Thinking of going to Montana....

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686+

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Please tell me about the various bigger cities and their stance on guns, places to shoot, etc. Looking to move there and want to take my hobby into consideration. Also if you have insight on the various cities in addition to gun friendlines that would be welcome too.
Thanks.
686+
 
I've been to Billings, its an oil and gas town; seems to have grown considerably and houses went way up in price. Thing is, people that I know, who are originally from Billings area all want to move back there from Wyoming, even though its cheaper to live in Wyoming. One thing cited is their belief that people there are more friendly, might be so. Montana's pretty gun friendly though and lots of wide open places to shoot. Seems folks in Buffalo and Sheridan, Wyoming towns that are just south of Billings are way more friendly than Central or Northwestern Wy.
 
A very good friend moved to Three Forks and purchased a motel about 10 years ago. He loves the area, and is a great host for his guests.

The area is very gun friendly, not unlike many farm communities.
He has hunted buffalo for meat and the hide, and has sworn off beef.

I am going to have to go and visit him one of these days!

Jamie
 
Montana is very gun-friendly, and some of us are encouraging conscientious and responsible freedom-oriented people to move on up. We need reinforcements!

The Montana Shooting Sports Association is a very active and very effective gun rights organization. See

http://www.mtssa.org/

Here is an archived collection of Montana info related to the freedom migration, and low-level discussion. Lots of useful information!

http://www.montana-alliance-for-liberty.org/phpBB2/index.php

also discussion groups relating to the freedom migration:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreeMontanaProject/?yguid=126065389

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/W-A-L/
 
A friend of mine here in SoCal decided to relocate to the NW, and did extensive research including many trips to the region. He finally decided to move to the Kalilspell area of MT just north of Flathead Lake. He bought quite a few acres there, enough to shoot his 50 on site.
 
My wife and I are looking into heading to the northwest some day. We're both horse people and want to have enough land to raise/train. As a shooter I'd also like to have the room to set up fairly long rifle range and put up some burms for a pistol. The problem is I'm a system analyst/programmer by trade which usually requires me to live in a fairly urban environment to work. Any regions to look at that's:
1) Inexpensive land
2) Horse/gun friendly
3) In acceptable commuting distance to technology jobs
4) 'standard' weather (spring, summer, fall, winter); I'm not interested in the 300 days of gloom and rain in the far north west. :p
 
I do not know any City in Montana that is not gun friendly. This is a gun state if there ever was one. Your hobby is welcome here.

Billings has 2 nice ranges that I know of. Don't know membership requirements.

State Law does not allow cities to pass gun laws that differ from current law. And I have never heard of a city wanting too.
Open Carry is legal (not practiced much), and it is a shall issue State for CC. Concealed means covered by ones clothing. To conceal in a vehicle you don't need a permit, and it may be loaded.

Just a few things I could think of, if you have other questions feel free to PM me.
 
I spent some time in Billings and Butte, back in the 80's. I really liked it there. The main thing I remember about the winters was, it can re-define cold. I distinctly remember one morning in Feb. 1981, when I awoke and dressing, went outside to find it was 45 below. Other than that, I may move there again myself upon retirement.
 
Gonna raise you up a crop of dental floss, are ya? ;)


Montana sure beats LA for gun rights.


-James
 
Hmmm...it's always a tough call to encourage people to move to Montana. Since you are a member of the High Road I'll make an exception:neener: . Montana is a great place to live if you like the outdoors, clean air, and a gun friendly environment. The cost of living is going up in some places but is quite low in others. (Bozeman is getting quite high while Butte is still quite low). There are technology/programming/Analyst type jobs here in the Bozeman area and other places as well I'm sure. As an example: http://jobs.rightnowtech.com/cgi-bin/employment.cfg/php/enduser/home.php The main competition for such jobs comes from Montanans who have moved away and want to come back. The draw of Montana is quality of life. The question is what are you willing to give up for quality of life? For me the answer was pretty easy and the choice to move back to Montana and raise my family here was the best choice I could have made. I don't ever plan on moving away again. Feel free to contact me for further information/insight.

phoglund

Read this: http://www.mtssa.org/shootprivprop.phtml


(Edited to add link at bottom)
 
The main thing I remember about the winters was, it can re-define cold. I distinctly remember one morning in Feb. 1981, when I awoke and dressing, went outside to find it was 45 below.
Click to expand...

Boy, these southern guys sure like it warm :)

(I have to drive about 6 hours *south* to get to Montana)
 
MY MONTANA EXPERIENCE...

Spent some time there twice - last was two years ago. My wife and I were driving our RV out to Seattle (should have stayed in Montana) We broke down twice - loose gas line on the carb in Bozeman, and then blew the water pump in the middle of nowhere.... Here's my impressions of the state -- both times, everyone we came across went out of their way to assist us. The Ford RV dealer in Bozeman couldn't fit us in, so he called around to find another garage (that's their competitor, folks!) who could help us right away. The other breakdown was equally as amazing.

The best part was getting a ride from a book store owner, down to the river to fish, while our RV was being fixed, and the little 6 yr old girl riding along with us was chatting about how her family lived back in a canyon, and there was elk and deer in the front yard, and her dad could hunt right at home, etc. I knew right then I wanted to move to a state where even little children knew what was important in life...

It's assumed you hunt and fish, it's not questioned... I can't wait to get back. :D
 
I grew up just over the border from Montana in Southern Alberta, and if I ever leave the Great State of Texas (unlikely), it will be for Montana. Glacier Park is one of the most beautiful areas in the world. Fishing, hunting, golf, skiing, hiking, you have it all in Montana. You won't be disappointed. Stay to the western part of the state if you like the mountains, the eastern part if you like wide open prairie.
 
You pretty much have to bring a job with you, unless you are a nurse or a teacher. I tele-commuted for 5 yrs but I've been "under-employed" for almost a year now: farming, weed-spraying, carpentry, etc.

There's lots of nice things here, like winter blizzards, wind, scorching summers, wind, noxious weeds, wind, biting insects, wind, rattlesnakes, wind, forest fires, wind, and prickly plants, to keep away people who don't really want to live here ;)

Oh, did I mention the wind ...?
 
Ok my fellow Montanan. I can get up with everything you said, except the scorching summers. LoL.

This is the nice time of year. Try spending 30 days straight at 115 degree high's every single day. Those are scorching. We are lucky to hit 100 3 or 4 times a year.

The winter's are a b*stard, I will agree with that.
 
TallPine,

You forgot the seasons, winter and road construction. They don't sand the roads out here, they put rocks on them. I can't count the number of chips I had in my last car. I can tell you my new Jeep got at least 6 windshield chips, with one big one I had fixed the next day, this last winter.


Then there is the wind, I live right on the Rocky Mountain front, all we have is wind. My wife planted some poppies and the wind uprooted them and blew them away! If we don't get gusts up to 70 mph or so, we dont even consider it a good blow.

But, the hunting is great, the people are friendly where ever you go, it doesn't get too cold to hunt coyotes (usually), and we usually welcome free thinkers who want to come up and contribute while intergrating into the community.

I don't have to tell you about the others, the ones who come up with wads of "I sold my house in XXX money" and want to bring their attitudes with them.

Come up, visit, look around the state. It is big and varied.

bob
 
Montana has a lot of microclimates. In general, the mountain valleys have much less wind, cooler Summers, and milder Winters than the plains.

The upper Yellowstone valley near Livingston and the Madison valley do have quite a bit of wind.
 
You forgot the seasons, winter and road construction. They don't sand the roads out here, they put rocks on them. I can't count the number of chips I had in my last car. I can tell you my new Jeep got at least 6 windshield chips, with one big one I had fixed the next day, this last winter.
Click to expand...
Yep ... getting MT plates doesn't make you a Montanan - you have to have a cracked windshield from rocks, and a busted grill from hitting at least one deer;)

It also helps when your muffler falls off :D

Actually, after swatting insects and spraying weeds and fighting wildfires, I kind of like the winters (except for the short daylight:( ). Fall is a nice season, except it's only about 20 minutes long :)
 
How about Butte?

Looks like Butte has several jobs I could apply for. But from what I heard it is the the Butt of Montana, and I am not sure that makes it a good choice for a residence, (not to mention the superfund site...).
Anyone from there or thereabouts that can give a good perspective?
Also if you had to choose a city where would you go?

686+

ps thanks for all the replies so far.

+
 
I encourage you to move, but do not fall into the trap of suddenly expecting Montana to be 'just like California'. Accept the fact that things move more slowly, people are not so much in a rush and please, please do not bring left-wing liberal non-sense into the state!

I just moved from Colorado to Wyoming because Colorado has been taken over by Californian transplants. What was once a great, gun-freindly state is now turning into LA...because all the Kalifornians want to change the state into the exact place they just left from! Gunlaws, high taxes, legal double-standards are sprouting everywhere.

Oh, and I don't mean to be rude, but your hobby is not a 'hobby'; it is a Right, like worshipping/not worshipping, Freddom of Speech, etc. Take it seriously, don't compromise and vote with your feet.

If enough rights-minded people leave the slave states for Free states the issue of individual rights will have to be addressed. However, if freedom-loving people do not move and comprise 49% of each state we will lose everything.
 
Butte is an old mining town, full of big holes and Irish descendants. St. Paticks day is freakin' epic there, it'll blow your mind.

They've got a student population there, MT Tech. There's some bars, some restaurants, small businesses... Other than that, it really is small town and a little desolate. When it's cold there, it's COLD.

I'm much more of a WA state type. But all the people I know who love MT, really love MT. And everyone should visit Glacier Natl Park at some point.

Edit: I forgot to confirm that yes, MT is a gun-friendly state, if there ever was one. lol. MT, the NW, the PNW, this is the wild west out here.
 
Butte is an old mining city which has fallen on hard times with the demise of underground mining. It was a Democratic union stronghold then, and still votes Democratic, but its a kind of populist conservative Democratic politics now. It is certainly a very friendly town. And housing is very, very inexpensive, compared to elsewhere in Western Montana. Lots of old houses which can be had for back taxes. For more information on moving to Montana, including Butte, see these links.

http://www.montana-alliance-for-liberty.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=27
http://www.montana-alliance-for-liberty.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=14
 
686+;

I grew up in Wyoming & lived there most of my life. However, due to one of those rainclouds in life, I have found myself in Montana since 1999. I'm even a property owner here.

Billings: I'll defend my right not to have to live there to the death.
Missoula: Home of U. of M. Wants to be Berkeley.
Bozeman: Home of Montana State U. Nice town getting California
Kalispell: Bozeman without the university.
Dillon: Yer neighbor is Ted Turner
Great Falls: Underpriviledged economy, military town.
Lewistown: Bring your job with you & it's heaven on earth. Otherwise - - -
Butte: Pretty much been covered.
Eastern Montana: Is there & lots of it. Bring two jobs with ya.
Libby: Don't breath the air, or drink the water, otherwise it's gorgeous.
White Supher Springs: There is a home there that uses a Maxim machine gun, Spandau manufacture, as a door stop.

My wife is a native of Montana. She lived with me in Wyoming for 27 years. She'll look any Montanan in the eye & tell 'em they don't know what a high wind is. In Wyoming I quite literally saw breaking wave whitecaps in my toilet bowl, caused by the wind.

What else ya wanna know?

900F
 
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