Colorado Mule Deer Adventure 2024

Roadside Colorado Muley

My buddy, Ryley, drive up to Colorado Springs airport to pick me up in late October of 2024. We drove south towards his house on 25. Along the way we were able to scout where we were gonna go for opening day of 2nd rifle season. Just before getting to the public land he gets a call from his buddy and there was a nice buck just before the public land on private. Luckily we got there before the sunset. Sure enough the buck was on private land near the edge of road as we were going to the state property. He was a stud for sure. It got the juices flowing and we were ready for opening day.

4x5 on Private Land

We got settled in at Ryley's place. He put me up in his camper so I had my own space. The next day we got up early and grabbed our gear, then headed to the state land near were we saw that buck the previous night. Of course we get to the public land in the dark and there were trucks everywhere. As we were discussing a game plan I realized that I left my Colorado hunting license in his camper. So we had to go back and get it. We saw a ton of mule deer as we made our way back to his homestead. 150+ Deer to be exact, along with breath-taking views of the Spanish Peak Mountains covered in snow. Wow just the views were worth the trip.

Spanish Peaks

I was in heaven. Lots of mountains and tons of mule deer. We checked some areas on Ryley's land but no luck with any bucks. The next couple of days we would go out and glass on public and private land. We weren't seeing much, just a few does with yearlings. It was pre-rut so clearly the bucks were bachelored

up not with the does. We tried neighbor's property. We rode the roads in the high country, stopping at oil wells, hiked around public land, not seeing much.

Finally Ryley got a tip from a friend that was elk hunting on a strip of public land and saw three nice bucks. So we headed over there for an evening glassing session. Unfortunately we didn't see any deer but I spotted a elk butt running into the junipers. Out in the fields we could see a herd of antelope grazing.

Sunset on the Spanish Peaks

The next day after a few days of being skunked. Ryley was digging deep and asked a old hunter neighbor if we could hunt his 300 acres. Permission was granted and we were rejuvenated with the hunter spirit. We went out and drove the property and glassed from every high vantage point. We didn't turn up anything. Frustrated we discussed what to do. Then his mom called and said they is a nice buck down from there house on the neighbors, who Ryley had permission to hunt. We headed back to his place. When we got there a nice buck and some does were eating grass in a field, just before sunset. I got out laid on the ground and let one fly. He went maybe 20 yards and dropped. We went and got Ryley's four-wheeler, cleaned the deer and took him back to Ryley's garage to hang him up.

4x5 (171")

The next morning was cold. We skinned the deer and took him to butcher and a friend to clean up the skull. The anticipation was over. Success on a beautiful 4x5 Colorado mule deer buck. Ryley had an elk tag so he coordinated with his bud that was hosting a friend from Texas. The following day the four us met up and headed to the high country to look for elk. We drove up as far as we could, then used the four-wheelers to go to snowline. Ryley and I headed up to 12,000' and Wallis and Russ went out to a meadow. The game plan was for us to get high and oversee the meadows. We didn't see any elk that morning but we had an amazing sunrise 2 miles up. God's hand on the morning was spectacular. As Ryley and I were freezing our butt's off. He jokingly said there some animals. I looked up on the granite cliffs above us. There was two big animals walking right to left. I got me bino's on them and it was two bighorn sheep rams. I quickly setup my spotter and took video and pictures of them. It was awesome as we watched them go up and over the continental divide.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Rams

As we were heading down to our trucks on the wheelers. We passed two guys on four-wheelers that had a sheep tag. They got excited after our discussion and headed up to find them. We all went to Wallis' cabin and had a hot meal and told hunting stories. It was great.

The next day Ryley and I drove around and decided to go fishing. We went up to a mountain lake called Monument Lake. We were able to hook some trout. I caught me first brown and rainbow. All in all I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Trout, an elk, sheep, a buck, and we saw two black bears at night on the side of the road. We visited bishop castle on the way back to Colorado Spring and did a Scheel's run. I thank Ryley and his family for his hospitality, kindness, and a great adventure. I can't wait for the next one.

Sunrise at 12,000'