@blacktail sniper I cannot help with WY but I can comment on Montana, or at least parts of it. My wife and I are planning to move to the Livingston area of Montana. Wyoming was on the list but we really enjoy skiing. In Wyoming that would have to put us near Jackson Hole. I am too poor for that option. We also fell in love with Montana. We love the Livingston area, Emigrant and Big Timber. I would look at other options but I have a daughter and son in law coming as well and she already has work lined up in Livingston as an accountant. The problem I am seeing right now is that housing pricing are nuts. After screwing up their respective states, it seems like everyone is going for "country life". Homes are actually being purchase sight unseen. As a result, I am seeing 750 sq ft homes with rotted siding going on the market for $360,000. I read, it may have been on Rokslide, that Sheridan is going through some of the same silliness.
It is going to be interesting how this all shakes out. I am not sure people realize how cold it can really get. Or how windy. Or how rough the roads can get.
I would be lying if I told you I was not worried about the future political climate in Montana. I am hopeful that even the left leaning population has enough taste of the outdoors and freedoms they enjoy to fight back. I actually hope Montana and surrounding states will tell the federal government to go pound sand once the new administration gets in. It is all about the people around you. That is what matters. I probably have another 30 to 40 years left on this planet. So my next move is very important to me and my wife. We just want to be left alone.
The hunting in both states will be outstanding. Heck, I am from Massachusetts. Any state will be better than mine.
We ended up purchasing the least expensive home in Livingston this past August. We will move into it and take our time to learn the area and figure out where we want to live. It also affords us the time to watch the market eventually implode and purchase something reasonable. And it will. I have been in commercial real estate for 25 years. I have seen a few of these cycles already.
So with that said, take a lot of trips to the areas that interest you and consider renting or buying something inexpensive so you can figure things out. We spent our four last vacations getting a rental car and pounding out 2,000 miles each time we visited. At this point, I know parts of Montana quite well
I am jealous of all the antelope in WY though. We drove from east to west, into Utah this June. Had to have seen a thousand of them. They are on my bucket list of animals to shoot and eat real soon. Maybe I can find one in MT.
