Ennis Montana?

[freediver111]

Hey gang,

So I currently live and work in John Day, Oregon. Nice place, good hunting, but a little far from bigger towns. My wife and I like smaller towns, but it can be hard being 3.5 hrs from Boise or Bend. We're both looking to move up in our careers (Natural Resources) and have been looking around for jobs and applying to a few that appealed to us.

I interviewed today for a job with the Forest Service out of Ennis MT. Here's the kicker, they will call me next Friday and either offer it to me or not. If it's an offer, I have 30 minutes to accept or they go to the next applicant. Weird deal for sure, but it's a special program for recent graduates, and I just recently completed a Masters certificate so that's how I qualified.

So tell me about Ennis? Hunting looks good, fishing should be amazing with the Madison right there. John Day has a pretty mild winter, I'm assuming it's not great in Ennis??? Are winters horrible (I'm not a huge fan of bad winters)? Any upland bird hunting close by?

How are the schools there? Our little girls are just starting school and that's important. My wife will need to find a job so that might be tough given how small the town is.

If you know anything about the town or the area feel free to chime in. I would prefer some time to decide but apparently that's not in the cards. I normally wouldn't worry about it but I have a strong feeling I'm a top candidate.

 

[freediver111]

There's no close bigger towns around John Day. We have a few restaurants and bars, a couple gas stations, and a grocery store. Not much else. It's 1.5 hrs to get to the closest movie theater and 3.5 hrs to get to an international airport (Boise). I like small towns, but having a bigger city like Bozeman within an hour would be a welcome change.
Housing prices look higher in Ennis than around here for sure!

 

[KNOPHISH]

My dad lives there. I think it's pretty cool but you're right about the winters. Can have weeks below 0 in mid winter, it's a dry cold, lol. wind too. I've hunted there in -25 & it didn't bother me. Bozeman is biggest nearest city about 1 hour drive, maybe a little less to Jellystone. But it's really a beautiful place, true meaning of Big Sky country. yes hunting & fishing are good, all the big bucks are in town though. heh heh. jobs may be tough to find. Good luck

 

[Clarktar]

I have been to John day and Ennis. Move to Ennis

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[freediver111]

I have been to John day and Ennis. Move to Ennis

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Hahaha, thanks for the advice! Interview went well. I think it's a good shot at least.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Ennis is a neat place. It can get very cold in the winter, like -20 cold. The wind can really blow. You'll have to drive north of Three Forks to find good bird hunting, and even then it will be somewhat limited. Big game hunting and trout fishing are obviously the draw to this area.

 

[XMP]

It's only an hour to Bozeman, which has a decent airport and most any kind of shopping a normal person could want.

 

[the big Mao]

I'd love to live in Ennis; spent lots of time in that area. Great folks, and the river's, well....it's the Madison! Fishing is excellent, great scenery, great hunting, windy much of the time, close to the Park, close to places like Island Park and Henry's Fork, an hour from Bozeman, where the University's very good. the grocery store in Ennis is well-stocked, and for everything else there's BZ. Winters are harsh depending on what you're used to.

 

[Steve O]

I've mountain lion hunted out of Ennis for close to 4 weeks. It's a great little town. I've been hiking trails at 4am looking for tracks with the temps at -23. -23 out there felt like +20 here in Michigan. I don't know much about the schools but there are a lot of small shops in town and the people were pretty friendly.

 

[danarnold]

I was there in 14, cool little place, great food and a badass sporting goods store for sure, we were hunting over an hour south of there and one of the guys with us made 2 special trips to that store to see a little cuttie working there... I arrowed a bug Bull there, he on the other hand did not

 

[realunlucky]

I worked on the sun ranch there for awhile. As stated it has some amazing fishing. Some ranches (sun) harbor some amazing wildlife also. Cost of living is high for a such a isolated place. I'd move back though

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[Jason Snyder]

Shedhorn Sports is a great gun shop for any town, let alone little Ennis.

 

[IdahoElk]

Trout heaven!

 

[92xj]

Big Horn whiskey.
Move.

 

[Gumbo]

I travel to Ennis to work on the Madison a couple times a week (I live in Dillon). It is a touristy little town with a lot of the local economy revolving around fishing. The Madison is one of the best trout rivers in the US and the elk hunting is pretty damn good for medium-sized bulls. There are lots of antelope, but pressure is high on limited public land. Lots of whitetails too, but mostly on private land, and I see some muleys, but I wouldn't consider it prime mule deer hunting, although I could be wrong. It is really a beautiful place with good people and more outdoor activities and places to explore than you could ever do. Winters typically have some cold stretches, but snow doesn't pile up, and overall I don't think they are bad at all. The wind is a factor though...it blows. Literally and figuratively. Overall, I'd take Ennis over John Day in a second. Anywhere in SW MT, except Bozeman, is heaven.

 

[striker3]

I live near a Bozeman and drive to Ennis for hunting. I love the area and would consider moving out there once my kids are out of the house. I am not familiar with the school system in the area though. He drive from Ennis to Bozeman, like you already know, is less than an hour so not bad at all. Winters can get cold, but the sun is usually shining once the storm blows out. Also, roads are plowed fairly quickly after a storm so even driving during the winter isn't the worst.

 

[2ski]

Don't forget the bikini hatch on the Lower Madison. Its a great time to go float.

The school system I think isn't bad. I know at least they have pretty good athletic teams for volleyball, football and basketball.

Shedhorn is a cool store. I think its a little over priced, but you'd expect that in a small town. I like the Orvis store for fly-fishing stuff. I was told by the girl and Whistling Andy's(the distillery) that from April to November is the busy time. Once hunting season ends, its kind of dead around Ennis. I know of at least one restaurant that closes in the fall. Lots of houses for sale in Ennis, last time I drove around. So if housing is expensive, look around and try to find something cheaper. Or you could even look further out from Ennis. McCallister is only a few miles away. I hear the restaurant there is pretty good.

I would live in Ennis. I think its a great town. I have a friend that thinks I should open a business in Ennis, but I don't know if it would make enough money to support me over the whole year. And I hear downtown rent is expensive on main street.

 

[MTHunter20]

I've been through there one time while trout fishing the Madison in May so my experience is limited. But I would move there in a heartbeat. Most beautiful country I've ever seen and the fishing is awesome. I'd love to hunt there someday too. Unless you need to be real close to a bigger town, it'd be awesome I think.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Anywhere in SW MT, except Bozeman, is heaven.

People in Montana tend to have a very distorted view of reality. Bozeman would be heaven to the other 99.9% of the populous.

 

[freediver111]

Yeah, Bozeman sounds pretty nice to me actually. My buddy grew up there and he hates what it's like now. Sort of like Bend, Oregon. I'm not a huge fan of the yuppie California Bend has become, but apparently out was an awesome place 20 years ago.