From the mesquite thickets of South Texas to the hardwood stands of the Upper Midwest and agricultural fields of America's Heartland, these 20 towns are defined by their whitetail hunting culture. Phillips, WI
Located in the heart of Wisconsin's Northwoods, Phillips offers whitetail hunters easy access to the 90,000-acre Flambeau River State Forest and the 857,000-acre Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Like many towns in the Northwoods, Phillips was founded during the lumber boom of the late 19th century. Those piney clusters and stands of hardwoods, which lured treemen and provided the area with an economic boost more than a hundred years ago, today draw hunters to some of the finest whitetail hunting anywhere in the upper Midwest. Uvalde, TX
You have to love any city whose Chamber of Commerce's website includes an entire section devoted to the region's hunting, including a ranch and outfitter directory and a link to a weekly hunting report. They know that chasing big bucks in South Texas means making big bucks, and in Uvalde there's no shame in that. Kirksville, MO
Combining a mix of row-crop ag fields and stands of hardwood timber, north-central Missouri features some of the best whitetail habitat in the entire country. A constellation of five conservation areas, all within a short drive of this town of roughly 17,000 people, offers a combined total of more than 12,000 acres of public land on which to chase whitetails. Adair County, of which Kirksville is the seat, consistently produces both Boone and Crockett and Pope and Young trophies.
City | Overall Ranking |
Alexandria, MN | 110 |
Ashtabula, OH | 151 |
Bartlesville, OK | 71 |
Del Rio, TX | 117 |
Easton, MD | 37 |
Escanaba, MI | 177 |
Glasgow, MT | 34 |
Great Bend, KS | 147 |
Keokuk, IA | 119 |
Kingsville, TX | 165 |
Kirksville, MO | 122 |
Lebanon, MO | 103 |
Nebraska City, NE | 96 |
Orofino, ID | 90 |
Petoskey, MI | 89 |
Phillips, WI | 31 |
Quincy, IL | 135 |
Sandpoint, ID | 28 |
Uvalde, TX | 108 |
Valentine, NE | 104 |
These seven towns earned a score of 9 or 10 (10 being highest) from great-schools.org, which evaluates towns' public schools based on their performance on standardized tests. Los Alamos, NM
As the location of the Los Alamos National Lab, the town of Los Alamos is home to some of the country's most brilliant minds–and their equally brilliant offspring. Los Alamos is located smack in the middle of the Santa Fe National Forest. Cumberland, ME
Just 15 minutes from the city of Portland, Cumberland is a picturesque coastal New England town of just over 7,500 people. Casco Bay's saltwater fishing and Sebago Lake's legendary salmon, bass and trout fisheries are at the town's doorstep.
School's Score | City | Overall Ranking |
10 | Los Alamos, NM | 118 |
10 | Evergreen, CO | 84 |
10 | Cumberland, ME | 86 |
9 | Kenai, AK | 32 |
9 | Camden, ME | 97 |
9 | Rolla, MO | 157 |
9 | Cornwall, NY | 193 |
These 10 towns have population densities of fewer than 300 people per square mile. Cooper Landing, AK
Situated along the Sterling Highway and on the banks of the Kenai River, inside a triangle created by the cities of Anchorage (two and a half hours to the north), Seward (two hours east and south) and Kenai (an hour and a half to the west), Cooper Landing is in a world of its own. With a population of just 349 people and a population density of 6 people per square mile, there's plenty of room to roam for the denizens of The Landing. ( Left: Kenai Lake, outside of Cooper Landing )
Population/sq. mi. | City | Overall Ranking |
6 | Cooper Landing, AK | 20 |
10 | Old Harbor, AK | 77 |
45 | Butte, MT | 40 |
119 | Presque Isle, ME | 115 |
218 | Charlestown, RI | 124 |
259 | Kenai, AK | 32 |
270 | Kanab, UT | 5 |
288 | Poteau, OK | 156 |
290 | Cumberland, ME | 86 |
299 | Mammoth Lakes, CA | 143 |
Say Good-Bye to the daily GrinD in one of these 10 towns, all of which boast great weather year-round. Prescott, AZ
Tucked away in the Bradshaw Mountains of central Arizona, Prescott is a city of about 45,000 people (with a median age of 47.8), large enough to offer all the necessary amenities, yet not so large that it lacks a sense of community. It enjoys a mild, four-season climate, but without the intense heat of southern Arizona or the immense snowfalls seen at higher elevations. Several lakes and ponds in and around the town offer bass, trout, panfish and catfish. The Prescott and Tonto national forests, which surround Prescott, feature elk, mule deer, Coues whitetails and quail.
City | Overall Ranking |
Gulf Shores, AL | 72 |
Hilo, HI | 179 |
Kingsville, TX | 165 |
Lake Worth, FL | 199 |
Naples, FL | 132 |
Page, AZ | 3 |
Panama City, FL | 133 |
Prescott, AZ | 81 |
Uvalde, TX | 108 |
Wilmington, NC | 157 |
If it's salmonids that get your juices flowing, check out these towns. They offer the best opportunities for trout, salmon and steelhead. Bozeman, MT
The Big Hole. The Bighorn. The Gallatin. The Missouri. The Yellowstone. The Madison. The Stillwater. The Springs Creeks. The list of legendary trout waters available to Bozeman anglers is staggering. Trout fishing here is a year-round endeavor, and these are technical rivers and streams with educated fish. Serious trout anglers only need apply. Knoxville, TN
When folks discuss the perfect towns for trout bums, talk usually turns to sleepy little Rocky Mountain hamlets that sit at the confluence of two or three blue ribbon streams. But east of the Mississippi, that conversation needs to include Knoxville. Home to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville is not quaint, but it's within a short drive of more than 1,000 miles of fishable trout waters in the Smoky Mountains and eastern Tennessee.
City | Overall Ranking |
Bozeman, MT | 57 |
Carbondale, CO | 36 |
Cooper Landing, AK | 20 |
Eugene, OR | 55 |
Grants Pass, OR | 195 |
Hailey, ID | 73 |
Kenai, AK | 32 |
Knoxville, TN | 198 |
Manistee, MI | 127 |
Marquette, MI | 13 |
Maupin, OR | 63 |
Mountain Home, AR | 7 |
Oswego, NY | 138 |
Pocatello, ID | 2 |
Port Angeles, WA | 106 |
Redding, CA | 137 |
Salmon, ID | 99 |
Tillamook, OR | 92 |
Truckee, CA | 194 |
Winthrop, WA | 85 |
These towns are well known for their upland bird or waterfowl hunting–or both. Jamestown, ND
While South Dakota deservedly gets much of the collective attention of pheasant hunters every fall, its sister state to the north doesn't receive nearly the respect it deserves. And given its location in the middle of the Prairie Pothole Region, Jamestown not only hosts tremendous upland hunting, but is a hot spot for waterfowlers as well. Stuttgart, AR
No town in the U.S. is as synonymous with duck hunting at Stuttgart. Its flooded timber and rice fields have long been magnets for Mississippi Flyway mallards, earning it the title "The Rice and Duck Capital of the World." Stuttgart is also home to Mack's Prairie Wings, the legendary sporting-goods store and waterfowl emporium, and the Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce lists more than 40 waterfowl-related businesses (guides, outfitters, etc.) as members
City | Overall Ranking |
Aberdeen, SD | 155 |
Ashtabula, OH | 151 |
Bismarck, ND | 11 |
Elk City, OK | 184 |
Grand Island, NE | 145 |
Grand Marais, MN | 14 |
Jamestown, ND | 113 |
Mitchell, SD | 142 |
Moses Lake, WA | 57 |
Naples, FL | 132 |
Pierre, SD | 10 |
Rochester, MN | 12 |
Scottsbluff, NE | 175 |
Stuttgart, AR | 185 |
Tillamook, OR | 92 |
Elk and mule deer and antelope, oh my! These towns, primarily in the intermountain West, boast an awesome variety of huntable big-game species. Vernal, UT
Residents of the northeastern Utah town of Vernal enjoy the good fortune of being surrounded by millions upon millions of acres of ecologically diverse national forest land. The Ashley National Forest (which includes the breathtaking Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area) comprises 1.3 million acres just outside of town, while the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest to the west and north encompasses more than 2 million acres. The forests are home to a veritable zoo of big-game species, including bighorn sheep, moose, elk, antelope, mule deer, bears, mountain goats and mountain lions. Lander, WY
With the Wind River Range providing a dramatic background west of town and high-desert plains unfurling to the east, Lander is sandwiched between two ideal big-game habitats. Every fall, Landerites venture into the Winds in search of elk, moose, black bears, cougars and bighorn sheep. Mule deer and antelope are plentiful in the plains. Trinidad, CO
A plethora of state and national wildlife areas, including the 30,000-acre Bosque del Oso (Colorado's largest wildlife area), makes Trinidad a prime destination for big-game nuts. Like Lander, Trinidad is backed by a breathtaking mountain landscape to the west (in this case, the stunning Sangre de Cristos) and expansive grasslands to the east. Elk, mule deer, antelope, bighorns, bears and cats are all plentiful in the Trinidad area.
City | Overall Ranking |
Casper, WY | 78 |
Cody, WY | 15 |
Dillon, MT | 100 |
Driggs, ID | 121 |
Durango, CO | 111 |
Ely, NV | 129 |
Fairbanks, AK | 45 |
Flagstaff, AZ | 86 |
Glendive, MT | 24 |
Gunnison, CO | 153 |
Idaho Falls, ID | 29 |
Kanab, UT | 5 |
Lander, WY | 17 |
Lewiston, ID | 4 |
Livingston, MT | 76 |
Rawlins, WY | 9 |
Reserve, NM | 135 |
Rifle, CO | 48 |
Trinidad, CO | 43 |
Vernal, UT | 51 |
Whether you love largemouths, salivate over smallmouths or are a sucker for stripers, you'll find your perfect bass town on this list. Burlington, VT
Burlington sits on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, which, outside of the Northeast, is not widely recognized for its bass fishing. However, it has been a popular stop on the professional bass circuit for years. Holding both smallmouth and largemouth bass, Champlain is 120 miles long, 10 miles wide and 400 feet deep. In other words, you'll never run out of water to explore in search of lunkers. Lufkin, TX
The Lone Star State has no shortage of legendary bass lakes, and Lufkin is within a two-hour drive of a pair of them. Lake Sam Rayburn (114,500 acres) is just outside of town, and Toledo Bend Reservoir (181,600 acres) straddles the Texas-Louisiana border 60 miles to the east. Both are best known for their largemouths, but Rayburn holds good white bass and Toledo Bend offers great striper fishing. Rogers, AR
Arguably the finest freshwater striped-bass fishery in the country sits just outside of Rogers. Beaver Lake, an impoundment of the White River situated in the beautiful Ozark Mountains of northwestern Arkansas, has given up several 40-plus-pound fish over the years (the lake record is 57 pounds) and features stellar white-bass, hybrid-striper, largemouth and smallmouth fishing, too.
City | Overall Ranking |
Burlington, VT | 162 |
Cleveland, TN | 171 |
Del Rio, TX | 117 |
Erie, PA | 82 |
Heber Springs, AR | 16 |
John Day, OR | 62 |
Klamath Falls, OR | 49 |
Lufkin, TX | 80 |
New Bern, NC | 116 |
Oswego, NY | 138 |
Paducah, KY | 167 |
Page, AZ | 3 |
Port Clinton, OH | 93 |
Presque Isle, ME | 115 |
Redding, CA | 137 |
Rogers, AR | 47 |
Seneca, SC | 59 |
Springfield, MO | 178 |
Tuscaloosa, AL | 188 |
Wichita Falls, TX | 150 |
The towns on this list feature high median household incomes and a low cost of living. Essentially, your hard-earned money will go furthest in these locations. Rochester, MN
With a median household income of more than $66,000 and a cost of living index rating of 78.6, according to city-data.com (the U.S. average is 100), Rochesterians are able to spend lots of disposable income on a number of excellent hunting and fishing opportunities. Local outdoorsmen enjoy tremendous Canada goose hunting in the crop fields outside of town. (In fact, goose hunting is so much a part of the local tradition, Rochester's minor-league baseball team is named the Honkers.) The Driftless Area, to the east–a swath of land characterized by its deeply carved river valleys–boasts great trout fishing and deer, turkey and grouse hunting. Green River, WY
Tucked away in the southwestern corner of Wyoming, Green River enjoys a robust median household income of more than $73,000 and a cost of living index rating of 83.6, well under the national average. The Green River, which flows through town, marries breathtaking scenery and some of the West's best trout fishing.
Group Ranking | City | Overall Ranking |
1 | Rochester, MN | 12 |
2 | Chamberlain, SD | 42 |
3 | Pierre, SD | 10 |
4 | Dodge City, KS | 187 |
5 | Wichita Falls, TX | 150 |
6 | Bartlesville, OK | 71 |
7 | Sioux Falls, SD | 19 |
8 | Houma, LA | 185 |
9 | Bismarck, ND | 11 |
10 | Green River, WY | 166 |
11 | Nebraska City, NE | 96 |
12 | Craig, CO | 68 |
13 | Red Wing, MN | 98 |
14 | Quincy, IL | 135 |
15 | Rawlins, WY | 9 |
16 | Green Bay, WI | 112 |
17 | Grand Island, NE | 145 |
18 | Gillette, WY | 94 |
19 | Devils Lake, ND | 22 |
20 | Phillips, WI | 31 |
If salty air, sandy beaches and killer saltwater fishing are what you seek, give these 15 towns a look. Jamestown, RI
No matter where you live in Rhode Island, you're never far from the water, and that's especially true in Jamestown, which is situated on Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay. The summer and fall striped-bass migrations get top billing from local anglers, but all of the northern Atlantic's fishing is easily accessible. And if you don't own a boat, there is no shortage of charters available for hire.
City | Overall Ranking |
Beaufort, SC | 126 |
Cambria, CA | 170 |
Camden, ME | 97 |
Charlestown, RI | 124 |
Deale, MD | 175 |
Gulf Shores, AL | 72 |
Hilo, HI | 179 |
Jamestown, RI | 192 |
Kenai, AK | 32 |
Lake Worth, FL | 199 |
Morehead City, NC | 164 |
Naples, FL | 132 |
Panama City, FL | 133 |
Pascagoula, MS | 149 |
Port Angeles, WA | 106 |