Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Moving to Montana?

So, I'm considering moving out west upon graduating college. I've been really thinking hard about Montana, been wanting to live there for a while now. How hard is it for residents to obtain tags for most of the animals? Are there a fair amount of over the counter tags available? I'd have no problems with cow or doe tags, but I really wouldn't want to wait years before I got a bull tag. I hunt archery, so would my chances in that respect be better for obtaining a bull tag? Currently, I'm considering the Bozeman area, FWIW. Any and all information is appreciated guys, thanks in advance.

For about $100 a year you can hunt till your legs fall off. OTC tags include, elk, deer, bear, turkey, easy draws for antelope, some areas have OTC doe deer tags and doe antelope licenses are sometimes OTC depending on how the draw ends up, depending on area you can get a couple of each as well. Then you also have great upland bird and water fowl hunting, mountain lion in the winter, varmints, etc. Toss in the chance of drawing a moose/sheep/goat, and some of the worlds best fly fishing... and you're pretty much set for 12 months of non stop hunting/fishing.... never a dull moment.

There are big bucks and bulls in just about every unit in MT if you put in your time and get lucky you can kill one... EVERY YEAR!

IMO there is no comparison to MT... ID and WY are a close second, but I would still prefer MT.

The only thing that might be tough about moving there is the cost of living is pretty high considering the wages that most employers pay. The trade off would be worth it though.

Good luck if you decide to move there.

depends on where your at in the state versus where you want to hunt in the state.....every year a resident can hunt a mule deer or whitetail deer buck, bull elk, speed goats and black bear if you dont mind some traveling around the state, but if your from the east coast and never been here its prolly hard to fathom how big the state is, its a 10 hour drive for me, mostly on the interstate from the northeast corner to the south west and thats not the extreams of both, hell for me to get to Glacier Park which is a straight shot down the two lane Highway 2 from me, its an 8 hour drive if there arent many HP's on duty.....you can also hunt mountain lion but there is a quote system so while everyone can buy a tag the season is only open till the quota is reached.......however if you want to hunt certain units than there are draws, some of them are alot of ppl putting in for a handful of tags.......the elk and speed goat area i like to hunt is by special draw only.....

I have a friend who is a Montana resident, and very active outdoors. He is recently retired, and hunts or fishes year around. He told me last year that he is paying about $1,000 a year for the various licenses and fees, but then I think he does one of everything.

My cousin who also is a resident told me he gets the senior licenses and spends less than $100 a year. He hunts deer and elk every year, and pronghorn most years.

jim

WoW a thousand bucks???? I just paid 80 for my deer b, elk, blackbear, upland, hunting, fishing and conservation tag. I will probably spend another 100 on draws, tags and stamps.

Scorpion,

I moved from Western PA to Bozeman about two years ago, after graduating college. If you PM me a phone #, I'll give you my thoughts on any questions you have.

Carl

Carl, PM sent.

Rattler, I do realize Montana is absolutely massive, especially compared to Eastern states. I doubt I'd have the time initially to be able to hunt everything, especially in the eastern portion of MT. How far west can one hunt whitetails, as I'd still like to able to do that if possible?

Why not Wyoming? Lots more public land, better hunting, less people, better taxes, etc.

how far west can yah hunt whitetails? i believe some big ones are being shot up around the Glacier area..thats pretty far west.....and then i also usually about hit one while driving through the city of Helena....any part of the city....saw a few in Helena this weekend but didnt come close to hitting one this trip.....last trip i almost smoked one coming out of the Albertson's parking lot would assume most any river that eventually drains into the Missouri or Yellowstone likely has whitetails along its river bottom...

No real specific reasons, I've just been attracted to Montana for a good while. Also, it seems like it will offer me both hunting and fishing opportunities, as I love to fish. Seems like there are also a good number of ski areas in MT, not that WY is void of them or anything. Another reason I am looking at Montana, especially around the 'cities' is because it'd be a little hard for me to find a job in my major elsewhere I think.

You can hunt just about every species in MT with in an hour of Bozeman. Some of the hunting won't be quite as good as it is in the east, but its still there.

Lots of whitetail opporunity across the whole state.

Hahaha, thanks! I wasn't sure if the whitetails were that far west or not, I was hoping so. That's nice to hear, definitely.

NW Montana is great for whitetails I have 7 on my living room wall ! I live in kalispell

Rattler,

PM sent.


Travis.

ive seen speed goats in a valley between Helena and Great Falls on the Helana side so even the speed goats can be found "up in the mountains" not sure if they are hunted or what the draw is like if they are........

got it Travis, sent one back....

In MT you can hunt whitetails all the way to the Idaho border.

I live 30 miles west of Bozeman and yes we do hunt the lopes up toward Helena, yes it's a tougher draw than the 700's but I usually get one every other year. Whitetails are great around here as well this is the headwaters of the Missouri so there's plenty of river bottom and those things are like rabbits, most of the land owners I know around here beg people they know to shoot some. Fishing is also great here, obviously plenty of trout in the rivers, but we are only 30 miles from Canyon Ferry, where the pike, walleye and perch fishing is also very good. Good luck with your quest.