Best State for Resident Hunting Opportunties

[Hbb6601]

No dog in this fight but that was one hell of a good synopsis.


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Great summary - going to have to look into New Mexico some more…..

 

[HornPorn]

Put together your top choices and then see which one (based on your profession) will give the most cash flow. Western states are constantly moving the needle on tags, rules, etc.... who could have seen the California invasion of the rockies. If you have good cash flow, you can always just go to wherever the best hunting is, which is certain to change, so I would prioritize your ability to make money. But do live somewhere in the meantime that makes you happy (or at least happier than TX).

 

[Nickofthewoods]

There sure is a lot of chatter about Nebraska on the mule deer forums lately, and it's basically just an extension of Wyoming.

 

[william schmaltz]

What about it makes it so expensive and time consuming? Is it the traveling?

The large majority of jobs that a person can make a respectable wage that allow you to enjoy Alaska are within a handful of communities and there are only a couple roads out of each of them. So everyone lives in the same place and needs to travel the same roads to get to the same thing. And unlike deer, the type of species that live in AK have a low density which stretches things even further. Whoever has the most time and/or resources does the best.

I grew up in ND and could be eating lunch and decide that I wanted to hunt that evening and it was a done deal. One year I shot nearly 100 pheasants for the season mostly before work and I lived in the capital city. On the weekends I could go hunt in the morning and still make it to church after. In the majority of instances, that isn't possible in AK. Even the most simple trips are a damn production.

If a person has unlimited funds and time off, Alaska is #1 on the list without a doubt. Or if you have a job that could be done in some of the villages. If you just want to do 2-4 bad ass hunts a year that each take 7-10 days then Alaska is great. If you want to hunt most weekends and/or after work and really pile on the days hunting in a year, then I would take a hard look and make sure you have the resources, time, and/or geographic location to do that. I typically do 2-3 fly out trips a year and then I bait bears about 2.5 hours from home and that's really stretching my vacation. Add in kids and visiting family outside and it really gets challenging. I went from hunting over 100 days a year to probably less than 30 when I moved to AK.

I was listening to a podcast with Randy Cooling last week and he was talking about how people always ask him why he doesn't just move to Alaska and he basically said the same thing. He gets to hunt for 4 months straight out his back door and that just wouldn't be reasonable at very many places in AK. In the end, all that is worth it to me (for now) and that's why I choose to live here. But most people moving here think it's a hunting paradise right out a person's backdoor. That is not the case.

 

[hunting1]

New Mexico.

I love my state but it is on fire at the moment in record proportions and Albuquerque is on its way to being the murder capital of the US. If you come please don't vote blue.

 

[Mojave]

The large majority of jobs that a person can make a respectable wage that allow you to enjoy Alaska are within a handful of communities and there are only a couple roads out of each of them. So everyone lives in the same place and needs to travel the same roads to get to the same thing. And unlike deer, the type of species that live in AK have a low density which stretches things even further. Whoever has the most time and/or resources does the best.

I lived in Barrow, Sitka and Anchorage. I am interviewing tomorrow to move back to Alaska.

When I lived in Barrow you could get on a snow machine and in an hour or two have 2-3 caribou down.

In Anchorage everything is a major planning production. First off it is 3-4 hours from the majority of the places you are going to start to go hunting, if it is off the road. If you are relying on draw hunts, it is pretty good. But for the OTC stuff it is a hell of a long way from where you need to be.

Here in southern New Mexico, I can be sitting in central Wyoming hunting antelope tomorrow night. Or in the Texas hill country in 7 hours if I had a lease. I can hunt in two national forest the Gila in 4 hours drive, or the Lincoln in 2. I regularly hunt the Lincoln and sleep in my own bed at night. But our fishing sucks, because we have very little surface water.

 

[Pacific_Fork]

I have lived in Washington, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Maine, Florida, Hawaii and in 5 other countries thanks to my Uncle Sam. Grew up in Wyoming and currently live in New Mexico.

Here is my take on this controversial topic.

Nobody wants you to move to their honey hole. So the odds of getting an honest answer are completely off. I personally don't care where you move.

Here is my 2 cents:

Wyoming. There is decent over the counter hunting, but it will be competitive. You can hunt elk and deer every year over the counter. Fishing is pretty good, and not super crowded. There is no resident points programs for antelope, elk and deer. You may spend 3-5 years between buck antelope tags.

Montana. Also has decent over the counter hunting, because most of the state is OTC. They were stupid and adopted a resident points program. The goat, moose, bison and sheep tags are on a bonus points program, so you could possibly see one or two of those tags in your life.

Idaho. Has decent over the counter hunting, if you are a bowhunter most of the elk and deer tags are OTC. No points program for anything. More people than Wyoming and Montana, and less land. It would suck to live in East Idaho or Boise and not be Mormon and be single.

Arizona. Great quality hunting if you can draw a tag. Preference points program you are 30 years behind on. Fishing is ok, desert state. Scottsdale looks like a good place to be single, tons of fake boobs.

New Mexico. Great quality hunting if you can draw a tag, but no points programs. We have been residents for 3 years and I have drawn; elk, a crap deer tag, a great deer tag and a javelina tag in that time. If you bow hunt you can almost always draw a tag of some sort. Close to Arizona and Texas for draw hunts. Fishing is better than Arizona. Mostly desert state. If I was single, I am not so sure I wouldn't stay here, as it there are tons of hot women as long as you like spicy Latina brunettes. Especially down here near El Paso.

Alaska. I was single in Alaska the first time, yep. It is a boring place to be single. There are so many single dudes, that a lot of the women are tired of being chased and have given up on men. I was single in Barrow as well as Sitka. In Sikta it sucked, in Barrow it was fine. But I was 25 and all the women were in their mid 30's. They still dated me, but there wasn't good age matches.
There are also a huge number of wallet and chain lesbians in Alaska. So that doesn't help your odds. Fishing in Alaska is the best it can be. Hunting is based on your ability to get to it, because you bought the equipment or paid someone to take you out there. The draw hunts in Alaska have really poor odds. Bear hunting for grizz is over the counter and you can shoot 2 a year. You could hunt dall sheep, mountain goats, moose, grizzly, wolves, wolverine and more every year OTC. Kind of hard to beat that. And have a trap line. Especially if you lived someplace like Glennallen, Tok or Cantwell on the road system. You would still have internet connectivity for your job.

Utah, if you are single and not LDS I wouldn't consider moving there. They also have a super lopsided points program and you'll never get a tag. Quality of hunting is superb.

Nevada. Good place to be single. Points program has been developed for 20 years. Quality of hunting if you get a tag is very good.

Washington and Oregon. Ok place to be single if you like hippy chicks or want to date a transgendered dude. Hunting is a train wreck with long screwed up points programs.

Hooved animal Hunting quality ranked: New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Alaska.

Bear hunting and trapping ranked: Alaska. No place else is even close.

Hunting tag availability ranked (provided you can get to it): Alaska is so far above anywhere else, then Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. I put Idaho above Montana because of Montanas stupid points programs.

Single opportunity ranked: Arizona, New Mexico, gets really weird after that. Depending on how old you are there will always be single moms, and very few professional single women that have never been married. The Northern Rockies is going to be tougher than the Southern Rockies for dating.

Cost of living ranked (cheapest): New Mexico, Montana, Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming, Arizona in that order. ID, WY, and MT have housing booms that haven't even started to fall at all. Alaska and New Mexico had a mild housing boom. Western Montana is more expensive than eastern Montana.

The only part you’re wayyyy off on IMO is being single in Boise. If you can’t get laid or find a woman there then you won’t anywhere. Some of the nicest and most willing chicks in any state.

 

[southLA]

Washington and Oregon. Ok place to be single if you like hippy chicks or want to date a transgendered dude.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[wingmaster]

Great summary - going to have to look into New Mexico some more…..

Same.. hot spicy Latina chicks got my attention..

 

[Mojave]

A lot of people moved to Alaska for 5 to 10 years trying to accomplish their hunting goals. I do not think that’s a bad way to look at it. When I was a kid there’s a lot of gunshops in Wyoming that had bears and moose caribou goats sheep ffom Alaska in the 1960s and 1970s. Even as a kid I remember them telling me the same thing go to Alaska kill all the stuff if you want to kill then you come home someplace a little easier to live.

 

[blackdawg]

Alaska, the guide requirement rule for sheep, goat and grizzly more or less makes it affordable only for the wealthiest. If those are on your bucket list it’s a no brainer. More hunting and fishing adventures than you can accomplish in one lifetime available. I know this go against the grain but if choosing the Rocky Mountain states, the Front range of Colorado gets my vote. Ability to make a a shit ton of money which makes playing possible,easy access to multiple states, an airport close by to jet cheaply all over the world. More hot women than you can shake a stick at. Those Kifaru dude’s been stacking em up for years from almost in downtown Denver! Odds are the cool towns to live in the Rocky Mountain states will financially break you if you don’t have a job when you show up, many friends who are older and scratch to make ends meet.


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[Squincher]

Same.. hot spicy Latina chicks got my attention..

It's all fun and games until you get stabbed.

 

[Mojave]

It's all fun and games until you get stabbed.

Everyone get's stabbed. It only hurts the first time!

 

[Squincher]

Everyone get's stabbed. It only hurts the first time!

And sometimes it's worth it.

 

[manitou1]

Been stomping all over the mountains and sage brush of Wyoming for 2 years now and still haven't seen a rattle snake. Saw some small rat snakes in a camp ground. That's it.

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I have had four rattlesnake encounters in the past year here in WY.

 

[Peaks&Creeks]

Some good feedback on here, hopefully I can add to it. I’ve lived in CA, OR, VA, CO, and now MT. I also spent a lot of time in AK doing fisheries and river and stream surveys. I was born in Switzerland and moved to the states when I was 12, so not born and raised anywhere in the states, and I only mention that since that seems to matter to some.

CA: Pig hunting year round, descent deer hunting up north. Only places I’d consider living there anymore is Eastern Sierras or up north by the Oregon border. Lived in Humboldt County for 5 years, lots of hippy chicks.

OR: There are lots of hunting regulation changes going on, and Oregon Bill IP13 is something that should never be on a ballot in any state. Eastern OR has some good hunting. Stay away from the Cascade General elk hunt, complete circus. Fishing is awesome: Rivers, lakes, and ocean. Dating can be hit or miss. Places like Bend, Ashland (where I lived), Hood River has very active, motivated, and good looking women. If I had to move back I’d be looking at the town of Enterprise. Eagle Cap Wilderness right in your backyard and Nevada and ID not far for non-res opportunities.

VA: Lived there in my teens. One of my best friends had a 2000 acre family farm that I primarily hunted. Killed more deer and Turkey than I could shake a stick at. Also lots of great duck hunting in Chesapeake Bay. Most of this was on private land and you’d need to make friends. No idea on the dating scene.

CO: Was lucky enough to work and live 4 hours away from the front range madness. Gunnison to be exact. Had some of the best mule deer country in the state right in my backyard. Only problem is that even as a resident it takes 3-4 points for mule deer archery and 6-7 for 4th rifle. So you’re not hunting giants every year. Elk hunting was descent once you figured it out. Fishing was good but crowded. Also stream access laws in CO are just stupid. People can own the bottom of the river, if you step off your boat and touch bottom you can be cited or arrested for trespassing. Happened a lot on the Taylor River from some jackwad Texan 2nd homeowner who would string barbed wire across the river so boaters would have to portage around, thus trespassing. Dating is bad, lots of ladies but twice as many dudes. Bring your wife/gf there, don’t go looking for one.

MT: This is where I currently live and my wife and I don’t plan on ever leaving. Hunting here sucks, weather is garbage 10 months out of the year, rivers are filled with mining discharge and all the fish have died. As far as dating. Montana, where men are men and so are the women. All joking aside, hunting opportunities here are the best compared to the other states I’ve mentioned, although mule deer trophy potential doesn’t compare to CO. I don’t care much about politics, but if it matters to you, the blue don’t seem to be spreading as much as people make it out to be. Most are staying in Bozeman or Missoula or Whitefish. I live in Butte and although it comes up as blue, it’s only because this is a old union town with a active mine. There’s nothing that screams blue here whatsoever.

AK: Worked here over the span of a decade, lots of remote fly-ins to insanely gorgeous country for work. Many hours logged in helicopters and bush planes, floating rivers a week+ at a time. I’d love to live there, but after seeing some of the travel bills for getting to these places, I’d rather live in MT and hunt from my backyard and then head to AK every few years for moose and caribou. Lots of good advice from residents there already so I won’t say anymore.


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[Mojave]

Wyoming and Montana both have tons of rattlesnakes. The fact that you have not bumped into one is kind of surprising.

My parents live in Cheyenne, they have never had one in their yard they live on the East side of town in the country. In Casper, they killed 2-3 a year living in the country. They have been in Cheyenne for 10 years.

In Worland they killed 6-8 a summer living in the country.

In New Mexico I see 8-10 a year I live in the country. I kill the neonates, and move the big fat ones out 3-4 miles from the house.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Alaska, because with all the hunting opportunities going on you still have coastal fishing on top of it all. I came real close to moving to Wyoming a couple years ago, couldn't leave the coast so stayed put. Alaska solves that problem.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Wyoming and Montana both have tons of rattlesnakes. The fact that you have not bumped into one is kind of surprising.

My parents live in Cheyenne, they have never had one in their yard they live on the East side of town in the country. In Casper, they killed 2-3 a year living in the country. They have been in Cheyenne for 10 years.

In Worland they killed 6-8 a summer living in the country.

In New Mexico I see 8-10 a year I live in the country. I kill the neonates, and move the big fat ones out 3-4 miles from the house.

I've killed 4 in the span of 1.5 hours at our place on the coast, that weekend we got 9 total and that's just incidental we're not hunting them. Two of them were in my shed. OP's from Texas so don't think he's worried about snakes.

 

[JBrown1]

What about it makes it so expensive and time consuming? Is it the traveling?

Others have covered it pretty well, but since you asked me, I’ll relate my experience.

Alaska has very few miles of road for the number of hunters the state has. And most of the hunting areas are not accessible by road. Due to these simple facts, most all decent hunting requires specialized transportation. In the lower 48 you can do a lot of hunting using only your feet, and the vehicle that you drive every day. In Alaska that just won’t cut it.

So the average hunter here often has $30k-$100k in vehicles that they use to access the hunting and fishing. Most guys have a boat and snowmobile, or snowmobile and Argo, or plane and snowmobile, etc. And may of these guys spend additional thousands each year to be flown into remote areas.

And unless you live here, or have hunted here a lot, you won’t be able to grasp the chaos that the weather causes as far as hunting goes. It’s not uncommon to camp in an airplane hangar for the better part of a week waiting for the weather to break so that you can get into the mountains. So weekend hunts are not very realistic.

And a lot of guys talk about the resident hunting as though it is a cheaper way to hunt sheep, moose, grizzly, as opposed to hiring a guide and coming up to hunt as a non resident. $25k for a guided hunt for sheep, moose or grizzly might sound outrageous, but once you’ve done it as a resident and seen all of the costs involved, $25k doesn’t sound all that bad. As a resident you might only spend $5k to be flown in, but you have all kinds of other expenses that add up quickly. And because you are going in to and area more or less blind, you will probably require multiple trips to get the animal that you would likely have gotten on one guided trip.

I’m not leaving any time soon, but I can tell you that it’s not the place for someone who wants easy or inexpensive hunting.