If you could chose anywhere to live in terms of archery ranges and availability, including cheap public ranges, 3D courses, hunting, and other trad archers, where would it be?
I don't know about all of that but Arkansas is pretty nice for a sportsman. We have a very strong population of sportsmen and lots of public lands, some of which are bow only and a pretty respectable variety of game animals.
What about Bowlivia?
Michigan and Pennsylvania
QuoteOriginally posted by Miner49er:
What about Bowlivia?
:laughing:
I live in SW PA close to MD line.
We have decent numbers of deer, bear, turkey, small game, and bow fishing. Close enough to MD, OH and WV to make hunting out of state doable.
I have enough traditional shooting friends nearby to easily get a few together with just a phone call. I'm an hour from Strictly Sticks, 3 hrs from Baltimore shoot, 4 hrs from ETAR, 2.5 hrs to the OH shoot, Pine Hill is 3 hrs, other smaller shoots and events within a reasonable drive. Our annual trad archery golf shoot is coming up soon, it's less than an hour away.
I'm fortunate to be right in the middle of all these opportunities.
I do have a bunch of Trad friends here in N.Y. but hunting is not that great in my opinion.....at least in my part of the state. Planning on moving to Georgia in the next year or so and I'm looking forward to spending time in a different piece of woods. Seems to be some stuff going on down that way with shoots and such.
Michigan. Incredible amount of public land. Some of it is so remote in the U.P. that you don't see another person for weeks.
So I've been in the Army for the past 28 years, stationed all over the world and the States. The best place I have been stationed for traditional archery is Georgia. Good whitetail and turkey hunting. Hogs galore. And the terrain suits a Trad bow.
And 3D shoots from about February until September, some local, some major, but all within driving distance. Several Trad guys at the shoots.
Just my take.
For hunting opportunities I think GA is tough to beat. Most of the locals in western NC go there to hunt deer. You have lots of hogs and small game opportunity to extend your season. Winter is mild. Bears and turkeys too. Decent sized public lands. Not sure how crowded they are but I intend to find out soon.
My house.
Its not an eastern state. Thats for sure. Ever read any don thomas books? In one season in montana, he could hunt elk, muleys, whitetails, moose, black bear, pronghorn, and lions. Then add in all the different upland game they have plus all the waterfowl and turkeys. Not sure why I live in Ga
Georgia ain't bad especially for hogs....tippit
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I would think that Idaho would be a really good place to be. A big variety of game and some awesome scenery and good amounts of public ground. I've been there once and would love to go back.
I like Georgia pretty well. We don't have elk, moose, or caribou, but I can't afford to hunt them anyway. Whitetails make up the bulk of my hunting efforts, and we have plenty of them. Hogs are plentiful, too.
On a farm here in southern Iowa,,Monroe or Lucas counties. Plenty of pheasants, quail, coyotes and not to mention the big deer here.
I can only comment on where I have been. PA. would get my vote, lots of deer, lots of shoots. Then come back here for winter!
The Keweenaw but only if you like lots of the white stuff.
Don't get me wrong, I love it here but based on traditional gatherings,number of clubs and number of traditional archers it seems the areas around Michigan and Pennsylvania have the most to offer IMO.. the Midwest in general seems pretty active.
Lots of threads and response's from middle America
Not Colorado...
At least for residents.
AZ, WY, MT, NV, Ut, ID, NM
NY has a lot of opportunity to shoot and a great large group of trad Hunters/shooters.
If you ar etalking about Hunting Opportunity, I would look elsewhere.
I've been meeting guys here in WI. Theyve been great but it doesnt seem like there are quite as many shoots. There is better deer hunting though in general.
In Okla we have a 2 buck 4 doe whitetail season from Oct 1-Jan 15,bear in SE and 12 hours from Denver And antelope in panhandle.
Terry
It's hard to say if you haven't really lived and hunted there. Southern Iowa has the big deer rep but few trad guys compared to where I lived in MN. When you have gatherings out east that draw thousands of shooters you really wonder.
I used to love in SW PA not far from Red Beastmaster. A year ago this week I moved to Springtown TX, which is kind of in the DFW area. I have a big open property with no close neighbors so in the aspect of target shooting, I like here better. I have plenty of room for a home range. Finding public places to hunt is much more difficult in TX than PA though so I do miss access to all the public land PA had to offer. I like I can hunt free range hogs here and I could not in PA.
Georgia hands down. Hunting you can be in the woods chasing deer, bear, hogs, turkey all in less than an hour drive from Atlanta.
I moved from North Ga right across the street from a WMA to Decatur. Surprisingly living in Atlanta I can be North, South, East, or West in less than an hour chasing critters. This is also good if you shoot 3D shoots.
Michigan
If you have great shooting and hunting friends in Idaho, you are in the best place! The company you share the experience with will always beat the location!
I've spent 42 years in Michigan, 6 in California and the past in TX. I miss my Hunting buddies in Michigan, 3d and archery club buddies in California and enjoying making new ones in TX. Be careful what you wish for because in the end you may find out the greatest thing is those you shared the experience with.
I've resided in GA, CO, NY, FL, KY. My fav was Colorado, but all have their merits. To me, it just depends what you make of it.
Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, northern New Mexico, Montana.
Colorado
Why Colorado PECO?
Ohio used to have good rabbit and deer hunting. Our division of wildlife has done a miserable job of managing the deer herd--- too many years of 9 deer limits and allowing pen raised deer that is starting cwd has really taken its toll around my farm. Very little efforts at habitat along w coyotes, hawks and owls unchecked and now it is rare for me to see a rabbit. Forget about quail and pheasant. They seem to be focusing efforts on getting the rattlesnake population established so at least someday we may have some limb skins.
I'm sorry my US brothers, clearly I'm bias, but I would have to argue for British Columbia ,Canada.
This is why, I can hunt Whit-Tailed deer, Mule Deer, Black tailed Deer, black bear, cougar, Moose, Caribou, Elk, Mt. Goat, Stone Sheep, Rocky Mt. Big Horn Sheep, Wolf, Lynx, Coyote, and more , all with-in a general open season. Yes there are Limited Entry Hunting seasons for many of these as well, but I can hunt them all with an over the counter tag. I've been lucky enough to take many of these with the longbow, including
3 Mt.Goat, Stone Sheep, Moose, bear, each species of dear, Hog, and more. and not one of those trips cost me more then a couple hundred bucks which was for the most part truck and boat fuel.
Yankton, SD, Olympic training center, nfaa headquarters, MO River, good hunting in SD and Nebraska with more big game close to the west.
Td hunters got it right you poor southern boys have no idea lol. Where I live is a deer hunters dream come true.monster white tails,Miuleys,bear,pronghorns moose and elk.The fishing ,bird hunting and varmint hunting is world class.
Td hunters got it right you poor southern boys have no idea lol. Where I live is a deer hunters dream come true.monster white tails,Miuleys,bear,pronghorns moose and elk.The fishing ,bird hunting and varmint hunting is world class.
Don't count Texas unless you own land, or are friends with someone who owns land.
The hunting here is great, but first you gotta have a place to hunt....
Texas is 99% privately owned, so......
QuoteOriginally posted by JR Williams:
So I've been in the Army for the past 28 years, stationed all over the world and the States. The best place I have been stationed for traditional archery is Georgia. Good whitetail and turkey hunting. Hogs galore. And the terrain suits a Trad bow.
And 3D shoots from about February until September, some local, some major, but all within driving distance. Several Trad guys at the shoots.
Just my take.
Yes Hogs year-round and don't forget black bears
In ten years I'll be ready to retire by all accounts. No way I'm staying on Long Island with the way things are going and prices increasing. I'll miss much Archery club, Suffolk archers and my friends. Hunting on LI is ok with some nice bucks but the crowds and the slob hunters are both bad.
I would like to live on the trophy mountain at Cabelas. Every day I could shoot world class critters and not freeze my butt off. :archer2:
QuoteOriginally posted by GDPolk:
I don't know about all of that but Arkansas is pretty nice for a sportsman. We have a very strong population of sportsmen and lots of public lands, some of which are bow only and a pretty respectable variety of game animals.
Right on! Bow season runs from September til February and hogs are available year round on private land...
TDHunter makes a strong argument for somebody still young enough to handle the terrain. What makes me still claim GA as best, is that I still can handle the terrain necessary to go after what we have. Oh, to be young and healthy again...
All of these places sound great, but WHY Colorado?
Colorado. For hunting or just archery? Wouldn't be a really good choice for either.. Small game, forget about it unless you know somebody close to your home. Public ground is completely over run. Big game not so much either. VERY crowded and if you live on the front range have to travel a long ways. One good trad shop in the state that I know of. We have been spoiled in the past but its getting ridicules these days. Way too many people, way too liberal. Every since parks and rec took over the game and fish its been a real cluster. Sorry to be so negative but to see what has happened to this state the last several years is just sad. .
I'll go with GA also. I've hunted many different states, and the Midwest whitetail hunting is better, but also more limited. We have lots of deer and hogs, plenty of turkeys, bear, gators, bowfishing, small game aplenty. Long seasons, mild weather, several trad only clubs,etc. Our terrain varies from very steep in the northern mountains to just about flat in lots of south Ga. Hogs are year round. But we don't have elk. I do miss hunting those critters.
I'd say the SE USA generally. Can shoot outdoors most of the year, lots of hunting opportunities from whitetails, to small game, varmints, and bowfishing. Plus pigs, though I never have pursued them myself.
I think that it's where you are. Most place (Greener on the other side)nice to visit but there's no place like home. That's why you live there.
4dogs couldn't have been more right.
I'll go with Arkansas. I don't even have to drive anywhere, there are 6-14 in my back yard most times. Saves me a lot of windshield time. the season last from Sept. 23 thru Feb. 28 after Dec it's bucks only for me the does have been road and pregnant so I don't want to stick one after Dec.
Think Pennsylvania has always had the a very large number of active traditional shooters, so the state has a lot of events and places to hunt.
Central Texas has so many deer, they can be more common to see than dogs in some neighborhoods, especially in the Hill Country. When I was there (Hills of Lakeway), all you had to do was open the front door and shoot. But Texas also was the first state in the early sixties where a person had to lease hunting rights, so a poor retired fellow would have some trouble hunting there if their front yard didn't have a lot of deer.
Oklahoma has some mighty friendly shooters who seem to support each other well, and living is inexpensive across most of it. They eat chicken fried steak, pecan pie and smoked brisket too, just like Texas. However, think I would move to Missouri, where the hunting and bass/catfishing are good too. It can be as inexpensive to live there as Oklahoma. I would still be close enough to go home to Oklahoma to check on the old folks (my brothers) and take them out for a $20 22oz steak to keep'em standing.
I think it totally depends upon what you want to chase, as well as what your profession is ( or can be).
I've been asking myself that same question ?
If I was by myself, it be a different story but I have to consider my wife. We have lived in the North country most of our lives. In the middle of winter, I don't like snow. That's only because I have to shovel it out of my driveway. But when I was active in archery, I didn't like the first opening day. Sometimes you could call it
" amateur day". I always like waiting till the first snow. It was best for tracking. And now in your Golden days or as you say retirement, you wonder what's the best state to move to.
I don't think it can be based on one thing. There's a lot of things to consider. As much as I hate to say it, after all the thinking and planning and dreaming, I think it's still the North country. But we'll have to see in September. That's when the rubber meets the road.
With thought of Georgia, SD, one get snow the other one gets ice once in a while. The hard thing is you live all your life in one area where you have all your friends and relatives, and then you move someplace where you don't know a single soul. Now that's drastic !
Just my thoughts, but everybody's got to do what they think is best !
Carl <------------<<<<
Definately NOT Colorado. At least from an opportunity stand point. Yes we have lots of critters. And besides deer elk and (maybe) antelope good luck getting a tag. Not to mention. Our archery season is ONE month long. And all the species seasons are pretty much in that same month. I'd personally would rather be a visitor to CO for hunting and live in a place game and season rich with easy access to other states for hunting as well. Shoot just having pigs to hunt all year long would be a pleasure.
Not complaining about my home state. It's just not "bowhunters paradise" like people assume it is.