Cedar City

Tell me about Cedar City and the hunting and fishing opportunities around the area. I want the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Cedar city Utah?

Cedar City, Utah?

The good; it's not in Salt Lake City or anywhere else along the Wasatch Front.

The bad; it's in Utah. Spike elk and 5 day or less general season deer tags. Not to up on the fishing, but I'm sure there some high moutain lakes/streams near there. Don't know your religious affiliation, but that could be a bit of shock culturally and socially if you are not of the predominant one there.

The ugly; there is some very neat and beautiful country near Cedar City. That said, IMO, Cedar City isn't what I'd call picturesque.

Just my 2 cents, but it wouldn't even make my long list of places I'd want to move West to live in. However, if the job was exactly what I wanted to do, then possibly. For me, there are more ideal places for the same type of work that I want to get back into. That may not be your situation.

Yes, Utah. Thanks for your perspective Pointer.

mdunc8 said:

Yes, Utah.

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Is New Jersey not an option?

Pros- it's not Virginia

Cons- it's not Montana

randy11 said:

pros- it's not virginia

cons- it's utah

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fify

Like 1 pointer said I've had some people tell me the same thing about being an outcast if you're not part of their religion.

I have really good friends that are lds, Boise has a large population so no disrespect but S. Utah is different. If you aren't one of the founding families you will be an outsider. I know a couple that moved there and they couldn't leave fast enough.

Utah has short seasons for hunting, but Archery opened middle of august. and late season will run till december. So that can be good and bad.

Cedar city is in the heart of southern Utah... 2 hrs or so from Vegas, 2 hrs or so from SLC. Tons of hiking/ATV/National Parks/Ski'ing in the Cedar City area.

I have tons of LDS friends from the northern side of the state. They can be pushy, but besides your born/breed Montanan, I haven't meet nicer people. I'm not saying all people are nice, but they all have tried to to push the religion on me and my family. When asked not to, they didn't push any further.

Every place is what you make of it, that is if you are looking to move there, you didn't really say...

Some good quail hunting in the desert fringe and down toward Mesquite.

I lived in Cedar City for about 5 years. There is some great fishing to be had. Everything from bass to trout. There are some lakes within 1 to 2 hours that have some seriously nice sized (read BIG) trout. There is also a lake about 45 minutes from Cedar that has a good population of smallmouth bass and wipers (striper/white bass hybrid). As for the hunting, well it's Utah, and that means for the most part it sucks when it comes to deer or elk. It's all either limited draw, private land access, or over hunted public. With that said a few good mule deer still get killed there every year. I always filled my tag while living there, but I had to work at it. If you are into smaller critters like hunting jack rabbits, cottontails, ducks, or doves, the hunting for them can be pretty darn good. If you are a predator hunter you will not lack for things to hunt. The quail hunting someone mentioned earlier is about an hour or more from Cedar City and closer to St. George. What I do like about Cedar City is that there is still plenty of room to roam where you can get away from people. The other thing I really liked was that in the summer it generally didn't get super hot. If it did get hot I'd just jump in my pick up and head up the canyon and have a picnic dinner at one of the lakes, and it was always cooler up there. In the winter when it did get cold I'd find excuses to run down to St. George which less than an hour away. St. George almost never gets what I'd call cold. It sits much lower in elevation and has very mild winters. For the most part I enjoyed living in Cedar City. If you are going to live in Utah you can definitely do a LOT WORSE than Cedar City. Pretty much everything north of Nephi springs to mind. With that said I live in Montana and I have zero desire to move.

The elk in my icon was killed on cedar mtn in the general season unit. Killed two lions down the road above New Harmony. The winters can be cold. The summers are cool and the middle of nowhere is less than an hour away. You can chase big elk every year with your camera in some of the best units in the US or spend the weekends glassing big mule deer on the Paunsagunt or the Henry Mtns. One of the best elk and deer units in NV is due west over the state line. Explore the Arizona Strip for some of the biggest bucks you'll see anywhere. Fly fishing isn't far away and can make a long work week disappear. Large and small mouth bass are in nearby lakes. Lake Powell can be reached in 3 hours or less. There's a Starbucks and a Dairy Queen.

Thanks for the insight. I've got an interview out there in two weeks. Just trying to get a feel for the area before I make the trip.

My son goes to school down there ( Southern Utah University ). He says he loves it. There is fishing pretty close and lots of places to call coyotes. It is a lot bigger town than I would want to live in.