- DAN WEST Dan.West@gjsentinel.com
- Jul 27, 2026
- Lack of winter mortality should make for good hunting season | Hunting Guide | gjsentinel.com
This year’s warm winter and historic drought could be a boon for hunters as less winter mortality likely means larger herds that will be sticking close to water sources.
Loren Williams, a semi-retired professional guide and outfitter in Mesa County, said the warm weather and lack of snow over the winter likely caused fewer natural deaths of elk and deer in western Colorado.
Williams said the mild winter means more animals survived to form bigger herds come the fall hunting season. However, the continuing drought conditions could have negative impacts on both antler and body growth this year.
“I feel like the herd strength is going to be good this year, but antler growth and finding water is certainly going to be a challenge,” Williams said.
Years with more precipitation produce more growth of grasses and plants the elk and deer feed on. Williams said the dry conditions produce less nutritious feed for the herds, which can impact antler growth.
“If you have wetter years, you get better grass growth, better nutrients, better minerals come out of the ground and the feed for them,” Williams said. “They tend to have better antler growth in those wetter years.”
Williams said some people also believe the dry conditions cause the antlers to become more brittle as well. However, he said he’s not sure he believes that.
“I’ve always been told that it also makes them more brittle and able to break, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because all of our big trophy units around here are in the desert areas,” Williams said.
He pointed to the Glade Park area, which historically has drier conditions but often produces elk and deer with larger antlers.
“Those are dry deserts just about year round and that’s where our biggest critters are as far as antlers go,” Williams said. “So I’m not sure, but I’ve had a few biologists tell me (that).”
While antler production might be affected, Williams said finding the animals may be easier, as they will likely be nearer to water sources, especially elk during the rut.
“When it’s the (elk) rut during September and they’re hot and they’re running around during the breeding season 24 hours a day,” Willians said. “A rutting bull elk needs five to 10 gallons of water a day. So they’re going to need to be somewhat close to water sources for that.”
Later in the fall, Williams said finding elk will be more weather dependent. Snow in higher elevations will push the animals lower down. However, Williams said there will likely be better feed at the higher elevations due to the drought.
“With as hot and dry as it is, my guess is they’re probably going to be mostly found at higher elevations,” Williams said. “Just because that’s where your green grass is. As the valley heats up and the grass starts turning yellow, it’ll stay greener as you go higher.”
Williams said he expects stream basins along the side of the Grand Mesa will do well for elk hunting this year, as they will likely still have water.
“The old standby is still the same,” Williams said. “Dark, north facing timber is where they’re going to want to be in the shady areas, which also tend to hold more water. You can look at it just like in the springtime or even in the dead of winter, something south facing is going to be totally burned off and dry and something north facing is still going to have a foot of snow on it. So those are the areas that are going to be cooler and hold more moisture out of the greener grass.”
For anyone hunting pronghorn, Williams said they too will be stressed from the drought conditions and likely staying near water. Mule deer, though, are harder to predict.
“Deer kind of do their own thing and travel around,” Williams said. “They’re not quite as easy to predict, but the elk for sure are going to be stressed by (the drought). They’re also a bigger animal and a herd animal. A deer can almost get as much moisture as they need off of eating grass in the morning while there’s dew on it.”
Overall, Williams said he expects a positive hunting season with larger herds following a mild winter.
“I think it’s going to be a good season just because of the lack of winter mortality and the lack of winter kill,” Williams said.