Don't tell me that your fence repair kit doesn't include a rifle!? It's sad to think back on it now, but my hunting kit once included a roll of barbed wire, a stretcher, and a pair of fencing plarrrrrrrs. Permission to hunt generally also demanded one's presence at that annual pilgrimage known as "branding."

Fond memories of times gone by.
Now I often get approached by a new dude while I'm fixing damage from the last "dude", asking how much I will take to allow access.

My dad used to grant access to guys that approached politely and didn't tear stuff up. We landlock a huge chunk of NF and BLM. I can't afford to do that now. Wish I could. Some of those guys from the old days became friends.

Times change.

Oh great. Now I gotta add elk in Colorado and Wyoming both on my bucket list. Sheeesh!! You guys are makin this even more expensive. My life is just gonna get more complicated.

Just draw an elk tag in WY area 34.
The rest is gravy. Just promise to close the gates and don't rut up the roads.

Done and done. Heck, I'd even bring coffee. It looks like it's 3-4 years for a non-resident to draw in that area although pretty decent odds if you're a resident.

That they are. We never had stones enough to waltz up and ask a landowner how much they'd charge us to hunt. It nearly always started as one of those things where you'd hear somewhere around town that someone got hurt or was shorthanded and needed some help. You just went and helped. The feed afterward was always the reward. No strings.

But, then they'd hear we were coming up empty toward the end of hunting season and next thing you know you'd have a personal invitation from them to hunt their property. No strings.

Yes, times have changed. Maybe you should tell that next "dude" it'll cost him an honest day's work for an honest day's hunting? Maybe he'd have a little more appreciation then?

Dang, I've done both. Now what?

There's nothing in the world like sitting on a ridge listening and watching the elk bugle down below you. A good bucket-list item to have, for sure!

Fer shure dude. LOL. What will make it real interesting is the wife wants to move out of state (buh-bye CA) when we're both retired. She wants hunting for me and near water for her. Could get real interesting and will definitely be a lot of fun.

Cal,
My wife and I had the same situation when we came to retirement. She is the fisherman and wanted water so she almost got me to move to Alaska. I'm too heavily invested in WY to just pull stakes and go so she graciously agreed to settle for the local rivers and trout.
Hope you find your ideal place.

She likes the ocean but doesn't necessarily want to move there. She's good with a river, lake or stream nearby and has said she doesn't mind the cold. She doesn't like tornadoes or lightning storms but is okay with snow, etc. So far, it could be pretty much about any western state. Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Washington (state), Oregon and Arizona are all okay with her. We have a while and I'd want us to spend a little time in a state during different seasons before we chose to move somewhere. Both of us were born in Northern California and raised here. neither of us like the way they keep passing more restrictive laws. If we could separate CA into 2 separate states and keep the bay area and L.A. in the other 1/2, I'd be happy and we could get rid of most of these stupid laws. Since neither of us foresees that happening, we're considering other states. We have a few years before we're finally retired but it's definitely a decision that we'll research and make in the next 5-6 years.