re: Best location for an outdoorsman in the lower 48?

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Visit the Joseph/Enterprise area of Oregon.

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That one is penciled in but I haven't really worked the route out to get there.

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Bend is a great jumping off point to the central Oregon Cascades, and you can bet it will be dry. 300 plus days of sun a year.

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That's the kind of place I want to retire some day. Mountains and desert both nearby. There are a few places in AZ and UT that I've thought about for that reason.

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That's the kind of place I want to retire some day. Mountains and desert both nearby. There are a few places in AZ and UT that I've thought about for that reason.

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Joseph/Enterprise is just outside Pendleton. Many Oregon folk agree it's the most underrated area of the state

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In a lot of areas, those activities are a part of the hunting/fishing experience.

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Yeah, but they are individual experiences on their own as people can do those experiences without hunting or fishing. One could hardly argue that John Muir was not an avid outdoorsman even though he was a big advocate for preservation and not so much a friend to hunters.

So having gun control laws or national parks that don't allow hunting may not effect someones opinion of the area because they are not hunters.

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national parks that don't allow hunting

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Unless you are native.

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West: Northern CA ( Sacramento North ) / Washington

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I'd have to say you're missing a state there. Oregon is better overall than WA in terms of hunting AND fishing. Everything else is a push IMO.

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Thanks. Bend (& Sisters) is in our plans.

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You won't be sorry!

A pic from the bend area a month ago. For some reason people assume the WHOLE state gets rain 365 days a year. That area averages 12 inches and over 300 sunshiny days a year. Not too shabby.

I'm late to this here but...you joking about CA being the best outdoorsman state, right?

Piss poor water management has led to incredible strain on the salmon populations (ironic op name). Steelhead are on the brink. Sturgeon and halibut numbers are down.

Fishing regulations are absolutely laughable. The regs are so fricking convoluted that the only thing to co.e out of them is enhanced revenue for the big nanny state. Species preservation be damned...we need more revenue. Game wardens run flat out wild in this state. I get boarded once every other trip in the ocean.

That being said there are a lot of black tail deer and scrawny turkey. If that's what you base your assessment on then...I can't dispute because I havent hunted in CA yet.

I give LA or TX or MS the thumbs up for all around great opportunities for the activities that we love here on the OB.

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Bend, OR
Redding, CA
Boise, ID
Missoula, MT
Jackson, WY
Reno, NV
Glenwood Springs, CO
Logan, UT
Lincoln, NH
Bangor, ME

Are all places surrounded by awesomeness that still include the amenities of a city.

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Knoxville, TN / Asheville, NC
- I feel two of the very few cities from the south that could be added to this list. With multiple big game avenues, the largest Mountains east of the Mississppi, amazing fresh water fishing, hiking, biking, camping, Ski / Snowboarding ,mountaineering, bush wacking, etc. The fact that this area is one of the few areas in the south with a Very Healthy Black Bear population alone is something I'm very proud of. Albeit it does lack the Salt Water fishing. The area does have a lot of things most Southern states lack

I'm late to this here but...you joking about CA being the best outdoorsman state, right?

Piss poor water management has led to incredible strain on the salmon populations (ironic op name). Steelhead are on the brink. Sturgeon and halibut numbers are down.

Fishing regulations are absolutely laughable. The regs are so fricking convoluted that the only thing to co.e out of them is enhanced revenue for the big nanny state. Species preservation be damned...we need more revenue. Game wardens run flat out wild in this state. I get boarded once every other trip in the ocean.

That being said there are a lot of black tail deer and scrawny turkey. If that's what you base your assessment on then...I can't dispute because I havent hunted in CA yet.

I give LA or TX or MS the thumbs up for all around great opportunities for the activities that we love here on the OB.

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I give LA or TX or MS the thumbs up for all around great opportunities for the activities that we love here on the OB.

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Probably isn't a wrong answer to the question unless you say Rhode Island. Wherever you like to be outdoors the most, is the best spot for you. I guess it depends on what you like to do and where you like to do it.