My son has elected to go to grad school in geophysics (no good jobs in oil patch at this time, even tho he has a very high grade point and doesn't mind working) at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Co.

Thanks to a fellow ARer he has a very fine, if half assed trained Wachtelhund (German Spaniel), that he will probably take with him. Currently dog lives with us and is nearly as lovable, maybe more so, than a family member. Dog wakes up and goes to sleep thinking about retrieving.

At any rate, he will be moving up there in August, from where he is working a UT Austin currently, and that won't give him a lot of time to learn the area. I'd appreciate any advice or help that you could give to help him get started.

Gato:

I don't know much about the Golden area for birds.

BUT: Up around Ft Collins that's not too far away. There's a bunch of great areas. I've read about them for years, never gone up as when I've wanted to that's too far to drive when such things are handier down here.

Good luck to the kid and you both.
George

Contact SKB, he is not too far away and can give you the skinny. There is plenty of national Forrest land all over the front range.

I'm jealous, I'd move to Colorado tomorrow if I could. If he likes music the greatest venue in the world Red Rocks is a few miles away.

Yep, I can give him the low down on local hunting. The best bird hunting is North and East on to the prairie but Blue Grouse in the fall can be spectacular on the public ground. Lots of big game hunting to be had. Playing the point system is key. I actually spend more time hunting in the Dakota's and NE for upland birds. Colorado is a beautiful state but damn is it becoming pricey. I just read Boulder has now exceeded 1 million $ for an average home price. Really glad I bought 20 years ago. Your welcome to have him contact me if he wants more info or to get our Spaniels(I run field bred Springers) together to chase some birds.
Steve

Congratulations to your son being accepted at School of Mines!, very difficult school to be qualified to attend and extremely difficult for most people to complete.
My sons girlfriend is attending there and has done exceptionally well in College but is finding that her studies at School of Mines is all consuming! No time for hobbies.
Good luck to him in his endeavors.
As others have stated Big Game hunting in Colorado is all about the preference points game. Most waterfowl is killed along the front range, San Luis Valley and Lower Arkansas valley from pit blinds and bale blinds. Upland opportunities are available but not as prolific as in other states.
Let me know if I can help him with any information.

There is public lands near golden he could hunt, but a lot of private, and the owners in that area (and the majority of people using that area) will be VERY anti moved. However, good hunting is not far at all. An hour drive west or SW will get him into vast amounts of public land with plenty of deer and elk. The closer to Denver though, the more crowded. Birds i can't help with, i only hunt big game.

There will be left over and OTC tags, but he'll still be a non resident, so tags will be expensive this fall.

Gato,

Give him my number if you still have it. I'll help him any way I can

Drummond

I'm a CSM alum, in the oil patch, and live within 3 miles of campus. Even though theres elk, moose, deer, lions etc... right across hwy 6 he's at least an hour or so from any real hunting. One exception being Golden Gate State Park. It's ~30 minute drive from campus and can be hunted with the caveat being that the number of hunters allowed in per day is 35. You sign in and sign out each day, but it's close and there can be some decent hunting there. Aside from that there is OTC elk hunting as far as he's willing to travel. For birds it's like SKB stated, any good bird hunting is going to be to the east/northeast.

Not to dampen his spirit, but he may not have much time for hunting opportunities while enrolled at CSM...

Send me a PM and I'll give you my contact info and help him out however I can.

Within two or three hours to some of the best bird hunting Wyoming has to offer.

The area between Thermopolis and Cody has pheasants, chukar, huns, and sage grouse.

Blue grouse will be on the majority of the mountains in the Rockies and either side of Saratoga, Wyoming.

Get USGS maps from the BLM or forest service. Easy day.

quote:

I'm a CSM alum, in the oil patch, and live within 3 miles of campus. Even though theres elk, moose, deer, lions etc... right across hwy 6 he's at least an hour or so from any real hunting. One exception being Golden Gate State Park. It's ~30 minute drive from campus and can be hunted with the caveat being that the number of hunters allowed in per day is 35. You sign in and sign out each day, but it's close and there can be some decent hunting there. Aside from that there is OTC elk hunting as far as he's willing to travel. For birds it's like SKB stated, any good bird hunting is going to be to the east/northeast.

Not to dampen his spirit, but he may not have much time for hunting opportunities while enrolled at CSM...

Send me a PM and I'll give you my contact info and help him out however I can.

Mr. Reed, et al:

I chose your response to quote because it covered the general territory. By doing so, I am not ignoring or unappreciative in any way of the others, such as that by SKB and Drummond.

I really appreciate the advice and offers of help, and as time gets closer, I will have my son, Adam, contact the ones who were so kind to offer more advice on hunting. I mean, in fishing, the old saying is that you show your best friend your SECOND best fishing hole.

AFA time off goes, my son, who graduated last year from UT Austin last year with a 3.8 average m/l in Geophysics, and my daughter who is still at UTA, majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a 3.8 plus average are both smart and good students but I was absolutely astounded at how much time they used for out of class work, studying, projects, etc. I would say that BESIDES classrooms, they spent at least 40 to 50 hours MINIMUM per week studying or doing work assoc. with class. I frankly didn't believe it until my son outlined a couple of his days for me one time. All that BS about how easy it is to maintain an "A" average in college these days, at least for major colleges in technical majors, is just that, a bunch of crap. Even so, Anne is involved, on a volunteer basis, in some cutting edge research on hydrocephalus and has received a research internship in San Antonio for 10 weeks this summer where she will receive a stipend of 12K. Not bad for an undergrad.

In spite of all that, they still found time for non-academic activities, but probably not as much as they would have liked, and not nearly as much as I did......

I'm very proud of my kids, and believe Adam will do well when things loosen up a bit in the oil patch. He had some very sketchy offers, which with the advice of some industry friends and myself, elected to pass on. He has been doing more or less scut work at the UT Geology labs on oil core samples for the last 8 months to keep the wolf from the door. He was accepted to UT, Wyoming, and CSM grad schools (all he applied for), and the stipend was actually substantially better at UT but he decided that changing schools for a higher degree, the rep of CSM, and the fact that most CSM Master's grads were employed nearly instantly ( ) was a good choice and was the basis for his decision. It's his life, and I agreed. At this point, all I can do is advise where I have some insights or can get some. Otherwise, I just try to be helpful.

Thanks again for all the help and this is not meant to say I don't want anymore, all insights are greatly appreciated.

In the interim, I'm sending him, my youngest daughter, who is graduating from HS in May, and my wife (observer) to RSA on a 10 day hunt in a couple of months. Adam has been to Namibia with me, and is an accomplished hunter/shot. Ashley shoots well too and has killed several deer and many hogs. I am going to work with her on the sticks before their departure.

I lived in CO for three years while on active duty and enjoyed most weekend in the mountains. To the east I did get into a few pheasants on public ground, some good prairie dog shooting, a bit of antelope, mule deer and elk. Archery was good for elk with extended seasons and less hunting pressure but anytime up to Labor Day the mountains were FULL of other recreational users. I would suggest checking out the fly fishing. Some of the more memorable experiences out there were fishing the numerous mountain streams and rivers in beautiful country. With his background, he might be able to combine that with a little panning for gold and put a little dust in his pockets along the way.

Well, Adam is making his first moving run from Austin to Golden this Thursday. Any recs for good places to eat in or near Golden?

No suggestions for food, but if he likes beer his search starts and ends at Cannonball Creek

In Walking distance of campus

No particular order or reccommendation...
Trailhead Taphouse
Table Mountain Inn
Bridgewater Grill (Golden Hotel)
Jolynn's
Sherpa House (Indian & Nepalese)
Indulge
Bob's Atomic Burgers
Old Capital Grill


Abejas - breakfast - they make some of the best bacon you'll have though they open late.


Out of Golden:
Arbrusci's Italian
Arvada Villa Italian
Tap & Dough - Old town Arvada ( 1 mile north of I70 & Wadsworth)
Schoolhouse - Old town Arvada
Summit House - Denver West (Golden/Lakewood I70 & Colfax)
Blue Sky Cafe - breakfast - Denver West

Adam is in Golden as I write, settling into his new apartment/house and local brew houses, I'm sure. Not that my judgement would be clouded, but he is a great guy, in spite of his genetic history. If anyone would like to give him a call, PM me and I'll send you his cell #. I'm sure he'd like to talk with you.

Many thanks to the ARers who called Adam. I really appreciate it, as does he. He has left Californiastan now and spent the night with a friend in Lubbock. On his way to Austin today. He rented a house with a yard so he could have his dog with him. I'm sure going to miss that dog. I think I like him more than some of my family. I'm smart enough not to name names.