Horse Thief Ranch - Mule Deer + Lodging

*For 2024, a voucher was drawn and is included, for no additional charge, for the third rifle season*

Horse Thief Ranch is located outside of Buena Vista, Colorado. This particular property is over 200 acres in GMU 49 which offers wonderful views and great opportunities for Mule Deer hunting. Though this property is smaller, it has direct access to thousands of acres of public land that cannot be easily accessed from anywhere else. Horse Thief consists of irrigated meadows, sage hills, heavy timber, valleys and provides many water sources throughout the property. Access to the property is intricates as the property can only be accessed via 5 miles of private roads after crossing a private bridge. This property includes lodging in a cozy barn apartment that boasts a full kitchen, two bedrooms and bath. This listing, when available, comes with a free landowner voucher that is valid unit wide. The public hunting, both near the ranch and in other parts of the unit, can be spectacular. The ranch has fewer, but often larger, bucks and the lower country public has higher densities of bucks, often smaller, but still respectable.

Sitting at 9400' above sea level, this property can offer phenomenal hunting opportunities. With timber and water sources on the property, it offers a sanctuary with minimal pressure throughout the year. Due to being one of the most remote ranches in Colorado, the surrounding public land is nearly never hunted (many miles of hiking just to get close to the ranch boundary) unless from Horse Thief Ranch. Being at a middle elevation between summer and winter ranges, a large number of the unit's deer will pass through this ranch. Thanks to the irrigated fields and mountain pass to lower country, deer are funneled through the area and stage within a hauntable distance from HTR. Mule Deer will generally be more active in the early mornings and evenings during feeding periods, but weather and migration patterns can make their staging zones change from year to year. Deer will often move from feeding in irrigated fields up into the foothills to bed later in the day. Rut activity will increase and, weather dependent, can often be observed in the later rifle season. If hunting earlier seasons, expect to hunt to higher elevations to find them in summer ranges and, if later or after weather, to drop to lower elevations.

infiniteoutdoorsusa.com/links/colorado-big-game-seasons

5 days. By booking the first day of your adventure, you are automatically booking the following 4 as well. The reservation will be for the entire time frame, and your entire group. Lodging check-in is 5pm the night before your hunt and check-out is noon on your last day. Huntin is welcome until the end of legal shooting light on the last day.

infiniteoutdoorsusa.com/links/colorado-buy-and-apply

infiniteoutdoorsusa.com/links/colorado-buy-and-apply

Reservation fees are due at the time of booking, and are non-refundable. 50% of the outdoorsman fee will process 2 weeks after the draw results in this state are posted. If you are unsuccessful in the draw, reach out to IO and the situation will be handled accordingly. The remaining 50% will process 1 month prior to the hunt. All OTC hunts, and those including vouchers, will process a 50% deposit of the outdoorsman fees immediately following the time of booking. The remaining 50% will process 1 month prior to the hunt.

Cancellations made prior to placing a deposit will be taken care of immediately and only result in the loss of the reservation fee. Any cancellations needing made after placing a deposit will result in attempts to reschedule the hunt for a different season, or a different year. Please note that refunds are subject to the IO cancelation policy and rebooking is not always possible.

If there is a lapse in availability, please do not be discouraged to reach out to IO. All calendars are set and managed by landowners, and unavailability is set by them. However, IO is willing to reach out on your behalf, to check on available dates. Other reasons for unavailable dates include biologist recommended hunter/harvest quotas that landowners implement, as well as state season dates not being released.

You are not legally allowed to access the property, for any adventure, prior to your selected access day. If you try to access the property at all before your selected date(s), without prior approval from IO, you will be subject to trespassing and punishments therein.