I have hunted my whole life and love it. I grew up hunting in a western state and have my biases. I now live in a different state and hunt here. I think the bucks and bulls here may be bigger and even more plentiful, but I would much rather hunt as a non-resident here, and as a resident back at home. My question to all of you is, "What state offers the best hunting opportunities to the RESIDENT". Where would you live and if you could? I have my opinion, I am curious about yours. Which state is the best?
The best place to hunt
- Thread starter soupcreek
- Start date
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monroemtnshedfreak
Guest
It seems like Arizona produces the biggest bucks and bulls year after year. But I love Utah so I would have to say UTah. It produced some damn good bulls last year, and I think it is only going to get better. It would also help if we could get out of this drought.
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Benado
Guest
I'd say Utah for bulls, if you can get a LE tag. I saw a number of very nice bulls last year. As for deer, I saw a lot of big bucks in Utah, but I think that Colorado has some of the biggest deer.
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DeerKing
Guest
Colorado and Montana. You can hunt many species every year and getting tags is fairly easy.
I am from Montana and now live in Utah. Most of the hunts here in Utah are for only up to two weeks and you are very limited as to when and where you can hunt. As a MT resident, you can purchase a sportsman's lisence for around $65. With that you get a fishing lisence, a bear tag, an elk tag, a deer tag, and an upland gamebird lisence. You can hunt most of the areas in the state for about 6 weeks with a bow and if you don't fill all your tags, you can hunt another 6 weeks with a rifle. On top of this, if you are a fanatic, you can hunt whitetails with a bow from about September 1st to January first in limited areas. Adding up all the tags in these limited archery areas, you can get about 15 tags, some of which are either sex. I have enjoyed my hunts here in Utah, but there are WAY TO MANY PEOPLE in the hills, and I have even spent a lot of time at around 12,000 ft. Hunting is always fun, but the short Utah hunts can be done on a vacation only. In Montana, you have 3 months to hunt after work, a couple hours in the morning, or take the entire fall off if you want. My vote definitely with Montana as a resident. I don't know about other states other than Utah. What else is out there?
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fletch
Guest
I know whats not out there and that is Wa state...with 9 days to hunt general season in mid oct you really have to get with it to fill your tag.
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littlefoot
Guest
soup...you make a very good point for montana, as a resident...i'm from washington, and i guess i'm just a 'home-boy'. i wouldn't trade huntin' here for anything. i live for the 1st of august...bear and elk season...from then on, there are many other hunts. clear till the end of february. 'fletch' is right about the 9 day general deer season. that is a real draw-back, but as i live within 20 minutes of any kind of hunting, and the fact that i'm 'out there' at least 4 days a week, usually more, i guess i just have the advantage to know well ahead of time exactly where i'll be when the season opens. a lot of our washington hunters are from what we call, 'the west-side', meaning in general, seattle area. when the general deer and elk seasons open, we are usually inundated with these hunters. take note...i have nothing against them, and i wish them the best of luck. they are not fortunate enough to live where i live, and a lot of them only have the time to come here when the season opens. that's o.k. by me. probably about like me going to montana, which i have, several times. i don't live there,and have limited time.(still, they were great hunts). we may not have the biggest bucks, (tho we do have big ones), we may not have the biggest bulls (tho we do have record book ones), i like it because i know the area, and it is accessable, sometimes by foot only, but the best part is, i can do it daily, whether it be hunting with a weapon, trapping, or hunting with a camera. sometimes with none of the above...just to 'go look' or take someone else to share the sights. sometimes me thinks me rambles on and on and on....apologies, but i'll stay here.....
dwalton
Very Active Member
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- 1,519
For a resident, British Columbia would be tough to beat. Look at the number of big game animals there are to hunt (most on an OTC tag): black bear, grizzly, mule deer, whitetail deer, blacktail deer (both Columbian and Sitka), Mtn. Goat, elk (both Rky Mtn and Roosevelt), cougar, lynx, moose (both Shiras and Canadian), Mountain Caribou, wolf, and four sheep (Dall, Stone, Rocky, and California). No other place can lay claim to this kind of diverse hunting.
As for a non-resident alien, it's not so rosy. You can only hunt with a guide (lots of $$$$). I wish B.C. was part of the U.S. I would move there tomorrow.
As for a non-resident alien, it's not so rosy. You can only hunt with a guide (lots of $$$$). I wish B.C. was part of the U.S. I would move there tomorrow.
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doakes
Guest
I will probably get a lot of negative feedback but here it goes. The best state to live in for the sportsman is Mississippi. That's right, I said Mississippi. Ya'll quit laughing and let me finish. A hunting permit allows you to hunt deer from October 1 until January 31. You can kill 3 bucks and 3 does. You can kill an additional 2 does with archery gear. The state has been on a 4 point (eastern count) minimum program for years with most hunting leases on big buck management programs. We have a good bit of public land that is on strict management programs. I know of one that regularly produces whitetails in the 260 to 280 lb range (Missisppi delta soybeans).
We have a spring turkey season that is 6 weeks long. The turkey hunting is world famous. The state has had a no jake rule for several years and I kill a couple of turkeys every year with 11 inch beards and spurs over an inch.
You can fish all year, every day. No season on fishing. Don't forget small game,waterfowl and doves.
Mississippi gets a bum wrap because of the states past. We're not all dumb rednecks. I think we have it prety good.
P.S. I can still take off work and drive to almost any western state and hunt for two weeks with close to the same odds as drawing a tag as the residents. If I don't I guess I will just have to stay home and kill my 8 deer around the house.
We have a spring turkey season that is 6 weeks long. The turkey hunting is world famous. The state has had a no jake rule for several years and I kill a couple of turkeys every year with 11 inch beards and spurs over an inch.
You can fish all year, every day. No season on fishing. Don't forget small game,waterfowl and doves.
Mississippi gets a bum wrap because of the states past. We're not all dumb rednecks. I think we have it prety good.
P.S. I can still take off work and drive to almost any western state and hunt for two weeks with close to the same odds as drawing a tag as the residents. If I don't I guess I will just have to stay home and kill my 8 deer around the house.
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Muleyslyr
Guest
I can only speak for the 4 states I've hunted in WA, ID, MT, and WY. While all of them are good and unique in their own way, there's something about eastern MT. for me. I love that place. Not much to the country, but it is awesome to me. And oh ya, the deer huntin's pretty good over there too.
Would give my left nut to hunt CO or Utah though.
Would give my left nut to hunt CO or Utah though.
