Hi folks,

after years and years, i finally made it from the east coast to colorado. at the moment, i am in the heart of denver near the zoo, while we check out areas to try and buy a house next year.

any of you have any leads on the closest place to plink a bit where i can get a couple hundred yards at least? i have poked around a bit on forest service websites and see a lot of forest lands are closed to shooting due to the population of hikers and such. i'm not looking for any place where i can get super long ranges yet, i wont be doing any hunting in CO this year due to the cost of non-res tags (and i just paid for a move)...but i may take my muzzleloader over to NE to go after deer.

also, any recommended archery shops in the area? i see there are several around, i guess i'll have to visit them all and get a feel for the area. i'm an archery instructor (4 years) if anyone knows someone looking for an instructor, i've taught 5 year olds to 80 year olds.

and lastly, anyone around denver that wants to grab a beer sometime and swap hunting stories, give me a shout. i work at home so i need to find ways to get out and meet like minded folks.

thank you
john

Congrats on your move John!

cooperjd,

I know it's not close but if you ever get down to the Falcon are east of Colorado Springs you are more than welcome to come as my guest to Frontier Gun Club. Private range with up to 300 yard high power.

Most of the ranges around Denver are club ranges and are not generally open to the public. That said, there is a public range run by the Buffalo Creek Gun Club out of Bailey. It is about an hour and a quarter from you, but is a very pretty place to shoot.

quote:

Originally posted by savage300phd:
cooperjd,

I know it's not close but if you ever get down to the Falcon are east of Colorado Springs you are more than welcome to come as my guest to Frontier Gun Club. Private range with up to 300 yard high power.

savage
Don't forget Frontier also has the south range that goes out further than the Falcon range.
East of Fountain.

thanks guys. i was thinking i could find a quiet spot in the natl forest land and shoot, that's what my friends out near Pagosa Springs do, but i guess its a bit different on this side. I would love to get into longer range rifle shooting, but for now i really just need 1-200y to get my MZ tuned in for december.
thanks for the input!

quote:

Originally posted by cooperjd:
i have poked around a bit on forest service websites and see a lot of forest lands are closed to shooting due to the population of hikers and such.

I used to go up and shoot at Guanella Pass toward the Sawtooth when I was home from college but that place is a zoo now. In the late 70s I was almost always the only one there.

Glad I have my place in CO where I can shoot at LR, and even happier AZ has a ton of places. Some places have been shut down for shooting due to congestion, but NO ONE has ever been killed by a recreational shooter; can't say the same about ATV riders.

AZ, a park ranger at elk meadows park in evergreen told me last week that a camper was recently shot in their tent by a stray bullet. this may cause more closures. i'm not sure if it was recreational shooting or hunting, i do not have the story. also not sure if its true, just what the ranger told me.

quote:

Originally posted by cooperjd:
thanks guys. i was thinking i could find a quiet spot in the natl forest land and shoot, that's what my friends out near Pagosa Springs do, but i guess its a bit different on this side. I would love to get into longer range rifle shooting, but for now i really just need 1-200y to get my MZ tuned in for december.
thanks for the input!

I used to go up near Argentine pass on a week day. I had the area to myself most of the time

I hear guys talk about the pawnee grasslands. You may look around there. Also, east of Colorado springs there is Dragonmans as well. We're moving up to Castle Pines, the end of November from down in the springs, so we will have to look at new places as well.

Archery wise, there are a bunch of places in the area. Most of them I was not impressed with honestly. There's one on the north side, off I 25 before Westminster that looked to be ok.

I have lived on the West side of Denver my entire life and have given up on plinking on public land.
I joined the Golden Gun Club which is only about 30mins from home when I70 is smooth which would be 20 or so from your hood. I can bring guests ($5) but my schedule is too goofy to commit to much.
As for archery, there is a shop in Wheat Ridge www.rmsgear.com
Would love to grab a beer sometime as well.
Pints Pub right by the Art Museum is a great English style pub. www.pintspub.com
Of course, there are so many brewpubs here it isn't hard to find great beer.