ORIGINAL: quiksilver
In terms of everything except hunting,Pennsylvania has gotta be at the top. No matter where you live, you can practically walk to the nearest Cabelas/Gander Mountain/Bowhunting Shop. Everybody hunts (or at least talks about it), so you can always strike up a good deerhunting conversation, even with a perfect stranger. They'reusually totallyclueless as to how actual successful deer hunting is conducted, but sometimes you gotta take the good with the bad. We've all been there...
Speaking of taking the good with the bad...the hunting here isn't so bad, if you can get past the 90 guysstanding at the trucks at the gamelands gates, drinking coffee and telling whale's tales about the big one that got away. Most of them will never actually attempt to enter the woods, so they really don’t get in the way all that much. It's all in what you like and what you make of it.
If you're into hunting for the social scene (don't laugh, lots of people are, they just don't know it)- Pennsylvania is definitely THE place to be. It's the epicenter of deer hunting. We've got about 12 zillion bow leagues, a bow shop on every corner and you're just not viewed as being "normal" unless you have the obligatory "Size Matters" sticker on your back window.In addition, Pennsylvania boasts545 McDonald's restaurants, so once you become too fat and unathletic to do anything else, you just pick up a hunting license and declare yourself to be an avid deer hunter. Join a bow league and proclaim it as your "hobby." Spendgaudy sumsof money on completely useless target accessories as needed. Be the envy of your peers with your shiny chrome bow and flaming paintjob.
Despite the daunting number of "hunters," hardly anyone actually gets anything,... That’s not an indictment of our deer herd, or a statement against the quality of deer hunting here- moreso it’s a sad commentary on the lack of the average weekend warrior’s lack of skill or overall effort. So if you have half a clue, you'll have the chance to fill your tags - even against the long odds.
Pennsylvania is sorta like Barnum & Bailey meets Buckmasters. A hunting carnival, if you will. We have something for everybody.
Great response Fran!
From my perspective, I would like as many different big game species to hunt as possible, which would probably mean Montana, Wyoming, Idaho or Colorado would be my first choices….