>cant hunt and fish better than the south>trees are all the same >flooded with redditors and tourists during summer
hiking in the eastern us is much more fun, exciting, and beautiful than anything the west has to offer!
>>2877640yea thats the main issue the west has no based 4channers unfortunately
>>2877640You're right. It sucks. Don't come here.
>>2877640Well for one thing, the west has actual wilderness. >flooded with redditors and tourists during summerThis just exposes yourself as a redditor/tourist. Because you are only aware of places that get flooded by them.
>>2877640>cant hunt and fish better than the southwut?
>>2877687forgot pic lol>>2877640
>>2877640>trees are all the samethis guy again. eastcope mascochist lol.
>>2877640>cant hunt and fish better than the southexplain this. The hunting is way better in the West. Thats why so many douchebags from the east pay huge $$ for the privilege to do it.
>>2877782Which state is called the Sportsman's Paradise.
>>287764080% of americans live on the east sidecope with your southern niggers and northern entitled wigger cattle
>>2877640The tree diversity (or lack thereof) in the west does piss me off but the views are better.
This is the retard that lived in grand junction Colorado for a bit and couldn't figure out how to /out/, you can ignore his thread.>>2877807Why am I supposed to know or care about some state's self applied nickname?
>>2877807>Sportsman's ParadiseNot an answer. Lets compare number of big game species available to hunt.
>>28776401. Your picture contains an enormous area with many wildly different climates. Be more specific.2. Have you ever been there, retard? See with your own eyes before calling something "overhyped"3. The PNW specifically SHITS ALL OVER the South. Bigger mountains. Bigger, denser trees. Cleaner water. More wildlife. Fewer mosquitos. Fucking go there and see yourself.
>>2877640I'm very glad that people like you only stay in their eastern shitholes or go to the places overrun by tourists and redditors. I won't give a counterexample to your fucking idiotic point, because my available counterexamples are my happy places and not yours
>>2877807Yea and new jersey has the best gardens
>Easterners will never know the majesty of hunting elk in an aspen groveWarms my heart to think about it.
>>2877640The best state for hunting is Maine. Either you know, or you don't. t. from Montana, lived in Maine for three years for work
>>2878406Why? Truly curious. Can you hunt wolves? Bison, Elk, pronghorn? Cats? Mule deer? Why is it better?
>>2878527nta but lived in maine most of my life. i would guess its because basically the northern half of the state is wilderness and probably almost completely uninhabited.
>>2878560>its because basically the northern half of the state is wilderness and probably almost completely uninhabited.that can't be the reason. Montana has almost as much area in National forests alone as the entire size of Maine. Add in BLM and State land and they have more acres of public land than the entire size of Maine...and fewer people.
>>2878406>The best state for hunting is Maine.>>2878527>Why is it better?He will not answer because he knows its not tru.
>>2878527Cats???
>>2878723mt lions. you can hunt mt lions in MT
>>2878527Dont forget Mt Goats and Big Horn sheep. Pic rel is a record ram
>>28776402 words: public land.you can camp for free. Makes a huge difference for poorfags who enjoy long outings like me.
These threads are all either just bait or cope.
>>2877640big mountainsbig canyonsdesertunique forestssome people like that stuff
>>2877640Shit tier bait
>>2877640West coast has no ticks. I would never leave the house if I lived in tick hell
>>2879083>no ticksyes we do.
>>2879083they dont call it rocky mountain spotted fever for nothing..
>>2877886>Fewer mosquitosthis is personally my favorite perk of living in the west so far. I can sleep outside next to a creek in Colorado and maybe end up with a couple bug bites.I spend half an hour outside in MI in the summer and just get torn to shreds.
>>2878406>Either you know, or you don'tso judging from the replies and your lack of defense of your own statement- I guess we can surmise that you, in fact, do not know.
ElkMule DeerSpring ChinookArgument over.
>>2877645The most epic hikes in the entire US are the Eastern mountains that go above treeline. Katahdin, Washington, Adams, Lafayette, Mansfield, Marcy, Algonquin, Whiteface and many others >start hiking through a lush deciduous forest with mossy rocks, streams, and occasional waterfalls>watch the hardwoods give way to evergreens as you go further up the mountain>then enter a completely different universe as you climb into the alpine zoneYou don't get this experience in the West because there are no trees anywhere. The scenery doesn't change much from trailhead to summit. It's all lifeless rocks with no forests and no water. On the other hand, Eastern hills with wooded summits are kinda lame unless you're hunting or training for bigger hikes.
>>2879261L.
>>2879261
>>2879261>what is olympic national park
>>2879261I live in oregon, and all I can see from my property are trees. what are you talking about dumbfuck.
No seed ticks There I win.
There isn't a single hike that goes above the tree line in the west, do not come.
>>2879315Correct. It fucking sucks here. New Hampshire is better.
>>2879261The west has the largest and oldest trees in the world kek
>>2877645this is what you sound and likely look like.
>>2880024Accurate except he's way fatter
>>2879083Tbh you're not allowed to post here if you don't go outside
>>2878406Dude from Montana trying to save his favorite hunting spot lol. go to Maine he says...lol
>>2877640Hunting in the south>Whitetail deer>Waterfowl>Hogs>Coon>Black Bear>Bobwhite Quail>Ruffed Grouse>Woodcock>Dove>Coyote>Bobcat>GatorQuail numbers have taken a shit, the difference in available public land is shocking, the population density competing for that same public land is way higher, and all for some deer, turkey, ducks, and hogs. Thats 99% of days afield right there.Hunting in the West>Whitetail Deer>Mule Deer>Pronghorn>Elk>Pigs>Bighorn Sheep>Moose>Mountain Goat>Aoudad>Waterfowl>Turkey>Dove>Ruffed Grouse>Spruce Grouse>Blue Grouse>Sharp-tailed Grouse>Sage Grouse>Pheasant>Chukar>Hungarian Partridge>Mountain Quail>Blue Quail>Bobwhite Quail>Wolves>Coyotes>Bobcats>Black Bear>Mountain Lion>JavelinaThe amount of land and variety of species absolutely shits on the south.>Hurr durr but we have Lions and Aoudad too!Nigga west Texas is more west than south and that’s where it happens.>Hurr durr Texas game farms got Nilgai and-Look I gave each side an introduced big game species out of fairness but if we take ferals out of the equation entirely and call it pest control like we should it decimates the south.
>>2878765what a beautiful animal. shame some people feel the need to kill them. now deer, kill as many as those as you want. we're full.
>>2880318i agree with your overall point but it's a bit disingenuous to lump together "waterfoul" for the south while naming 7000 species of grouse for the west.
>>2879261giga trvke
>>2879261walking across a parking lot on top of a hill isn't "hiking above the tree line" son.
>>2877640I dunno. I think its purty
>>2877658>This just exposes yourself as a redditor/tourist. Because you are only aware of places that get flooded by them.so much this. Op has never been out west so he truly cant comprehend the vast amount of open space and public land.
>no tree diversityHow is this the only thing east fags have to say to criticize the legit massive and mountains forests of the west. Im from PNW and I moved to Appalachia to try out the other side and im making the best of it but theres a lot I miss and its exclusively related to nature
>>2881615Me too
>some of the most incredible and diverse landscapes in the world>perfect combo of accessibility and remoteness
>>2877688I took this buck in Louisiana btw
>>2879328>>2879315I live out west, have lived in New Hampshire, and can confirm this. Do not come.
>>2882304>calls it a buckSure ya did billy.
>>2882280where be this?
>>2881615>>2882280this would be what the East would look like if it wasn't covered in dense trees
>>2882404>this would be what the East would look like>10,000ft mntslol
>>2882404>the East>posts pic from Canadais this what they call eastoid cope?
>>2882307kek
>>2877658>the west has actual wildernesseastoids have no response to this.
>>2879261>You don't get this experience in the West because there are no trees anywhere.There is a rainforest near mountains in the Western US.
Im on a bald there are no trees here.
>>2882603The 11 western 48 USA states have an average of 32% forest cover. This is actually a moderately high stat considering the total USA average is only about 28% forest, and the entire European continent is only 38% forest (and most of it is urban/massively disturbed forest). The eastern USA (east of the Mississippi river) averages 55% forest cover (and most of it is urban/massively disturbed forest). There's also annual evaporation rates to consider. Take for example Arizona (perfect example). The low elevation deserts of Arizona average 90-140 inches of annual evaporation annually (unbelievably high). While the high elevation forested mountains and plateaus like the Mogollon Rim (6,000-8,500 feet above sea level for 12,000 sq miles continuously) average only 18-40 inches of annual evaporation, in Arizona of all places. To understand how low this really is, Fairbanks, Alaska (64 degrees north latitude) has an annual evaporation rate of 18 inches. To put this into perspective some more, the lowest annual evaporation rates in the entire eastern USA are only 20-30 inches at the highest elevations in the northeastern USA and NY state. There are areas in the lower 48 Rockies with rates below 15 inches annually. There's also seasonal variation and yearly cycles to consider. The western coastal forests south of Vancouver island (minus the Olympics and high mountains) have a summer dry period, about 3 months of the year with little to no rain, north of Vancouver island there is no seasonal drought as even in the lowest precipitation month there is still adequate precipitation. However, in winter the coastal western forests receive more than 60 to up to 200 inches of precipitation outside of the summer dry season, the rainforests north of Vancouver island can get even more in this season. Combined with evaporation rates below 40 inches, this leads to the great PNW rainforest from CA to AK where some areas get 5 or 6 times more precipitation than evaporation.
>>2882620The Pacific oscillation cycles drive the global climate even more than the Atlantic ocean oscillation cycles, especially in regards to precipitation. Half to 80% of all winter snowstorms in the northeastern and midwestern USA are driven primarily from storms in the eastern Pacific ocean. There are seasonal variations and short 2-7 years cycles and long decadal cycles and even century-thousand year cycles. One of the southerly seasonal variations is the Arizona-New Mexico monsoon. Some people say it isn't a true monsoon, but they only look at the low deserts and not the other 60% of Arizona and New Mexico which is temperate. On average from June 15 to October 1, Arizona and New Mexico mountains average 12-30 inches of precipitation in a 90 day period. In New Mexico this is 2/3rds or more of the annual total precipitation, in Arizona it is only half at best. Pic related the 2026 monsoon season. The Chiricahua mountains of SE Arizona recorded 37 inches of rainfall from June 15 to Oct 13. The Mogollon Rim averaged 17-24 inches of precipitation (hail, rainfall) in this same period. This is more than some places in Colorado get in a good year. This leads to the four corner states (AZ, NM, UT, CO) having a combined 132,000 square miles of forest of numerous types. Even though they are interior. Idaho is the most forested interior western US state at 41% forest. Wyoming is 2nd last at 18-19% and Nevada is dead last at 15-16%, both those states are significantly drier than the others, NV because moisture is blocked from California mountains and it is too far NW to get significant monsoons, Wyoming because it is to extremely interior. The forests in some areas of the interior west have been around for tens of thousands of years continuously in their roughly present form/type. Every western US state minus Alaska and Hawaii also have dozens of hundreds or more living trees that are currently older than 2,500 years old.
>>2882621Also many forest inventory stats are out of date in the USA and Canada. They at best get properly updated every decade or two. So you can consider most data a floating range or best general overlooks.
>>2882624
>>2882625Idaho forest. Typically 90-98% conifer outside of riparian areas. Up to 60% deciduous in riparian areas for most of their length. They typically get more precipitation than evaporation, making them humid to subhumid with seasonal variation, in the driest areas (S ID) semi-arid. Conifers tend to dominate because winters are cold (sometime brutally) and snowy and soils.
>>2882626Arizona montane forest, sub-type Merriam Canadian zone (mature full height forest, 60-120 feet tall). This specific type is subhumid to humid (80-120% precipitation to evaporation ratio), with multiple seasonal variations. The driest areas (sub-Rim north) are semi-arid but cool temperature. Roughly 80-90% conifer. In riparian areas this is completely over thrown, and AZ montane riparian areas below 6,200 feet can be 80-90% deciduous. The most common deciduous tree in this zone is oak, sometimes making up 20-30% of cover even in non-riparian areas. Conifers dominant due to cold (growing zones 5a to 7b) and snow (average 1-4 meters). To show how cold and different these areas are from the Arizona deserts. There are at least 34 species of scorpions and at least 54 species of snakes in Arizona that are native. However in this zone there are only 6 species of snakes and less than 5 species of scorpions found. Also surprisingly the soils along the Mogollon Rim are extremely fertile and rich mollisols (see USA soil map type).
>>2882627Colorado boreal forest. This is typically relatively high in elevation, about 8,000 feet to the tree line. These forests are typically dominated by spruce, fir, aspen, sometimes larch. They are technically inland montane taiga (boreal spruce forest). They have much lower average precipitation than ID panhandle forests and even the AZ Rim forests, but also have extremely low evaporation rates. Precipitation can be as low as 10-13 inches, but evaporation rates are almost as low, making these forests technically sub-humid at CO latitudes. These forests are found at practically sea level in Alaska and Canada. The soils generally are very poor. The USDA growing zone can be as low as 2b to 3a even at Colorado-Utah latitudes. The montane type boreal forest receives massively more snowfall than the arctic and sub-arctic Alaska-Canada types found at low elevation.
>>2882628Pinyon-Juniper forest. In reality this type isn't really much of a "forest" but is still often counted as such, for several reasons. Typically, 90% of all "trees" are actually junipers which grow exclusively in a shrub habit (no canopy, branches to the ground like a bush), the pines make up less than 10% of cover in most of this type of forest. However, the junipers are still technically just barely tall enough to make the cut as "trees" in average mature height, about 6m+. And the biotype is distinct from true shrublands and grasslands, but also distinct from true forests. Making this type a transitional type. It typically grows below the AZ montane Merriam Canadian zone elevations, except in dry areas of New Mexico and Nevada where they can grow to literally 10,000-11,000 feet. The precipitation regime is generally exclusively semi-arid, except in some areas in Arizona-New Mexico where it is actually sub-humid. The stand density varies from savana (30% cover) to technically "forest" cover (70% +). The junipers develop extensive roots systems that can choke out true trees like Pines and Oaks. There can also be decently high forb and grass diversity in some of these areas. The USDA growing zone range is 4b to 9b. This type is most common in Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. Average snowfall is typically 0.3 meters to 1 meter. The soils are poor in most of its range, except for Arizona Mogollon rim region where the soils are abnormally extremely fertile and rich deep mollisols.
>>2882630Non-forest, "forest", ie true desert forest. Mesquite bosques. These are typically found in lowland basins, floodplains, riparian areas at right densities to potentially be "forest" density. However, at least in Arizona and far western USA states, this type is *not* counted towards the official forest area. In Texas it might be counted as forest. The precipitation regime is exclusively arid to semi-arid. The average tree height is only 4m, which is why this is not generally counted as forest. However, it is still distinct from typical desert scrub and grasslands, and is ecologically similar to stunted dry riparian "forest". Typically universally below 5,000 feet above sea level. USDA growing zones 8a to 10b. Plant, animal, and insect diversity can be surprisingly high, sometimes extremely high. Mesquites are in the legume family and can be readily edible and even nutritious for human consumption when prepared correctly, and they fertilize the soils naturally. Mesquite is extremely invasive in places like Australia. Mesquite wood is excellent for smoking/curing. Texas by far has the most massive area of this type, Arizona is second.
>>2882631Montana forests, of the transition type between Merrian Canadian zone and boreal forest, where both pines, aspens and some firs and larch dominate. Forests in NW Montana are PNW forests technically, similar to Idaho panhandle forests. While forests closer to Yellowstone and further west in Montana are Rocky Mountain interior forests. Pine forests in Montana can grow at low elevation (under 3,000 feet), and can thrive with only 15 inches of annual precipitation. The associated plant and animal diversity is typically lower in these northern forests than southwestern forests. The soils are generally poor but some areas can be extremely fertile as well and farming can be present in valleys. The ice age floods stripped fertile soil layers from some areas in this region, leaving areas where to this day 10,000 years later, trees will still refuse to grow. USDA growing zones can range from 2b to 7a.
>>2882632PNW rainforests. These are actually truly temperate rainforests, not subtropical climates. Average summer high temps typically do not exceed 75F (24C) on the coasts, higher temps can occur inland and during extreme events however. There are several sub-types as well. They technically range from northern California (60-140 inches of annual precipitation) to south central Alaska (200+ inches annual precipitation). Precipitation is heaviest along the British Colombia and SE Alaska coasts (upwards of 250 inches), in these areas the precipitation can exceed evaporation by literally 9 times over, on average 5-6 times. The lowest precipitation areas still receive 45-60+ inches of annual precipitation. These forests can grow right up to wide sandy beaches as well as rocky beaches and coastal cliffs in every continental USA Pacific coast state and BC Canada. Plant and animal diversity is only moderately high, but remains so even at 60 degrees north, where thin strips of coastal forest in Alaska can carry up to 2,000 species of native plants. Diversity is highest in California and Oregon. Canopy heights can be extremely high, as can sq feet of trunk area per acre. These forests have a very long recovery time after disturbances despite the lush environment. Soils can range from extremely poor to moderately fertile. The forests can be interrupted by large lowland populated valleys. Pic related in Oregon is 60+ miles from the ocean and still receives 60-100 inches of annual precipitation, this is technically still part of the PNW rainforests due to precipitation amounts, and it can extend to the western face of the Cascades.
>>2882634Utah has very similar forest types to the rest of the inland west, especially to Colorado. Pic related is an area with almost chaparral like vegetation cover. Utah has areas with the highest inland annual precipitation in the western interior states. Utah holds the record as the snowiest inland USA state. 901 inches of snowfall in 2023. 22.88 meters or 75 feet of snow. The highest average snowfall is around 500 to 550 inches (13-14) in several canyons west of SLC, amplified by both Pacific jetstreams and lake effect moisture as well as elevation. 500-550 inches normal average, not record. USDA growing zones range from 3b to 7b.It is also theoretically possible for western larch to grow in isolated areas of Utah and Colorado's boreal forests even though they are not native, as specimens have been located in similar forests in Wyoming.
>>2882635*canyons east of SLCAlso extreme southern Utah has recorded more than 500 inches of snowfall in record events. While the southern Utah highest average is about 300-350 inches of snowfall. The snowiest area of Colorado is technically an area of southern Colorado, record 838 inches, average just above 400 inches. Colorado and Utah are both in the transition zone from being effected by Pacific el nino and la nina cycles in winter snowfall averages. With southern UT and CO being in the Arizona-New mexico zone and northern UT and CO being in the Montana-Idaho zone in terms of how the el nino and la nina cycles normally effect winter precipitation.
>>2882636Eastern Oregon and eastern Washington forests are closer to rocky mountain type forests. However both can still be classified as PNW forests (not rainforests but general PNW ecotype regional pattern forests), along with Idaho panhandle and NW Montana forests. In fact some isolated areas of these forests can still receive 60 inches of annual precipitation even as far inland as the Montana-Idaho border. Precipitation is mostly in the form of snow rather than rainfall, another factor that sets them apart from the coastal PNW actual rainforests which actually do not get very cold and are not typically as snowy due to their oceanic nature (except in the higher elevations which are among the snowiest areas on Earth). Oregon is also the only USA state outside of the 8 mountain west states to have an average elevation over 1000 meters (3280 ft). Mostly due to central and eastern Oregon.
>>2882639Nevada forests. Technically Nevada has the lowest amount of total forest cover and forest percentage in the western USA and the extreme lowest amount of "true forest", that is full height (60-120 feet) forest. It also does not have any large continuously forested areas, as all of its forests are largely disjunct, unlike four corner states with huge continuous tracts of forests, including full height forests. That said NV still manages to have more forest than the United Kingdom. NV also has some of the oldest living non-clonal single specimen trees on Earth. Plant and animal diversity is low (sometimes extremely) to moderate at best. Animal diversity is higher than plant diversity proportionally. The snowiest areas are universally along the Sierra Nevada hugging the CA border. Soils are poor across almost the entire state, however there are some moderately fertile areas (less than 10% of the state).
>>2882640Wyoming. The 2nd least forested western USA state in percentage, also the 2nd driest on average. However, Wyoming has an extremely low annual precipitation rate as a state. This is partly due to Wyoming having the 2nd highest average elevation of any USA state, at 6,700 ft (2000m+) and being relatively northern. Similar to Nevada, plant diversity is relatively low, but animal diversity is moderately high. Also unlike Nevada, Wyoming has massive tracts of moderately fertile soil, almost the entire state. Highest average snowfalls are very high, over 400 inches on some mountains. Highest extreme record snowfall is poorly recorded but is certainly more than 600 inches. Grand Tetes, Yellowstone, Wind river range, etc I don't really need to say anything more.
>>2882641Washington. Has almost the full range of forest types, like Oregon. But less range than California technically, as WA lacks true mesquite bosques but still has true desert climates and true rainforest climates. Snowfall can be extreme (world's highest) on certain mountains, but is generally low along the actual coasts and in lowland areas. Precipitation range is also extreme either tied with or similar to California and Alaska. With 5 inches to 150+ inches average in areas (pretty much the same as California which is 2 to 140+ inches). While Alaska is technically the highest in precipitation range but does not actually have true desert, it has polar desert, AK's range is about 4 to 240 inches there is extreme distance between these points however. Soils are generally moderately to highly fertile in Washington state, even in its deserts. Some areas however were stripped bare by some of the largest ice age floods on Earth 10,000+ years ago, and likewise most trees refuse to grow there to this day. Despite being a fairly easy mountain overall, Mount Rainier has killed a similar number of people as Mount Everest. About 53% of Washington state is forest.
>>2882642Oregon. Similar to Washington state, but larger and less people. IMO thoughever, OR has better beaches, best in the west. 48-49% of Oregon is forest. Soils statewide are moderately to highly fertile.
>>2882645New Mexico. Similar to Arizona. However, NM has a higher average elevation and actually lacks true low desert biomes (below 2,500 ft), but still has mesquite bosques all the way up to boreal forest like Arizona. Plant and animal diversity is very high overall and in mountain areas. About half the state has moderately to highly fertile soils surprisingly, like Arizona. Snowfall can likewise be high in areas like the rest of the west, up to 250-300 inches average and over 500 inches record, Arizona however has higher snowfall in 24 hrs and 48 hrs record and surprisingly has high snowfall at low elevations (100-180 inches at 7,000 feet). New Mexico's precipitation pattern is actually more monsoonal (summer oriented) than Arizona's, and while NM can get up to 25-35 inches of rainfall during the 90 day monsoons in areas, it typically receives lower spot location totals but higher statewide averages. The 2026 monsoon season high precipitation for NM was 35 inches, similar to Arizona's at 37 inches, however the Mogollon Rim in Arizona is a massive area that averaged 17-24 inches in 2026 monsoons, while NM's high precipitation areas are more disjunct.
>>2882646Alaska. Only about 35% of Alaska is forest, most of this is actually lower precipitation inland boreal forest. Due to its latitudes Alaska's dense spruce-birch taiga can thrive with only 10 inches of annual precipitation. The lowland taiga is technically semi-arid to subhumid on average, but temperatures are rarely high enough for long enough to fully dry out the swamps and bogs. Coastal forests in Alaska are rainforests in SC and SE AK, and sub-rainforest temperate forests in western AK and most of the Kenai. Western Alaska is moderately temperate, while SE AK is very temperate, the difference between the coasts and just 20 miles inland can be extreme however. Plant and animal diversity is moderately high for its latitude, similar to or greater than Scandinavia. Marine diversity is also fairly high, coastal Alaska has at least 62 species of marine or anadromous sports fish. Soils are generally fairly poor across almost the entire state, and due to natural and human geography Alaska is the least food and supply secure state in the entire USA (less so than Hawaii). However, Barley has still been grown successfully in interior Alaska near the arctic circle. In official records, Alaska is the 2nd snowiest USA state and a member of the 900+ club. Unofficially, parts of Alaska are most likely the tied snowiest places on Earth with parts of Japan.
>>2882647Almost forgot. Alaska's USDA growing zones are 1a to 6b. Interior Alaska hits -60 Fahrenheit (-50C) every single winter, every one. Also about 90% of Alaska's population lives in seismic zones which have a 100% chance of a damaging earthquake within 100 years.
>>2882649Hawaii. Small and tropical but temperate tropical rather than wet bulb tropical. High diversity relative to its size. Fairly high population for its size. Kauai island is one of the wettest places on Earth, even with poor recording equipment and records it has an average annual precipitation of at least 450 to 500 inches, all time records may be in excess of 600 inches (15 meters). Other islands also can average more than 400 inches of precipitation in areas. Snow does occur on Hawaii's highest peaks. Despite claims, Hawaii does not actually have true desert, even with precipitation as low as 6-10 inches the gentle and extremely humid temperate ocean breezes make these areas pleasant and still allow relatively lush vegetation except in volcanic areas. Also technically, Hawaii likely has the greatest precipitation range of any USA state or territory and in the world, about 10-450+ inches. There are multiple tropical temperate biomes and vegetation types. Marine diversity is high, not as high as the Coral triangle but very high regardless.
>>2882650Finally, California. California has the entire range of forest types mentioned so far except for tropical ones and is the only state to have this standing. From mesquite bosques all the way to montane boreal forests and coastal rainforests, as well as inland montane Canadian zone forests. Precipitation range is also as extreme or more extreme than Washington state, being from 2-4 inches annual precipitation in some mesquite bosques, to over 140 inches average annual precipitation in some areas of northern CA rainforests. California does not typically have monsoonal effected climates however and is extremely Mediterranean influenced (dry summers, very wet winters). California has extreme plant and animal diversity. California suffers from very high population by USA standards, having about as many people as Canada does. Despite CA's high population it actually still has a lower population density than places like Ohio and Pennsylvania, and is 11th out of 50th by population density. Soils in California are generally moderately to extremely fertile, even in several extreme desert areas similar to Arizona. California is broadly not very cold, even in extremely snowy locations, it's USDA growing zones are 5b to 11a, and about 75% of the state is in zones above 7b-8a, in stark contrast to interior states like the four corners. Some of the largest and tallest trees known to man are or were in California, along with some of the oldest non-clonal single specimens (4,500+ years old). Similar to the four corner states and Alaska, California only has about 32% forest cover statewide. California is also one of the snowiest places on Earth like most of the rest of the western USA, it is safely in the 800+ club with a record of 880+ inches and locations with 500+ inches average snowfall.
>>2882652CA
>>2882653More CA.
>>2882654
>>2882655
>>2882656
>>2882657Some more AZ. Arizona actually has about 5-6 square miles of true tundra biome and climate. It also has the 6th highest elevation range in the USA 12,567 feet. Like California and Nevada it also has one of the most extreme changes in climate in a short distance, changing from Bwh (Vegas climate) to alpine tundra (boreal Alaska climate) in about 51 miles distance as the crow flies.
>>2882658Some more WA.
>>2882659Some more on AZ. Arizona has the highest number of native animals and plants (and also possibly fungi) of any inland state in the entire USA. Arizona has at least ~6,000 native vascular plants and animals (NOT counting insects) and known macrofungi to date just in the Mogollon Rim region. Arizona is believed to have extreme insect diversity. New species of all types are found every year. About 7,000-10,000 rocky mountain elk are hunted in AZ annually, which is actually probably among the lowest in the continental west other than CA and WA. Historically some of these Arizona specimens have been the highest known scoring elk trophies in North America, Arizona's highest scoring trophies tend to be atypical. While Utah scores the highest overall for elk trophies, especially typical, and also per capita. And Colorado has the highest populations of elk in the USA. AZ-NM also have both blacktail and whitetail deer. Arizona is one of literally just a couple USA states and places in the world were you can legally hunt wild roaming plains bison, but you have to be unbelievably lucky to land these hunts.
>>2882730I actually have a friend who landed one of these legal wild bison hunts (not fenced in) on the Kaibab plateau in northern Arizona, he shot a ~1800lb bison with a 7mm WSM, clean downed it easily within 200 yards. Western USA hunters are known to be more likely to take longer range shots and use higher BC calibers than other hunters. Contrary to popular belief, a simple 7mm-08 Rem is literally all you need for all North American game within 200-250 yards. That said probably the most popular western USA hunting rifles are 300 Winchester Magnums and .308 Winchesters, AR rifles in various calibers are also very common out west for hunting. Fair chase hunting doctrine was largely developed out of the western USA as settlers and outdoorsman settled the west and noticed the decimation of game due to unregulated practices, this decimation was significantly worse in the eastern USA where some animal populations went completely extinct and or are only just now beginning to recover.
>>2882731The inland west also has a significant number of feral horses, not nearly as much as in the past however. Some of which have come from lines that went feral in Spanish colonial times, others are very recent escapes. Some native Americans developed entire new breeds as well. Horses changed native American culture and warfare, prior to the 1500s they never had horses. They are somewhat of an issue in the west and nobody really knows what to do with them or how to properly regulate them. The US government simply captures some, tries to sell them off to ranches (even though ferals tend to be of lower quality stock), and the vast majority which are not sold are housed-cared for on tax payer money. There are some herds that literally live in one of the hottest and sunniest climates in the world in Arizona as well. In the USA historically, USA ranch horses were one of the primary sources of horse meat in European markets, also a mildly management/cultural controversial subject.
>>2882734Wolves are making a general but slow recovery in the inland west. Northern wolves in Idaho-Montana-Wyoming are number several thousand combined at least, allowing the return of some hunting. For comparison, Minnesota-Wisconsin have a similar number of wolves (which are also somewhat tied to Canada). The Mexican wolf is believed to number only about ~700-1,000 individuals in total, with Arizona and New Mexico having a combined 300 in the wild (too low for hunting), some of which have wandered as far as 180 miles from their release zones (from the White Mountains to the Flagstaff area along the Rim). There are believed to be less than 100 Mexican wolves left in Mexico, and 600-700 of them are in the USA alone. Wolves are not legal to hunt in AZ-NM, but Coyotes are year round unlimited hunt in Arizona (with an AZ gen hunting license). Northern wolves are significantly larger than the southern ones. There is controversy over whether to allow or facilitate wolf recovery in Colorado.
>>2882735There are believed to be anywhere from 15,000-40,000 moose in the lower 48 western USA states. Idaho by far has the most. Less than Alaska or Maine, but Idaho ranks 3rd in the USA for moose numbers. Moose are present in ID, MT, WY, WA, UT, CO in established numbers and all of these states allow Moose hunting with various restrictions and regulations. There is also a small number of possibly established Moose in Oregon. And there are cases of Colorado Moose wandering into New Mexico.
>>2882734>and nobody really knows what to do with them or how to properly regulate themI'd disagree with that; most wildlife biologists who aren't playing to the crowd are pretty firmly of the opinion that they should all be extirpated.
>>2882745In some areas, yes. Most others there are too many officials and people who want the status quo to remain. It is a mildly controversial subject in general, since in some areas they have been present for 500 years. In the past Texas and New Mexico had *millions* of these feral horses. I also agree that they should be extirpated from most areas.
>>2882748Also forgot to mention another factor. Even if you extirpate the majority of them, there are too many domestic horse ranches in the western USA where they will again easily start regenerating a small feral population (which if left alone again will grow massively again). Unlike the eastern and central USA, there is enough untouched land and room to roam for these animals to establish themselves fairly easily.
>>2882739Some more Montana. About 27-28% of Montana is forested, similar in percentage to Arizona and 4th least in the west by percentage. About 40% of Montana is mountainous, similar to Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico. States like Idaho (70%), Arizona (60%), Utah (60%), and Nevada (60%) tend to have more mountainous terrain. Arizona and Nevada each separately have over 200 mountain ranges, giving them the 1st (NV) and 2nd (AZ) highest known estimated total extractable mineral values in the USA and also the highest value artisanal (not industrial) native gem markets (AZ 1st, NV 2nd). Utah is also rich in minerals due to its geography, including rare earths. Every western USA state is known to be rich in minerals, precious and semi precious metals and gems. A mountain range in Montana is also named after one of these native gems (a theme that is common in western geography).
>>2882752Due to this mineral diversity and wealth which is still largely untapped, thankfully IMO), there are millions of mines of all sizes in the western USA. Arizona and Nevada again lead with each having an estimated 120,000-300,000 abandoned mines each (240,000-600,000 in these two states alone). The modern estimated mineral value of the western USA is roughly $80-150 trillion US Dollars (2026 value), mass scale industrial mining can devastate the environment and watersheds for hundreds of years however. In general, with varying regulations and enforcement (usually zero enforcement unless on NPS and you get caught), you can typically keep (artisanal/private use) precious and semi-precious metals/ores/gems that you find in western USA public lands, just don't be a cancer to the land and others. Mindat has decent info. Locals (me) won't tell you much about the really good spots.
>>2882753
>>2882759Western freshwater fish diversity is relatively low to moderate at best, due to various factors such as climate and variations in climate and human and natural geography. However, despite this, every western USA state has excellent and even world class freshwater inland fishing opportunities. Salmonid diversity is fairly high, and quite biologically interesting as almost all of the western inland trout are related to Rainbow trout in general (Pacific salmonids, Oncorhynchus), but have been separated long enough to speciate, in some cases some of these trout lost 90% of their former ice age range in the extreme natural climate warming that took place at the end of the Younger Dryas, further driving speciation. Oncorhynchus species and other western cold freshwater fish require exceptionally clean and healthy ecosystems and water in general to survive, living Rainbow trout are used even directly to test water quality sometimes.
>>2882763There are also warm water species in every western USA state minus Alaska, especially in California, Arizona and Nevada. Due to introduced species, you can actually bass fish in almost every western USA state easily and many state regs allow unlimited bag limits for many non-native fish species. There are also multiple strains of the same introduced species in some states, in low elevation AZ there are Florida bass strains, in high elevation AZ (Canadian zone climates) there are midwestern strains. I've caught hundreds of bass and sunfish in AZ, I've also caught native species as well and put them back 99% of time. Unbelievably to most, Arizona has 6 established species of bass (largemouth, smallmouth, white, striped, yellow, redeye) all non-native, I regularly catch 3 species of non-native bass and 2 species of non-native sunfish (sometimes up to 50 in several hours). The presence of non-native can make it difficult to manage native species, but there are still creeks/rivers which are 100% native and protected (eg Fossil Creek, AZ).
>>2882764When western Oncorhynchus trout are young, you can see just how similar they actually are to each and why they're almost all related.
>>2882766Steelhead are the anadromous (ocean migrating) form of rainbow trout, they occur in each continental Pacific USA state (CA, OR, WA, AK) and BC. The furthest inland that anadromous Pacific fish travel is Idaho (800-900 river miles from the ocean, through multiple dams as well).
>>2882769>stock photoskinda proving OPs point about how overhyped it is you don't even have your own photos or experiences to share you just list off encyclopedia articles like a tranny
>>2882769In agricultural history, most of the world's major crops are believed to have been first domesticated in the middle east, however there some others that were actually domesticated in mesoamerica (namely Mexico) and the SW USA region (namely Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, California) 8,000-10,000+ years ago. Corn, numerous beans/legumes, squash, tomato, potato, cotton (80-90% of global cotton are American varieties), various peppers, amaranth, sunflowers and aster family root flowers (sweet potato, jerusalem artichoke). Before massive globohomo super industrial monotone agriculture there used to be hundreds of widely available locally unique crop seeds and genes, including varieties which were extremely hardy to drought/cold/disease etc in local contexts. Arizona is believed to have at least 200 native local varieties of corn alone which were developed or originated in AZ or the nearby region, including varieties which grew well in washes in climates with 6 inches of annual rainfall. Some of these varieties have been preserved but many have also been lost. For the utterly massive global human populations today however, artisanal strains of crops are not as practical or economical to grow. Pic related are native corn varieties from the Dakotas. Navajo also still grow, use and eat blue corn in Arizona.
>>2882770I've uploaded literally thousands of my own photos to 4chan over the years and in public domains. In fact, one of my photos was mistaken for Tennessee in a TN newspaper (the photo was from Arizona). Some of the photos I've posted so far are my own personal pics, I scrub exif from all my pics. The reason I know so much shit is I've go out all over the west and have done so for a long time. I've also been called the "Arizona autist", because I am the original (15+ years of posting).
>>2882770He posts a lot of his photos. This is mine. Somewhere in Montana
>>2882772Yesterday. AZ. The San Fran peaks have a cap of snow right now (just a dusting to several inches), which I didn't photograph because I've seen it thousands of times. CO is getting snow right now also I believe, Montana mountains already got a good bit, Glacier area gets some even in August.
>>2877640>Can hunt and fish fine, skill issue>Trees are quite widely varied depending on where you are and also within each biosphere, just avoid California>Redditors and tourists are both people who fear leaving the cities, just leave the citiesThe West Coast is fine, you fuckwit. Yes, California sucks donkey dick and the liberal city centers in the other states follow suit. But the East Coast as a Communist Mudslime in command of New York, so that's hardly something exclusive to the West Coast.If you want to hunt and fish properly, just get a hunting/fishing liscence. If you want to engage with real people instead of redditors and tourists, just avoid cities. Its not that hard.
>>2877640This is why. Please no (you)s from lolbertarian retards arguing that public land is a bad thing. I actually enjoy having free access to massive natural areas that are my birthright as an American.
>>2877640America is just a beautiful amazing country, wish I lived there, I’m in sucky Canada with not much diversity or warmth
They don't even come close to the great smokies. Even when it comes to bigfoot sightings
>>2882811Sightings by volume are proportional to local area population, largely because there are a lot of hallucinations/misidentifications when you get people in the wilds over night or in general. Everywhere has a local bigfoot hotspot. In Australia it's called a Yowie or whatever. In Arizona it's called the Mogollon Monster. The western USA actually has one of the highest rates of UAP sightings in the developed world, some of which (less than 5%) are absolutely NOT ball lightning/plasma phenomena, NOT drones, NOT satellites, and NOT airplanes/helis. I've seen some myself personally. I'm familiar with military as well, and there are a lot of conventional and unconventional USA military hotspots in the western USA, but some of these things that people see are not black projects. Some of our military doesn't know what some of these things are. There's some canyons in AZ that you can see orange-red-white-green orbs fly out of the canyon and off into the horizon fairly often. You don't have to believe in ayys/interdimensional reality or whatever, it's just a phenomena that does actually happen whatever the scientific explanation might be in the future. But the stuff I'm talking about which I've seen is 100% not a drone (silent fast see through orbs which sometimes spin), not a plasma ball (middle of nowhere, clear skies, can travel hundreds of mph, change course), not swamp gas (hundreds of mph), not conventional airplane/heli, not a meteor, not luminious lensing phenomena (I've had one fly literally straight above me at 200 feet), not a satellite (seen them fly under the clouds), and finally not earthquake lights (which I've also seen, earthquakes are electromagnetic phenomena and those lights tend to stay stationary and flicker, ones that move don't move far). All of the sightings in cities are conventional, on maps you see big cities and regions lit up as "hotspots" they aren't Go out in the wilderness in the west long enough and you'll see the real WTF stuff.
>>2879261I can't believe you are still hereEast Coast>trees>"mountains">rivers>"solitude"West Coast>trees>mountains>rivers>solitude>dark skies>cactus>glaciers>deserts>rainforests>tundra>salt flats
>>2882774nice
>>2880318>turkeys in the west but not the southThe Southeast is considered the best turkey hunting in the country, particularly Alabama and Georgia. And obviously they have them on the East Coast, what with the pilgrims.>muh big horn sheepAbsolute LARP post. Maybe 800 are harvested every year. Meanwhile I got two (2) gobblers last year and my wife got one, and that was in Louisiana.
>>2883433>Absolute LARP post>its a larp cuz not everyone gets a tag>hurrdurgobblersAre you really coping this hard? seems like a fun and challenging hunt>>2878765Are you gonna say that about Mt. Goats, Pronghorn, Bison, Elk and Moose too? What about wolves? can you hunt wolves in LA? Mt. Lions? or all those all "larps"?
>>2883433Random turkeys on the side of the road in GSMNP
>>2883435Man modern phones just shit all over any picture they take. I ended up using a different app just so I can get an original image from the sensor and not one that was smeared in vaseline.
>>2883434Anything that’s so exceedingly rare that you’ll never even fire at but is used as some kind of internet points scoring system is a LARP, yes.
>>2883436Yeah but the pic must be AI or something because there are no turkeys in the South lmao
>>2883437>so exceedingly rare that you’ll never even fire at>1000 are shot every yearSome people like a challenge. You prefer a turkey shoot lol. The West is def not for you.
>>2883433Even if you took your two points at full weight that list for the west still way outweighs the east
>>2883433this map is not accurate. How old is it? I have turkeys imby but not on this map...
>>2883433There are around half a million to 1 million deer in 8 of 12 western USA states. In WY there actually more deer and elk than humans. And WY also has another 300k Pronghorn which is also fairly prolific in the west. In fact, Wyoming has more medium-large game per capita than Alaska. 9 of 12 continental western USA states also each have a constant floating population of wild elk (350-600lb animals) in around or in excess of 50,000 animals. California and Montana separately have over 100k wild turkeys each. Even Oregon, Idaho, and Utah have similar wild turkey numbers to Louisiana. Arizona (4th), New Mexico (6th), California (1st), Oregon (7th), Alaska (3rd), Washington state (8th), Colorado (10th) each separately have over 500 bird species in total. More than places like Florida. The mountain states are inside both the Pacific and Central flyways for bird migrations. In fact in the top 10 USA states for confirmed total bird species, 7 of them are continental far western USA.There is tons of small game in the west, tons of it. In AZ coyote and rabbits are year round, 15 quail a day in season etc. The bison, moose, goats, wolves etc are locally just cherries on top.
>>2883446Also more cherries on top locally are; mountain lion (legal in all except CA), bobcat (legal in all except CA), javelina (not a wild pig, actually a native NA animal), black bear (brown hunting is only legal in AK, polar is only legal in AK for natives), beaver trapping/hunting (all 12), etc.
>>2883446
>>2883443The point is that his list is nonsense. How can you trust someone who said there are no turkeys in the premiere turkey hunting region? Wild turkeys are the second most common game animal in the US.
>>2883454Utah, which on your map supposedly has no samples. Issues just under 100,000 tags annually for deer alone. Which is about the same per capita rate as Texas.
>>2883454cool. now do mule deer and elk>>2877688
>>2883460>which on your map supposedly has no samplesthats a map of white tail deer....Utah has mule deer, Whoever posted that map is a tard.
>>2877807>a marketing sloganretard
>>2877640At some point you have to wonder what makes this guy post the same thing repeatedly for years
