Pros/Cons of where you have lived

[ewescue]

I've seen numerous threads before asking about specific locations, or about what people may feel is the "best" destination. I've always enjoyed those threads and seeing others perspectives on locations, but I've never seen a full thread recounting the places we have lived before and our own pros/cons summary for each. I'll kick it off with my experience which is fairly limited.

Northern WV:
Cheap living costs, easy access to most amenities any regular person would need. Hunting is OK, a lot of deer but very few "big" deer. Turkey hunting is pretty good. Waterfowl is pretty bad overall but some success can be had with work. Definitely no shortage of tags here if you take advantage of what is offered, I think I can legally shoot 13 deer or something like that if I play the system to its entirety. Takes a few hours to get to central/southern WV where the mountains are - lots of public land there and much more access to "adventure" than the northern part where I live. Fishing is not great here, but fly fishing is pretty good in the mountains down state. Weather in general is pretty okay, nothing too extreme on either end. The terrain here is hilly but not mountainous, so it does provide some incline for training which I'm passionate about. I've lived here a total of about 24 years since I was born so I know the area extremely well.

Central Ohio:
I lived here only a few months for a job opportunity. Quick takeaways are: super flat and heavy agriculture. Wasn't for me personally. Super limited public land, but there are some very big whitetails to be had. Fishing was okay, nothing stellar but some good areas if you had the intel. Area was booming, jobs would be very easy to get. Housing can be expensive but really depends on exact area, can still be cheap compared to other areas of the country I've looked at. Again, not nearly as much experience living there, just some quick takeaways I had.

 

[streetdoctor]

Chicago- horrible weather. Tons of people. 4 hour drive to public land plus traffic. Extremely corrupt. Very left.

Denver- much better public access. Getting more left by the day. Housing prices have reached insanity levels.

Unfortunately with my job I'm kinda locked down to an area as a firefighter. If I move out of state my pension won't transfer. Hoping to retire in 15ish years to Alaska.

 

[hunterjmj]

Oregon- grew up in eastern Oregon. Great people, great country but that state is run by the nut cases in Portland. Moved away in 98' and never looked back.
Idaho- Great state, great people, great hunting opportunities.
Nebraska - Went to college in Omaha and met my wife there. Slim hunting opportunities, humid, and the roads are terrible.
Montana - My moms side of the family is from here. Spent my summers as a kid here and always wanted to live here. Mostly like minded people, hunting opportunity is great, great place to raise a family and it's not humid.

 

[Weldor]

Michigan 40 plus years ago, good hunting and fishing then, looks like it is still pretty good. bad politics
Southern Cal. early 80's good fishing, hunting limited lots of private property. nuff said about politics
Southern Arizona, housing was nice as well as hunting. now overflowing with new comers from west of here, going down real fast. time to re-locate. AZGFD all about the money, very crowded unit to unit with back to back hunts, critters never get a rest. Oh and traffic is really bad just like SoCal.

 

[Ozarkansas]

Little Rock, AR- pros: cheap, not crowded, good public hunting opportunities. Cons: high crime rate, economically depressed

Western WA- pros: tons of public land, mild climate, amazing and diverse scenery, good restaurant/music/nightlife scene. Cons: very expensive, bad traffic, massive homeless population

San Antonio, TX- pros: great food/music/ bar scene, cool culture, affordable housing. Cons: crowded, hot climate, terrible hunting unless you’re rich or military

Northwest AR- pros: mild climate, lots of public land, long hunting seasons, good scenery, affordable, safe, good public schools. Cons: pretty culturally bland, fast growing

I’ve enjoyed everywhere I’ve lived for different reasons but NWA definitely provides what I’m looking for in terms of balancing my career, family, and hunting/fishing goals

 

[CorbLand]

Utah.

Pros. Its Utah.
Cons. Its Utah.

Idaho.

Pros. God may have blessed Texas but He resides in Idaho.
Cons. Boise and the surrounding area.

 

[guylaga]

Far West Texas -
Pro: Low population density, variety of terrain, great weather year round, low crime for the most part.
Con: Dry, limited hunting opportunity unless you own land, limited opportunity for employment, questionable border with Mexico

Houston Tx -
Pro: 4th largest city in the US, tons of opportunity for employment, great food, close to the gulf coast with unlimited fishing opportunities, some public land but limited big game hunting
Con: 4th largest city in the US, crowded, crime on the rise, becoming expensive, weather is either hot and humid or wet and cold 10 months of the year, limited hunting opportunities

El Paso Tx -
Pro: City conveniences, relatively cheap, great food, close to NM,CO ect..., pretty good weather
Con: Getting crowded, very dry, Juarez.

Coeur d'Alene ID -
Pro: Close to public land, Has conveniences of a city but still feels small
Con: Winter a bit harsh for a Texan, Employment somewhat limited

 

[Grownupcandy]

NY: Robbery and shooting all the time.
Had to run out of the hell hole.

 

[Poser]

Rural West TN
Pros: lots of deer, excellent BBQ
Cons: CWD (these days). Obesity

Hattiesburg MS:
Pros: close to New Orleans
Cons: it’s Mississippi

Nashville TN:
Pros: lots of deer and turkeys
Cons: mediocre BBQ, every person in the world decided to move there

Memphis TN:
Pros: fantastic BBQ, fairly easy place to live
Cons: violent crime, high obesity, reasonably cheap

Durango CO:
Pros: extensive public land access, best Mtn range in the Rockies.
Cons: Texas style bbq, declining winters, insanely expensive

 

[ReaptheHeat]

Lander WY

Pros: Lots of public land, good fishing, WY hunting, nice people.

Cons: Mosquitoes in the Winds are something, tourist traffic to Yellowstone, lack of good jobs, reservation nearby blocks areas to explore.

Kremmling CO

Pros: Public land access, fishing, camping, small town

Cons: Cold cold cold (-40 in peak winter mornings), lots of snow to shovel, commuting in snow every other day, close to Denver so gets hit hard by tourism.

Golden CO
Pros: Good place to be if you need to commute to Denver, tons of amenities, close to nice mtb trails
Cons: Crowded, lack of public land nearby in the last couple decades to shoot/ride/etc, can never get away from others outside.

 

[KurtR]

North central South Dakota- Cons- not a lot of amenities and no retriever grounds for 3 hours also not alot of work options
Pros- no people, lots of public land and lots of private land people will let you hunt. Cost of living rather cheap. No people

Eastern South Dakota the same but with more people and less public land.

Lived in Oklahoma for 6 months at Ft Sill and cant think of any reason i would ever want to live there

 

[Huntindog45]

Bozeman Mt: We all know the good and bad about montana.. Been a long time since i lived in bozeman. I hear it has changed alot
Denver Co.... ehh, wish I had a better chance to explore in the short time I was there. obviously Colorado has a ton of land to hunt and explore. LIke Bozeman we already know all the good and bad.
Philadelphia. You could never pay me to live in that shit hole again

And then:

Chico Ca, I grew up here. And moved back. I know its California and everyone loves to hate on it for our politics. That is what it is. But I love it here. On any given week i am deer hunting, quail hunting, steelhead fishing, killing a ton of fish on the ocean, I kill more ducks than you could anywhere else with our super long season and liberal limits (I shoot a ton of specks). I also have amazing trout streams all around me and some amazing bass locations. Most of this is within an hour drive of my house, except the ocean... need to travel a little further for that. I have so much public land around me and so many opportunities it is often an overwhelming decision when I am trying to decide what I am going to do on a day off. I killed both my bucks this year, neither one of them were boomers but they were not dinks either. Which aint bad especially since my hand was in a cast and i did it on my own. Our big game populations are not what they should be, and no where close to neighboring states... but we have it pretty good. Its a tough spot to leave. Anyway.. gotta go, getting a late start today but gonna go sit in my blind and shoot some more specks and mallards.

 

[Cant hit em]

Bozeman Mt: We all know the good and bad about montana.. Been a long time since i lived in bozeman. I hear it has changed alot
Denver Co.... ehh, wish I had a better chance to explore in the short time I was there. obviously Colorado has a ton of land to hunt and explore. LIke Bozeman we already know all the good and bad.
Philadelphia. You could never pay me to live in that shit hole again

And then:

Chico Ca, I grew up here. And moved back. I know its California and everyone loves to hate on it for our politics. That is what it is. But I love it here. On any given week i am deer hunting, quail hunting, steelhead fishing, killing a ton of fish on the ocean, I kill more ducks than you could anywhere else with our super long season and liberal limits (I shoot a ton of specks). I also have amazing trout streams all around me and some amazing bass locations. Most of this is within an hour drive of my house, except the ocean... need to travel a little further for that. I have so much public land around me and so many opportunities it is often an overwhelming decision when I am trying to decide what I am going to do on a day off. I killed both my bucks this year, neither one of them were boomers but they were not dinks either. Which aint bad especially since my hand was in a cast and i did it on my own. Our big game populations are not what they should be, and no where close to neighboring states... but we have it pretty good. Its a tough spot to leave. Anyway.. gotta go, getting a late start today but gonna go sit in my blind and shoot some more specks and mallards.

If you stay out of the metropolitan areas, it’s not that bad. Good luck with the ducks. I’m gonna go kill a turkey today.


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[Huntindog45]

If you stay out of the metropolitan areas, it’s not that bad. Good luck with the ducks. I’m gonna go kill a turkey today.


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i might do that too. sunny and cold so i imagine they are tucked up under a couple trees i know of, not too hard usually to sneak up and pluck one off. (oh yah we can kill six turkeys a year in california too) forgot about that in my first post

 

[Marmots]

Michigan:
(I have lived in Detroit, Lansing, Hickory Corners, Marquette, and Gogebic county)

Pros: Anglers paradise with tens of thousands of lakes and ponds, surprising amount of blue ribbon trout streams, the Great Lakes, and decent whitetail hunting.

Cons: Most of the jobs and state population are in metro Detroit, none of what I said applies to there. Most of the state is a flat frozen swamp, the beauty of that is very subjective.

Alaska:
(I lived in Fairbanks, Utqtiagvik, and a research station on the North Slope)

Pros: My favorite place on earth, insane hunting and fishing opportunities beyond your wildest dreams, it's possible to actually live mostly off stuff you catch and shoot. Also, the nongame wildlife viewing opportunities are insane. Polar bears and bowhead whales can be seen from basically downtown Utqtiagvik. On the slope I used to see musk oxen on the way to the outhouse. The people are generally really nice, impatient and uptight folks don't survive the winter.

Cons: You want to have a good job up there. If you take the Alone Guy approach and move up there to live out a misguided mountain man fantasy, there is a statistically significant chance your adventure will end with shooting heroin on the street in downtown Anchorage. Everything is expensive, nothing is convenient. Fifty below is something you have to experience to understand. Finally, there are a lot of places where there is a significant lack of sunlight, plumbing, and women. Missing all three of those things at once is really something.

Montana
(I lived on the Flathead reservation)

Pros: Excellent fishing, lots of hunting opportunity, beautiful state.

Cons: The winters legitimately compete with Fairbanks for being long, cold, and dark. Job opportunities in the area are generally pretty rare.

Illinois
(I lived in Vandalia)

Pros:

Cons: So flat it looks like an unrendered video game level. Corn from one horizon to the other. I had a job surveying furbearers in rivers. Between all the hog farms and other pollutants, I ended up leaving that place on a suite of antibiotics because I let the river water touch my skin.

Oregon
(I lived in Corvallis)

Pros: Everything from ocean fishing to chasing redbands in the high desert. Decent predator hunting.

Cons: Tags are kind of restrictive, hunting timber plantations felt weird to me and I never figured the place out. Lots of "unhoused individuals experiencing a mental health crisis" in cities. My heart sincerely goes out to those people but I also have a very low tolerance for having poop thrown at me.

Idaho:
(I've lived in Boise, McCall, Elk City, and Kooskia, met a lady from Boise and bought a house there)

Pros: Incredible amount of variety in the state. I can be in Great Basin desert or Rocky Mountain forest depending on if I go half an hour in either direction from my house. Excellent variety of hunting and fishing opportunities. I'd call it a distant second place to Alaska, but the year-round presence of sunlight, plumbing, and women makes up for that.

Cons: The state is getting californicated in the worst way. The average per capita income is about $35k, the average house in Boise is $475k. I am really starting to hate the whole state feeling like a resort colony for a bunch of relatively wealthy out of staters. Weather can be extreme in a lot of places, I've experienced forty below and 110 above in the difference of a three hour drive and a five month time lag.

 

[Jbehredt]

Colorado
Pros - Colorado
Cons - Coloradans

 

[inertiadriven07]

Central/Northern Maine

Pros-very quiet, and not a lot of people. I can shoot off my porch, and hunt within a 5 minute drive.

Not a huge deer population compared to other states in the country, but we grow deer big. Not all antlers, but body size. Probably 7-10% of deer harvested dress out over 200lb, and I’m lucky enough to have one of them in my wall.

Cons-everything is really expensive and far away. All the out of staters are moving here and buying all the land and posting it as no hunting. Depending where you hunt, you could go years without so much as seeing a deer in the woods. No where to really stretch the rifles out to shoot long range, I’ve only been out to 1000 yards, and someone bought the land behind it, so we can’t do 1 mile any more

 

[rharbaugh]

Eastern Iowa -

Good people overall, no major concern about crime. Cost of living is average, but on the rise ever day like elsewhere. We live in a good community with quality schools, all the amenities to keep the wife happy, and within an hour of most of hunting spots. Summers are hot with pretty tough humidity levels, the rest of the season are enjoyable.

Public land is very low in my part of the state, the amount of pressure some of these small parcels receive makes me feel like I'll be right at home when I head to CO next year. Most folks like to hunt deer, spring turkeys, and waterfowl, which leaves the squirrels bountiful. No, I won't share my favorite bushy-tail spots. Land developers and farmers are doing their best to root up every last nook and cranny of wildlife habitat. Thankfully, our game species are very adaptive and populations are strong. Personal goal is to get going on urban seasons next year.

Iowa also has great water access laws, allowing public access up to the high water mark. On the other hand, Iowa water quality is high impaired due to nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. The muddy rivers are full of catfish if you're into that thing.

 

[a_noob_hunter]

Central Ohio

Pros:
Great place to shoot bruiser whitetails. Not the best fishing but several hrs get you into walleye at lake erie

Cons:
Not much to do recreationally, its flat. Very flat

Upstate South Carolina

Pros:
Awesome place to live. Deer, turkey, and black bear abound. Hard to get a big bruiser like in OH but awesome. Alot more mountainous and beautiful. Southern charm

Cons:
Alot of humidity and hot in the summer.

Bitterroot Valley, Montana

Pros:
I've dreamed of living in western MT as a kid and its been everything I could have hoped for. There is opportunity everywhere for adventure. I live 3.5 hrs from Glacier and 6 hrs from Yellowstone. Elk hunting in Montana is great both in public land % and in opportunity. If you're willing to work hard you can make good $$$

Cons:
Mule deer hunting is ok. Not alot of really big bucks running around. Missoula controls too much politically. Expensive to live here. Very expensive to live here compared to back East. Oregoneons, Washingtonites, and Californians are moving in left and right.

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[FLATHEAD]

N. Ga - Pros; Lots of NF nearby for hunting/fishing, small town vibe.
Cons; Atlanta is too close, not a lot of job opportunities
without getting in Atlanta.

Central FL. - Pros; still thinking on this one.
Cons; Radically hot/humid, overcrowded, hunting nonexistent.
A really high per capita A33hole rate.
Fishing was really not that great despite what they say.
No "culture" whatsoever.
Grass needed cut twice a week in summer.

AL. Gulf Coast - Pros; Good fishing and within driving distance of decent hunting.
Ducks on Mobile Bay ( I dont really duck hunt).
Winters are perfect. Not overcrowded yet. Low cost of living.
Year round vegetable garden.
Small town vibe.
Cons: The Summers are absolutely brutal and the tourists are
everywhere in season. Fishing sucks in the winter.
Did I mention how hot it is in the Summer?
Hunting and fishing OK, but not world class stuff.
Mowing 4 acres once a week.