will end up fighting private property no matter where you go to hunt whitetails. If you just want to shoot a whitetail then any unit along the eastern border is good, but there is still a lot of private.


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## #1DEER 1-I (Sep 10, 2007)

Would you recommend a different state? Wyoming Idaho, Montana to more easily find whitetail on public ground?


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Try Nebraska. Although there is still quite a bit of private surface, their are fairly large tracts of public land along the Republican River and near Valentine (Cherry County). Western NE is more key right now because of EHD that hit the east.

Went up near Chadron about three weeks ago and scored on a nice 8 pt. Seriously thinking about going back next year.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

I don't have a ton of experience with other states, but there is no reason to look beyond Idaho and Montana in my opinion, especially if you live in Utah. I have hunted Idaho for over a decade and love it. It takes a few years, but you can find some good bucks there. Why not spend those few years hunting instead of just applying?------SS


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

High Desert Elk said:


> Try Nebraska. Although there is still quite a bit of private surface, their are fairly large tracts of public land along the Republican River and near Valentine (Cherry County). Western NE is more key right now because of EHD that hit the east.
> 
> Went up near Chadron about three weeks ago and scored on a nice 8 pt. Seriously thinking about going back next year.


Pic?----SS


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

If you think about it, NE really isn't that far from UT. Once you enter WY, you're almost halfway there. Lots of deer on this hunt. This guy came out of a cornfield before I shot him. Fat butterball buck.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

High Desert Elk said:


> View attachment 22353
> 
> 
> If you think about it, NE really isn't that far from UT. Once you enter WY, you're almost halfway there. Lots of deer on this hunt. This guy came out of a cornfield before I shot him. Fat butterball buck.


That's a fatty, thanks for posting.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Nice buck. Being a railroad guy, I probably should combine one of the many business trips I make to Nebraska each year with a nice ****** hunt.-----SS


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## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Thanks guys


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Nebraska is a great suggestion. I don't know how many whitetails I jumped out of CRP lands while pheasant hunting when I lived in Ogallala. While Nebraska is mostly private lands, there are a couple million acres that are CRP, with hunting access already negotiated by Game and Fish, or WMAs. At 8 hours puts you square into western Nebraska and some good white tail hunting.

I'd also add a +1 to the Montana suggestion. Thing with Montana, is since they jacked the price on non-resident tags, there have been left over tags every year after the draw and you can get them over-the-counter. The other thing, is if you want additional WT doe tags, they are $75 OTC as well, and you can buy up to 6 more, depending on the year. The chance to take a nice buck, and half a dozen doe if you buy the tags, can really make a worth while trip. And white tail are as close as Dillon and the Beaverhead drainage. Less than 8 hours puts you square into good whitetail hunting without having to mess with a draw. Oh, and in Montana, the hunting season is 6 weeks long, and spans the rut, when the big ones get really silly-stupid. So there's that.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

My cousin and I did a muzzleloader whitetail hunt in Nebraska back in 2011. Tags were OTC and I think $250ish and were good for one either sex deer and one deer that had to be a doe. We hunted some WMA's that were near a town in Southwestern Nebraska called McCook. Public land whitetail hunting was tough and there was a lot for us to learn. After the first couple days we got to where we were seeing at least some whitetail every morning and evening in pretty much the same spot. On the last morning I finally scored on a running shot on a fat whitetail doe. Now that I know the area a little better I would like to go back and I think I could do better and maybe get into them a little better and shoot a buck.

One resource that we didn't really tap was the landowners. I've been told they can be pretty protective over their bucks (saving them for family members and paying customers) but are generally pretty happy about letting you thin out a few of their does. You could also buy a small game license while there and perhaps get into some pheasants on the WMA's and CRP fields. We saw quite a few pheasants while we were there. Everyone in Nebraska was complaining about how shoddy the pheasant numbers were that year but there pheasant populations made Utah look absolutely abysmal! Not that that is saying much though! 

If you are interested in hunting the WMA's around the McCook area let me know and I will tell you whatever scant information I can offer.


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