Best State in the US for resident Hunting
 

Im curious to see what people's opinions are when it comes to what state in the contiguous US 48 states is the best for resident hunting.

What I mean by that is what state allows it's residents the easiest access to tags without a lottery system. A state that offers multiple species of animals (Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Moose, and/or Elk). And a state that is easy for Do It Yourself hunts. I am in a unique situation here where I have several options on where to move for my next jobs and I want to move to a very hunter friendly state with plenty of access to big game hunting. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Wyoming is about as good as it gets, but I don't think you'll find any state that has easy to get moose tags. Those tags generally take a number of years to draw in most states that have a huntable population.

What do you like about Wyoming? How does things work there? What are the main animals there?

It's a hunter friendly state where a person can buy up to 4 doe antelope tags, 4 doe deer tags, a buck mule deer tag, a buck whitetail deer tag, 2 buck antelope tags, 2 cow elk tags and a chance every year in the random draws for a moose, sheep, bull elk, or mountain goat tag. Also, if you buy an elk Preference Point you can normally draw a bull elk tag every other year with one PP to hunt a number of good units throughout the state for that tag too.

Kentucky and Tennesse seem to have a long Deer Season and plenty of Deer to shoot...plus I think Kentucky has Elk....were building up an Elk Herd here in MO but it will be several more years before any type of drawing!

I agree with topgun 3006! I live in Wyoming love it here. There is also a lot of public land available. If you like DIY hunts Wyoming has a lot of wilderness areas available that you can hunt in and get away from the large crowds, it just depends on how hard and dedicated you want to be. Plus you can hunt elk pretty much every year if you buy over the counter general bull tag. It doesn't get much better than that.

Please realize that Jbergy is talking about a resident of Wyoming in his post. The only negative thing about Wyoming is the requirement that a nonresident must have a licensed guide to hunt big game in wilderness areas. That will cost big bucks unless you have a resident friend that can apply to the G&F for a free permit to take up to two people a year into wilderness areas, but they may not receive any kind of compensation for doing it.

Not Wisconsin...

I would imagine that a lot of places out west would be good.

I would have to guess Alaska, but that brings a lot of other considerations along with it beyond hunting.

[Edit: sorry, my attention span is apparently too short to have recalled that you limited the question to the contiguous 48]

(I thought Wyoming didn't have a point system for residents??)