Moving to either Utah or Colorado... OTC archery concerns

[pancakesadinfinitum]

Next month I'll finally be moving from California, and am on the fence between SLC and Denver area. I'm concerned about the quality of OTC archery hunts. I know this isn't a new topic on Rokslide, and I've read the other threads already, but I'm hoping for a little clarity on the subject. Hunting is not my only interest (fly fishing, mtn biking, backpacking, snowboarding), but it is highest on my list of priorities.

Because I'll still need to fly back ~once a month, I need to live within an hour or so of an international airport. So I'm considering SLC versus the Boulder area.

1. With that in mind, how close would decent OTC opportunities be to where I'd be living? It seems the decent UT units are in South/North Slope, about 4 hours from SLC. That really cuts down on the convenience factor, and I almost might as well buy non resident tags elsewhere with the money I save on rent in UT. What about CO? Is it feasible to find good hunting within an hour or two of home base?

2. Similar to number 1, how easy is it to find solitude in the backcountry for those respective areas? Looking at a map, there doesn't seem to be much to the East of SLC, other than Park City. Heading West from Boulder, there are little cities and towns all over the place.

3. Subjectively, how much worse is the OTC hunting in UT? My only reference points are deer hunting in California (absolutely terrible) and OTC archery for elk in Idaho (which I thought was pretty fantastic). Last season was my first, and I had the luxury of spending all of September living in just outside Ketchum where unit 48 was literally my front yard. I have zero problem hiking 2+ miles off trail, and was into elk pretty much every day.

Sorry for the long post, and very sorry for any overlap this has with previous posts!

 

[idahohikker]

Utah sucks compared to Colorado in all aspects of hunting. All Utah has are great hunts that are quickly moving towards once in a lifetime draws. Colorado still manages their wildlife for opportunity to some extent and can incorporate draw tags with reasonable odds.

 

[LostArra]

Does Utah still have their wonky 3.2% beer laws?
You just need to consider all quality of life issues.

 

[3forks]

I don't know much about the OTC hunts in Utah. The ability to hunt OTC in Colorado is largely what you make of it. Some units are better than others, but there are animals to hunt, and lots of competition for them.

The biggest factor that will affect the quality of life you may have in Colorado (and your other interests) is the amount of people living and moving to the front range. Denver and the surrounding area now has almost 3 million people. The cost of housing is high, traffic sucks, and trying to pursue any of your interests close to Denver/Boulder is going to be frustrating if you're looking for solitude.

 

[cnelk]

Boulder area? You wont notice much difference from California

 

[granite7]

I’ll second what each of the last two posters mentioned. The front range is booming with growth. Traffic, especially along I-25, can be miserable. Boulder has a reputation for being very liberal. They have an assault weapons ban, so I wouldn’t consider them gun-friendly. Otherwise, it is a beautiful area if you can afford it. If you are moving for work, I would recommend living near work for quality of life.

The best part about Colorado is you can hunt OTC every year. You’ll see a lot of other hunters, but at least you get to hunt. You can get into good (relative) OTC areas with about a 2 hour drive. Just be aware that thousands of other people are also as close to the same area.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Phaseolus]

You’d be better off in the Grand Junction area, our regional airport is more expensive to fly out of but quality of life would be much better than anywhere on the Front Range. And, you could archery hunt within 45 minutes...Fly fishing the Black Canyon is closeby and The Roaring Fork is fairly close.

 

[Muleyslayer14]

Utah has some great deer hunts that can be drawn with 0 points every year. Utah also has the dedicated hunter program. Utah does however put elk on a silver platter, you can have a fantastic archery hunt with 6-8 points. Utah does have a few OTC elk hunts which can help fill in the gaps but are difficult hunts. There is great hunting within 2 hours of salt lake in almost all directions. My vote is Utah over Colorado and go visit Colorado as a non resident.

 

[11boo]

Have you been to Boulder OP?

 

[fngTony]

I’m wondering why boulder? All politics aside it’s a busy crowded little city. Not that convenient to the airport. If something is drawing you to that area I’d look outside the city of boulder. Lafayette, Broomfield, Erie, Louisville. They’ll cut some drive time and be relatively more affordable.

 

[Brough808]

You also get the extended archery season in Utah which let’s you hunt the rut for deer along the Wasatch front which is a lot of fun. You can have good elk hunting with the OTC tags too you just have to put in some effort and time to research and scout.

 

[pancakesadinfinitum]

I have not been to Boulder, and to be honest, I'm not that keen on it. I know it's crowded, liberal, and expensive, but was hoping I could live on the outskirts of it and avoid that to an extent. I was thinking more along the lines of Louisville/Lafayette, which I'd consider the 'Boulder area,' just based on looking at a map.

I wish I could live in a place like Grand Junction, but unfortunately I do need access to an airport with regular, direct flights to Los Angeles (technically, LA will be my home base and I have to fly there for work an average of once a month).

From the comments by Brough and Muleyslayer, seems like Utah isn't a complete bust. SLCs close proximity to multiple elk states (Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho...) and odd archery dates means I could hunt archery elk as a resident and non-resident for 6 weeks straight.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

I need to live within an hour or so of an international airport. So I'm considering SLC versus the Boulder area.

If you have to live within an hour or so of an international airport, why is it you’re locked in on Boulder/Louisville? There’s a lot of places within an hour of DIA that would be better places to live than Boulder IMO. Is there a specific reason you’re looking at that area?

 

[vanish]

I live in Longmont and can answer specific questions about the area. I'm very serious about the outdoors, but there are other aspects that keep me on the front range, as opposed to living in a mountain town. I drive a minimum of 2.5 hours for nearly every hunt I do. The extra time driving is the price I pay.

 

[fngTony]

Anywhere with easy access to the nw parkway will help with travel time. I’m 15 minutes sw of Broomfield, let me know if you have any specific questions on the area. We moved last year and did a lot of research on the region.

 

[Whip]

Not to argue - it's your decision and I'm sure you have your reasons. But if you only need to be able to fly on average once a month why does that limit you to an hour from a major airport?

I'd be looking at it in reverse. I'd rather drive 3 hours one way to the airport once a month in exchange for the ability to be smack in the middle of my recreational opportunities every other day of the year. Living close to a metro area most likely means a bunch of driving and/or a lot more people every time you want to have fun, whether it be hunting, fishing, hiking, biking or whatever. And I would hope you'd be able to do fun stuff a while lot more than once a month.

Either way, I'm jealous!

 

[Poser]

I’ll let the others hash out the hunting. I’ll speak as a snowboarder.

I live on the Western Slope and my regular haunts are Purgatory, Wolf Creek and Silverton Mtn where I don’t deal with much crowds short of Texas Spring Break week at Purg, however, I did buy an Epic Pass this year because my GF’s family owns a place in Summit County. Holy-freaking-shitballs are there a lot of people in Summit county from Denver. I can’t even wrap my head around how the Denver Folks handle ski season traffic and Summit Co crowds. Honestly, I think I would just quit snowboarding if I moved to Denver as it’s just a hopeless situation requiring hours and hours of sitting in traffic and having a “ski share” apartment in Summit Co (this is where you split a 2 bedroom apt with 4-8 other people so you have a place to stay up there) or a fully winterized #VanLife set up. The good news? A-Basin is dropping off the Epic Pass and should offer some respite from the Epic and Ikon crowds, though you still have to drive there and drive home.

Boulder. I haven’t been there in years, but lots of Front Range expert skiers come over for the Silverton Mtn unguided season in April. (Silverton markets heavy to this crowd because they have the $ to book Heli drops at $1000 a day). Talk about the douchiest conversations I’ve ever overheard in my life....

So, for snowboarding, I’m gonna say SLC all the way vs. Denver. More options that are closer and less congested driving. Certainly, there is heavy traffic flow to the ski areas, but it’s not as choked as I-70 where an hour drive is easily 4+ hours and Denver is just not a tenable situation for supporting a powder chasing lifestyle, at least in the terms that I think of it where the ability to catch a powder day and still make an appearance at work that day are necessary functions. Where regular and high quality ski access is under an hour away and multiple options exist within a 2 hour radius. And where Parking isn’t an ordeal, powder stashes are actually a real thing (it’s a complete myth in Summit County), fresh powder isn’t skiid off in under an hour, where I never wait in line for more than 5 minutes (as opposed to 20-40 minute lines you get in Summit County), where the line for first chair isn’t comparable to a 90s style mosh pit with sucker punches, shoulder and elbow checks and where 1000s of other people don’t have the same exact plans for the day as you have.

 

[87TT]

LA, Denverr? Same thing right? Co is just east Calif

 

[elkduds]

Grand Junction, for every reason listed above, plus all the intangibles of the Grand Valley/Western Slope. Far lower cost of living than the Front Range. Airwise, GJT-SLC is a 50 min flight, faster than you can drive to DIA from Laffalot/Republic of Boulder. Then plenty of connections to CA.

Nice local winter hill @ Powderhorn, 45 min from GJ.

 

[StopMakingSense]

Grand Junction's great if you put mountain biking above a lot, even then, Moab is better. SLC also puts you closer to MT/WY/ID and NV if you ever get a chance.

3.2% is moving to 6% in December 2019 at the grocery store, state liquor store sells all regular beer.

SLC has it all just not the BEST in any of it, well, the powder skiing is incredible. I'd put that up against anywhere in the world on the Wasatch front. North Slope is 3hrs from SLC, 30mins to skiing, 30-90mins for decent fly fishing, backpacking 20mins, airport 20mins.

Hunting is decent, I'd say an out of state tag every year though should be in your cards for Elk. I hunt here and have no problem not seeing anyone elk hunting, I think the OTC quality is not great but if you work for it you'll find yourself in some bugle fests. The extended archery deer rut is a blast and they've greatly extended the areas for 2019.

If you want to chat send me a PM, I'll gladly talk to you over the phone. I've been in SLC long enough to give you the straight and narrow on all of the above because I do all of those activities you've listed.