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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,317
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,317 |
Though I prefer big game, I really like chasing upland birds/small game as well. For me, the best state that I've found is Idaho. In any given year you can hunt whitetail, mule deer, pronghorn, elk, and black bear OTC. Upland birds include 5 species of grouse, plus huns, chukar, quail, and pheasants. My ideal location would be somewhere in the south central part of the state. A good second would be the Salmon/Challis country. Where did you find an OTC antelope tag? Most of the elk tags in the south central area are by draw. The OTC elk are farther north.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,097
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 45,097 |
Geno - Not looking to move per se, just contemplating and curious as to others ideas of what constitutes the "best state". I'm here in WA for now and if I move it will be to the SE to be by family.
RC - That bait is rotten before it even hits the ground. Lol
Sitka - I like the sun.
257 - Always been fond of the Panhandle.
Honestly - New Zealand is probably as close as it gets to my ideal. I'm sending Trump a letter. We need a 51st State and Puerto Rico ain't gonna do it.
Gotcha, For me their is no "best state" or I'd move there, assuming I could drag the wife.  Agree with your other post about BC. We could carve out Vancouver/Victoria maybe, Puget Sound shoreline south of Bellingham and continue on down all the way to Potlandia, Salem, Corvallis/Eugene. Maybe keep the area around Astoria down the coast, but cut them OR cities out. Then Start cutting CA off at the coast from the Bodega Bay area over east to Santa Rosa, across to Sucktomento and south on the West side of the Sierra Crest to SoCal . Maybe even keep going down the Pacific Crest trail to the Gulf of California, cut back to the coast on the border and annex Baja (kick the cartels out, the regular folks down there are usually pretty nice, tie TJ into SoCal) for the great fishing and Mexican food and give the snowbirds a place to go. Include AK on the North and I could just about call that whole area I described as the "best State", as I could hunt and fish for just about anything I need/want. Go to Desert, Real Mountains, Coastal rainforests, oak parks, Doug fir forests, and all the saltwater and freshwater places. But, I've been called a dreamer. When you do retire I hope you find a happy place in the SE. Geno
The desert is a true treasure for him who seeks refuge from men and the evil of men.
In it is contentment
In it is death and all you seek
(Quoted from "The Bleeding of the Stone" Ibrahim Al-Koni)
member of the cabal of dysfunctional squirrels?
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,087
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,087 |
Ah, don't worry about it, that's what girl friends are for! :-)
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Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,380
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 9,380 |
Looking at a US map draw a circle w/ a 520 mile radius centered on Bozeman, Mt. That area would encompass everything I would desire. Lots of choices for great places to live, hunt, fish and enjoy English as the primary language. If you excude Colorado.  mike r
Don't wish it were easier
Wish you were better
Stab them in the taint, you can't put a tourniquet on that.
Craig Douglas ECQC
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25,091
Campfire Ranger
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OP
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 25,091 |
Stay away from the front range and Colorado is a great place.
“Life is life and fun is fun, but it's all so quiet when the goldfish die.”
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 13,649
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 13,649 |
Though I prefer big game, I really like chasing upland birds/small game as well. For me, the best state that I've found is Idaho. In any given year you can hunt whitetail, mule deer, pronghorn, elk, and black bear OTC. Upland birds include 5 species of grouse, plus huns, chukar, quail, and pheasants. My ideal location would be somewhere in the south central part of the state. A good second would be the Salmon/Challis country. Where did you find an OTC antelope tag? Most of the elk tags in the south central area are by draw. The OTC elk are farther north. I knew as soon as I hit post you'd want to bust my balls about the pronghorn part. I guess technically its not OTC, as it comes through the Controlled Hunt drawing, but there are units in ID that have unlimited tags for archery pronghorn hunting. Meaning that they could be hunted every year. I know you know this... Likewise, my choice of south central was not predicated on the local elk units being OTC. But, it's a chit load closer than where I am and it'd be close to a whole bunch of other things that I'd want to do.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,317 |
Oh, ok. Those. They started that some years ago and now they're doing it for deer archery in a few units. What it does mainly (besides raising money) is to limit where you can hunt. If you draw a permit, you're limited to that hunt. Unit 54 used to be the most popular deer archery unit in the state. It was crawling with bowhunters during Sept, then they'd all grab their guns and hunt in other units during the gun season. Now you have to draw a permit to bowhunt. The permits are unlimited but when you get one, you can't gun hunt later. It really cut down on bowhunting there.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
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Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 218
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 218 |
LOL MadMooner I have to vote for Loudon. I will have to say that McMinn Co is pretty to beat.
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 13,924
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 13,924 |
Pennsylvania suits me just fine.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 151,118
Campfire Savant
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Campfire Savant
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 151,118 |
Texas has a lot of variety. Hunt in the woods, hunt in the mountains, or hunt in south Texas where there are really big deer. Lots of ducks,dove and quail too.
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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,745
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 46,745 |
Still have acreage in Minnesota, Just debating the winters.. Fishing and hunting is there. Taxes not so good.. I'd gtfo of there as fast as I could. MT or TN call my name daily.
Camp is where you make it.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,969
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 6,969 |
Which state has the best opportunity for outdoorsmen? Hunting, fishing, recreational opportunities?
Where does the best opportunity for an outdoorsman exist?
Well it's not Colorado. I would move but the wife won't leave the grand-kids. I'm not sure where I would go; somewhere in the West for sure. Maybe Alaska, Montana, Wyoming? KC
Wind in my hair, Sun on my face, I gazed at the wide open spaces, And I was at home.
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,024
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 23,024 |
MadMooner: Montana is the answer to your inquiry.
Just ONE, for instance:
Elk Hunting - Archery season starts this year (2,017) on September 2nd and runs through October 15th then the same archery Hunter can take up his Rifle and Hunt Elk from October 21st through November 26th - that is 66 (sixty six!) days of Hunting that one species!
AND... if said Hunter applies for certain special tags he can harvest TWO Elk and in some instances EXTEND that 46 day season.
By the way the Deer Hunting seasons run in concurrence with the Elk seasons here - so one can Hunt Deer (two species) at the same time they are Hunting Elk.
The fishing in Montana is YEAR ROUND and many say it has THE best fly fishing in the world!
I don't know that for sure as I am not much of a "world traveller" - but my bucks up friends who come here to Montana from Europe also concur with that contention.
I am a beginner fly fishing enthusiast (30+ years now) yet I have caught Trout on a fly in every one of the twelve months of the year - and the ice fishing (bait) is simply wonderful hereabouts.
We here in Montana enjoy boundless opportunities for Game Birds, Waterfowl (including Swans and Sandhill Cranes), Varmints, predators, Big Game and Small Game!
Big Sky it is!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 151,118
Campfire Savant
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Campfire Savant
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 151,118 |
I would like to live in Montana during the summer.
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,594
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,594 |
My current retirement plan is British Columbia in the summer, Texas Gulf Coast in the winter, hunting my way between the two throughout the fall. Unless I can afford to buy myself one of those swanky quail plantations in the Red Hills on the Georgia, Florida border for the winters.
The first great thing is to find yourself and for that you need solitude and contemplation. I can tell you deliverance will not come from the rushing noisy centers of civilization. It will come from the lonely places. Fridtjof Nansen
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 15,593
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 15,593 |
I like several areas, but south west Wisconsin has a lot of draw, for me. The lower Wisconsin river, and the watershed thereto is truly a sportsmans paradise.
North central Arkansas also has a lot going for it.
I'm also fond of Wyomings Bighorn basin, along with the Wind River and parts of the Red Desert.
"Chances Will Be Taken"
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 17,775
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 17,775 |
I would be quiet Varmint Guy!!!!
Molon Labe
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,205
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,205 |
To me it would be somewhere in the west that allows you to easily travel and hunt 3-4 states. All those saying Texas better have a surplus of money if you want to take advantage of hunting here, each of the described opportunitys come with a hefty price tag.
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 8,845
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 8,845 |
Pretty obvious which state is best when the question has to be phrased to exclude it... It would have been a boring thread seeing 100s of posts of "Alaska". Oh sure, it would have been broken up a little by a few of the usual morons; but, it would still have been boring.
_________________________________________________________________________
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,672
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,672 |
If I lived south of the border I'd think hard on Montana and plan on heading south a bit for at least part of the winter!
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