I don't think 42 offers the kind of country you are looking for. There is no wilderness, and without true high country where you can narrow down your search in likely deer bedding areas in the krumholz, you're going to have a hard time. 14 offers that kind of country. And places like Grand Mesa have too much water for you to focus on hunting water holes. There's actually a fair amount of true alpine country here in Colorado, so you might want to focus on units with peaks over 12,000 feet, most of which will be along the continental divide.

Thanks for your input exbiologist, I truely appreciate your feedback as I've become a little overwhelmed in this unit selection process. I actually had the same concern of locating deer in the grand mesa unit. I've been playing around on google earth and 14 looks like some beautiful country and would certainly provide a better opportunity for glassing and spot and stalk style hunting. If I am successful in the draw I plan on getting out there a few days before the opener and will have roughly 10-12 days to hunt. What elevation are we talking about for stands of krumholz? Am I correct in my assumption that it is primarily found above treeline? Probably a stupid question but I'm about as green as they come.

krumholz means something like "twisted wood" in german. It is typically stunted spruces and firs right at timberline, which varies a little between 11,500 and 11,700 feet. At that elevation, you'll find small pockets of timber that the bucks are bedding in. So it isn't above treeline, it is treeline. I said 12,000 as a way of finding places that you could get above it and glass, or sneak in from above.
Looks like this, and deer can be awfully difficult to pick out of it:

Thanks again! This is just what I needed to start shrinking the state of CO down to a manageable sized area to research. The overwhelmed feeling is already starting to turn towards excitement....probably shouldn't put the cart in front of the horse though as I don't have the tag in my pack yet

Kurt,
I hunt unit 14 for elk and deer. I live in Clark, Co. I would definately suggest this unit over the other unit you were looking at. There are good numbers of deer and elk. You can hunt from 7,500ft all the way up to the top the peaks at 12,000.
There is so many options for you to look at. The unit stretches roughly 25-30 miles North to South.The continental divide is the eastern border. There are good marked trail systems. I usually hunt the early rifle buck in the Mt Zirkel Wilderness. I also spend a lot of time in the summer scouting different areas in 14. I have seen some good deer. Also there were some fires in this area back in 02. If you need some more info or just want to talk about this area send me a PM .

I can't help you with your question but welcome aboard!