If you had a chance to move and live in any state in the United States for hunting, trapping, fishing where would you go?

Wyoming

Nowhere.

Alaska, then Wyoming.

Montana. It's so friggen huge from east to west you get the best of all worlds. Ag, high plains, mountains, wilderness.

Did it 33 years ago

Montana---I couldn't imagine living anywhere else! I do like the looks of my neighbors though! Wyoming and Idaho look okay to me!!!

If it wasn't so damn hard to draw a tag for anything, I'd stay right here. Alaska would be my second choice.
Paul B.

hmmm let me give this some thought

where would I go?


guess I'm pretty happy here

my ex-ex-GF moved to Wyoming and she loves it. Keeps trying to get me to move out. I figure that's because there's no real men in Wyoming or they all got her figured out at first meet!! Likely the latter!

What is the female action (no not does and cows) like out that way? I might just do it!!!

Casting streamers to live torpedoes in the FL Keys is mighty uber awesome!



DMc

Idaho, preferably in the panhandle.

Western Nebraska

California for sure except...well... it's California. Wyoming, Idaho, or Montana sound pretty good.

Parts of Oregon are vast, and pretty much unhunted, but, game management as a whole is screwed. Politics are screwed.

I enjoy some top shelf blacktil deer and bear hunts in Oregon, and coyote hunting in winter can be a hoot. Rifle elk hunting is pretty much a nightmare, too many people. Archery elk hunts in Sept. can be top notch, but the really big 350+ bulls are really rare.

North Dakota - I don't like crowds.

Idaho

I'm about to buy a motorhome so I can change my mind anytime I please.

Right here on the Copper River!

Not far from the truth.
I'm thoroughly disgusted with it's people and politics, but if you are aggressive and motivated, California surely ain't the joke many want to believe it is when it comes to hunting and fishing, trust me on that...

The three other states mentioned are really the only other options for me outside of Alaska.

Interesting you say that, I know about six people that have left Alaska for the same reason you're stating. Most to them folks are born and raised in Alaska too, It's not the way it used to be.

Have they finished the copper center lodge after the fire?

I am already there. For me it doesn't get any better.

Rhode Island

I'm right where I want to be, though parts of our neighboring states wouldn't suck. I used to think I wanted to live in Alaska, but tend to prefer a drier climate now. My wife has lived here all her life and always talks about moving somewhere warmer when we retire...

What big game tags can you huy over the counter every year as a resident? Do residents have to apply for certain hunting tags?

Thanks

I love AK, but it would be cool to spend a couple of years each in MT, WY, ID....

I'd go with Texas for hunting and fishing but, but fur never gets prime here, so trapping is out.

Colorado.

Fish 12 months salt & fresh, hunt for 3 months; I'll take Florida......

FLORIDA. Sure would be great here if all the fuggin Yanks would disappear. Too bad there isn't a trapping season on them bastids.

Montana for me. Alaska would be it without question, were it not for the months of darkness.

yes, Idaho has deer (both mulies and whitetails), elk, moose, antelope, and bears. However, we're limited to 1 deer a year, 1 moose of each sex in a lifetime, and seasons are short. For an all around fishing and hunting state, I'd look farther south. Southern states have much more plentiful deer and waterfowl. Fishing in the south gives a much larger variety, too.

Missouri.

Here in Az, it's just easy to walk out the door and be 'lost' from the grid within minutes. Plenty of animals to hunt, lakes to fish, Baja or Pacific 5 hours away.

There are places and animals I'd like to hunt/fish once or occasionally and I enjoy the times I do... but for everyday outdoor pursuits Az is the place to live.

Kent

Need a place where summer is 8 months long but not over 85F. A month of spring and a month of fall would be awesome. Where is my dream place?

Born and bred in Fla, and I live in Alachua county on occasion. Yanks aint the problem it's the illegals from ALL OVER THE PLANET that's the real problem.

Lived in Montana for while too and love the state, but if and when I buy another property outside Fl, it'll be in British Columbia.

I'd be happier'n a pig in schit right here if the damn state wasn't run by NYC. As soon as the wife and I are free to escape we're thinking Texas gulf coast area or Missouri. My son lives in Missouri and I'm not getting any younger, but I need to go to the salt water a couple times a year and surf fish. One thing for sure, we're getting out of here.

Most southern states have too many illegals from all the world and the universe.

Damn if Colorado is not getting the same way.

We'll keep that in mind next time you have the urge to hunt elk, moose, or wolf.

You stay there and keep fighting the good fight.
We've got plenty of Californian's and the mentality they bring with them already.

Idaho

hunting and the right mentality about leaving people alone

Kinda like mexicans... being mexicans in mexico is fine... coming here and making pockets of little mexico isn't.

Kent

I havent hunted or fished in many other states, but Louisiana is gonna be hard to beat.

1/2 mile to the bayou and you can hunt, fish, and trap there. If you dont like that place, then its not over 15-20 miles to at least a 1/2 dozen other places.

Sportsman's Paradise

Florida SUCKS. Been here practically my entire life, and when it comes to HUNTING, it just doesn't compare. Now if you like Salt Water fishing, a complete lack of changing seasons, heat, humidity and a FLAT landscape, then Florida's the place for you.

Ironic that only one person said Colorado, but we have a couple hundred thousand come here to hunt from other states.

We looked at MT, too cold in winter. Wy,too windy. Lived in NM for 10years. Gave that up because you couldn't hunt elk every year.

Guess I'll stick to CO.

South Dakota. My dog and I love to hunt pheasants.

I made that choice 15 years ago good fishing and hunting, and lots of public land to do it on. Mt, Wy, too much winter. I've lived in Florida. It's too hot, too humid, and has too many insects. My ideal would be CO, MT, or WY in the summer and become a snow bird in the winter to a lower latitude, like NM or Az.

As a young impressionable teenager we vacationed in both Colorado and Montana. Great Cutthroat and brook trout fishing. The most beautiful place we visited and fished was British Columbia. All of those places would more than satisfy me. However, in my golden years, home sweet home Oklahoma is also a diversified sportsman's paradise, so I am also content here.

Sounds like me. Some great places to visit, but great deer hunting in your yard and fishing right down the road are hard to beat. Golden years, love it.

Living in western SD, my choices would be WY/MT, ID, then AK.

AK would be first, but the darkness would kick my butt.

Most of my life has been spent in Oregon and Washington. Populations have grown to where there is development in places you'd never have imagined and lots of places that were great hunting or fishing were attractive enough to become yuppie infestations. Still, this is home and there are still a couple corners of both states with decent local hunting and fishing. I've gone past the age of big hunting trips. My knees limit mobility so spending thousands on a hunt I cannot fully enjoy seems insane. The final element in staying in the Pacific Northwest is a need to occasionally be out on the ocean. Retirement is a few years off so we're looking for a place that will remain OK for a few more years where there's a small town lifestyle and I'll have a chance to do some hunting and fishing near home.

Doesn't sound like a blacktail deer hunt is happening any time soon either.

For me it would be in order: Montana, Wyoming, The western part of the Dakotas, Idaho, and Colorado

That sounds like a plan!

Several I can think of. Idaho,Alaska,Wyoming,Colorado. But it seems like those Montucky boys have some great hunting and fishing from the pics they post.

If I had to choose just one it'd be Montana.

For diversified opportunities for hunting and fishing, Alaska tops them all. Just wish that I had discovered it when I was 20 years younger and had my career ahead of me...

While S.C., does not have the variety of the western states, it is still a good state to live in for outdoorsmen; we have a 4.5 month deer season with no limit on bucks, and plentiful doe tags. Lots of hogs, great fishing at Clark Hill and Santee-Cooper plus good saltwater fishing. Turkey limit is 5. I am happy here and damn near tired of deer hunting after 4.5 months!

It would be hard to pick one since I haven't seen them all yet.
However, I'm pretty content. We have mountains, beaches and a little bit of everything else in between. We can take a deer a day from late October through early February. Excellent fishing year round. The bears and alligators are coming back. No elk, moose or antelope though. Maybe that's what vacations are for?

Stay out Wyoming at all costs, you will not be happy here. Winters are long and cold, they start about the 20th of August and last until around the 1st of June. Summer is usually the 7th of July and maybe the morning of the 8th. The wind blows incessantly, 24-7, a calm day is when you can keep your hat on your head without a chin strap. There are no cultural events like cello recitals, gay poetry readings or book signings by liberal activist movie stars. This is due to the fact the natives HAVE no culture, they are all a bunch of beer swilling, tobacco spitting, gun toting ignorant rednecks to whom getting dressed to go out to dinner means a clean pair of jeans and a shirt that's been ironed , and never mind the cow manure on the boots. We have been "discovered" by Californians, refugees from Seattle and Portland, along with a whole herd of citified folks from Back East. This has driven real estate prices out of sight, I just last week saw a 1/4 acre lot with an outhouse and a wall tent go for $350,000. Fishing and hunting truely suck, you cant wet a line or walk in the woods without getting run over by a 4-wheeler with a Colorado license plate. Plus, there�s a real good chance you will perish in the volcanic explosion of the Yellowstone caldera.
No, better you should go to Montana, I hear it's real nice up there.

Scouttracker: I did "choose" and the answer to your question is Montana - no other state even comes close to the opportunities you listed!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

1. Alaska (of course, I ain't skeered of the darkness).
2. Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, any of these could be #2

Idaho.

Alaska

IDAHO

Any state that isn't hot as a oven in the summer that has good panfishing and great bird and waterfowl hunting. Smallmouth fishing would be a must too.

Tejas

Wyoming. Hands down. Lotsa room.

Wyoming for me. Longer seasons and same types of country and animals as found in CO. And...not so many people and the majority of the people you do fine aren't usually from somewhere else. Montana would be a close second, but Wyoming has more public land, I think, so more and easier access. AK would be great, but seeing as I'm not independently wealthy, doing as much hunting as I'd like to do up there would be prohibitively expensive.

One thing that Idaho doesn't have is hogs....yet. There's supposed to be a small herd near Bruneau that the IDFG keeps its eye on but last I heard they hadn't got any reports of them in several years. If there are any left, they had to have been illegally released. They're too far from any border for them to have wandered in on their own.
Maybe the local ranchers wisely shot them all out before they could get a population going.

Smack dab right where I am. Go where I want, when I want, to do what I want and come home to plan for the next trip. This,,, as long as gasoline and aviation fuel burns. Ak next summer/fall.

They rebuilt about half way, but have ran out of money. They're looking for investors.

God knows I have that "California mentality" right?

Spare me dude...

Somebody say hogs?? From my lease in GA, just north of the Fla border and near the Okefenokee Swamp..

Salmonela,
You are no Rancho Loco, that's for sure!
You would be welcomed in Mt., Id. and Wy. I am sure!

Oh, I apologize to Field Grade for the rash reply on my part.
I know he's a good guy, but I do get weary of being slammed for my place of residence.

I fully understand the term "California Mentality" where people from different states move in, whine, bitch and complain about their new surroundings, the politics, and culture, all the while actively working to change it to be just like where they left from.
I can understand the anger and frustration when long time residents and natives of traditional conservative western states see California license plates invading their precious home land.

I'd be pissed too.

It just sickens me to be lumped in with these f * c k s, I'm surrounded by them, I'm furious just about every day about what goes on in much of this state, but sadly I'm married to a woman who simply will not leave her family and life long friends.
I live on an island surrounded by liberalism, animal rights activists, environmentalists and anti gunners.

My "island" is a secluded valley where myself and my neighbors cling to our traditional values and lifestyles, sometimes I wish we lived in a worse location so my wife would be more willing to leave California...



Most 24HCF members have gotten to know me a bit, sorry to bore you again with the same old song and dance...

Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming would be at the top of the list. Come to think of it, they would be the entire list. They all have two species of deer, antelope, elk, moose, sheep and a wide assortment of varmints, small game, birds, migratory fowl and many species of fish. Also they have shooting facilities and homes and land are reasonably priced. I believe that Montana DNR provides considerable hunting and fishing opportunities.

Alaska, Washington, Oregon and California would get serious consideration. California has some serious hunting and fishing opportunities. In some areas hogs are treated almost as varmints.

I guess I don't understand--if there is a consistent list of the top-5 states for sportsmen to live, then why haven't most of you already moved there? What's stopping you?

We had WY as #1 and AZ as #2. The housing prices, for what we were lookig at, in Cheyenne increased over 30% in 3 years. A real estate agent summed it up, their economy never took a hit and the coal/oil/gas boom has sent prices skyrocketing. We caught the market in AZ as it was just starting to rebound, so price per sq ft was cheaper.

I think we will enjoy the winters better in AZ anyways and the dry heat doesnt bother us.

Not hardly!! I do no hunting in Missouri, but go to RSA, Montana, Alabama, and Tennessee on a regular basis, sometimes, Nebraska, Iowa or Kansas.

Just try and find a place to rent here....even a place to park you camper $3000 a month will get you a 3 bedroom house if you can find one.

I live near my children and grand children and near medical facilities for me and my wife. Most great hunting is a few hours drive or an airplane ride away. My wife and I like to drive to our hunting adventures. She enjoys going with me, although it may cost me some Black Hills gold jewelry or a nice gift. Frequently it a side trip, this last trip was a visit to Mt. Rushmore and Blackhills National Cemetary. We always meet awesome people and try to make them lifelong friends.

Wyoming is the place you're all lookin' for.

If Texas was so great there wouldn't be 1/2 the Texas population in NM every year. I'm sure it's ok if you have money falling out your ass..

That was funny!

No thanks, I'll just stay put.

I could really like South Dakota; great bird hunting (which I miss dearly), great deer hunting; good antelope hunting and close enough to several western states to take easy advantage of a variety of game.

hunting in metro Providence is AWESOME!!!

ya know Sal,

no one from California who is an outdoorsman, hunter and conservative needs to apologize to anyone...

Those that do, haven't spent any time there...

like many other states it has its large metro areas, full of left wing 'don't know crap' liberals....but there are plenty of farmers, and other hard working people all over the state...

So we have to put up with states that these leftist types dominate more in politics by outnumbering conservatives.. still no reason for an entire state to be condemned...or its residents all slandered and put down constantly...

Oregon, we have Potland, Salem, and Eugene and then the rest of us occupying the other 99.5 % of the state's geography...

Washington... Puget Sound, from Everett to Olympia and then the rest of the entire State...

Idaho has to face Boise Growing and Growning...

Nevada has Vegas and the rest of the state...

Colorado, has Denver, Boulder and then the rest of the state...

some of these finger pointers, condemning others based on what they think, is no better than the mind set of many of these liberals, and how they come to their conclusions...

All I can tell you guys is that this place sucks ass and I regret moving every day of my life.




Travis

I'm perfectly happy, here in MO, in that regard. I can do most things I want, within an hour's drive. No big game, or Saltwater, but you can't have it all.

The older I get, the more I'd like to move to a warmer climate though.

Make that Western Colorado. The Front Range is too...

The Wife and I are starting to think about Wyoming a lot. And New Zealand in the winter for a couple of months.

I live in Wyo. was 25 below this week. windy now.
+ 1 on New Zealand for the winter. My daughter lives there and it is a great place to go.

Boise still votes red. In '12 only 2 counties in Idaho voted blue and Ada (Boise) wasn't one of them.

Re: If you could live in any state for hunting and fishing which would it be?

Seems like, for the most part in the lower 48, mostly hunters responding?

Pears sent....

Well I'll be the first and probably the last but for my interests I'll stick with California every time..
I never really got the hunting bug so it's mainly the fishing for me. Endless lakes from the huge foothills resevoirs to many high Sierra spots who's beauty is bar none. Sacramento delta, SF bay, and of course the ringer for me is the Pacific Ocean just a few miles away. Crab, salmon, rockfish, stripers, albacore, and many other species to chase..
And as has been mentioned, hunters have a pretty decent bag here as well.

DC, The "woods" have lots of maladroit targets.

I've grown to appreciate Washington.

Sure, it's a west coast cess pool in places, but 2 species of elk, 4 species of deer, a booming turkey population, moose, goats, wolves, sheep, a few caribou, grizz, and more blackies than any other lower 48. Frog gigging, craw fish, small mouth, trout, steelhead, salt fishing for lings, salmon, tuna, halibut, we have good quail, hun, and pheasant hunting. The pacific flyway for ducks and geese.

Granted, some tags are once in a life time, crazy short seasons for halibut, not huge potential for some species etc..... But tags are fairly easy to come by and the opportunity to go from rain forest to desert in a couple short hours is pretty cool. 4 seasons with mild to wild weather.

The bad? Well........there is okok.

If I could stand foreigners, BC would be #1.

ETA- I hate that there are no squirrels to hunt here.

I live in a state, a state of bliss.
British Columbia, Canada.

I like living in WYOMING, but could also be happy in Western South Dakota or Southern Montana.

Simple two step plan-
1) find someplace completely heinous to move in California that sounds like an upgrade to your wife, but is in reality a huge step backwards. Crime, neighbors, traffic, politics, the whole package.

2) wait until she hates it then offer to "move her again to try to make her happy", but this time shoot for Montana, Wyoming, or Idaho.

Your welcome.