Colorado RV Camping Home Base and Hunting

[mc67]

I am wanting to make a trip to Colorado, eastern guy here, and camp in my RV for a month or two with with my wife. I know very little about the state but I would love to be camping near areas that I could OTC elk hunt, deer or bear hunt or all three. I would probably camp September until the second week of Oct or so. We are full time RVing presently, so I am really looking for ideas of what areas in Colorado would be a good home base for what I want to do hunting wise, but also be near civilization and areas of interest for me and the wife to sight see etc while in the state. I searched the forums here but didnt find much on the subject. I would mostly want to be in a full hookup style campground but could pull my rig to dry camping areas for week long excursions as well. Just really have no idea on what area to begin searching. I plan on bow and gun hunting. As I said I am really looking for ideas and recomendations on areas that would be a good RV home base. I will research the hunt units and decide where I would like to hunt.

 

[taskswap]

I think you're going to find a mix of opinions and preferences and are going to be back to square 1 by the time the dust settles on this thread. Colorado has a mix of ecosystems all smashed together in one big state - you've got plains, high mountains, low mountains, rolling hills, dense forest, water, desert, the whole magilla. And there are full hookup RV options basically everywhere.

I would start by really focusing on where you might hunt. You didn't say your weapon of choice, but assuming rifle, an OTC hunt means Rifle 2 or 3 so you're talking late October to mid November. Do some research (Colorado publishes draw reports documents, and there are online tools you can pay for that help you filter it) and narrow it down to a handful of GMUs you might be interested in (that are eligible for OTC). Then... go there.

I'm not trying to be snarky, it's just that it's a huge state and IMO there's a lot to love no matter where you go. There's no one "good place to go" and it's not like there are only 3 good campgrounds, there's probably a hundred that at least pass muster.

Edit: you didn't say the word "archery" but I missed that you were talking Sept/Oct. So that would imply archery. I think the rest of what I said above still applies.

 

[mc67]

Thanks for the reply.

Yeah I had said I plan on bow and gun hunting.

And I was thinking that I may be approaching my search backwards, lol. But I would say I want in or near the mountains mostly to focus on elk , deer or bear hunt as a secondary. Ive hunted several other sates mostly for whitetails and have trouble finding monthly RV sites so I usually have ended up finding a good base area and then looking at the public land offerings within driving distance. May not be practicle for Co.

I did it in Ohio this past deer season, found a cool campground within budget, lots of public land in each direction within an hours drive and had some fun and killed a few deer. But I knew a little about Ohio before hand but Ive never been out west so, yeah, Im one of them.

Also, I dont care about snarky, and I didnt think you were. I retired from the Va. Prison system so not many words could hurt my feelings, HAHA!

 

[Elkfitness]

I think you will find good areas all around the state. I’ve been all over the state exploring /hunting/fishing and anywhere you go, I think you could find a place with hookups in most areas that would be somewhat close to god hunting. I would search campgrounds with what you need and go from there.


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[Titan_Bow]

Really should start with at least narrowing down a general area you plan to focus your hunting efforts. Colorado is a big state and it can take hours to get from point A to point B. For example, I live on the Front Range, and I’ve got some spots in the San Juan’s that take me about 8 hours driving to get to. Even areas that are just on the other side of the divide can take 4 hours or more.
Another thing to consider is that full service campgrounds stay booked solid all summer into the fall, especially if they are located in desirable areas or close to attractions, parks, etc. You will probably want to boondock during your hunts anyways just to be closer to the action.
Good luck, enjoy our beautiful state and hope you are able to make accommodations that work out for you! Our mountains are insanely busy all year long now, so just come with some patience and practice deep breathing exercises LoL


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[LongWayAround]

You might be able to check more of your boxes by camping at a state park.

The areas that I am familiar with mostly don't provide for being close to town, sight-seeing, full hook-ups, and decent hunting, etc.

I agree with the others that you need to pick a target area first.

How big is your RV and are you pulling something as a local vehicle will probably have more impact on where you can go.

 

[mc67]

Thanks Titan, I was wondering how busy most of the campgrounds stay and such and I have a really large rig which is usually hard to find a spot for anyway. I can boondock for hunting for sure, but kind of wanted a home base as well. I'm living with my wife in a 400 square foot RV so I'm up to date on my deep breathing exercises!!

 

[mc67]

You might be able to check more of your boxes by camping at a state park.

The areas that I am familiar with mostly don't provide for being close to town, sight-seeing, full hook-ups, and decent hunting, etc.

I agree with the others that you need to pick a target area first.

How big is your RV and are you pulling something as a local vehicle will probably have more impact on where you can go.

I have a 45 ft fifth wheel and I pull it with a diesel four-wheel drive truck so I have that for hunting and I will also have my wife's car along for traveling anywhere else. I'm more of a state park , out of town kind of guy anyway if my rig can fit. Sometimes they do have a limit on how long you can stay though in other states.

 

[11boo]

A 45’ trailer will be a limiting factor during some rifle seasons. It will get into some nice spots during archery. There are 100s of places you could do a base and be hunting within an hour via truck.

second rifle this year, 10k feet.