Residency, Oregon vs Washington

[markuslanders]

Hello, Rockslide members. I’m not as active on here as I should be. I use this forum for TONS of information. I grew up in Oregon hunting/fishing a very very small amount with my father. I joined the Military and ended up meeting my lovely wife in Georgia and staying there for ten years. During that time I became and avid whitetail hunter and fisherman. Through a series of life events I ended up working remote and she is a traveling nurse. We’ve spent the last 6 months in Oregon and we are headed to Washington for the next 6. As an adult I’ve realized I took the hunting/fishing oportunities here for granted. My wife has historically never been a hunter or fisherman, but after catching her first salmon and steelhead she is hooked (see what I did there?). We are SERIOUSLY considering relocating permanently to the PNW and we’ve narrowed it down to Oregon vs Washington. From a strictly hunting and fishing point of view where would you live? Washington or Oregon? and if you could take the time to write why I would greatly appreciate it. If you’re looking for a fishing buddy or wouldn’t mind having a couple join you on a fishing trip we will be in the Tacoma are until next June. Cheers! And thank you in advance.

 

[Bachto]

I am from Oregon and currently live in Washington.

Go to Oregon, if my stepson's dad didn't live here and we could easily move. We would leave Washington tomorrow.

 

[wapitibob]

Oregon isn’t great but it beats Washington by a long way. Idaho would he even better.

 

[Wrench]

Washington gives you guaranteed tags.

That's about all I can say as a plus.

 

[Bachto]

Washington gives you guaranteed tags.

That's about all I can say as a plus.

So does Oregon? okay you can't hunt eastside elk without a draw, but that's basically how Washington is. Spike only hunts are a joke, in my opinion.

 

[derrick454@]

The only advantage WA has is no income tax. If I had to choose between the two with worrying about taxes and more taxes I would choose Oregon. Oregon still has spring bear and better fishing. WA fish and game commission is a joke. Just stay away from the Portland area for living. Even if you have to commute to work in the city don’t live there. Plenty of better areas outside of town. Better yet live in eastern or central oregon. Southern Oregon probably OK to.
Portland


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[Tmac]

Lived in and hunted both. OR 60%+ public land, WA 42% ish iirc. OR has about 27k sq miles more land mass. Then fewer people and very restrictive NR quotas, advantage OR.

 

[MtnMuley]

They're both a mess these days. No way would I say that Oregon has better fishing though.

 

[ianpadron]

This is like choosing if you'd rather get hit by a bus or a semi...both options are awful for the vast majority of sportsmen.

One of the best days of my life was driving the Uhaul across the WA state line a couple years back, haven't set foot there since.

The hunting/fishing used to be world class, but barely exists anymore. Rivers are usually closed for salmon/steelhead, and the WDFW commission is actively working to end hunting all together. Sad state of affairs.

The elk hunting is a joke, West side has hoof rot, East side takes 10 years to draw a bull tag...deer hunting is great in pockets but the competition is steep compared to all other states I've hunted.

With the flexibility you and your wife have with jobs, there is no way either of those states would be on the table unless you happen to be raging leftists...in that case, it doesn't get any better LOL

 

[BigDawgWill44]

Oregon


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[Chazman253]

Any state > WA

 

[Cedarsavage]

Man I lived in Washington almost 15 years ago and can’t imagine being in either state today. Idaho seems way more friendly to our demographic

 

[Oregon]

Oregon.
Washington has 8 million people, Oregon 4 million. Oregon substantially larger in landmass.
I don't know anything about the fishing in Wa except there seems to be a lot of Washington boats on my local water trolling salmon or drifting for steelhead.

 

[Blacktocomm]

As someone from Washington this post hurts real bad to scroll through.

But that no income tax is pretty freaking amazing.

 

[ianpadron]

As someone from Washington this post hurts real bad to scroll through.

But that no income tax is pretty freaking amazing.

We ran an in-depth analysis prior to leaving WA.

The property taxes, sales tax, gas tax, RTA tax, long term care tax, etc. actually worked out to being significantly more expensive than living in a state with lower COL and an income tax.

State level capital gains tax is coming too...regardless of what the state DNC says.

Pretty insane tbh.

 

[Danny Hoey]

As someone from Washington this post hurts real bad to scroll through.

But that no income tax is pretty freaking amazing.

But we do have an income tax, they just creatively named it.

 

[Blacktocomm]

We ran an in-depth analysis prior to leaving WA.

The property taxes, sales tax, gas tax, RTA tax, long term care tax, etc. actually worked out to being significantly more expensive than living in a state with lower COL and an income tax.

State level capital gains tax is coming too...regardless of what the state DNC says.

Pretty insane tbh.

Yeah - we have our eyes peeled for that cap gains tax. I have lived in ID/UT/AZ/NV/OR so I have kind of seen most of the west - but there is a chance we land in Wyoming in a little bit.

We also just got asked to move out of country (to England) for my career - so when we move back we are going to keep our eyes and options open.

But we do have an income tax, they just creatively named it.

If you are talking the LTC - we purchased our own LTC insurance so we don't "technically" have that. It was cheaper to buy our own than pay the amount that WA would have levied against our earnings.

 

[Cameron.25]

Definitely Oregon

 

[Danny Hoey]

Yeah - we have our eyes peeled for that cap gains tax. I have lived in ID/UT/AZ/NV/OR so I have kind of seen most of the west - but there is a chance we land in Wyoming in a little bit.

We also just got asked to move out of country (to England) for my career - so when we move back we are going to keep our eyes and options open.


If you are talking the LTC - we purchased our own LTC insurance so we don't "technically" have that. It was cheaper to buy our own than pay the amount that WA would have levied against our earnings.

Yes LTC, as well as PFMLA.

99.9% of Washington residents are and will be stuck in that for life. Directly tied to income.

 

[ianpadron]

But we do have an income tax, they just creatively named it.

Isn't it ironic that "progressives" viciously defend the most regressive forms of taxation?

Doesn't matter if you're making $10M a year or $10 an hour, you're still paying close to 10% on every purchase you make, and $5 a gallon in gas in the state.

I could go on all day about how mis-managed WA is, but I think I've made my point to OP haha.

By almost every metric, WA state should be a mini-Alaska, a true sportsman's paradise. If you talk to guys who were there when Boeing was the big dawg in town instead of the worker bee tech hives, they'll say just that...unrivaled. Where else can you fish for steelhead in a rainforest, hammer giant alpine muleys, and dust high desert quail and roosters all within 2 hrs of your house...ALMOST makes me miss it ha!

We pray for WA from a safe distance now because it really is an incredible place...but man oh man it's difficult to imagine anyone WANTING to move there in 2023.