Why out of state?!

[ScottyG]

There are lots of reasons to hunt out of state.  Questioning people's motives for hunting out of state is a bit like asking why people hunt at all.  You could ask a 100 people and get a 100 different answers.

I do it because that is where my family is and the places I grew up hunting are... want to hear the crazy part... my out of state is Washington.  And, I hunt public land.  

It's not just about the money.  It's not just about the animals.  It's about the memories you make and how you make them.  If going out of state helps you make your memories then that is where you should go...

There is no right or wrong to it.  

Scott

[Little Dave]

Probably the same kind of response if you ask a skiier why Whistler when we have Snoqualmie Pass so close.

Well I'm just back from Montana.  A few things I noticed.  Just about every town had it's "welcome hunters" sign up.  Not uncommon to see the orange in other rigs on the four lane.  Tuning into the local radio station they're running a contest to see who has the closest guess to how many elk pass through the Darby check station.  There's not nearly as much trash in the backcountry as there is here.

[littlemac]

For me it is a time to be with friends I don't get to hunt with here.

I have a great group on camp out of Liberty and we've been there for 30 plus years most of us.  I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Same goes for our hunts in New Mexico now too.  Different group, one main friend that brings a buddy and I do too.  My brother, my son, a friend but always there is my huntin' partner from Iowa to hook up with and tell tales.

We don't hunt the same though, he heads out for a trophy of a lifetime and I head out for a good hunt and to fill my freezer.  I have gotten some nice animals sure, but I have eaten elk every year I have been to New Mexico.  We spend some money but not a huge amount, lucky that way to have the hunt we do.

I am also fortunate to call my own vacation time and if I have a hunt, well it's vacation time.  Not a luxury I had in my youth, maybe us older guys are just makin' up for lost time, time we spent workin' so we could enjoy more huntin' now.  Whatever it is, to each his own and may you all get the time in the woods you want and may your success be spendin' that time.

[CountryslickR]

I think Miles knows where i'm coming from...i love hunting WA, i like hunting the areas i grew up hunting, i hope one day my son will learn to hunt the area i do. I like knowing what is around every bend and the challenge to find a buck that i want to shoot.

Your son wont be able to hunt the areas that you do if you keep shooting small bucks, and not let them mature and spread genes....of what could have been...

[jagermiester]

I have lived in MT and I have lived in WA and I have never been able to afford to hunt out of state (for big game) in either. I will say that you have to be crazy if you don't think Montana is a far superior state to hunt in. But I will admit that if I could have it all when I was living in WA I would have hunted with my brothers and buddies here in WA. I am leaving today to go to the missouri breaks for 5 days just to be a mule and a camera man. No tag but I bet I am going to have a blast and there are four tags and someone will probably shoot a pretty big buck but even if that does not happen, its really not what its all about.

[DBHAWTHORNE]

I am going to hunt out of state every year I can. However, unlike some of you it is not because I find WA hunting inferior in any way (at least when it comes to whitetails...I a sure the quality for other game animals are better elsewhere from what I have seen). I do it because I like the experience and additional opportunities. When I first moved here I didn't like the split seasons and having to choose a weapon but it has grown on me. From what I can tell it really alleviates a lot of hunting pressure on the public lands and leads to a quality hunt. We have some giants roaming these woods in good numbers.

[Glockster]

I will be hunting WA every year, but next year I'll also head to MT for the first time despite the new non res license price increases.

For me the reason is simply heart break.  I am heart broken over the precipitous decline in deer and the miss- management of them in my 'ancestral" hunting grounds here in WA.   There are enough sources of stress and depression in life....hunting shouldn't be one of them.  That's why I'm going out of state.

[high country]

I am one of the luckiest hunters that has ever been in wa, have not failed to have at least 2 big game animals down in any year since 93'......but every year I am disgusted with the people I see in the woods just not giving a rip about the rules ofthe area. I suppose when you cram half a million hunters in the wood for 10 days there are gonna be some rubs. I have gone to remote hunts in the last 10 years here. 5 of the 10 years hunting the kettle crest I have had run in's with guys on ohv's.....that bugs me being as there are signs every where prohibiting that.  for my efforts I will see an average of 5 18" bucks a day and 2-3 that break 22-24" in a week of hard hunting.

now pick any spot close to a town in montana......lets use simms. I hunted within 10 miles of town, saw at least 20 bucks in 3 hours and all were 18" plus.  move to the north 30 miles and we saw gobs of bucks that beat 24".......head out to yellowstone country, just going for a drive I could count on seeing 30 plus bucks from the road in a 4 hour drive......in all those places I never saw more then one other hunter.

[baldopepper]

I go out to Utah deerhunting every year that I can draw out simply because I was raised there and have family there.  It's a combined hunt and reunion.  It's amusing to go on the Utah Outdoor forum and read the very same complaints about hunting in Utah that I read on the Washington forum about hunting in Washington.  It's all only as good or bad as you want to make it.  I've been hunting and fishing for over 60 years-went from the "gotta get my game" to now just enjoying every day that I can get out and spend time in the woods or on the water.  I know many wildlife management people and I can say that all of them were dedicated people who made the best decisions they could under the restrictions they have to work with.  Wildlife management has changed dramatically  during my lifetime and I don't envy those who have to try to keep everyone from hardcore PAWS members to hardcore hunters happy.  It is what it is-get out in Washington, Utah, Montana, Wyo or wherever you can go and enjoy-make your opinions known and heard and then go enjoy. 

[spookgus]

I hunt Montana because there is more animals and fewer hunters. More animals means more chances which I usually need to get my youngsters and disabled dad on good bucks. When my son was 12, he and I spent Thanksgiving week hunting Montana and he shot a 4pt buck , a doe and a 5X7 bull in the same unit on public land. That week would be a little harder to duplicate in Washington.

I hunt Montana because I can bow hunt deer and elk during the elk rut for a week then go back and rifle hunt deer and elk during the deer rut/migration for a week.

[quadrafire]

I go out to Utah deerhunting every year that I can draw out simply because I was raised there and have family there.  It's a combined hunt and reunion.  It's amusing to go on the Utah Outdoor forum and read the very same complaints about hunting in Utah that I read on the Washington forum about hunting in Washington.  It's all only as good or bad as you want to make it.  I've been hunting and fishing for over 60 years-went from the "gotta get my game" to now just enjoying every day that I can get out and spend time in the woods or on the water.  I know many wildlife management people and I can say that all of them were dedicated people who made the best decisions they could under the restrictions they have to work with.  Wildlife management has changed dramatically  during my lifetime and I don't envy those who have to try to keep everyone from hardcore PAWS members to hardcore hunters happy.  It is what it is-get out in Washington, Utah, Montana, Wyo or wherever you can go and enjoy-make your opinions known and heard and then go enjoy. 

Baldo----That post should be required reading. That is awsome and well thought out!

It is what it is. good one

[Glockster]

I think Baldo really hit the nail on the head with regards to state wildlife agencies trying to please both ends of the spectrum...from animal rights wackos to us hunters. 

When they took the word "GAME" out and replaced it with Dept of Fish & WILDLIFE that's when we lost WA.  Now game and those who care about it (HUNTERS) are just one of the many "user groups" they serve.  I liked Dave Workman's idea:  abolish WDFW, put wildlife management in DNR and DOE's hands and bring back the GAME DEPT!  This guy should run for Governor!

The GAME DEPT would be charged with GAME MANAGEMENT and nothing else...no frogs, no dicky birds, no wolf 'recovery' studies, no Seafair patrols, no marijuana task forces, etc!  I bet we could pay for a GAME Dept with licensing revenue if game was all they were in charge of.  The Game Dept Director's salary and bonus plan should be tied directly to the overall statewide deer hunter success rate.

Hunters would be allowed and encouraged to purchase hunt multiple weapon season tags and the limits would remain one deer/ one elk / year.  "Choose your weapon" only served to fracture and divide the state's hunting community and greatly reduced the overall amount hunters contributed to the rural economies by hunting multiple seasons.

I don't buy the "quality" hunt BS.  Back in the 80's and earlier there were twice as many hunters... we were spread out and and had modern firearm elk seasons that lasted two weeks and were in mid November...any bull on the Eastside. That was quality hunting.

Now we have 3pt buck and spike bull blanket regs....and now lots of meat standing on the hoof at the feeding stations, AKA "Watchable Wildlife Viewing Opportunities".  (Look at all these big bulls and bucks; see what a good job we're doing )I'm betting this year's winter kill will be horrendous.  Literally tons of meat (the 3pt bucks and 6pt bulls) are going to feed the yotes, wolves, and magpies this winter.  That meat should have gone to feeding people. 

[DBHAWTHORNE]

Hunters would be allowed and encouraged to purchase hunt multiple weapon season tags and the limits would remain one deer/ one elk / year.  "Choose your weapon" only served to fracture and divide the state's hunting community and greatly reduced the overall amount hunters contributed to the rural economies by hunting multiple seasons.

I don't buy the "quality" hunt BS.  Back in the 80's and earlier there were twice as many hunters... we were spread out and and had modern firearm elk seasons that lasted two weeks and were in mid November...any bull on the Eastside. That was quality hunting.

Now we have 3pt buck and spike bull blanket regs....and now lots of meat standing on the hoof at the feeding stations, AKA "Watchable Wildlife Viewing Opportunities".  (Look at all these big bulls and bucks; see what a good job we're doing )I'm betting this year's winter kill will be horrendous.  Literally tons of meat (the 3pt bucks and 6pt bulls) are going to feed the yotes, wolves, and magpies this winter.  That meat should have gone to feeding people. 

That's a great point on the "choose your weapon". I can certainly understand the impact it has had on rural economies and I do see how it has fractured the hunting community here in WA.

Where I grew up you could hunt deer from Oct 1 - Feb 28, you could hunt with any weapon, you could kill two bucks and one doe with no antler restrictions, there were far more hunters than here in WA, there was far less Public Land and it was far more difficult to gain access to private and if it's brown it's down so if you ever take a whitetail buck 110 inches or larger you are the talk of the town (don't get me wrong there was still the occasional giant). When you did "pay" for access to private you were sharing it with a lot of other people and the hunting pressure was horrendous...same for the Public land. Don't get me wrong. It's where I cut my teeth and I would never take it back. I have no doubts that WDFW can do a better job and I can't speak to the  Golden Years of the 80's because I wasn't here....But if you don't buy the "quality" hunt BS then I am assuming you haven't experienced anything like people backe east because I have seen nothing like it here in the west. I would consider every Western hunt I have ever been on a quality hunt/experience.

Since I have been in WA I have easily been able to gain access to private land, there is tons of public land full of game that is virtually untouched in many areas and bowhuting opportunties at 130-150 class whitetail are a very regular occurence. Not to mention that I annually see a few whiteatil in the 150-170 range (haven't been able to connect on anything 150+...yet) and then every few years I will see a 170+. In addition I can experience all of this without having 5 hunters set up within a few hundred yards of my position.

I think if I was a little more serious about the other game animals I would likely feel the pain but when it comes to the whitetail management I only have a few complaints and I definitely consider the hunt an all around quality experience...guess my standards are lower since I am originally from back east.

Of course places like Montana are going to be great....lot's of quality habitat, more game and fewer people...you can't beat that....unfortunately I didn't draw a tag this year...good thing I could still hunt the big boys here in WA. I love Hunting Washington.

[cohoho]

Swift---  Reason - Out of state----  Cause I can....

Besides the variety, the terrain, the environment, it is all about experiences and adventures. Some of the most beautiful places in the world.  The hospitality, the people, the fun and again the adventure!  Can you see a 1000 Deer and Antelope in a weekend here?  Can you see herds of 500 Caribou?  Can you see twelve brown bears feeding off a single river?  Can you see 50 Dall Sheep on a ridge?  Can you see a group of 30 Moose in the same location?  Can you see the Northern Lights?  Can you actually experience 100% complete remoteness?  Tetons at Dusk?  100's of miles of fields, tundra, etc...?  Yea Washington has beautiful places but why not broaden your prospective..  You might have your honey holes here, that is great, as I have mine in my old stopping grounds in AK, but Wyoming and Montana is so exciting....

Question back for you:  Do you eat at the same restruant everytime you go out?  Why do you go somewhere different?  Variety-- Maybe?

[WDFW-SUX]

I hunt out of state because every dollar I spend is one less for the general fund, Oh and the hunting is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better that its worth it.