For now anyways... Fiance got a rockin' job up there. Will probably move back to Texas eventually, hard to leave the motherland for good.

Any tips for CO in general? Moving to North Front Range (FT Colloins/Loveland). Would love any suggestions on where to live or how to hunt up there. I am really hoping to connect with some other hunters and gun enthusiasts to figure things out and have some buddies to hunt with. The waterfowl game looks similar to out here in Lubbock, but man the whole Elk, Deer, and Turkey stuff seems like a whole different animal.

My precision hog slayer, to keep things entertaining.

Good luck.

Ft Collins is a nice town, my uncle lived there for about 10 years. We lived over near Montrose over on the Western slope for a few years.. If you like the outdoors things like hiking, camping, skiing, snow machine trail rides, you will have plenty to do.

Holidays will be more like a Rockwell painting, compared to what you're use to here.

Hunting will be allot different, much less time to "get it done", but it isn't too complicated, The 2015 DOW brochure is out now, so get one and read through it. There is so much public land it will boggle your mind, will also make finding a "honey hole", an adventure.

It is a beautiful state if you can get away from the front range big cities.

Stay out of the liberal politics and you will really like it there. Check out the white water river rafting out of Fort Collins.

Not a ton of public land for waterfowl, but tons for big game. My suggestion is buy a goose trailer and start knocking on doors next season. No better way to spend your time than chasing geese on the front range.

Is that even possible these days?

Draw deadline are coming due ASAP.

Get on them ASAP!!! At very least build PP

Start putting in for the draw this year. You will have to go Non-Res this year, but in future years you should be able to apply as Resident which will greatly improve your chances for a quality Elk or Mule Deer unit.

Even if you don't get drawn, CO has millions of acres of public land for Elk hunting. Research an area, scout the crap out of it before the season, go kill a good bull.

Good advice, thanks guys.

Yeah, can't wait to take the old hippie crusher out in the snow for some offroading

Plenty of public land loaded with elk and mulies, you will have to hike to make kills but it's free so enjoy!

CO wont be so bad...

Trade your pickup in on a Volkswagen bus and it will help you blend in.

No SUH, he needs a Outback now days...

BTW, great yote hunting in the off season

Fort collns is expensive. But really nice. Lots of great beer.

Ft. Collins is some pretty country.

Went to school for a couple of years in Ft. Collins. Beautiful. Plenty to do and see for those of us who love the outdoors. Took my kid up this past summer and he fell in love too. Wish I could move back.

Good luck. Lived there from 75 to 84. Great state except for the deterioration in the Politics. Hunting is wonderful but your seasons will now be short ( about 10 days). You hunt either deer or Elk with only one weapon each 3 different seasons. You hunt only one season for each species. No more Nov through Jan 15th. And one animal is bag limit each species.

The mountains are most all public. Expect to drive for a minimum of 3 plus hours for decent game populations.

You'll need to take vacations even in state as a weekend hunt usually is not practical.

You will need to meet folks to learn as the areas are vast and the game migrate. I have seen a hundred elk in a certain mountain meadow in August and not a track in the same place for miles in October,
In spite of the challenges I have never felt nirvana as I did in those mountains.

Buy a lifetime Texas hunting license now, it will always be valid even if you move out of state.

I heard they have some nice LEGAL herb up there

Beautiful country, good luck!

live in Wyoming and work in Colorado. Wyoming has low sales tax no income tax, no permit required for concealed carry and alot of public land.

I grew up in that general area. There is some great hunting and fishing there. If you go due east of Ft Collins on HWY 14 you get into the Pawnee National Grasslands. Great pronghorn and mulie hunting there and it is public land. There are a few natural ponds that are duck magnets and you can kill cottontails by the truck load there. Keep heading east and you will come to Sterling Co and the South Platte River bottom. Lots of public hunting land on the river and you can get ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, rabbits and squirrel there.

Head west on HWY 14 and you go through the Poudre River Canyon. Great trout fishing in that river and lots of mulies and a few whitetails live there as well. A pretty good herd of bighorns dwell in the canyon but permits are hard to get. The HWY takes you over Cameron Pass and there is great elk hunting in that area. A lake called Joe Wright Res is on top of the pass and it is loaded with arctic grayling. Head down the pass and you come to a town called Gould. Lots of moose, elk and deer around Gould. HWY 14 keeps going to Walden and once there you can get into great waterfowl and all types of big game. If you turn south at Gould you go to Rand and then to Granby. Good big game hunting along that entire stretch. Granby Res has Lake Trout over 30 lbs in it and if you head along the shore of Granby Res to the inlet you will come to the border of the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area at Monarch Lake. Monarch has brook trout up to 5 lbs in it and if you head back into the wilderness are you get into a lot of bear and elk.

The best thing is, all of this is within a 3 hr drive of Ft Collins and it is all public land! No leases and no landowner fees. You can hunt it just by getting the proper tags. The CO Div of Wildlife has on office in Ft Collins and I have found them very helpful. You're also close to WY and you can get reduced price doe/fawn pronghorn tags in WY for less than $50 non-resident.

Sound advice!!!

Remember to notify ATF about the change of address for the can before moving.

Deadline is April 7th from what I found online. That still leaves plenty of time