Grand Junction

[BigPig]

Any one here from GJ? How do you like it there? It seems like a nice place to live. I could take a transfer there in the future and am considering the possibility. How bad are the winters? Obviously cold and some snow, which I certainly don't mind but are we talking typical dumps of 2-3 feet in town? Or is it more manageable? How far is decent hunting for deer and elk and how hard are the tags to draw? Are there tags that can be drawn every year and hunted within an hour or so of town? Fishing? Good schools in the area? Any info is appreciated. Thanks.


http://www.wildernessathlete.org/ because the most important piece of equipment you own is YOU!

 

[FamilyMan]

Never hunted the area, but there is plenty of public ground all around. Grand Mesa has lots of good hiking and small lake fishing. Southwest of town is an area of national forest with a name I can't pronounce that is good for limited draw elk.

Winters are mild and summers are down right hot (100 degrees not uncommon).

Mark

 

[zekers]

It's a very good place to live. A smaller city than the front range cities but still all the amenities. Great hunting in all directions. Grand Mesa and the Uncompahgre have great hunting. Lots of fishing, fruit orchards, farms, etc. If wages were better, I'd be back there in an instant. Winters are mild, but summers are hot and dry.

 

[BeanMan]

BigPig,

I'm a long time Grand Valley resident, I live in Palisade just 13 miles east of the Junction. Winters are not super cold but they don't warm up as much in January as some other areas. Winter will be gone by March 1 normally. Summers can be real hot and late July and August are the only times of year I don't care for. The deepest all time 24 hour snowfall is 12" so it does not snow much. This winter is considered snow, we have about 3 inches of snowpack. The Grand Mesa Mosquito Forest is close as is the Uncompahgre Plateau and Glade Park.

I'll send you a PM and you can call me if you like.

BeanMan

 

[BigPig]

Nice. Thanks for the info. I don't mind the summer heat too much as long as I can can get up into the mountains to avoid it when I get the notion. How is the deer/elk hunting in Units 40, 41, and 30? Are they hard to draw? I'm have some familiarity with 62 elk and I know it gets crowded. Basically, I want to live somewhere where I can have at least decent hunting within an hour of my house, on tags that I can draw every year.

http://www.wildernessathlete.org/ because the most important piece of equipment you own is YOU!

 

[jd332001]

there sure is a lot of old people and ugly women in gj. lol just kiddin. ive lived here for 27 years. some great hunting around if you do your homework and out work others in areas that are easy to draw.

 

[BigPig]

That is what I'm talking about. Easy to draw units with decent hunting if you're working harder than the rest. I have to do that out here to have any success too.

http://www.wildernessathlete.org/ because the most important piece of equipment you own is YOU!

 

[leonard]

I live in GJ, it's a nice place. Housing is somewhat overpriced, but jobs are abundent. Big game hunting and fishing are both good on the western slope, but bird hunting is poor. It takes about 1 hour in any direction to be up in the mountains. You should be able to deer/elk hunt every year, depending on what you apply for. This is a great area to mountain bike, run, and hike desert canyons. I personally like the front range better, because it closer to the mountains and the plains off better bird hunting, but the city has it's down side also. Good luck on your transfer, Leonard

 

[stinky]

The all time high is 106 (set year before last, I think). Depending on where you are coming from, that isn't very hot. It is pretty dry, in the summer. Avg rainfall is less than 10".

You can check the NWS website...some of the locals say that they've never seen it this cold...but last winter it was 8 below. What I assume they mean is this cold for so long. It has also snowed a bunch this year...once it started to snow, in mid December (I think).

2-3" is a pretty big snow, and I don't think that I've ever seen it snow 6" in the 8 years that I've been here. Although, it did snow something like a foot, over the course of 3 days or so, last year, or the year before.

Avg snowfall, is something like 22-27", if I remember right.

w/in 2-3 hours, there is some pretty good deer and elk hunt'N.

The town is growing like crazy. Go to the Chamber of C website. I assume that there is one. If not, I'm sure that the county and the city both have one.