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At 18... Arizona gets my Vote
I should clarify this was meant to be a big game thread...
With the new laws wouldn't new mexico be up there with the majority of tags for residents and a good selection of game including exotics?
I would still put New Mexico below several of the other states because of the lack of OTC licenses for residents.
With the guide requirement for wilderness in Wyoming I would probably put it at the top of the list with the most readily available hunting access for residents above and beyond those available for nonguided nonresidents. You still have OTC elk and deer tags for residents and if you want to you could hunt antelope every year pretty much as well. If you're young you could pretty much be guaranteed a sheep, goat and moose hunt in your lifetime at the resident pricetag. You can put in for some premium elk hunts every year as well and should be able to hunt some nice units every few years doing that.
Montana would be a very close runner up, with everything that Wyoming has except they don't have the guide requirement in wilderness areas like Wyoming does so you aren't locked out of anywhere as a nonresident there. They only thing that might swing Montana ahead of Wyoming would be a little higher quality on the sheep and goats, but that is a once in a lifetime type thing so I wouldn't put too much weight on that. They do have a little more options available for trapping namely the fact that you can still trap wolverines in Montana.
Colorado and Idaho would come in tied for 3rd. They have pretty much everything Montana and Wyoming have, but I'm not as familiar with them and they don't seem to have the quality of animals that Montana and Wyoming do as a whole. Colorado has the best mule deer in the world, but an area that they are way behind in is trapping. If I was a young guy living in one of those states, I would be trapping during the winter time. With the cage trap requirement that Colorado has that puts a serious damper on trapping the cannine species. You can still get bobcats and coon, but trapping coyotes is a lot of fun and a great challenge.
New Mexico would probably be next simply because there are no OTC tags available, and then probably Utah. Arizona and Nevada would come in after that, then I have no idea with California, Washington and Oregon.
That's my thoughts. Nathan