Best State for Residents - Hunting - All Around Game

[littlebuf]

i knolw a lot of guys bitch about washington, im one of them. but as far as resident hunting goes its still pretty good. tags are over the counter in pretty much every gmu ,with antler and season restrictions for premier units, but you can still hunt them all. and the draw system still gives every guy a chance. its not like some ststes where your just buying points for 20 years.yes you may just buy points for 20 years but every year you did there was a chance to draw. as far as quality of animals,its there just not as much as other western states

 

[OR Archer]

Should be Oregon or CA, neither give crap to the nonresidents so the resident hunting must be fantastic.

Yeah if you love living in an ever expanding predator pit. Over population of cougars, bears, and now wolves. Add in rampant poaching and youre left with a declining deer and elk population.

Can't believe no one has mentioned Colorado. It'd be my choice if I had to move.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Yeah if you love living in an ever expanding predator pit. Over population of cougars, bears, and now wolves. Add in rampant poaching and youre left with a declining deer and elk population.

Can't believe no one has mentioned Colorado. It'd be my choice if I had to move.

I'm with you there or.

My short list is ak, id followed my co.

I think another factor would be co is centrally located to a bunch of great states! As,nm,wy, and Utah.

 

[ckleeves]

Colorado IMO doesn't come close to Wyoming, Montana and probably Idaho when it comes to all around opportunity. Great for small bulls and good muleys but as far as the big picture with fishing,waterfowl, uplands birds, etc. I really think some other states beat it out pretty easily. Not to mention Colorado has more people than Wyoming, Montana and Idaho combined.

 

[tstowater]

Don't believe what you read here folks...no need to move here. This is all lies!!! We only have turkeys and whitetail deer up here just like Iowa...nothing to see!

I was going to say Iowa, but I don't consider Iowa to be a western state. BTW, I haven't shot a turkey or whitetail in Iowa....yet.

 

[tstowater]

Yeah if you love living in an ever expanding predator pit. Over population of cougars, bears, and now wolves. Add in rampant poaching and youre left with a declining deer and elk population.

Are you referring to the 2-legged or 4-legged predators? I won't move to either state for lots of reasons and hunting hasn't even been part of the thought process. Sorry to hear about the poaching problem, but I don't think it is unique to any state, unfortunately.

 

[WonkyWapiti]

I think hands down Alaska has some excellent OTC opportunities that you would have to rely on draws for in the lower 48. I won't say Washington is even close to opportunity and game such as some of the others states mentioned. However I feel very fortunate in Washington for the variety. Over the counter we have Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain Elk, blacktail, mule, and whitetail deer, black bear, cougar, three types of turkeys, all sorts of uplands birds and ducks. For draws we have mountain goat, california bighorn sheep, rocky mountain bighorn sheep, and moose. Hopefully soon to be added to the list of legal animals is wolf, sine we have them too. Plus we have tons of fishing opportunities for almost everything you can imagine in this state. As Littlebuf mentioned we do have our issues but I tend to be more of a half glass full guy and really appreciate what we have in comparison to some parts of the country.

 

[Slim Jim]

AK probably has the best big game hunting but to live there doesn't look to inviting with those long dark days in the winter and the crazy bitter cold. I would think ID if I had a choice

 

[alecvg]

Idaho or Alaska. Don't come to washington, this state likes to bend you over.

 

[ORbowhunter869]

Yeah if you love living in an ever expanding predator pit. Over population of cougars, bears, and now wolves. Add in rampant poaching and youre left with a declining deer and elk population.

Well said! I have lived here my entire life and have watched the hunting decline each and every year. Sure there are some nice animals here, but not anywhere near what it used to be. There are some decent OTC opportunities, but nothing to shout about. If my wife would allow it---AK hands down.(Will never happen!) Good thing I have relatives there who are guides and bush pilots too!!

 

[muleymemories]

I would try Wyoming, Idaho doesn't offer much!!

 

[Juan_ID]

i would try wyoming, idaho doesn't offer much!!

x2! Idaho + big game = no bueno!

 

[OR Archer]

Are you referring to the 2-legged or 4-legged predators? I won't move to either state for lots of reasons and hunting hasn't even been part of the thought process. Sorry to hear about the poaching problem, but I don't think it is unique to any state, unfortunately.

Both. We have an estimated cougar population pushing ten thousand cats now since the 1994 ban on hound hunting. Our state management levels are for 3000. Add in to that a very high bear population and you end up with little to no calf/fawn crop in many areas of the state. Now we are having wolves dumped on us as well.

As far as the two legged critters they are out of control as well. OSP is way understaffed and wildlife enforcement is usually one of the first areas they cut. You may have 2-4 officers to cover 2-3 game units. That's a thin veil of enforcement. They do the best they can with the resources they have but it just isn't enough and many people aren't willing to "police" their own ranks and turn people in. Just a sad state of affairs.

 

[Rizzy]

Wolves ate everything in Idaho
Try Colorado