Trad Gang

the wife and I are thinking about moving again. This time we don't know where. We are basing our decision on two things:
1) ample places for me to bowhunt.
2) ample places for me to waterfowl hunt.

Where would you go and why??

top picks for us so far:

Washington state (over 100 day duck season)  :)

Wyoming

Iowa

Illinois

Missouri

I live in West-central Illinois, and I would suggest to you Calhoun County, Illinois. It is between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, so there is pretty much unlimited waterfowl hunting for you. There is also great opportunities to hunt whitetails, turkeys, and small game. The scenery is great, and so are the people.

I will be watching this one....

Western Kentucky??

I live in Spokane WA and previously in Woodstock GA, and raised in AL.  I don't duck hunt but do deer hunt.  WA is very skimpy on their deer season, it basically sucks.  I bow hunt deer and elk during gun season because all my friends are gunners. I will never move back to the deep south, I really like where I live now.

Best of luck

Somewhere near Wenatchie, WA., and the Columbia River Gorge.   You have mountains...you have high plains, you are close to elk, mule deer and blacktails.  And the apples aren't bad either 8^).

Minnesota? Mid Sept. to End of Dec. 3 1/2 months of deer hunting, more than a few Turkeys, good to great waterfoul hunting depending on the part of the state. Good amount of upland hunting to be had. Some of the best fishing on the planet.

Bring warm clothes it gets cold in January.

If it was me getting to move number one thing would be HOGS !!!!!!!!!

NO HOGS IN MINNESOTA

DD

Unless you have a lot of money to spend, I would not go to Texas. Lots of hunting, year round, but unless you are lucky and find somebody with land, you will pay to lease, or pay to day/weekend hunt on places.

QuoteOriginally posted by Doug in MN:


If it was me getting to move number one thing would be HOGS !!!!!!!!!

NO HOGS IN MINNESOTA

DD

Just wait from what I have heard they moved in to southern Wisconsin, and if that is true, then they will be in Minnesota soon.

Not Arizona! Nice country but you will need a tag to play in the woods.  

Arkansas, I dont know very much about the seasons but thay have a good fly way, one of the largest black bear populations, turkey, hogs here and there, a lot of public land and of corse whitetail, ill be heading that way in about 4 years when i retire, ( all my kids and grandkids live out there). If you concider Arkansas dont let me comming out there in 4 years change your mind, i wont slum it up to much.

Oaklahoma, Kansas and Missouri close by.

Duck hunting died in the 70's limit 3 a day now. Mosquitoes eat you alive in the early duck season for teal. The Wensels chased all the deer over to Pike Co, IL.

Looks like you have two pretty good reasons to move.  I'd probably go to Wyoming for the scenery and high altitude elk.

George.
Sounds like you like Wenatchee WA.  Happy to hear it, as thats where I was born.  Great place for sure.  I have lived here in WA state most of my life, and have always hoped to move back over there.

I do have a retirement home 50 miles from there, in Ephrata, but thats pretty desolate compared to Weatchee. Hard to believe the differance in just 50 miles.  They have Beautiful Mountains, rivers and you can't beat nearby Lake Chelan.  

Great hunting !!  However, un-like many States back East we normally are only allowed 1 deer and 1 elk  per year.  I think we can take 2 bears and cougars however, that might even be up to 3?  

Cougar and bear populations are way out of check. Since PETA and the tree huggers in the Seattle area, [ largest Democratic ie: "Liberal" population area in the state ] have started doing the work of "Fish and Game" by getting hound hunting and bear baiting abolished by popular vote. [It's no wonder the people on the East Side, would like to split the state.]

Regardless, We have a beautiful area, with plenty of outdoor activities to go around for all of us here to be pretty happy.

In fact, where I now live here in SW wash, I have 7 Salmon and Steel Head Rivers within 50 miles. Deer, Coyotes, rabbits, Racoons, and an occasional Bob Cat or Porcupine in the driveway and back yard.  It takes me a drive of 15 minutes to be hunting Elk.

YES it's a tough place to live but somebody has to live here.  :knothead:    :wavey:

I would move to AK for a year and declare residency then buy the lifetime license.  Then move to MT and do the same, then....

CO
Wy
OR, so on.

Then live in an RV wherever the best season is open.  You could hunt everywhere as a resident and be living the life we all only dream.

Alaska, Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois.  At the begining of the tradgang video, Terry summed it up, "if you don't live somewhere where there are hogs, MOVE!".  Nothing Like shooting hogs on the off seasons.  I love illinois for the animals, political B.S. is bad in this state.  But, I have spring tukey season, bowfish spring to middle october if I want.  Squirrels season opens Aug. 1st.  Really I only have Jan and Feb. with nothing to shoot.

If you decide on Calhoun or Pike IL let me know i live just north of the calhoun border and hunt alot of both counties and know alot of people in both. we do quite a bit of waterfowl hunting here as well as have the big deer and small game.

Forget all those...come to Georgia.
year round opportunities for fish and fowl as well as big game. Catch trout or Redfish, hunt quail or ducks, deer, bear , turkey and hogs.
The gulf coast is near as well as the Atlantic and the barrier islands.

Why do you think I stay here????

QuoteOriginally posted by Biggie Hoffman:

Why do you think I stay here????

Catfish & hush puppies!   :biglaugh:    :biglaugh:  

Biggie's on the button, to my mind. Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee or Missouri are all good,if you can handle the heat & humidity! (Not sure I can   :eek:  )

One state to avoid is Pennsylvania. Every knows there ain't no deer here!!  :)

I live in MS, but I'm partial to the southwest part of Missouri. I go up there every year to hunt turkeys, mushrooms, and deer with friends. One of my best hunting buddies from Florida is in MO this week, closing the deal on 40 acres of prime whitetail habitat, secluded with water and power and good neighbors, for $1500/acre. My other best buddy already has his 40 in the same area, with a cabin and a 4 acre pond that draws ducks. Ducks and geese are plentiful in the area. Lots of land available, and the price is right. If I had about $60K that I didn't need...

Not GA, no one can move back to GA before I can get back!

I don't miss the late July heat, but otherwise my butt may be in California, but my heart and mind are in Georgia.  (Enter Willy's rendition of the song here)

Go DAWGS!!!!!!!

CANADA by far Eh! We only have 1.2 million hunters country wide and Millions upon millions of acres of untouched wilderness.

GEORGIA!!  I can`t believe I agree with Biggie again. Thats twice in a year. He`ll expect it now.

  I hunt pigs year round Can hunt deer every day of the season as well as small game and ducks a plenty.Not to mention Great lakes to fish in ,Rivers a plenty and the big pond. I love to Surf fish for sharks during the summer.All of my hunting and fishing is on public land.RC

Uh...guys....he's from GA...Ellijay, GA.     :smileystooges:

I would stay out of ILLinois. When the pigeons come home to roost and the tax increases are in place, it's not going to be nice.

Toddster-You can hunt squirrel till Feb. 15th I believe.

Hap

How come nobody wants to go to New York...LOL. Since my daughter has moved to Ga. and I have gone to visit the last 3 years, I think its time look around down there a bit. Northern Ga., east Tenn., southwest Va., and western N.C. all seem nice. The mountains are nice and the hunting can't be to bad. I would love to move out west but the wife not to crazy about the idea.

Biggie, you forgot the humidity....and the State Bird of Georgia...the Mosquito.     :saywhat:

QuoteOriginally posted by Terry Green:
Uh...guys....he's from GA...Ellijay, GA.      :smileystooges:  

Well, dammit, he ought to stay there   :biglaugh:

I'm with hap on this one, rule IL out! The taxes and politicians are terrible and property is getting real hard to come by for the average guy looking to bowhunt!

You sure don't want to come to Texas...hunting sucks here  

Brett

Missouri has as many deer tags as you want to buy ,you can get in most of the state.  We have some big bucks to. (http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/L82HUNT/102_4413.jpg)


 The Mississippi Fly way. (http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/L82HUNT/100_0047goose.jpg)  


A pig are to in southern MO, (http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/L82HUNT/03-15-08_1118.jpg)

We also have top notch bass and trout fishing.  BlackWidow and Sunbear bows.

Well I just ruled out IL  :(  no concealed carry law, that law saved my life 4 years ago and I wont live anywhere without it.

we were talking some more today and Missouri might be it. I'm going to go and check it out soon. Maybe a public land hunt or two and see what I see.

thanks for all the replies guys!

Wyoming has a 30 day bow season. yuck.

One of the Dakotas. Probably South. Lots of public land. The most hunter friendly state in the nation. Waterfowl out the wazoo, pheasants, whitetail deer, antelope, mule deer, Elk, and turkey a plenty. If you buy all the tags (around 30) You can hunt from mid August to late Jan. There isn't another state that comes close. Plus if your in the western part your close to some other great Elk states.
Great people as well.
Happy Hunting
Doug

I wish I was more into the heat and humidity of the (deep) south, I remember a post last winter when some of you GA. boys went and shot some fish, birds and hogs in one weekend. That looked pretty awesome to me as I was below zero at the time. If I see apex get one more hog on a weekend hunt, I may think about moving anyhow. Huntin on a wim sounds good to me.
p.s. nice point Terry

Let me throw Arkansas in there.  Ozark and Ouchata National forests, Hobbs State Park (only state park allowing hunting, all 9,000 acres).  There are hundreds and hundreds of square miles of wooded hills and valleys that you can disappear into to hunt and fish (open to the public.  It's up to you to be able to get yourself in and out.)  Also, Stutgart is pretty much the waterfowling capital of the universe.  I haven't duck hunted much, but it's a big deal there.

And oh yeah. bow season from early October till the end of Feburary.

I would say if your into Big whitetail Deer Southeast Iowa, and since non-residents can't hardly get a tag in Iowa but every three years as a non-resident bowhunter. It would be a great choice as a place to live.  You can hunt Northern Mo and the best part of Il and only have to drive less than a hour. Chad

I would be thinking IA.  Nice thing is you would be centrally located-good cities within hours, medical, airport access,and other good border states to hunt.  It is not too far from the west (12 hrs to WY, MT. or CO).  Whitetail (you could take two as resident)is probably the best in the world.  And- they are still keeping with management that includes mature animals and residents first.  On top of that, if interested, land is still somewhat affordable in rural areas.

West Central MO.  Truman Lake.. lots of public land loaded with deer and turkey's.  come on up and try it out this Fall.  pm me if you are interested.

Southeastern Ohio you cant beat it AEP public, land a few local lakes with plenty of public land.

I can leave the house and see at least 20 different buck every night between 130" and 190" inch. And that's all in a 7 mile drive. I guess we are spoiled when it comes to big whitetails. There's alot of good public land around also.

I guess I'll put in a plug for North Dakota.Four month+ bow season with both whitetail and mule deer. Antelope- don't forget we held the P&Y world record for many years. We have once in a lifetime elk, moose and bighorn sheep. Turkeys, both spring and fall. We raise more ducks than any other state with an early Canada goose season that opens in two weeks. I guess if you have some time left we also have some world class fishing as well. I don't pay to hunt here and instesd rely on a handshake and building relationships with some great people. Our seasons definitely change, but that's why God invented snow camo.

Lost Creek,
I visited with you at Coon Rapids. If you are so overrun with big bucks you should have invited me down!

Oregon-Why, let's see:
3 species of deer, mulies, whitetails, blacktails.
2 species of elk, Roosevelt, Rocky Mountain.
2 species of sheep, California, Rocky Mtn (draw or raffle only).
Black bear (spring and fall seasons).
Cougar (almost year round).
Mountain goats (draw or raffle only).
Antelope (draw or raffle only).
Turkey's, 2 species, Merriams and Rios (I might be wrong about the species).
Puddle ducks in the swamps, diving ducks on the Columbia, geese in the fields (7 sub species).
Salmon, steelhead, large and smallmouth bass, sturgeon, walleye, tuna, lingcod, et al. fishing.
Lots of small game, coyotes, grouse, rabbits, ect.
Beautiful beaches, high mountains, deserts, you can ski and surf in the same day!  The worlds best beer and the wine's not bad either.
I'm sure I forgot something, OK I forgot the weather can be a tad rainy, but hey, everywhere has a drawback!  It's not perfect, but it's where I call home.  A couple other things, some of the best bow wood lives there, yew and vine maple, as well as a few "decent" bowyers and shops, Raptor Archery, Blacktail Bows, Liberty Bows, Fox Archery, John Strunk, and others.  Sheesh, now everyone is going to want to move there!

Texas.....

They say you should never ask a man if he is a Texan. If he is he will tell you pretty soon. If he is not, there is no reason to embarrass him

George...shhhhhhhh

I would say Iowa. Great deer hunting, upland birds, small game, bass and great trout fishing in the NE corner. If they had wild hogs it would be heaven on Earth.

"Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa"

Dont come to Ohio. The freeken crossb*** are taking over. Only the strong will survive in this state.

QuoteI would say Iowa. Great deer hunting, upland birds, small game, bass and great trout fishing in the NE corner. If they had wild hogs it would be heaven on Earth.

"Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa"  

And just where in Iowa are you gonna catch tarpon????

arkansas! well i like it we go duck hunting a lot, and then i have killed deer out of my back yard. and i see deer a lot on the sid of the rode. last week i saw three 8 ponts on the sid of the rode.
hope u move were u will like it


jake

Everyone here can say what they want,but it just doesn't get any better than the unofficial 53rd state CANADA ! we got it all.Where I live in Saskatchewan (SW) we've got Whitetails .Muledeer and Antelope. Probably the best Duck and goose huting in NA upland birds galore and 25 miles from where I'm typing this the World record Rainbow trout 43+ lbs. OH ! and now Wild Hogs, true Russians running all over. UTOPIA !

eh?

C'mon Biggie the language barrier isn't that big I know Y'ALL could Adapt ! LOL.

I ain`t moving anywhere that don`t have snakes. I got too much invested in snake boots. I`d prolly walk to fast to kill anything if there were no cottonmouths to make me go slow and look.RC

Can't believe no one mentioned Nebraska, big mule
deer, white tail, and elk, geese, duck. May not be much to look at but lots to hunt. Hey there is nothing else to do there from Sept. 5, until Nov. 25.

Well, we don't have hogs...but no poisonous snakes either.  I have to able to smell the salt water.  Plenty of ducks (bag limit of six), resident geese (15 daily), a deer season that runs from Sept. 1 to the end of Jan., squirrels big as coons and then its time to bowfish.  Haven't tried the rays yet but we have so many of them that I don't fish much any more in the bay.

Hey Steve,

You forgot to mention the bone numbing cold weather you guys have too and not for just a month or two of it but at least 4 months in a good year.  :)

Oh, and no sales tax.....

QuoteOriginally posted by longbow55:
Can't believe no one mentioned Nebraska, big mule
deer, white tail, and elk, geese, duck. May not be much to look at but lots to hunt. Hey there is nothing else to do there from Sept. 5, until Nov. 25.

The Cornhuskers are still that bad huh?  :D

dang, Beachie, that's cold....  :bigsmyl:

WOW! 5 pages!! I never thought I would get a response like that! I am going to go explore Iowa and Missouri for a couple weeks this fall and see what happens.

--c--

Missouri is pretty good for most everything. Two major cities as well, taxes aren't too bad either compared to Ill. fees and flat tax.

Arkansas isn't bad either. 2nd choice and somewhat warmer year round. Watch for ice storms, freezing rain though.

Deer just as big as Iowa, some upland hunting, turkeys are everywhere, and the fishing is good for walleye, bass, hybrids, and trout. Friendly folks in the state as well. Find a college town and settle in. Bass Pro is in Springfield and a fun place to go before the season starts. Three Cabelas in the state as well.

May not be the best state for variety, but it is centrally based if you want to fly somewhere to hunt as well.

 http://mdc.mo.gov/hunt/what.htm  

Wildlife

From waterfowl to majestic whitetails, Missouri offers hunters a variety of game to pursue nearly year round. Check the Seasons Calendar to see current and upcoming seasons, and always consult season-specific regulations booklets and the Wildlife Code for detailed information before you go afield.
Deer and Turkey

Deer hunting begins with the archery season in the early fall and extends into January. The firearms deer season is divided into five portions and begins in October. In addition to the main November segment, there are portions designated for urban counties, youth hunters, muzzleloaders, and antlerless deer. You can also enter a drawing to participate in a managed hunt at a selected location.

The fall archery turkey season coincides with the archery deer season, and there is also a fall firearms turkey season in October. Missouri's spring turkey season usually occurs in April, and you can draw to enter managed spring turkey hunts in selected areas.

The specific dates and regulations are set in summer and are published in the Fall Deer & Turkey Hunting Regulations and Information booklet. You can purchase deer and turkey hunting permits beginning July 1.
Waterfowl

Waterfowl season begins when ducks and geese are migrating in the fall. The season start is staggered between zones, with the northern zone of the state opening earlier than the middle and southern zones.

The specific dates and regulations are set in summer and are published in the Waterfowl Hunting Digest. You can purchase waterfowl hunting permits beginning July 1.

You can apply for a reservation at one of sixteen MDC-managed waterfowl areas and check the hunting conditions online before you go.
Small Game

Many other game birds and mammals can be hunted during designated seasons. If there isn't a season listed for a species, then hunting is not permitted for it. See the Summary of Missouri Hunting & Trapping Regulations booklet for more information.

Check the Migratory Bird Hunting Digest for special information on doves, teal, woodcock, and other migratory birds.
Trapping

Many mammal species may be trapped during the fall and winter furbearer seasons. If you want to use cable restraint, you must take a cable restraint-training course and have a permit to use that device. Check the Summary of Missouri Hunting & Trapping Regulations booklet for more information.

Missouri is blessed with more than a million acres of surface water, and most of it provides great fishing. Fly fish for trout in a spring-fed Ozark stream or trotline for monster catfish on Missouri's Big Rivers. Our waters hold ancient paddlefish and sturgeon, ferocious muskies, wary bass and tasty bluegill, crappie and walleye. More than 200 different fish species live here, and 40 of them are the targets of anglers.

So many kinds of fish live in Missouri because our biogeography gives us so many different kinds of water areas. The prairies of the Great Plains and forests of the eastern United States meet in Missouri. Also, the Mississippi and Missouri rivers meet in the Show-me State. Some fish species are specialists, inhabiting only one type of stream, but some fish species are generalists and thus are widespread in the state. In addition to fish, Missouri's waters are home to diverse species of mussels and crayfish, some unique to Missouri.

Oklahoma without a doubt.

MO ain't bad, if you come thru N MO ,stop in!

Well, what about Wisconsin? They have a great group of traditional bowhunters there that I bet would be happy to show you around. I just traveled from Michigan thru Indiana, Kentucky, Tennesee, Alabama, and part of Florida and there ain't enough roadkill anywhere there to say they are better then Michigan. And we have HOGS, they're called homecoming queens and are corn fed!

Scott,The colds not that bad! We just put on an extra sweater,BUT when its 130 in the shade that I couldn't handle.Canada is so darn vast I still haven,t seen a quarter of it.

if you moved to central oregon you would be in heaven.i'm planning to move to bend within a year...you are smack in the middle and aren't to far in any direction from whatever type of hunting,fishing,skiing or whatever you want to do.not to mention some world class rafting waters.it has everything you want and plenty of great shopping for the wife.check it out..........larry

QuoteOriginally posted by wtpops:
Arkansas, I dont know very much about the seasons but thay have a good fly way, one of the largest black bear populations, turkey, hogs here and there, a lot of public land and of corse whitetail, ill be heading that way in about 4 years when i retire, ( all my kids and grandkids live out there). If you concider Arkansas dont let me comming out there in 4 years change your mind, i wont slum it up to much.

Oaklahoma, Kansas and Missouri close by.

More like Blackjackahoma but I love it near Tulsa