March 2026
Thirteen Years Coming | Colorado Mule Deer Hunting
Story By: Kage Carlson
After trying to come up with a game plan for the coming season, my dad decided to try and apply for a limited-entry-draw unit for mule deer in Colorado. After thirteen years of dreaming about going on this hunt with my dad, it finally happened. Once we found out that he drew the tag, it was time to get to work. Considering that the area was almost a twenty-hour drive for us from Wisconsin, I started e-scouting heavily and got in touch with some great people that were able to give us tips. After a long couple of months preparing, it was time to head out to Colorado.
We left seven days before season started so that we could get boots on the ground and scout. During those seven days, we covered lots of country and pinpointed a specific mountain range that we wanted to focus on. We saw lots of deer and were constantly seeing new bucks. One happened to be a heavy, old three-point; he seemed to hang in the area the most.
The day before opener, we got ready to lock in for the nine-day rifle season. Once we got to our camp spot about four miles in, we got everything set up and continued to glass. With the weather being pretty nice, the majority of the deer were on the skyline above 10,000 feet. We knew most of the deer were coming out close to the top, and we were camped down by a creek at 8,000 feet. So, after glassing for most of opening morning, we started our hike.
Once we got up to the top, we looked over the edge and happened to see that heavy three-point standing at 405 yards with no idea that we were there. Being a sucker for mature three-points, I was trying to talk my dad into punching his tag, but it was simply too early to end the hunt.
The next morning, we watched that buck go over a different mountain with his does and disappear. We proceeded to hunt hard for the next four days. We saw some good bucks—just not quite what Dad was looking for. On the fifth day, I caught a glimpse of the three-by-three coming out of the dark timber. He only stepped out for five minutes or so before disappearing again. By that time, we’d come to the conclusion that he was the dominate buck on that ridge.
We proceeded to cover new country without turning anything else up, so we headed up the mountain and sat up on the ridge where we’d seen the three-point the last time on the opposite side of the valley. We figured it was time to take another try at him.
The morning of day eight, he was exactly where he’d been on opening day. We watched him for two and a half hours, checking every doe that was near him until he bedded with his does in a small patch of dark timber and quaking aspen. I told my dad that we needed to get to the same ridge that we were at when we saw him opening day by 4:00 p.m., as that would be when the does would start to move around and the buck would be up checking. I figured that if the buck walked towards the bottom of the group of trees where he was currently bedded, he would be within 50 yards of where he stood opening day.
We got up there right at 4:00 p.m., but there weren't any deer. Then the does started coming out, and there he was, standing at 350 yards. As Dad was getting a rest situated, I was dialing his rifle and getting my binoculars on the three-point so I could film. As soon as Dad asked if I was on him, he took the shot.
He made a perfect frontal shot with the 7mm Remington Magnum he’s had since he was fifteen years old. Dropped the three-point in his tracks right at 4:11 p.m. We were both super stoked and a little bit in shock. We really did not know just how big he was until we got up close to him. His body dwarfed the other deer, which had made it hard to judge him. On day fifteen of this hunt, we were finally able to admire a cool animal and reflect on all the cool stuff we got to witness and enjoy on the mountain. With 18" and 19" G2s and 6" bases, we could not have asked for a better buck nor a better story to go along with it!