The Remarkable Mule Deer of Dos Rios Ranch

A Skilled Spot and Stalk Hunter’s Paradise!

by John Watson 

The 785± acre Dos Rios Ranch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, has a rare combination of ideal attributes that enable the skilled spot and stalk hunter to regularly harvest big mule deer in the 170”-185” Boone and Crockett class every year.

Located in Colorado’s Division of Wildlife Game Management Unit 78, Dos Rios is blessed by its location and geography – the landholding adjoins the 1,900,000-acre San Juan National Forest and is literally situated in the heart of a large migration route for mule deer and elk.  The southern border of Dos Rios Ranch is situated just above the confluence of Rio Blanco and the main branch of the San Juan River and where these two major river valleys converge is a veritable choke point in the mule deer migration route between their summer and winter range.

From strategic points on the ranch along the ridge above the Rio Blanco are scoping spots that are ideal for the hunter who wants to focus on a minimum size and develop an order for which bucks to focus on first.  The geography and location of the scoping spots allow the hunter the opportunity and time to get in place.

Spot and stalk deer hunting demand a lot of skill out of a hunter and there are many different tricks and tactics that deer hunters can use to give them more of an advantage.  Usually, all you get is one chance, and if it does not happen the first go around, you may not see that buck the rest of the season. That is why it is important to have a plan B  and know where the other shooter bucks are hanging out.

Of all the many methods one can take to harvest a deer, none are as exciting and fun the whole way through, from the beginning of the hunt to the point of shooting, as is the method of Spot and Stalk Deer Hunting; particularly when the conditions for this method are ideal such as exists at Dos Rios Ranch.