Where to live if Public Land Hunting is a major draw?

[liveaxle]

I'm in a position I never thought I would have to think about, but as I approach 40 I find myself considering it more and more.

I grew up hunting on family land, and when I was in middle school my parents bought a small farm, I went to college to study agriculture, and then, starting with the crash of 2008, a series of events led to my parents selling the farm just under 10 years ago. I haven't been hunting since.

The hunting I miss most is deer, rabbits and squirrel. I'm not looking to trophy hunt deer, I would rather hunt does and leave the antlers for someone who gets excited about it (unless there is conservation need to take bucks, does tend to taste better). As for the rabbits and squirrel, I think any varmint hunting could scratch that itch (and hunting prairie dogs sound fun).

I have spent the last 15 years moving often for my career and I now find myself wanting to find a place to settle and eventually retire to. I have a list of considerations, but (since I don't see myself being able to buy enough land to hunt) public land hunting is one of those considerations. The only two criteria I cannot avoid (for purposes of this discussion) are that it needs to be in an area with hardline (not Starlink) broadband internet and within 1.5 hours of a major airport.

Wisdom of Rokslide, if you were starting from scratch with those constraints, where would you be looking to live?

 

[ihookem]

There are likely 100 places. If weather does not bother you , S.E WIs . isn't too bad. The deer hunting here is really tough because it is 50 mi. from Milwaukee. I hunt the cat tail marshes all time. I see deer almost every time I bow hunt , but I only bow hunted 7 times. Gun season has much more pressure though and the deer act accordingly. However, the fishing is really good for walleye on Lake Winnebago . On Lake Michigan the trout and Salmon is also really good. If you want to hunt the big woods and sit all weekend without seeing a deer, almost the whole northern part of Wisconsin and upper Michigan will do. You will likley not see a deer though neither.

 

[Mojave]

I absolutely hate that every FNG ask this same question every other week.

The Search function bar is in the top right corner of your screen. Use it. Move to Nevada it is 90% public land.

 

[Mike Islander]

• Alaska: Approximately 271 million acres of public land are available for hunting, encompassing vast wilderness areas. backcountrychronicles.com
• Nevada: Offers around 53.8 million acres of public hunting land, primarily managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
• California: Provides about 38.2 million acres of public hunting land, including national forests and BLM lands. backcountrychronicles.com
• Idaho: Approximately 34.8 million acres are available for public hunting, with significant portions managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and BLM. backcountrychronicles.com+1gundogmag.com+1
• Oregon: Offers around 34.7 million acres of public hunting land, including diverse habitats across the state.
• Utah: Provides approximately 34.7 million acres of public land open to hunting, managed by various federal and state agencies.
• Arizona: Offers about 32.5 million acres of public hunting land, featuring a variety of terrains and ecosystems. backcountrychronicles.com
• New Mexico: Approximately 31.4 million acres are available for public hunting, including expansive BLM and state-owned lands. backcountrychronicles.com
• Wyoming: Provides around 31.4 million acres of public hunting land, offering diverse hunting opportunities.
• Montana: Offers about 30 million acres of public land open to hunting, including national forests and other public lands.

 

[liveaxle]

I have spent a bit of time in Nevada and Arizona, and the volume of public land is impressive, but they don't have the deer herd population density that Tennessee (but Tennessee has little public land). Ideally, I would like some mix of both.

A friendly, welcoming hunting community would be a nice plus as well. (Thank you Mojave for reminding me about the value of having kind people around).

 

[Mojave]

There is no place that has high game densities and tons of public land. There are at least 50 post going back for the past 10 years on here, with thousands of sub post.


Please go to the FNG's start here link.

Thread 'Terms and rules of Rokslide. Potential new members should read this before signing up.'

Jul 8, 2024

The terms and rules link is located at the bottom right of the page just to the left of the contact us link. Many/most don't bother to read this but it can answer some of the questions that arise and help folks steer clear of problems that commonly occur with newer members.

A couple of points here to know of that seem to be often overlooked.

The 3rd paragraph concerns details on commercial links and attempts to use a business name in your screen name or anywhere else on the forum without permission. If you would like to promote your business simply reach out to the forum...

• philos
• Replies: 39
• Forum: Rokslide FNG's

• 

D

Thread 'Out of State Hunting (non-resident)'

Oct 7, 2024

I am looking into going on some out of state hunts (I am from Michigan)! I don't know where the best place to start would be, but I know that for some states it takes a while to draw a non-resident tag. I would be looking for a good hunting state where I can buy OTC non-resident tags, that isn't too far from Michigan. Any suggestions are welcome!

• decklancraft
• Replies: 15
• Forum: Whitetail Deer

Thread 'Best State for Elk: Wyoming vs Idaho'

May 27, 2024

Photo Courtesy of @COTubbs

Best State for Elk Hunting: Idaho vs. Wyoming

Robby hosts Idaho Fish & Game Deer & Elk Coordinator, Toby Boudreau, and Justin Binfet, Deputy Chief of Wyoming's Wildlife Division. It's Elk Hunting on today's episode.

www.rokslide.com

• robby denning
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Rokcast

• 

S

Post in thread 'Moving to Alaska'

Dec 15, 2024

Best of luck on your travels to our beautiful state. May you journey be a safe one.

• Snowwolfe

• 

S

Thread 'Best western state as a resident? Idaho?'

Dec 2, 2024

Howdy, I am about to graduate from college and I am wanting to move out west to hunt and snowboard. My original plan was to move to Idaho and get a lifetime license so that I could still have resident draw odds if I later decided to move again. Is this a decent idea? What states would you all recommend for someone to move to? Only downside I’ve found with Idaho seems to be that there’s not a ton of work up north where I’d probably want to be. Any insight is appreciated. Would just like some general advice as well on how you all would do it if you could do it again or how you did do it if...

• Sprint2
• Replies: 95
• Forum: General Discussion Forum

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Post in thread 'Wilderness vs front country'

Nov 3, 2024

If you look at New Mexico as an an example. The wilderness units aren't really any better or worse than the best units.

As the entire state is on a draw. Any tag in New Mexico is a TOL.

• Mojave

S

Post in thread 'If you could move and live anywhere in the lower 48 where would you go?'

Mar 3, 2025

@Sundance I've spent quite a bit of time in the areas you describe... You're blessed

Washington is a great state, but the wildlife management and politics make it hard to stomach. I've spent a lot of time in SE and Alaska in general, so the move won't be hard. Working in the maritime industry locks me into the west coast, AK being the best option for the long term.

• Sundance

 

[nobody]

Downtown LA county in SOCAL

 

[schweinstein]

Northern Idaho is pretty ideal. You have lots of public land not just in Idaho but in surrounding states. You can pretty easily get tags in Montana, Washington and Oregon in addition to Idaho itself. Lots of whitetail in the area. Close to a few major airports depending on where you settle. Biggest downside is housing is ridiculous. From what I understand it’s like that all over the country now though.

I don’t personally hunt squirrel and other small game but there is ample numbers and it’s not nearly as popular as it is in the Midwest and east coast.

 

[liveaxle]

When I searched, I found and thumbed through most of those threads (though the "Wilderness vs Front Country Thread did not come up, and it has some interesting insights).

The "If you could move and live..." thread and its consistent WA bashing actually lead me to post this. I was under the impression that Eastern Washington was a good option, but I was concerned that if I hyperfocus the thread on Washington state, it would give me more information on what is a bad idea, rather than avenues to investigate to find good ideas.

 

[ihookem]

OP, what is your prefered weather? Many of these places are not practical. Sure, Alaska gets on the list, but your only choice to live is in Anchorage . I have heard time and time again, that almost every area that is practical is over hunted. SOme here will scoff, and maybe that is not true cause frankly some people exagerate or even lie to keep people away. You would not be the only person that moved to Alaska and found out it is very expensive if you want to get away from people. I talked to a guy at a bar once in Wisconsin, he came from Alaska . I asked " why on earth did you move to Wisconsin to leave Alaska .. He said,, you can hunt around here. I'm like WHAT? He explained, you can jump out of your truck and be hunting in 1/2 hour.

 

[MTGunner]

I'm in a position I never thought I would have to think about, but as I approach 40 I find myself considering it more and more.

I grew up hunting on family land, and when I was in middle school my parents bought a small farm, I went to college to study agriculture, and then, starting with the crash of 2008, a series of events led to my parents selling the farm just under 10 years ago. I haven't been hunting since.

The hunting I miss most is deer, rabbits and squirrel. I'm not looking to trophy hunt deer, I would rather hunt does and leave the antlers for someone who gets excited about it (unless there is conservation need to take bucks, does tend to taste better). As for the rabbits and squirrel, I think any varmint hunting could scratch that itch (and hunting prairie dogs sound fun).

I have spent the last 15 years moving often for my career and I now find myself wanting to find a place to settle and eventually retire to. I have a list of considerations, but (since I don't see myself being able to buy enough land to hunt) public land hunting is one of those considerations. The only two criteria I cannot avoid (for purposes of this discussion) are that it needs to be in an area with hardline (not Starlink) broadband internet and within 1.5 hours of a major airport.

Wisdom of Rokslide, if you were starting from scratch with those constraints, where would you be looking to live?

Quite frankly Montana has turned into a high $$$$ hunting state with public land opportunities diminishing. I have hunt MT for 45 years. There are no honey holes that mapping companies have not been informed by hunting experience mining. Nevada would be my suggestion. Lots of public land. Maybe NM, albeit the govna’ is a communist bitch. So, good luck. MTG

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Have you considered Missouri, maybe just outside St. Louis somewhere? Tons of deer, liberal limits and soooo many squirrels. Lots of public land in the state from conservation areas to state and national forest land.