Why out of state?!

[washelkhntr]

  I forgot about that part, well no I didn't, but I didn't want to tell on myself.

[danceswitharrows]

Well lets see,,Washington SUCKS as far as wildlife management goes...If you were to go to lets say Montana, you would understand.. In Washington you shoot the first legal deer you see..In Montana,,you literally take your pick on the deer you want..I use to think the same way as you do, untill I got my eyes opened..

Hunterman(Tony)

[DBHAWTHORNE]

When it comes to whitetails I believe we have it as good as any place in the NW.

[Prime Time]

I'm so attached to the areas i hunt here in WA i wouldn't wanna go anywhere else...i might see acouple shooters everyday, but i always know there is that one or two big one that is smarter than all the rest and he got that big for a reason. It's not about how many deer i shoot in a year or how big he is i guess...it's knowing that i HUNTED my kill.

How is shooting a deer out of state considered not a "HUNTED" kill. Just cause there is more opportunity to HUNT for a kill over there? I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say there. Am I taking this the wrong way here or what? 

[bigpaw 77]

I go out of state because I can!!   There is nothing I love to do more than go on a hunting adventure, Washington has such a short season so if I go out of state too, then I get to spend even more time in the woods and with my dad. I don't care if I pay $600 - $1,000 to shoot a spike deer or a rag horn elk, its all about the adventure and the experience that comes with that. I do not hunt for the  score on a deer or elk; I don't really care what it scores. Hunters are getting a reputation for being trophy hunters that only care about how much the animal will score, and I think that is hurting our image. I will continue to hunt out of state when I can and am about to give up on elk hunting in washington. Anyways thats why I go out of state.

[bobcat]

I'm so attached to the areas i hunt here in WA i wouldn't wanna go anywhere else...i might see acouple shooters everyday, but i always know there is that one or two big one that is smarter than all the rest and he got that big for a reason. It's not about how many deer i shoot in a year or how big he is i guess...it's knowing that i HUNTED my kill.

How is shooting a deer out of state considered not a "HUNTED" kill. Just cause there is more opportunity to HUNT for a kill over there? I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say there. Am I taking this the wrong way here or what?  

I think I know what he means by that- it's the fact that if you hunt close to home you can scout your area regularly. On an out of state hunt you're pretty much going into an area blind. Of course unless you hunt the same spot for several years, ever year, and get to know it. I can see where someone might get more satisfaction out of a local hunt where they were able to scout, and hunt, a particular animal.

[halflife65]

I'm not sure - by giving yourself more opportunities you're not "hunting"?  Not sure I get that...Doesn't make sense.

Why, if you can figure out a way to afford it and get the time off of work, would you not try to give yourself as many opportunities as possible to go hunting - especially where your chances of seeing a whopper buck are greater?  And that DOESN'T mean sitting in your truck and seeing a big buck.  Places in Idaho along the Snake and others are extraordinarily physical hunts but you can get a nice buck.  I would argue that guys that are doing those types of hunts are earning everything that they harvest.

My hardest elk hunt was in Montana - walked 24 miles one day with 6 of it packing an elk.  I thought I was going to die (and the damn elk wasn't even mine).  I'd be pretty resentful if someone said that I was going out of state so that I didn't have to hunt hard...

[Machias]

I love being able to hunt multiple deer with multiple weapons, just got back from Missouri, took three deer, one with a bow and 2 with a rifle.  Really enjoyed hunting in the hardwoods of the Ozark Mountains (Hills).  I can go to Idaho and hunt deer or elk for three months with all three weapons, really doesn't compare.  I still hunt here but look forward to my out of state trips alot!!

[Swiftkid]

Never meant that guys that have more opportunties aren't HUNTING they're kill...i don't want to go somewhere that i can see 20 4pts in a day and still try and find that bigger one..

[Bob33]

EVERY out of state hunt I have been on turned into a great adventure and ended up being fun and a memory maker

How can you hunt too much?

[bigpaw 77]

I'm not sure - by giving yourself more opportunities you're not "hunting"?  Not sure I get that...Doesn't make sense.

My hardest elk hunt was in Montana - walked 24 miles one day with 6 of it packing an elk.  I thought I was going to die (and the damn elk wasn't even mine).  I'd be pretty resentful if someone said that I was going out of state so that I didn't have to hunt hard...

One of the hardest hunts I have done was hunting elk in montana, Even though I did not get a elk on that trip it was still fun to explore some new country.

[Prime Time]

Never mean that guys that have more opportunties are HUNTING they're kill...i don't want to go somewhere that i can see 20 4pts in a day and still try and find that bigger one..

I don't see the difference in seeing 20 4 points in a day and still looking for a bigger buck, or seeing just a couple "shooter" bucks you mentioned earlier and looking for the "bigger and smarter bucks" that you know are there. Just because a guy is seeing a lot of bucks in a day doesn't mean they aren't HUNTING for their kill, your whole point of view towards this has me baffled. I hunt for blacktails on this brush hole on the west side, and finding one of those "bigger and smarter bucks" is a challenge I take on every year and when I succeed in finding one of those bucks I take great pride in the work I put in scouting and finding that buck. But it's still hunting to me when I go over and see all those bucks out of state because I'm still looking for those "bigger smarter bucks." It's still hunting, just seeing more game is all.

[ridgefire]

im assuming you have never hunted out of state, try it sometime, you will probably be planning your next out of state trip as soon as you get back. for the most part, there is definetely better hunting than washington in other states.

[muleyguy]

perfect swift;  the only WA guy that stays in-state;  keep telling yourself it is all good here, less competition out of state for the rest of us

[Swiftkid]

perfect swift;  the only WA guy that stays in-state;  keep telling yourself it is all good here, less competition out of state for the rest of us

no competition for me...i hunt private land and public land that no one else hunts so i don't really need to find a "less" competitive area? Had an uncle who lived in Enterprise oregon...his driveway was 16 miles long and closest neighbor was 9 miles away. He was a cattleman who had more than 6000 acres of untouched prime hunting land...i never found the need to go hunt it...just driving to the house you'd see tons of elk,deer and bears...it was to simple.