Hey.... been talking about this for a long long time, but I retire soon and it really does look like we're gonna be wheels up soon.
Anybody on here from the Missoula area? can help with a few questions about elk, trapping, ect ect???
I need somebody that really knows the area and knows the state land well!!!!! just some help on where I should drop anchor and land for good!!! please!!

I knew you would take out at some point to here !

Good on you for your planning and diligence !

Just make sure the weather is much nicer for travel than now .

There are a decent amount out here who know that area who will gladly help and be happy with you.

Im sure you have been researching places you'd like to look into in staying, too.

All the best to you and yours !

Happiness attained- and its been worth every mile ......

Birddogs,
There are better but I am close Elk, not problem everywhere access not so happy except public ground and block mangement.
Trapping get ready for a rude experience, lots and lots of driving to catch the same amount of fur as you guys catch on 40acres.
Pm if you like I will try ,
myself I am moving east a ways.
Oh forgot poverty with a view

I prefer Helena lived there eight years. Missoula gets a lot of fog. Foul smells from the paper mill just east of town Milltown probably grown together by now. Lincoln is nice it's on 200 between Missoula and Great Falls. About eight miles west of where the feds caught the Unabomber ha ha
Clark's fork and the little blackfoot are good fishing get yourself a Gazzeteier for the state. It is a book of maps for the entire state. Shows state, forest, blm, and private and roads down to trails.
Pretty good elk hunting around Avon junction, hiway 12 between Missoula and Helena. FS around Rimini is good hunting for elk
It is a very big state, would be a fair size book all the places I've hunted and fished there but it has been twenty years and a lot has changed. A lot of Californians have moved in up by Kallispell and Whitefish. Lot of millionaires a lot of landlocked public land. Good luck and leave the east coast ways behind, the natives are not fond of easterners and west coast
liberals. The people that have grown up there or been there a long time are down to earth and very good people. A lot of the late comers not so much. Have fun!

depends on what "montana" you're looking for... Missoula is the mountains and pretty scenery, nice trout streams close by..... its too many people in my opinion.... and is the liberal armpit of the state. If you're looking for the montana i like... great scenery, with NO MOUNTAINS... more critters to trap per square mile than the mountains... better coyotes than the mountains... better hunting than the crowded overpopulated western half of montana. .... the "do what ever you want because no one cares montana... " you should move to the eastern half... The HI Line is impossible to beat!! and the people here are super nice .... they'll pat you on the back for trapping... not stab you in the back

;this well put!!!!!!!

I "think" it was Missoula I stopped in to get fuel one day. Looked like a earth pig convention going on. They just allow these smelly turds to loiter around the city smelling things up. We get a bunch of them around here in the summers from out that way. By the looks of it, they have an earth pig assembly plant there in Missoula. Or did I get my cities mixed up?

Think I'd head to Wyoming instead, personally.

It's sad but true, Missoula is a libtard hotbed. Neat country around there but definitely not "user friendly" for trapping. Lot's of good places to live in Montana still just gotta get further from the bigger towns. Don't be discouraged about it but you definitely need to do some looking around before you put down roots. The best places for hunting and trapping opportunities aren't prosperous areas which may not be an issue if you're bringing your own money with you.

No Calvin you are right on the money

Missoula is home of the University of Montana. Also home of Footloose Montana. Very much anti-trapping, anti-hunting, etc.

Montana is a BIG state. Lots of variety. Spend some time driving around and see what sort of landscape you want to live in.

I lived in Big Timber in the 70s before the new interstate was put in! It was all ranch land back
then,also some of the best down to earth folks you could meet.I worked on different ranches and had a lot of land to hunt ,fish or trap on. The last time I was through there it sure did change.
One thing for sure if your going to move far from the towns you better be able to take care of yourself in winter!

People from the east coast as well as the left coast have changed the way things are in NM CO WY and MT. Lots of people ain't happy about it. You been chasing outlaws in urban sprawl/city's for awhile. Try rural life instead. May take a few months to get accepted but trappers and hunters are their kind of people. Be freindly and helpful. Don't support things like zoning, reduction of livestock grazing on BLM, school consolidation, or any other changes to the way they live. You will make friends of the best kind of people that will be there for you when you need them.

Also one thing to consider, what kind of weather you want? It varies ALOT throughout the state. West side gets a lot more moisture, ie. snow and rain. East side not near as much. If you like wind, the middle of the state is what you want, from east side of Glacier Park, down to Yellowstone, through Great Falls, Harlowtown and Big Timber to Livingston. Lots of wind, all the time. If you're not used to it, may get to you after awhile. If you don't like feeling closed in, avoid the western valleys in winter, lots of overcast days and fog, can get to you.
I've lived in Libby, Missoula, Plains, Billings and now Bridger, so I've seen/lived a lot of it. Just another thing to consider before planting roots.
Elk hunting can be found in varying amounts everywhere except the NE corner. More public land in the western half. Trapping will help you gain access to private land if you trap coon, coyote and beaver.

BIRDOGS - Welcome to Missoula, even though you haven't moved yet. a fellow trapper and hunter would be an asset there.

Fact is as a fellow Montanan we should encourage trappers and hunters from back East who long for the west to move to Missoula. Perhaps we could reclaim Missoula back from the Hippies and their unleashed granola eating dogs. Bring back the hunting and fishing stores again.

well put, best of luck to you.

I wouldn't recommend Missoula. I would recommend western Montana and more specific SE part. As for wind Montana is a windy SOB. People say the wind does blow in Montana are lying. LOL

You should take a good hard look at Jordan or circle. Maybe Glendive if you want to live in a big city.

As for state land, most of it is locked by surrounding private land and is impossible to access without permission from private land owners.

Everyone has their preferences, and thats great.

As well as yourself, and those with you.

What you, and everyone with you wants, is really bottom line, and is to be respected.

As for down to earth people, they are all over the state. The majority that I know in the western regions are from generations of loggers, outfitters, hunters, and trappers. Or those who have moved here and love the lifestyle as well. They too, do what they want. Shoot rifles off the back porch . Ride a horse for miles without coming into a town. And even the towns, riding right down the middle of main street and have people who know and don't know you stop and wave.

As for wind, I moved west of the divide to get away from wind. There is not often wind in the NW areas where I am. Oh theres micro climates , according to river, lake and mountain range positions that are more prone to wind - but not the kind that takes the life out of you all the time. Wind is exhausting to me. So I like quiet places-with bouts of storms moving through , with wind- but by far, quiet and still.

There are beautiful places everywhere - I prefer mountains. The western parts are not overpopulated . Certain spots are more in population, just like anywhere in the world....but there are vast stretches of woodland between the small towns that dot the western area.

As Nancy stated, MT is a vast state....and if your base point is Missoula, your could start there, and see what other areas you might like to explore.

You also have anyone else with you in their preferences, too. Its up to time and discussion- and a lot of research. A place someone here suggests may be misery for them.....and that wont do.

Nothing is written in stone, and you can go where everyone is happy , including yourself.

There are great down to earth people here as well as east of the divide- indeed- every state -anywhere- has its people with opposite views- positive or negative- all kinds. Sure there are areas where anti views are more prevalent - but thats all over, everywhere in any state, even eastern MT in places. There are also many more areas- small towns and rural, that are nice to live around , and who appreciate the outdoors life as you do.

It all comes down to whom one associates with in everyday life.

Painting with too broad a brush in generalized terms, always blurs the fine details that can be appreciated..

I would say first see what areas you and yours want- look into that first-what you need to live- how far from medical or other services you can be - and do some touring.

The final decision is of course, yours. If you and yours find you like any given area, then so be it. All my best in happiness of attaining your goal . Welcome to the west !

There is an old story I have liked....and here it is:


A traveler came upon an old farmer hoeing in his field beside the road. Eager to rest his feet, the wanderer hailed the countryman, who seemed happy enough to straighten his back and talk for a moment.

"What sort of people live in the next town?" asked the stranger.

"What were the people like where you've come from?" replied the farmer.

"They were a bad lot. Troublemakers all, and lazy too. The most selfish people in the world, and not a one of them to be trusted. I'm happy to be leaving the scoundrels."

"Is that so?" replied the old farmer. "Well, I'm afraid that you'll find the same sort in the next town.

Disappointed, the traveler trudged on his way, and the farmer returned to his work.

Some time later another stranger, coming from the same direction, hailed the farmer, and they stopped to talk. "What sort of people live in the next town?" he asked.

"What were the people like where you've come from?" replied the farmer once again.

"They were the best people in the world. Hard working, honest, and friendly. I'm sorry to be leaving them."

"Fear not," said the farmer. "You'll find the same sort in the next town."

With a user name as BirdDogs you might consider eastern Montana if thats is what you are into... Montana has some world class bird hunting around Sidney... and trapping would be great to. I lived in that worthless Missoula for 10 years... saw it go from a timber/logging town to a complete left wing bunnyhugger village...Seems anywhere they state runs and Idiot factory those hippies take over... I believe out of state parents are so embarrassed at their worthless hippy children they send them far away to college... And these scum just never go back home..Eastern Montana is plains and western montana is mountains... But if I was a trapper but really into bird dogs I would have to pick eastern Montana