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Grand Junction CO & eastern Utah

m1ajunkie

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Feb 22, 2010
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Kennewick, WA
Work may be moving me to CO in 2021. I understand the "western slope" of CO is the place to be for someone looking to shoot.

Any nice ranges in this area with long range and ELR steel? I'm guessing most just go out in the vast areas of the BLM ground that's in the area?
 

We also shoot 600 yard F-Class and 600 yard benchrest near Whitewater.
 
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Cameo shooting complex has a monthly match and my buddies say it's awesome.

There's also a bunch of stuff going on over the border in Utah but I've never been.
 
If you're coming from GA and you haven't been out here, your head will spin when you find the vast amounts of BLM in that area. Explore a little and find your own little vantage point with ELR as far as you desire. Running into more and more people wandering the middle of nowhere these days so scan well before firing.
 
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i saw reference to a PRS match in Rifle Co, an hour maybe 2 east of GJ, absolutely beautiful drive between the two.
 
Awesome, thanks for the replies!

Just realized I need to update my profile on here...... I'm actually looking to move to CO from eastern WA where I've lived the past 3 years. I've found some really nice LR & ELR places to shoot in WA & OR and want to make sure CO/ UT offer the same.
 
The polar cap has shifted we are covered in ice for 4 months ! When the sun comes out it’s 15 min a day when summer does come it’s 129% The damn meth heads carry tarps for shade! and that’s in the city parks. There isn’t any ammo or components to buy ( this is no lie) If you are kinda decent and conservative hunter/shooter welcome we need help pushing back the evil libtards that have moved in the last 20 years in ever increasing numbers.
 
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Great rifle builder in Rifle Colorado. I don't see him mentioned here much but Greg Tannel (GRE-TAN ) is as good as they get. If you get out that way it would be worth looking him up.
 
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Rifle Sportsman's Club has precision rifle matches on the first Saturday of every month. Most are belly matches, but we have a few PRS style (not sanctioned) matches spread through out the year. No prizes. $20 entry fee. Targets out to 900yds for most matches, sometimes as far as 1200.
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This a picture from the normal shooting position for the precision rifle matches, targets are scattered all over the hill side.

Cameo has monthly matches and some national matches. I believe they have targets out to 2000. I haven't shot there yet, but have heard it's a great range.

Plenty of public land
 
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Shot the hornady hunter match at Cameo last summer, now I want to uproot everything and move there 😆!!
 
Lots of public land to shoot on, just follow the rules for shooting on public land;

Must be 150-yards from any roads, trails, campsites, or homes. And you typically cannot drive off the trail or road, which means you have to haul your rifle and gear by foot 150-yards from the road. Yes there are places that you can drive anywhere you want without restrictions.

Cannot shoot over or across any roads, trails, rivers, streams, or bodies of water.

No tracer or incendiary bullets, and no exploding targets.

Some Counties have restrictions on target shooting that are part of overall fire restrictions during certain dry months.

Pick up your trash, including brass, water bottles, cardboard, paper targets, etc. And don't be one of those ass-hats that haul old TVs or other appliances out to the desert, shoot them full of holes, and then leave them.

If you leave your steel targets out, no matter how remote you think they are, they will likely disappear. Ask me how I know.

Not sure about Utah, but in Colorado and Wyoming, it is your responsibility to know where you're at, and not cross (trespass) on to private land that may or my not be fenced or posted with signs. There are many private parcels inside or bordering public land, more than most realize. And not all the maps that are sold over the counter show them. If caught, you can be arrested, and fined/jailed (fines are quite high in Wyoming).
 
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In Colorado the law says you have to be 50 feet from the centerline of any county road or highway, or just off a BLM or forrest service road.
 
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Corndog is right about roads. Alpine is on the right track with everything else. If you find some BLM you like, keep it clean even if other dickheads don't. We had one BLM area here "shut down" to shooting. I am incessantly picking up the area I do go so it doesn't get "shut down" as well. Good thing is there is always free brass if I'm picking up trash they shot. Typically, I can hear from my house if someone is up there. When the shooting stops, I head over, pick up their cans, etc and collect my payment in brass. Its funny as hell sometimes. There will be 100 rounds of brass on the ground and only a couple holes in one can, milk jug, etc. Others are untouched. Its somebody that shoots 223 and 9 at no more than 50 yards. I kinda want to run into them and give them a lesson in shooting....and picking up their SHIT!!

Allegedly, I have one piece of steel that has lasted 4 years. All the other ones were either shot to shit with steel core at close range or stolen. The one that is allegedly out there is a real bitch to get to. The worse you make it to get to the better the chance of it surviving.
 
The 150-yard off road/trail is federal law for USFS land, assumed BLM is the same? I think the 50-ft from centerline of a road is a State law, so that would come in play for State Land, etc.

Edit - I'm having a hard time finding any official federal guidance as I don't have the bandwidth to access the federal register 36.

I've looked online, and keep getting directed to individual forest systems, that can add rules to the federal rules. They are all slightly different. I have a pamphlet I picked up from a local USFS office, and it states 150-yards from road/trail. However, I found in other Forest Systems they say 150-yards from a Developed Road. What's a Developed Road?

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USFS and BLM are different entities. But I don't know anything past that. I have never looked further than the state regulations. I have never been messed with for shooting too close to the road. I use discretion when setting my bench up close to the road. I live in the least populated most redneck part of CO.
 
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In my BLM experience, albeit limited to a few areas:

-The BLM LE ranger here has never given me any shit for being less than 150 yards off the road. Both my regular spots are over 50ft but less than 75 yards off the road.
-The BLM LE presence is very slim. In hundreds of trips up "the gulch" to shoot, I have seen him maybe 5 times. I think he said he manages a bit over 200,000 acres. His most frequent job is cleaning up dump sites.
-I think the fact that he has seen me picking up trash goes a long way. He gets it and has better things to deal with. He knows I respect the land and am not blowing up TV's and shit.
-He has plenty of work with dump sites and cartel grows to want to fuck with me. I think he knows having me up there a bunch keeping an eye on shit is a benefit.

I would say if you find a spot you like and ever see a ranger, develop a good rapport. The LE ranger is probably a shooter too, so shoot the shit with him about it. Once he knows you aren't causing him clean up work or generally being a dumbass with fire direction, etc, you probably won't get any shit. Seems that BLM LE aren't in it to fuck with people. If they were, they would pick a job with more contact. My sample group is only a few, but that's the vibe I have gotten from them.
 
Great replies in this thread! Really appreciate it. From what I'm reading if I do end up in CO and target the western slope public land will be the ticket. I've got some pretty awesome shooting spots now in eastern WA & OR so want to make sure if I move I can keep those opportunities haha
 
I don't know if they still put it on but the Vol. Fire Dept. used to have a dynamite shoot at Ridgeway, Colo. once a year.
I have friends that made it an annual thing and loved it. I never did go as it is a long way for me but am kicking myself in the ass for not going.
If it is still going on I will be there next year.
It may have been fucked over by the enviros and drought or a combination of both.
 
There is a BLM shooting range north of Grand Junction at the edge of the bookcliffs. 27 1/4 rd, I believe.
 
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The dynamite shoot is in Gateway. Or was the last time I looked. John Hendricks kinda took over a big piece of the area a while back. In another life I was part of a crew that sealed up a bunch of abandoned uranium mines up on John Brown mesa south of the town.

M1a .. Are you tied to a work place or can you work from home?

Edit - Just heard back from a friend that frequented that shoot. He says it is no longer held. The BATFE saw fit to revoke the license needed for the event.

A second edit for accuracy - The BATFE didn't revoke any license. The person that supplied the license, dynamite, and BATFE approved expertise retired from his business and the organizers appear to have looked into what would be needed to take over that portion themselves. From personal experience I can assure you it is overwelming and not anything to be entered casually. The organizers are looking for someone to provide this service in the future so the shoot can resume.

Thank you,
MrSmith
 
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I was wrong, it was Gateway-Unaweep Fire Dept. I think. Hella lot of fun I am sure.
I used to attend the Turkey shoots put on by Kremmling Fire Dept. shot with rifles and pistols and later shotguns kind of took it over.
They would have one up on the Troublesome River and one down on the Blue River. Thanksgiving and Christmas as I remember. About a week or so before each holiday. They were great fun!!!
I doubt either one is still being held, but I hope they are still going.
I will look into that as they were really fun shoots.
 
Glance at the Meeker, Rangely, Maybell triangle and down to Grand Junction. Plenty of shooting spots. Would depend on your desire for urban comforts/leave me alone ratio.

Thank you,
MrSmith
 
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If you have FB, look up Western Colorado Precision Shooters. We run a monthly precision rifle club match each month out at the Cameo Shooting & Education Complex (just outside of Grand Junction) ...4th Saturdays of each month. The Cameo range is already one of the best shooting facilities in the world, ...and we’re still just getting started. I know our LRP rang has steel out to at least 2000 yards, ...maybe 2500 now, but not 100% sure on that. All with Magneto speed hit indicators.
 
If you have FB, look up Western Colorado Precision Shooters. We run a monthly precision rifle club match each month out at the Cameo Shooting & Education Complex (just outside of Grand Junction) ...4th Saturdays of each month. The Cameo range is already one of the best shooting facilities in the world, ...and we’re still just getting started. I know our LRP rang has steel out to at least 2000 yards, ...maybe 2500 now, but not 100% sure on that. All with Magneto speed hit indicators.
Oh man that actually sounds right up my alley! For the time being however, my work move got put on hold so I haven't moved forward with anything yet. We'll see what the next couple of months look like however.