Hunting around Trinidad, Colorado?

I was wondering if anybody has done any hunting around Trinidad, Colorado. I will be going to Trinidad State Junior College fall 2008 for gunsmithing and would like to try to do some hunting out there. I'm from michigan so i wont know of any good places to go for easy access. Anything from coyotes up to elk and bear is what i'm interested in.
 
You will definitely be within a short driving distance of the 3 critters you mentioned. Once you get there and look around, you'll know where to go.
 
Talk to Fred Eichler with Full-Draw outfitters. I helped him a few years back and he has some honey holes just north of Trinidad and west of Aguilar. There is some good PD shooting to the east. Good luck.
 
Well not everything west of T-dad...

I went to that school 30 years ago. You will have a good time! At least the town is in slightly better shape now than it was then (ahem).

Well west (about 30-40 minutes) of T-dad on Highway 12 there is Bosque Del Oso state wildlife area on the south side of the highway, and Spanish Peaks state wildlife area (two tracts) to the north side. There is a patch of BLM to the northwest, but it is surrounded by private land and access may be iffy.

Further west on 12 there is a chunk of San Isabel National Forest up in the Culebra/Spanish Peaks mountain range. That area is so beautiful (Hwy. 12 from Stonewall north to Cuchara Pass) that it will break your heart, especially in September when the aspen leaves turn gold. But much of the Culebra range is private.

Far to the east and also northeast there is the Comanche National Grassland public lands, but it's VERY far. For yotes your best bet is getting permission from local ranchers.

Further north and west you have the Wet mountains and Sangre De Cristo mountains, public national forest. The Sangres are big, big, high rock sawteeth, like the Alps. The Wets are more gentle and rolling, thickly wooded.

Beyond this there is way, way, more, but it's a heck of a far drive.

Get yourself a state map from the Dept. of Interior Bureau of Land Management that shows the land ownership by colors, it will show you all at once where all the public land is. That and the large red Delorme State Atlas and Gazetteer will let you navigate anywhere.

There is not much to do in T-dad, except drink, so be forewarned. Bring lots to read. The school library has a great gun book room, and there is a small but really good geology museum below the library around back. In my day we could keep our guns and reloading equipment in our dorm rooms, but no longer - rules are a lot stricter. On the other hand, the NRA Whittington center range complex is about 35-40 minutes south over the state line, so you can indulge yourself there.

This state is huge and has wildly varying terrain, so be prepared to do some exploration before you really understand what this means. The elevation controls the type of plants and ground cover, so from high to (relatively speaking) low, there will be huge changes. It is not all similar, as the midwest or east tends to be.

T-dad was my first taste of Colorado and the west (I'm a Jersey boy originally) and it really put the hook in me for life. When you get out there drive highway 12 out to Cuchara Pass (between the Spanish Peaks and the Culebras) and you may never be the same again either.
 
thanks everybody for the replies. It seems funny, but i'm kinda freaked out about leaving my hometown to go live someplace else. I'm 28 and have traveled alot around the us and canada but never have lived out of my hometown. I'm sure looking forward to doing this for a career, i cant think of anything else than being around firearms. I checked out some pics of the mountains around t-dad and they r just breathtaking.
 
T-dad itself is not a place you'd choose to live, so, for a first time "someplace else" you will not be impressed at all, more than likely.

Colorado as a whole, on the other hand.....whew!
 
Quote:
T-dad itself is not a place you'd choose to live, so, for a first time "someplace else" you will not be impressed at all, more than likely.

Colorado as a whole, on the other hand.....whew!



Seeems like to cost around T-dad has climbed with all those new gas well west of town. I hear they have around 2/3 years more drilling goes all the way up to the Spanish Peaks alot of new roads in the back country now. The hunting unit around the town of T-dad has the highest quote(14)for Mt Lion in the state for such a small unit. Alot of private ground west of t-dad some state owned hunting land biggest Bosque del Oso is closed to hunting. Hwy 12 heads west out of t-dad then goes north we fish just to the east on the north hwy 12 alot of bear in that country best access to the Spanish Peaks is off that section of hwy 12 that heads north also part of San Isabel NF that you can get access, alot of ranchs back up to the national forest land and access is very limited. I've heard there is good elk hunting along the New Mexico/Colorado border (old Vermejo Ranch). Most of the land east of t-dad is private and is under the either-sex plains elk season Sept1-Jan 31 and has some pretty good elk leased hunting right is pretty common. Well good luck
 
Northernmihunter79,
If you are looking to hunt arount Trinidad, you should start hanging out around Big R in the North side of town. There are alot of ranchers that go there not to mention that the staff may know of someone that is needing a little bit of help with some chores or some dang coyotes that are getting into everything or foxes what have you. Since you are going for gunsmithiing I am assuming that you will be there at TSJC for 2 years at least. I talked to a guy that worked at Big R and he stated that they got some real good deals on merchandise like scopes and what have you. Check it out and be up front and I am sure that you will have luck. Take a ride to the East towards Hoehne and see what you can find out there. There are alot of little ranching communities out there. If I lived over the hill that's what I would do. I live in Raton, and I'm too cheap to pay for the out of state fur bearer license. Let me know what you find, maybe I can ask some friends that used to live over there and some still do.

Good Luck,

gonzaga
 
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