jetjockey,
I lived in the Castle Rock area for 30 years or so. First place was on 60 acres about 6 miles west of town, then at Perry Park, and finally at North Castle Pines. Talk about being around big bulls and bucks! Lots of private land around CR, with tons of elk, mulies, and black bear. If you can talk your way onto one of the ranches, hunting can be great. Most of them, however, are now tied up by outfitters.
Back in the day, I was able to hunt these critters on land I owned, or within 30 minutes of my house. Not any more!
Do you have any pref points for elk built up? If you do, there are opportunities for cow elk on a great RFW unit just south of Castle Rock. Myself, my son, and best friend have all harvested elk there in the past few years.
There are large numbers of elk now, east of I-25, again on private land, but permits for these areas are relatively easy to get. The CDPW doesn't really want to see large elk herds in this area. If you don't mind paying an outfitter, opportunities are close and convenient. The area around Kiowa and Elbert has many of these elk.
Eastern Colorado, east of I-25, is one of the best places to find a trophy mulie in the state. Again, private land, and tied up by outfitters.
I suggest you go to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website- they have a wealth of information on hunt seasons, statistics, etc.
If you are not coming to CO for 6 months or so, I suggest you begin applying for preference points this season, for any species you may want to hunt in the future.
Welcome to Colorado.
