Greg,

You’ll find the front range of Colorado to be fairly liberal (too many Californians in the last 15 years) and finding a great place to go shoot is not easy. Oklahoma may have a more gun friendly culture. I think there may be one public short range on Rampart Range road (State Park) down towards Colorado Springs; however, if you are looking for serious shooting facilities you will likely have to join a club and do some driving. Best to just resign yourself to it, ante up, and get to using it --- cost of doing “business.” I’ve tried short cutting the process, going up into the "close in" mountains on public land and it is just not a good idea --- you may have the right to shoot, but you piss a lot of “non-gun” folks off --- just not a good idea, as each shot just echoes forever --- the front range population just saturates any close in mountain territory. Best to head east out into the Great American desert (Ben Lommond and Colorado Rifle Club) where it is not a problem. Unfortunately, to make it worthwhile you need to pack beverages and food and just make a “day” of it.
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Colorado Rifle Club
(Stiff and Formal but GREAT facilities)
75000 East 112th Avenue
Byers, Colorado
45 minutes east of Denver
1000 yard

970-663-4779
http://www.crci.org/

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Ben Lomond Gun Club
(Good Ole Boy and More “Loosey Goosey”)
10511 E Tanglewood Rd
Franktown, CO
45 minutes east of Castle Rock
300 yard (They were talking long range at one point)

(303) 688-8511
http://www.blgc.org/

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BTW, I've been to Dragonman's --- the guy is a legend, you should visit at least once before it goes away --- he is a class III arms dealer and has full auto stuff you can rent (on premise/under supervision only) and has "short ranges" cut into a hilltop east of Colorado Springs, but for a hunter/marksman looking to sharpen up I don't think it is likely to be what you are hunting for.


Good Luck,
EKM