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.

http://fwp.mt.gov/hunting/default.html

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.

Scorpian, if you get a chance pm me your phone number and I'll give you call, I just happen to work in real estate and would glad to talk with you......

We can of course chat about hunting/fishing and other good stuff as well, just please no ballistic gack.

Thx
Dober

Geez...any openings for a decent graphic/multimedia designer? I wouldn't mind moving there as well.

Dober,

PM sent.

man that aint right......you get to hunt the dang things roughly every other year over in the mountains and im out on the flats and pulled one tag in 5 years for my area(supposedly 1 in 3 odds).......that just aint right........is that public land north of Helena....my sisters moving to Helena from Great Falls this summer.....maybe ill come over to the mountains and hunt your speed goats......that just dont sound right

Probably because most people don't realize how good the goat hunting can be out here in the hills, those areas don't get too many apps. I'm having problems downloading the regs for this year, but it seems to me that around 350 - 400 people apply for an area that gets around 200 tags granted each year. It's 390 on the east side of Canyon Ferry if you have your regs handy. It is almost all private land, but I've never had a problem with obtaining permission just need to go out a week or 2 early and ask.

Edited to add that 2 years ago I shot a 15" goat buck out there, so there are some decent ones.

I lived in Bozeman for several years, it is a great place to live but the cost of living is high. Im from ND originally and the one BIG thing I missed while living there was fishing. Sure you can catch trout all day long, but they taste like crap and only get so big. Im more of a pike/walleye fisherman and really there arent many good places to do that where I was living. MT is THE state to be if you are into hunting though!

LOL, ain't that the truth! Catch and Release is popular for a REASON!

I only fish the highcountry for Cutts and whatever... much tastier.

Yepper, the cost of living (especially housing) is higher than Midwestern cities, but not as high as E or W Coast cities. Course we basically have no economy here and aren't a city . As the saying goes, "half your paycheck is the view."

Good thing about Bozeman is it's only a half hours drive to Montana...

A few notes from somebody who has lived in Montana 55 years:

Actually, opportnities to catch fish other than trout abound almost everywhere in Montana. I know this because I have lived all over Montana and fished about everywhere. (I was born and raised in Bozeman but got out before it turned into Northern Califonia/Western New York.) Anywhere east of the Continental Divide is no more than two hour's drive from decent walleye, pike or catfish. I live an hour from Bozeman and can be walleye fishing 10 minutes from my house. On the west side, pike and bass are all over the place.

It is easy to draw pronghorn tags for most units in the state every year. Just put in for a doe permit as your second choice. Unless you are one of those macho guys totally dedicated to shooting some sort of buck every year, this works--and landowners are actually more willing to grant permission once they find out you are hunting females. They taste just as good, are just about as big, and the hunting techniques are the same.

The bird hunting is pretty fair too, from one end of the state to the other.

Where can I get into some good walleye fishing near Havre?


Travis.

Nelson.....Fort Peck.....those are to the east would assume Fresno just outside of Havre has them......would assume the Missouri has them as i catch them out of the river here.....most any good sized reservoir in Montana has been stocked with walleye.....

Thanks rattler.


Travis.

Or to the west of Havre is either Lake Francis in Valier or Tiber Reservoir south of Chester, neither more than an hour or 2 from Havre.

I live in north Idaho and Im happy here. If I were to ever move to another state it would be Montana.

So ya wanna move to Montana, eh?

4" of snow on the ground this am and no end in sight today! argh!

Dude, winter sure is putting up one helluva a fight...
Way too much coffee this morning, and no work today.
I'm gonna have to jump on Maygan's treadmill. Hope I don't wreck....grin

LOL, sittin' in PJ's contemplating putting on cabinet/drawer pulls... hope I don't wreck thinkin' too hard

Looks a lot like winter over this side too, this AM.

I can't belive no one has said anything 'bout the gopher hunting.Around these part's it is almost more popular than deer hunting.

Probably cause we call it gopher shooting around here... and yes the snow gophs are out in force.

I have access to a couple of ranches that I think one could about where out some .22 barrels there's so many rodents on them...<g>

Now about that gopher shooting. I just came back from a week at GRI (graduate realtors institute, 3 year course and I graduated but that's another story), anyway one of our assigments in our break out groups was to plan a marketing event.

Go figure our group choose to go to a ranch that one of the ladies owns that has tons of rodents on it and to have a one day gopher shooting contest compete with prizes and a BBQ afterwords.

We said you have to have guts to show up at this event. I mean where else would a bunch of realtors choose to have a gopher shooting event for a marketing plan.....

Dober

It was touched on earlier, but there are'n't many good paying jobs in Montana. that could easily effect your decision.

I have a son in Missoula and I get out there once or twice every year. Great country - Poor economy.

Yepper, we get paid a lot of blue sky and mtn views...<g>

Dats just fine by me.

Dober

Ya sure about that Mark. I havent seen the blue sky in a couple of weeks??

Hope the toothers are better

Thx, man does it ever suck to have stitches in the mouth...!

Drives me freakin crazy...<g> perhaps that's why I had to make a gun smith run today!

Dobro

you got time for lunch or breakfast one of these days? or you can stop by on Saturday at our new Gallatin Heights subdivision office. I'll be there from 4-6 tomorrow and 11-4 on Saturday. Most of tomorrow I'll be in my Big Sky office...that or hittin the river for some of those terrible tasting fish

Probably not this week. I have overtime at work and my wife wants to go watch the horses run threw three forks tomorrow. Next week would be better for me.

that really depends on what yah do......yeah high paying jobs compared to back east or So Cal are rare but depending on where your at in the state you can live pretty darn cheap. there are actually quite a few really good paying jobs in the state, problem is lining up one in your chosen field..........

a note on the economy.....at the moment the wife and i combined make around $35,000 yet we prolly live more comfortably than a couple making $150,000+ a year in southern California....we have a 2,000 square foot house plus attached garage, sitting on a lot and a half, the house was newly remodeled, we purchased the house 2 years ago and yet we have no problems making the house payment, the car payment, the food, water heat and power bills and still find the time to take off on long weekends to hunt, fish, camp, have enough extra $$ for the odd new/used rifle or whatever.......if yah just look at the numbers yah those of us in Montana, especially eastern Montana dont make alot of money........but it dont take alot to live here comfortably....

I was looking at my book on places to retire for military folks, and the data for Great Falls, MT says 169 days a year with temps 32 deg F or lower. When my wife saw that, she allowed as how the dog and I would probably be very happy in Montana but she would not be coming.

jim

HunterJim,
I've had the same problem in convincing my wife to get a retirement home in or around Missoula. Missoula's climate is more temperate than Great Falls, but still no luck.
By the way, my son in Missoula called this evening to say that he was getting a little snow. Maybe the wife is right! (Please don't tell her I said that!)

The more the better.

FWIW, I'd be looking into jobs in the Civil Engineering field. I was doing some searches for engineering firms/jobs around Bozeman, did have a little bit of luck, nothing major though. As far as cost of living, it's probably less than what I'm paying for college right now, since I'm living in the heart of a pretty big city. Plus, if most of my 'payment' was a big sky and wilderness to roam, I'd be pretty well fine with it.

Scorpion, You may want to PM Carl Ross. He is from Pennsylvania and a engineer.

kenaiking,

I have Carl's number and will hopefully be giving him a ring this evening. Thank you though!

Scorpion, if your into the white, this is the April to be here!

I'll be free anytime this weekend to chat, if you wish.

Carl

Okay, awesome. Would it be alright if I called in an hour or two?

You bet.

Call it gopher hunting, gopher shooting, target practice or gopher plinking, it's just plain fun. Round here it's a family affair. And yes, the snow make's them stand out real nice. I'd have to agree, the wage's in Montana ain't great but the view, the pepole and the outdoor opportunity's are well worth the trade off. What better place to raise a family...

Uh, you might feel that way now sitting in spring bliss, but after a lot of winters that go on and on you might not

But you're the better one to judge that so come on out!

If I was gonna move (back) to Montana, I would like that valley along I90 between Livingston and Billings, but it has been so long since I have been through there I cannot remember the exact location or the name...

Tim, could be the Shields on the West side of the Crazies (the Shields is a bit East and North of Livingston). My little slice of Montana is up in the Shields. That place is still like MT was in the 50's which is saying a lot. Or, perhaps, the Boulder River country south of Big Timber? Maybe the front of the Beartooth down towards Red Lodge?

Beartooths, that's it!
I went to Red Lodge with my girlfriend at the time back in like 1993?
Beautiful country!!

That's nice country Tim. Love the whole front of the Beartooth. My favorite backpacking is in there...

So when are you boys starting a gopher camp for thin blooded flatlanders?

Daily rates, guide fees...etc


Mike

"Gopher Camp"... that's good!

There are a buzillion ranchers in MT that would smile from ear to ear if a guy from GA showed up with a brick of ammo wanting to decimate the little Richardson Rats !

I love big timber. I wish my line of work was out that way. Livingston is also one of my fav's except for the wind.

Kenai, Mark told me your line of work... I'm wondering how such a young guy snagged such a cherry position! Good on ya!

My dad used to fly into Gallatin (out of Billings) in the early-mid 1950's before he hired on with TWA... man how that field has changed !

Well I guess ya go to school and you can do what ever. We may not get paid what we deserve but I love what I do. The history of Gallatin Field is pretty neat. our airport director has been here for like 30 years. He pretty much is the reason for its sucess. Durring spring break we had the whole ramp full of Business jets on their way to Big Sky. It was crazy!

I tell ya what, I miss AK but man do I love MT!

I told wifey we were moving and about the 169 days below 32 degrees. She nearly blew diet rite out her nose laughing so hard

I've been to WY twice and MT once loved them both...

Mike

Great falls really isnt that bad thats only about 5 months. It was 12 degrees last time I was there. This summer it was 87.

I used to go over to Livingston when I was attending MSU and watch the guys fly sailplanes.

If I recall, there used to be some awesome thermals around the Livingston area!

Yeah Kenai but she's a native Georgian without much meat on her bones

I doubt we have 20 days a year below 32..

Mike

Well my wife is from New York and I drug here up to Fairbanks AK She may be able to tuff it out. Just drive her through glacier one week and Yellowstone the next. She will be hooked

Done the Yellowstone trip. Hope to get to Glacier someday.

Going to Destin, FL this year if that tells you her idea of a vacation


Mike

My skinny blonde wifey isn't very tolerant of cold... gets a little, shall we say, grumpy if the winter goes too long. Or if it doesn't.

Southern Oregon is looking OK to both of us... NoCal/Southern OR is kind a big black hole as far as major cities or industry or anything- which is a good thing.

-jeff

I will confess, I love spring and all its wonder but, I can't take the heat. It's midnight here and it's 69 degrees with pretty fair humidity and it's killing me. For whatever reason, winter's never bothered me, just so long as there is snow! That could be subject to change, however!

Scorpion,

FWIW move wherever you want. I had an opportunity to move to Alaska while I was waiting for a job offer. I had the wife convinced and was pretty much on my way when the job I currently have gave me the call.

Everything has worked out, and I am moving to a state that I love in a couple of months. But those years of wondering were brutal.

Seems like you already know this, but don't let money and all that other BS that life throws at you change your mind. Make your own way.


Travis.

Kenai, we need to hook up one of these days.

Spring here usually shows on a Wednesday and is gone by Friday... seriously!

I totally understand your distaste for humidity. Been there, done that, never again. Montana weather surely is the most interesting I've ever found anywhere I'll give it that...

Brad,

Sounds good. Maybe wet a line? Mark and I have been trying to get together for breakfast one day, maybe we should make it 3?

Sounds good, lets do it.

If we had lots of good jobs and milder winters then there would be several million people living here already, instead of under a million, and Montana wouldn't be the notion of the Last Best Place for so many people.

It's the same old Catch-22. Many Montana politicians run on a platform of "lots more better jobs so our kids can afford to stay here instead of moving to Seattle." Or Salt Lake City or Denver. But if all the kids of all the Montanans could find good jobs here, then Montana would be Washington or Utah or Colorado, and even many of the parents of all those kids wouldn't want to live here.

When I was born in Bozeman in 1952 the state had 600,000 people. It has grown since but mostly in the west. Eastern Montana has actually lost people since I was kid. It has changed some, mostly in the Bitterroot and Flathead Valleys and around Bozeman--which had 13,000 people when I grew up, and very few lived out of town, unlike today when subdivisions cover a lot of the country I hunted in the 1960's.

But get a little further away from those places and there is still a lot of Old Montana left, both east and west.

All true John.

As a friend who lived here for a five winters then moved to California once remarked to me; "there's a REASON Montana is the last, best place."

That has always cracked me up...

Being mostly a full-blooded Norwegian, there must be something in my DNA that doesn't allow me to live at a lower latitude

Scorpion,

What�s your major?

I don�t live in Montana, but next door in ND and in the western part of the state, the side adjacent to the eastern side of Montana, oil companies are begging for employees and from what I read they pay really well. I don�t know but I would assume the oil companies are doing the same in eastern Montana. Another nice thing I have read about working for the oil companies is you work like 4 days on 4 days off or 7 days on 7 days off. And the last time I checked you need days of to go hunting.

My major is Civil and Environmental Engineering, FWIW.

Scorpion I tried to catch you today, will try again tomorrow.

Dober

as for the cold my wife was born and raised here out on the flats where it gets really cold often in the winter......but she has turned down jobs on the east coast in much better weather without much thought on a couple occations.......she has no interest in leaving the state and minimal in moving to the warmer half of the state......we like our hunting and our fishing over here......my wife buys flannel lined jeans to work in the winter and she sits in the office all day and gives me hell when i quit wearing a coat in the spring when temps stay above 15* day and night......she flat out HATES the cold but loves the other perks so much she will deal with them.......even after one december where she left the Minot airport when it was -40 and arrived in Tampa 8 hours later to 80 degrees she didnt come back and tell me to pack up we are headed to warmer winters

I believe my cousin is a civil engineer. He is leaving Bozeman for West Virginia for I guess a better job. His wife is from New York so I think she was putting the pressure on. Says they might be back in a few years.