JohnO

One thing I just remembered. You have to have completed Hunter Education and carry the card with you while you are hunting. If you got Hunter Ed here in AZ, then it's good to use in Colorado hunts.

September 2 to 30th. Same season for deer in that unit and if you get drawn for Elk or Deer in those units, they have a feature where you can add a bear tag. I saw many bears during my hunt but I did not purchase a tag, because it was my first trip to that part of Colorado. Here's the Colorado Parks and wildlife Big Game publication on their website with fees, dates, etc. https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/RulesRegs/Brochure/BigGame/biggame.pdf

Archery. There is a muzzleloader season for 1 week right in the middle of the month long archery season, sometime in mid September. So you have to keep your eyes out for those guys while your archery hunting.

Anyone here have interest in partnering on a hunt around Pagosa Springs (GMU 77,771,78)? I did this 2 years ago and got a small 4x4 bull by myself. The hike out for me was 2.5 miles round trip 5 times (12.5 miles total) and it kind of wiped me out. Probably won't apply unless I could partner up with someone. According to a new feature in OnX maps, Non-residents may get drawn with a very low amount of points. Reply back or direct message if you're interested in discussing. Draw is open now and you have to submit by April 2nd. Results posted May 28-31.

Glad you recognized features in GMU 23, cuz I was fooled by what CatfishKev said. I thought maybe they were headed toward a unit further north than 23 due to going past Vermillion Cliffs.

The cuteness factor is off the charts!

Late Season Archery Bull in 23. New unit for me, so looking for guys who have had the same tag just to hear their experiences with the same hunt (mid to late November). Not looking for secret honey holes - just want to know if you enjoyed that hunt. Pictures welcome.

My CC was hit on Wednesday March 8th! Archery either Unit 1 or Unit 27. Hoping for GMU #1. Really happy, haven't been drawn since 2017.

Just saw this. Been out of town for a while. Congrats on this bull - looks fantastic!

So this hunt turned out to be a Great Experience! Started on Friday 8/19 and immediately found antelope on State Trust Land. First two days I hunted a few sections that are close to the Deep Well Ranch, but there was no ground cover to get concealment behind. I had an antelope buck decoy but I was unable to fool them as I never got closer than 100 yards of any animals. After hunting that area for two days, I went to another section of State Trust Land that was recommended by a forum member. That section had a ridge running north and south for the length of the section and was covered in brush. The cover that is in this unit was a great help in getting close to the animals. On Sunday 8/21 and Monday 8/22, I got closer to some bucks because the rut had them chasing each other and herding up with the females. On that Monday I took an hour to crawl 50 yards and lay behind a foot tall yucca plant for another 40 minutes. My back was in pain, but a great buck got up came around a hill and I used that opportunity to set up to shoot, but I spooked two females I did not know were there and they all ran off. I was frustrated because I had missed 1 to 2 opportunities each day in the first 4 days of the season. In the morning of the fifth day there were 5 bucks chasing 1 female in heat. When I first found them I thought I spooked them, because they ran off perpendicular to me downhill in a west direction. As I cursed my luck, they turned 180º and immediately ran back up the hill. The female then turned 90º toward me and came within 30 yards at 40 miles per hour. I could hear the dominant buck huffing and puffing as he screamed by me - too fast to get an ethical shot. When they went out of sight, I scrambled to a location behind some brush to await them coming back, but they never did. That's when I headed back to my truck and stumbled upon 1 female and the buck I killed. As I crouched down behind brush they just meandered up through the brush toward me. After the female went by at 30 yards I raised my bow, with the buck decoy on the front, then waited for the buck to move forward. He stopped broadside and gave me the 2 seconds I needed to come to full draw and release the shot. Because I never shot an animal with an arrow before, I thought the "thump" sound was me hitting the tree behind him. He ran behind that tree and stood there. I reached down to get another arrow and when I looked up, he was gone. When I first got to the tree - there was no blood on the ground, so I thought I missed! After circling around, I found my arrow buried in the ground, but with VERY light colored blood from tip to nock. I knew I hit him good at that point. He wound up running to the next little finger ridge north west from me about 70 yards. The entry was right in the vitals. Took a while to get the meat off and started raining really hard while I was quartering him. I got him on the 5th day of the season and had MANY blown opportunities in the previous 4 days. All in all, a great hunting experience due to the number of opportunities that you can have on an archery hunt in this unit. I know I will have low probability of drawing again, but I will definitely be applying again! I highly recommend archers put in for this unit!

@Code3, Thank you (and everyone else) that has sent such encouraging messages. I've used OnX for other hunts and if you saw my waypoints, you'd laugh at how many I have. I do really appreciate your comments. The published notes on the AZGFD's site about hunting in 19B are discouraging, but everyone on the forum has given me great hope. I PROMISE I'm keeping this tag and will be heavily scouting this spring and summer due to this unit's proximity to the valley. I'm a DIY'er when it comes to hunting, so I will be asking folks in the AZ Antelope Foundation and the helpful folks here for guidance in this hunt. Again, many thanks for your post above!

That's a really great mount!

I'm thinking I won't be here in 30 yrs. 😉

Thanks for the motivation!

Thanks, yotebuster!