Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Montuckians: Bozeman v. Missoula ?? talk to me

I am (more than casually) looking at a practice in each of these two locations. I've not much more than passed through either.

One v. the other ?

Pluses and minuses ?

Cost of living?

Schools? Living in town is like...?


thanks! (although "MontanaLefty" doesn't roll off the tongue nearly so smoothly....)

Missoula is a bunch of Liberal Hippie collage students, I live about 60 miles south of Missoula and will only go there when I absolutely have to, I made the mistake once and only once to go into downtown Missoula, never again, bunch of queer looking dudes with "skinny jeans" and girls that look the same. I've never spent much time in Bozeman but I figure it has a university so it has got to be about the same.

Now down in the Bitterroot is a different story, there are some liberal rich people but they are not very common, and there is a drug problem with a lot of people but for the most part, the Bitterroot is conservative people who just want to be left alone.

Throw a dart at the dead center of Montana. That's the area that I've been eyeballing...

Just my opinion but Bozeman to me has gotten way too busy. It was one of my favorite towns. Missoula is a bit slower I think, but the people I've talked to don't like the inversions that come with winter weather. This from a person that doesn't live in either town. Missoula also has a NW hippy ( for lack of a better word ) flavor...think Seattle, or Portland.

On the plus both are greener than here ( Billings ) which I like. They both have good gun shows.....Bozeman needs a bigger place for theirs. Missoula has Ruana knives. Both have a University and obviously lots of Mountains. Both towns are gateways to other places that you will find interesting....Madison, Gallatin, Bitterroot. Big Hole, Virginia City, Bannock......lots to see.

I'm not sure about anybody else but we are butt deep in snow again

how bad are the inversions? (that's one of the things we're looking to escape from)

That I don't know....sorry.

I hear good things about Wolf Point.

Wolf Point is one of those places where you REALLY learn what Big Sky Country is all about.

it would be a bitch of a commute though.....

When you're traveling with the wind, it helps.....against the wind, not so much.

I'm in the Bitterroot and it stays cloudy from about October till June.

Missoula has inversion most of the winter. Everybody is right about the yuppie hippie thing around Missoula. Lot of them wondering around in the woods, disturbing traps.

I was raised about 50 miles from Wolf Point, and its good country, but hard winters. Real Hard, most years.

I've heard good things about Thompson Falls too, especially for sheep hunters.

I drove through Wolf point one dreary winter day en route from Glascow to Glendive. After thirty five years on the job, right there I decided, " I don't want to do this any more".
Maybe it was just a bad day.

I lived in Bozeman from 1984-87 and worked in the AFROTC detachment at the University. I loved it all ... small town atmosphere, people, hunting and fishing so close by. The winters were a bit harsh with -20~30 at least once each winter and yes they have inversions, too. It was -22 in town when I decided to hit Bridger Bowl ski slopes mid-week. The wife told me I was crazy. It was +27 up on the slopes and I had the whole place to myself.

Now fast forward to 2004. We visited friends in Bozeman and stayed a week. To say the place had changed would be an understatement. The small town charm was gone, the people less friendly. There had been a large influx of California people and money.

Bozeman would no longer be my choice of places to live. Missoula was in 1985 what Bozeman became in 2000. If you must work in one of those two locations, I'd commute from a smaller (friendlier) outlying town.

I would pick Bozeman and by a large margin.

Having spent some time in both locations in recent years, mostly with friends who live there, it would be a hard choice for me. I think that there is better fishing to be had closer to home in Missoula, but hunting seems to be pretty much a wash.

I prefer the winter weather in Bozeman to that in Missoula. A bad day in Bozeman is nowhere near as bad as a bad day in Missoula. There are some nice small communities within easy commuting distance of both towns, but I prefer atmosphere on the campus at Montana State to that of the University of Montana.

Took the family to Yellowstone a few summers ago from Seattle. Hadn't been to Montana in probably 15 years. Didn't even exit 90 at Missoula. Was amazed how it had grown. If I was looking at a "Montana" lifestyle I wouldn't be looking at Missoula.

Don't know what sort of practice you have or how large of a population base you need to support it but Dillon is a nice smaller town that hasn't been to badly corrupted by an influx of outsiders. Another nice small town is Lewistown, Great Falls is a bit larger than the other two towns mentioned but it is on the Rocky Mountain front and is quite windy,

Just more food for thought.


drover