I have thought about this for awhile and I have never hunted out west. What I have seen and read is you stalk out west more then east. Don't get me wrong I have stalked when I gun hunted and almost did so with a bow last year but it is mostly tree or ground stands.

The biggest difference to me however is the population explosion we're having back east. Just last night taking my son to the ER room I just missed taking out 3 deer. It was very close call. Where else do you have unlimited tags in areas? How many times out west has the land owner said kill all the deer? How many owners beg you to come and shoot their deer? How many times have you climbed out of you tree with a dozen deer 15yds away watching you climb down, change clothing, fold up your stand and walk out of the woods? That did happen once. The deer never moved. I could have shot any of them.

I plan one year to take a hunt out west. My first trip will be a bear hunt then elk. The bear hunt I will have to pay but the elk hunt I have some connections to hunt.

I would like a trip out west for whitetails, like Silent, I hold the whitetail in a class of it's own, it is the ultimate big game animal, IMO.