College Help

[mooretitan]

My son is starting to look at colleges that he wants to attend. He is a pretty smart kid but his decision will be based heavily on hunting opportunities. His mainly looking at colleges in Alaska, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. He would prefer to go to Alaska but I am not sure being that far from home and in that type of weather will work but he says that's where he wants to go. Anyone who has gone to school in Alaska which university would you suggest. Also do they have any student discounts as far as resident hunting licenses for non residents. I would prefer one of the other three states but his thinking is he might as well do Alaska when he is young and chase his hunting goals that he would probably not ever be able to afford as a non resident.

Any other colleges offer non residents in state hunting opportunities when you are a student.

Thanks

 

[TCUHunter34]

Does he have a specific field of study he wants to get into? If he knows, he needs to find which of those states have the best option for that profession.

 

[IdahoBeav]

UofI Moscow would provide a ton of whitetail hunting opportunity,

 

[JeffP_Or]

I'm with TCU....I actually hunted more while attending school in Texas then my years prior to that simply because I got into circles of people with similar interests; they had access to land I could never get onto! Join a trap/skeet club or riflery club at a school you can get a good/desirable degree in your field of interest.

 

[Tod osier]

My son is starting to look at colleges that he wants to attend. He is a pretty smart kid but his decision will be based heavily on hunting opportunities. His mainly looking at colleges in Alaska, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. He would prefer to go to Alaska but I am not sure being that far from home and in that type of weather will work but he says that's where he wants to go. Anyone who has gone to school in Alaska which university would you suggest. Also do they have any student discounts as far as resident hunting licenses for non residents. I would prefer one of the other three states but his thinking is he might as well do Alaska when he is young and chase his hunting goals that he would probably not ever be able to afford as a non resident.

Any other colleges offer non residents in state hunting opportunities when you are a student.

Thanks

It is pretty easy to look at the license discounts/residency issues for those 4 states. I think a college bound fellow should be able to do that himself pretty quickly.

If not a resident of Alaska - Goats, Sheep and Grizzly would be off the table.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

not off the table just needs a guide. I finished my geomatics degree (land surveying) at UAA in anchorage. i didnt stay on campus and the survey department was going through alot of changes. I didnt spend much time at or around campus. From what i saw while in school i didnt think it was that great. I think they have a decent engineering program, i think 7 years ago or so they just built a whole new building for the engineers. Unless something has changed you still have to pay out of state license fees until you are a resident. Also i believe you need to pay for 2 years of out of state college tuition (basically until you are able to apply for the PFD). I think there is some type of western state college family thing where if you come from one of the states in that family the college tuition is cheaper then out of state but still a little more then in state. From what i saw the UAA college party life was pretty lame, there arent many bars around campus. Sounds like you have a good excuse to come to alaska and look at some colleges on the side when doing some fishing.

I know nothing about UAF other then when its -40 people take pictures in their underware next to the UAF sign when its says -40.

if he comes to ak have him move up in august so the following year he can hunt as a resident.

Fishing variety is better around anchorage then in fairbanks (more accessible salmon fishing) OTC caribou hunting is closer to fairbanks.

 

[roadrunner]

So, to be exactly opposite what you're asking, going to school for a future profession shouldn't be based on hunting opportunity. It should be based on several other factors like program of interest, job placement, etc.

But, to get back on topic, how many days hunting is he planning on? That can greatly depend on what he wants out of an education. Otherwise, trade school to get it over with and start earning money earlier on so he can hunt more.

 

[BackcountryIdaho]

I'd have a serious discussion, or several, with your son about where he wants to be in ten years. If all he will focus on is the outdoors, college will not go that well. Best to lock down for 3-4 years, get the degree, and then start living life by the seat of your pants. Then when it's time to grow up a bit, the degree is waiting there to fall back on

 

[jmez]

Like others have said, education should come first. He can hunt at any of those schools, the one best for his degree should be the choice.

One thing with Alaska to consider. There aren't many roads. A lot of hunting is done by air charter. As a college student it is going to be both expensive and time consuming to go out hunting.

 

[jayhawk]

He can hunt at any of those schools. Most universities have resident licensing if you’re a full-time student in that state.

Education and field of study should come first though.

 

[Crowmangler]

When I was in college my target species was not four legged & furry...

You can hunt deer just about anywhere in the US. If he wants to try elk he can join the rest of the masses & get an OTC tag in ID or CO.
I would tell (advise) him he needs to focus on school, networking for career opportunities, internships, etc. & he'll have the rest of his life to hunt. Focus on getting a great paying career & he'll have way more opportunities that he'd be passing up in those 4 years.

 

[ranchhand02]

I agree with others in that he should pick a school based on where he wants to be in 10 years. Education and career should come before picking a college to hunt.

 

[Jmort1754]

What's his plans for degree path ?

 

[Macro]

My buddy went to college in Montana. He was able to hunt deer and elk while going to school. He loved it, but married a California girl who got him move out here. He currently works as a public school teacher which is not fun. He often wishes he never left Montana.

 

[westslopelaker]

I'm going against the grain here. You can spend a lot of time hunting and fishing while in college and still get good grades and a great degree. As long as you're going to class, doing homework and paying attention it's relatively easy to succeed in college. The average college kid probably parties 3-4 days per week and they do just fine. If you spent that time fishing and hunting instead of getting drunk I don't see how it would be any different. Your degree matters a lot more than your university. After you get that first professional job, your experience will matter more than your degree.

 

[WCB]

IDK...but unless he has a very specified career he wants to get into there is ZERO reason a guy can't hunt to his hearts desire and also get through school and network etc. Hell a lot of people I know got there jobs and or opportunity because they were social outside of the class room. I know a bunch of very successful business owners or just professionals in general that some of the best opportunities and contacts they have are through hunting and fishing buddies in college.

Yeah I get the go to college, keep your head down and blah blah blah....but life also comes at you fast and saying there will be plenty of time to hunt and fish in the future for a lot of guys is B.S.....read the threads on "how much does your wife let you hunt" and read all the "once I was out of college and had kids I stopped hunting" stories out there.

Personally I would choose a western lower 48 state college vs Alaska due to the logistics of being able to hunt.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I'm going against the grain here. You can spend a lot of time hunting and fishing while in college and still get good grades and a great degree. As long as you're going to class, doing homework and paying attention it's relatively easy to succeed in college. The average college kid probably parties 3-4 days per week and they do just fine. If you spent that time fishing and hunting instead of getting drunk I don't see how it would be any different. Your degree matters a lot more than your university. After you get that first professional job, your experience will matter more than your degree.

I agree with this opinion, although I didn't attend college. Every hunting season you miss, you never get back.

 

[GringoBling]

My son is currently a freshman at the University of Texas- Austin. He actually was accepted there exactly 1 year ago today, so I have been down this path recently. That being said, his first and foremost priority in choosing a school where he'd get a great education pertaining to an area of study he wanted to pursue. Anything social or otherwise, should come after that IMO.

 

[NilsBackstrom]

My son is starting to look at colleges that he wants to attend. He is a pretty smart kid but his decision will be based heavily on hunting opportunities. His mainly looking at colleges in Alaska, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. He would prefer to go to Alaska but I am not sure being that far from home and in that type of weather will work but he says that's where he wants to go. Anyone who has gone to school in Alaska which university would you suggest. Also do they have any student discounts as far as resident hunting licenses for non residents. I would prefer one of the other three states but his thinking is he might as well do Alaska when he is young and chase his hunting goals that he would probably not ever be able to afford as a non resident.

Any other colleges offer non residents in state hunting opportunities when you are a student.

Thanks

I might be able to give you a few answers.

I'm from Sweden, studies at UAA for 4 years, married a girl from AK and been partially living there for the past almost 15 years.

UAA is more of a commuter college. Not much campus based. They have some programs that are OK such as the engineering program. I didn't do much hunting in the area, more fishing. Obviously there are big game opportunities but alot of its based on draws. Also he would be considered an out of state until he has spent a full year and can then get a alaska resident hunting license. There is some water fowl hunting on the flats. Fishing is easier with Kenai being about a 2 hour drive away along with knik arm.

UAF is more your regular college with an actual campus life. OK programs with the engineering program being pretty good. My wife went there. Obviously big game opportunities there as well. Things get pretty expensive pretty fast in order to gain access to areas such as boat and plane.

Granted both UAA and UAF you can drive up the haul road and do caribou hunting. But I mean anything in terms of moose takes logistics. Black bear down on the Kenai, not sure if it is a draw area. Bear, sheep not until he is a resident. And then that costs alot of money to get to as well.

There is also university of Alaska southeast where the main campus is in Juneau. May have easier attainable big game such as sitka blacktail. Don't know anything about the actual college.


Either way, the idea of moving there thinking he will get access to all these opportunities is both true and false. He might, but it's gonna cost money to get the set up needed to do most of the hunting.

Fishing is a different story.

 

[mooretitan]

From my experience there are a lot of good colleges that can offer the field/degree that you are looking for. Yes some are better than others but if its close why not factor hunting/fishing into it. I know I had a ton of free time in college and that was with a sport and a job. If I could go back I would have spent that time hunting. I just really never thought much of it. Adding in the dead time of summer, fall and winter break a college kid willing to live out of his truck can have a heck of a lot fun hunting and fishing with little investment.
He has been looking at a couple different fields but to him the most important thing is a job that allows him hunt and fish as much as possible. It could be from time off, it could be from making enough money to buy tags. Hunting is his passion.
To me being young is the prefect time to chase his dreams. Make enough money to pay for the things you want to do. Be willing to do without a lot of the stuff you dont need and hunt. Get his degree which he can use when he is done chasing his hunting goals and then settle down. By then he should really know himself and what he wants out of life.