Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Moving to CO

It's almost time to start the next chapter of my life. I'm retiring this upcoming spring. Two of our three kids moved to Denver and the third says he is once he finishes college. Nothing holding me here in MS.

I LOVE whitetail deer and turkey hunting but open to learning how to hunt mule deer and elk. I've fly fished a few times when I was younger and really enjoyed it also. We are looking for much more rural life than living in suburbs of Denver. Do you guys have any advice on where to start looking for a place to live within two hours of Denver that offers good opportunity for year around outdoor lifestyle (public land hunting and fishing)?

OR would you rather live in west Nebraska or Kansas, within three-four hours of Denver, and stick with more whitetail/turkey hunting?

There’s some pretty good whitetail hunting not far from Denver.... and there’s more than a few turkeys here too.

I lived in nw Kansas for about 5 years. I would not suggest Kansas. The attitudes and personalities of a number of people where we lived did not suit me. Look around Limon , Byers or further south. Maybe east a couple hours out of Castle Rock. Keep you somewhat close to Denver but rural.

Canon City

Get ready for Tax's that you are not used to being from MS. It's the main reason we did not retire there. Also, a very liberal state with high costs of living. Try WY. The number one state recommended for retirees. Great hunting and the Southern side is only a few hours from Denver.

Thanks for the info so far. I'll start researching those places. We are going out to visit kids during Christmas and plan on doing some driving around and looking.

I would look at Laramie, Wyoming, but moving there from Mississippi would be both a meteorological and a cultural shock. Ditto for anything west of Denver within two or so hours. Once you get north of Fort Collins on Hwy 287, there are some nice little rural communities, but you would still be dependent on Fort Collins for groceries and other shopping.

Why would you want to be near Denver? Best Slope is West Slope.

Might check out Elbert County. We have live here a little over 3 years since moving from Denver. Its rural and low crime. Cost is a little lower and I can get into town for work when needed in an hour.

Understand too that in the western states people harvest one deer a year if they are lucky. It's not like the east with the quantities of white tails that seem to be very large.

There are far too many people in Denver. Everything within two hours of Denver is jam packed with people.

Wyoming has long cold winters and bitter wind.. Colo is the place to live and PLAY!!!!

You don't want to live in Denver. Traffic is a big parking lot most of the time. Friday night on the way home I hit 4 cone zones. Took me 1 1/2 hours to do what I normally do in 50 minutes. I-70 will soon be a major mess with construction to widen to 8 lanes. On the weekends the traffic is just as bad I don't want to go anywhere. As soon as I can I am out of here to BFE wherever that is ?

Plenty of warm water fishing in the state also.
NOT as much as MS, but you can find some.
One does not have to fly fish just because it is CO and they are after trout . . . OR . . . warm water species.
Mountains may not measure up to what you are used to, but I guessing you can make do.
Flatlander lung will make them seem taller and steeper!

I grew up in the Bailey area. Very different now. The entire front range is overrun with libs. And crowded too! It may still be better than the east coast though...

It's bad enough we have an influx of Californians moving here, I can only imagine what it is like in a nearby state. I cannot imagine paying even higher taxes , dealing with more traffic for some pretty mountain views.

If I were in your shoes, I'd buy bird dogs and take up pheasant hunting in Western Kansas, plus they have a few decent sized whitetails and muledeer. I'm biased though.

I'd look straight North to Wyoming.

-Jake

I lived in Denver for a year. It was too crowded then(7ish years ago), and it's only gotten/getting worse. I lived in Glenwood Springs for a few years after that and loved it. You really can't be much closer to Denver along I70 than Glenwood(~3hrs from Denver) without being in ski resort hell. I spent my last summer in CO living just outside Salida. If you want to be in the mountains and want to be ~2 hours from Denver, Salida is perfect. The weather is phenomenal. Winters are reasonably mild because the Sawatch range to the west helps block the worst of it, and summers are mild because it's still 7500' ASL. And low humidity. If you haven't been, you won't believe how much more comfortable 90 AND 30 degrees can be with no humidity. And great hunting for everything in CO can be had within an hour. The Arkansas River has great rafting and fishing. And even though it gets overrun with old, retired Texans every summer, I'd gladly take that over all the young dumbass potheads that are taking over most of the rest of the state.

Only bad thing is that your pockets had better be deep. Groceries/gas/whatever are normal prices, but there wasn't a single thing worth living in that was under $300K when I was there 2 years ago. Eastern plains would probably be cheaper to live, but there isn't as much to see or do. And they get some pretty nasty blizzards.

Look near Jefferson or Como. There’s some land near the National Forest that is priced well and has electricity pulled to the roads. I think Indian Mountain this the area. However, it’s nothing like MS or TN, where the fishing abounds and the deer limit is multiple deer a day. I’ve been disappointed in the fishing regulations, where small boats and kayaks aren’t allowed in lots of places, it’s belly boats only. I’d love to bream fish some local ponds, but cant even launch my canoe due to regulations. California is moving in. I’d look near the National Forest lands to get the most hunting land access.