Let’s hear everyone’s top pick for states or provinces to live for big game hunting opportunities

[z987k]

For many people a truck is a necessity. And new ones are tax deductible.

Boats and planes aren't either.

For almost no individual is an 80k truck a necessity.(Businesses yes) 20k ones get the same job done. A quite small portion of the population actually needs a truck at all as evidenced by abundance of 5ft beds.
If you can actually afford the 80k truck, then the 45k plane/boat is easy. All you have to do is buy a 25k or so truck and you're in the same position, but with a slightly less nice truck.

It's about priorities. If a new truck is more important than some of the best hunting on earth, that's fine. But you don't need either the truck or plane/boat. It's what you want. And what you want more, you'll put the money. Can't afford it is a reality for a lot of people, but evidenced by the amount of 80k trucks people drive, they could, if they wanted to, have the plane or boat.
I think people do this because they think it's more expensive than it is. It's not cheap by any means, but it's not unattainable for an awful lot of people, especially if they just adjust what they spend money on.

 

[z987k]

Can Alaskan residents get basic a tag for any big game in the state, every year?

Everything but Bison and Muskox is available OTC somewhere in the state. Those two animals are draw only. Actually there's a way to do Muskox as well, but it's more involved than printing a tag or going to your local office.

 

[justinspicher]

I love where I live in Colorado. I don’t want to live or hunt anywhere else.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

Alaska would be at the top of my list if the logistics for most good hunting wasn't so difficult or expensive.

Wyoming takes the cake for me

But I live in Oklahoma and try to persuade my wife to move to WY every single day.

That's why I married someone who was also from Wyoming. I don't need anyone trying to convince me to leave. Haha

 

[Torino]

Can Alaskan residents get basic a tag for any big game in the state, every year?

Basically yes. That said most residents don’t do that. They hunt whatever is within their immediate access. Commuting within Alaska is complicated and expensive. You won’t meet very many residents of Sitka hunting sheep in the Brooks, they’ve got plenty of goat and deer in their backyard they can harvest for a tenth of the $/effort. A resident from SE can still easily spend $7k on a DIY fly in sheep hunt.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

That’s awesome, that’ll get you into some decent sheep areas?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nope but my two legs will. Lol

I lived recently in unit 19. I planned on accessing sheep possibly but I’m fat.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Can Alaskan residents get basic a tag for any big game in the state, every year?

I think the only thing I can’t hunt OTC is elk and muskox. But I have no desire to hunt either of those. I prefer moose and caribou.

 

[z987k]

I think the only thing I can’t hunt OTC is elk and muskox. But I have no desire to hunt either of those. I prefer moose and caribou.

There's R hunts for both of those. Which is more or less OTC.
Bison is the only thing that is truly draw only.

 

[wyosam]

Alaska. Its definitely not Wyoming.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

Depends on your budget (both time and money). With one of the standard grocery store hunts for residents gone (Nelchina Caribou), and the other severely limited (40 Mile caribou), the logistically easy hunts are pretty slim. Sure, you can hunt moose, but generally speaking if it’s reasonably accessible (ie boat or wheels within a mile at most, less than half that is more realistic) it’s probably either really crowded, really low density, or both. Of course you can hunt sheep and goats without a guide, which is cool. Bear hunting is great, and by far the easiest logistics.

Now the part of Wyoming you live in matters of course, but I used to chase elk for 2.5 months a year, and put 2-3 in the freezer every year just hunting my days off. That’s not counting deer and speed goats. Getting away from people is WAAAAAAAAY easier in Wyoming. Helps if you have a supercub. Even then though, LOTS of people have cubs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Elite]

For almost no individual is an 80k truck a necessity.(Businesses yes) 20k ones get the same job done. A quite small portion of the population actually needs a truck at all as evidenced by abundance of 5ft beds.
If you can actually afford the 80k truck, then the 45k plane/boat is easy. All you have to do is buy a 25k or so truck and you're in the same position, but with a slightly less nice truck.

It's about priorities. If a new truck is more important than some of the best hunting on earth, that's fine. But you don't need either the truck or plane/boat. It's what you want. And what you want more, you'll put the money. Can't afford it is a reality for a lot of people, but evidenced by the amount of 80k trucks people drive, they could, if they wanted to, have the plane or boat.
I think people do this because they think it's more expensive than it is. It's not cheap by any means, but it's not unattainable for an awful lot of people, especially if they just adjust what they spend money on.

That is a good point, Seems like a lot of people drop 30k on a side by side also.

Any idea the cost to insure and maintain a plane? And cost to get licensed?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[displacedtexan]

For almost no individual is an 80k truck a necessity.(Businesses yes) 20k ones get the same job done. A quite small portion of the population actually needs a truck at all as evidenced by abundance of 5ft beds.
If you can actually afford the 80k truck, then the 45k plane/boat is easy. All you have to do is buy a 25k or so truck and you're in the same position, but with a slightly less nice truck.

It's about priorities. If a new truck is more important than some of the best hunting on earth, that's fine. But you don't need either the truck or plane/boat. It's what you want. And what you want more, you'll put the money. Can't afford it is a reality for a lot of people, but evidenced by the amount of 80k trucks people drive, they could, if they wanted to, have the plane or boat.
I think people do this because they think it's more expensive than it is. It's not cheap by any means, but it's not unattainable for an awful lot of people, especially if they just adjust what they spend money on.

You can't deduct a $20k truck.

I know plenty of people who buy a new $80k truck every 2-3 years because it's wash with taxes, and they drive something nice and new with a warranty.

 

[Torino]

That is a good point, Seems like a lot of people drop 30k on a side by side also.

Any idea the cost to insure and maintain a plane? And cost to get licensed?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

most folks in AK won’t get insurance on their aircraft unless they hangar it at an airport that requires it or they’re transporting paying customers and require it. A/C insurance here for a bush rig is cost prohibitive, as in the annual premiums pay off another used beater rig every 3 years.

License: if you own the rig it will cost nearly nothing. You’ll likely meet someone (called a CFI) that can teach you and they’ll trade you hours of instruction for hours to themselves. If you need to rent a rig to learn you’re best off doing that in the lower 48. That usually runs around $8-15k just depends on where you’re located and how much you hustle.

The maintenance and upkeep is wildly expensive but the mechanically inclined hustler will learn how to keep this expense survivable. A deep-pockets type owner that refuses to get qualified to pull there own wrenches easily pays me $5k on a light year and $30k on a heavy year for maintenance. Most savvy owners that do everything they can themselves legally will set around $3k/year aside for upkeep. Engines usually get a separate savings account that gets fed $3k/year. You can skip the engine saving account if you’re willing to buy high and sell low on a used rig every 5-10 years.

Fuel ain’t bad. It’ll likely be your smallest annual expense in ownership.

The thing that guts most would-be owners is the hangar. Hangar availability, costs etc is so variable. IMO the best course if starting from scratch is to buy a house at an airpark that already has a hangar and taxi way.

You definitely turn a hobby into a lifestyle quick with this. It’s not hard to hustle this whole dream into a darn decent living, but you’ll always be a bad day away from losing it all if you crash bad enough.

The amount of hours one needs to accumulate to competently fly their rig into some of those sheep sites is high. You’ll be flying and fixing for years before you’ll be comfortable on bad weather days at a controlled airport, never mind a back country strip in the soup. If you attack the dream with both hands, maybe 5 years before you got a decent grip on things. Right around that time most guys bend a plane up pretty good. Most of em rebuild and keep going. A few sell and split.

 

[wyosam]

You can hunt elk OTC every year.


You need a boat or a plane. A good boat that will get you into PWS for more fish that you can eat, deer, goats and black bears is in the 50-70k range(and up if you want it to).
A plane that will get you into sheep, carribou, moose, deer, goat, elk, bears starts about 45k and can go way up depending on what you want, but doesn't have to.

Most people own 50-80k trucks that are largely unnecessary. If you can afford a newer truck you can afford the boat or plane to do the hunting, but it's about priorities. You might not be able to have a new truck AND a boat or plane. A perfectly functioning older truck works well. And then you can hunt all those things OTC every year.

People overestimate the costs of things because they see the people with the best stuff and think you need that. You don't.

I’ve got a jet for rivers, and a boat for the salt. Both are older but reliable and well maintained, as is the old truck that pulls them. Still very logistically complex hunting compared to much of the west. A lot of it is time. Aside from chasing bears, not much quick trip big game hunting, at least from Los anchorage. Planning a longer trip into PWS to hunt is easy enough, but especially in the later fall weather can wreck those plans pretty quick. Not too big a deal if time away from work/family is flexible, not so much if you have to plan time way in advance and can’t shift schedule on short notice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WaWox]

You can't deduct a $20k truck.

I know plenty of people who buy a new $80k truck every 2-3 years because it's wash with taxes, and they drive something nice and new with a warranty.

That can't be right. Even in California, highest combined marginal tax rate is ~50% and that's for people.for who an 80k truck is a single months pay.

So, 50% tax rate => 80k new truck costs as much pre tax money as 40k in other spending that isn't deductible.

So how would that ever make it a wash vs just keep driving your recent 80k truck?

 

[displacedtexan]

That can't be right. Even in California, highest combined marginal tax rate is ~50% and that's for people.for who an 80k truck is a single months pay.

So, 50% tax rate => 80k new truck costs as much pre tax money as 40k in other spending that isn't deductible.

So how would that ever make it a wash vs just keep driving your recent 80k truck?

Heck if I know. I'm not an accountant, or interested in playing that game. I've got other priorities too. Lol

I'm just pointing out that a new, expensive truck isn't always just the burning pile of cash it seems like.

It can be justified on a business level. A boat or plane can't.

 

[OKHunter84]

Heck if I know. I'm not an accountant, or interested in playing that game. I've got other priorities too. Lol

I'm just pointing out that a new, expensive truck isn't always just the burning pile of cash it seems like.

It can be justified on a business level. A boat or plane can't.

I'm sure you could justify a boat or a plane if you started a business for guiding. Wouldn't have to show any profits for the first two years. I did private contracting in the oilfield for several years. I would depreciate out a truck and a camper that I used on site. My accountant would tell me every few years that I needed to buy something new. It was either have newer things or give it to uncle Sam because I didn't have enough write offs.

 

[Hnthrdr]

1. Alaska 2. Wyoming 3. Montana 4. Idaho
5. Colorado

 

[Elite]

1. Alaska 2. Wyoming 3. Montana 4. Idaho
5. Colorado

Any reason why Idaho before Colorado


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hnthrdr]

Any reason why Idaho before Colorado


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This is based on the fact that Colorado is currently openly hostile to hunters/ sportsmen and the 2A we are constantly battling to not lose rights. Idaho has none of that plus, easy to get deer & elk tags for residents, tons of public land and 1/6 the population of Co, full disclosure I’m from Co, if we were talking about Co from the 80’s or 90’s it would be #2/3 behind Alaska

 

[Caseknife]

Maybe because Idaho lets you shoot wolves?