hypothetical which state to live in the USA

[hjl]

Hi to all,
I have a hypothetical question for all.
If you were moving to the USA which state would you go to for the best shooting?
My target shooting interests are : 22 rimfire benchrest ,100 & 200 centrefire benchrest possible 500 &1000 yard benchrest.
My field shooting interests are: varmits all ranges, deer & elk?
Thank you for your help.
Regards
hjl

[meathead]

Western Montana

[screech]

If you're not looking to be close to competitions, Montana and Idaho would be my choice. Live in Idaho and love it other than the fish and game have everything screwed over and the 16lb rifle restriction.

[goodgrouper]

Well the elk basically shoots down most the eastern states although a few are starting to reintroduce elk back to their former habitat.

1k matches are more prevalent back east but are still around in the west.

100,200 br is also more prevalent in the east although plenty are now out west.

Varmints are evenly distributed with maybe a slight edge going to the west (chucks, ground squirrels,coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, and the all important prairie dog are in big numbers).

Rimfire br is also everywhere.

As far as locations to shoot, the west has her by a landslide. Far less people and vast open expanses make shooting very easy.


In the west, Utah is of course the prettiest [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] but is geographically the farthest from an NBRSA sanctioned 1k match anywhere in the country. This is scheduled to change by the end of the year with a state of the art, multi-million dollar, multi-purpose shooting facility outside the town of PRice. Can't wait. We have all the other things covered easily.

Nevada has it all, although if you move to Las Vegas, you will be farther from their closest 1k br range than people living in SLC, UTah! It is in Reno which is on the other side of the state from Vegas.

Wyoming has it all but 1k which is rumored to change soon.

COlorado has it all for now, but with the massive infestation-err migration of Californians moving there things could get shut down.


Idaho has it all and is also very beautiful.

MOntana is COLD but beautiful and has it all.

Oregon and Washington have good halves (they know which side is good and it isn't the west half) but not sure about 1k matches there.


Arizona is a truly great state as long as you're in the desert and not in the overpopulated urban jungles. They have everything you want including summertime temps in the 110-120 degree range! Makes it hard to cool a barrel down in the middle of July.


New Mexico is a pretty place and also has it all.

Texas is good but mostly private property. Finding a place to shoot is tough until you talk to a few landowners and then you are set. Texas has all the shoots you want and then some but unsure about elk down there? If they don't have elk, they have plenty of varmints to make up for it!

HOpe this helps.

[speedbump]

IMHO, take a good look at New Mexico. All you ask for with elk, pronghorn, deer, & varmints; sparsely populated outside the major metropolitan centers, plenty of shooting opportunities (including the NRA Whittington Center), plus good people & GREAT food!!! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Sasquatch]

There are a couple 1K ranges in Wyoming. Casper and Ft. Douglas both have 1k range that I know of and there is a summer state games where they shoot the 1k targets in Casper.

[Meister]

Midwest has a great deal of 1000y clubs as well as nra shooting competitions. Not much in the way of elk, there are elk farms here but it's like taking a shotgun to the grocery store. I travel 1000 miles to South Dakota every year to kill a slew of prairie poodles. Can't even shoot deer with a rifle in the state of Indiana.