Out of 4 states to live.....

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Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming....... which state has the best hunting/ outdoor recreation opportunities for residents..... reasoning as to which state would be best to move to
 
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BeastOfTheTrees
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I live in Colorado right now and great place but the crowds in places is getting a little ridiculous were looking into Montana Wyoming and Idaho really
 

mtnwrunner

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Not Wyoming. It sucks. Too many greenies, no corner hopping, wind, -40 windchills, schitty cell service, no quail, etcetera..

Idaho is the promise land...chuks, huns, grouse, quail, deer, elk, antelope, woofs, all a guy could ask fo'

He is bluffing. Wyoming is where it's at.

Randy
 

JWP58

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I can give you 7.5 million reasons not to move to Wa.

Same for Wyoming. Weak d.a.'s, methheads, UW football (if that's what you want to call it), Taylor Haynes, bitter cold, Yvon Chouinard/Jackson, and the front range of Colorado (that's right Colorado is so bad it ruins all that is near)....its all evil.
 
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Left Washington last year and never going to let myself become a resident of that state again.

I'm personally looking at the southern half of Idaho or Montana after I get my schooling done in 2020.

I kind of want to move somewhere with a pondo pine/ Doug fir/ lodgepole dominated forest. Too many grand firs up here for my liking.
 

bobr1

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Went through a similar process and was able to move to Montana recently. We had looked at WY, MT and CO which is where my wife was licensed. It really depends on what you are looking for as I have several friends that are moving from Colorado due to the politics and sheer amount of people that have moved there. Wyoming was nice and only has around 500k people so it is very sparse and plenty of outdoor opportunity. However, the wind/cold is pretty bad as well the isolation of most the cities that it was enough for my wife to decline offers in Sheridan and Lander that paid about 15k more a year with better benefits. Montana is nice only 1 million people spread over a pretty large areas and I prefer the size of the towns better here. However, its starting to grow pretty rapidly and housing is getting pretty expensive especially in Gallatin and Flathead areas without the type of jobs to support the housing cost. Idaho is also really nice. However, it was out of the running because my wife would have gotten paid about 1/2 as much there as the other states mentioned. I also get my tags at roughly the resident rate for being a DV so no need to get residency for me. Idaho is also the fastest growing state in the US as of this past year. So I guess it really comes down to several factors such as the opportunity for getting a job that you can afford to live in the area you want to enjoy. And your own personal feelings towards certain things. Like how you feel about more or less populated areas and the politics that go with it. Being in more isolated areas and dealing with more severe weather etc.... I feel like WY, MT or ID are all great states but you will get different answers from different people. I had visited Montana several times during summer and winter and there were only 3 regions/cities I would consider living in that fit mine and my wife's personal wants/needs. Fortunately, she was able to get into one of the three which was great and we love it.

Good luck
 
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I’d be interested to know the MT cities you considered and your criteria. You can pm with that if you would rather. Thanks!
 
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I lived in western Washington for 11 years and absolutely loved it. I fully planned on moving back there once I retired, but came to Colorado due to a job. I often think about moving back.
 
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BeastOfTheTrees
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We’re transitioning out of the military next winter and we want to be near some establishment like a small city but at least 20 miles from wilderness where I can be out hitting a trailhead to some backcountry without driving 3 hours...we currently live in Colorado Springs and it’s too damn crowded for us plus the front range gets slammed with people.... were looking at a few places in Idaho and Wyoming around the Couer D’Alene area in Idaho and around Buffalo Wyoming..... we like having forest close by which cuts a lot of eastern Wyoming out...... would also like to be at least an hour near some sort of college as I plan to be a student once I’m out...... my wife works from home so no problem there
 
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jmcd22

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I live in Boise and can tell you that it is not what it was 15 years ago...or even 5 for that matter. Every summer I see more and more California plates and east coasters. While the hunting is still good, you are having to travel further and further each year to avoid the crowds. We used to pheasant hunt less than a mile from where I went to high school and it is all houses now. We stopped pheasant hunting all together because there is no where to go anymore. In my experience, most of your good duck or goose hunting falls on private land if it is close to Boise. Any deer or elk hunting within 2 hours drive of Boise is a zoo unless it is a draw. There's talk of a few units moving to a draw only which will put even more pressure on some of the closer units.

Outside of hunting it is a great place to live but each year there is more and more crime...although still safe compared to most places. I also sense there is a larger and larger push to move "blue" with each year that passes if that sort of thing isn't what you want. I fear that within the next 5-10 years, provided the market doesn't crash, Boise will be a smaller version of your typical large city (Denver, Portland, Seattle). If I were to suggest anything to anyone looking to move here, I would say avoid the Treasure Valley if you're tired of that big city "feel". That can be hard to do if you rely on a job within the city though.
 

jeremy.b

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The Post Falls/Coure D'Alene area has exploded recently as well. My folks live up north of there and with the influx of people the local infrastructure has not kept up. Trying to go north/south on 95 is a rat-race now, where it wasn't nearly as bad even 5 years ago. Its not as bad as other more populated areas to be sure, but its not good.
 

303TrophyHusband

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Same for Wyoming. Weak d.a.'s, methheads, UW football (if that's what you want to call it), Taylor Haynes, bitter cold, Yvon Chouinard/Jackson, and the front range of Colorado (that's right Colorado is so bad it ruins all that is near)....its all evil.

Not to mention I heard Kanye set up shop there now too, PUHLEASE, if it were me it'd be Washington in a heartbeart, better winters, good wildlife populations and a good friendly city if the need arises. Wyoming is crap, Colorado is turning to crap, Montana and Idaho are freakin ice boxes. Don't believe the hype, everybody moving to Montana and Idaho are freakin jaded at this point, give them a couple years and they'll change their tune
 

jmcd22

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Not to mention I heard Kanye set up shop there now too, PUHLEASE, if it were me it'd be Washington in a heartbeart, better winters, good wildlife populations and a good friendly city if the need arises. Wyoming is crap, Colorado is turning to crap, Montana and Idaho are freakin ice boxes. Don't believe the hype, everybody moving to Montana and Idaho are freakin jaded at this point, give them a couple years and they'll change their tune

I hope you are right about Idaho because I am sick of everyone moving here...but to be honest, I don't see it changing any time soon...at least not down here in Boise. The influx gets worse every single year and the prices of homes are getting more and more out of control.
 
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