There’s nothing like leaving Wyoming for a while and coming back that will make you appreciate what we have here. I recently spent seven months in North Dakota, and while that state has a lot of great things to offer, in my own opinion, it’s still second to Wyoming.
For one thing, there’s the hunting. There’s no denying North Dakota is a better place to hunt for pheasants and waterfowl, but Wyoming’s offerings in those areas are good enough for me. If you compare the big game hunting opportunities, though, Wyoming stands head and shoulders above just about every other state.
Colorado may have us beat on elk numbers, but we have a lot more opportunity to hunt them. Our hunting seasons are long, and our license fees are affordable. That’s one of the top items on my list of things to do – to finally get an elk this coming hunting season.
North Dakota has elk, too, but your odds of drawing a license are next to nothing. Then, if you do draw one, you’re done. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hunt elk up there. In Wyoming, you can get a general license over the counter and hunt every year.
The other problem with my short stint in North Dakota was the fishing. They have great fishing up there, for sure, but it’s for weird things like catfish, pike and walleyes. The trout fishing is confined to a few lakes and one river. That’s item number two for my to-do list – to finally complete my Cutt-Slam by catching all four native subspecies of cutthroat trout in their native waters in Wyoming. I’m a quarter of the way there, and I hope to get it done this summer.
It’s good to be back, but now I’ve got a lot to do to make sure I get the most out of my return to the greatest state in the nation.
