# Montana: What's it like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780 "2010-05-26T02:00:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/1 "2010-05-26T02:00:34Z")
I’m thinking of moving there soon. All I have is a pair of zircon encrusted tweezers and a pygmy pony. What can I expect? ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/2 "2010-05-26T12:29:39Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’m thinking of moving there soon. All I have is a pair of zircon encrusted tweezers and a pygmy pony. > > What can I expect? Never been there, but I drove all the way across South Dakota and back once. How different can they be, right?:dubious: Sell the tweezers and the pony, and buy cowboy boots and a Stetson hat. Montanans ride BIG horses. Unless you’re secretly Billy Barty, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/3 "2010-05-26T12:48:06Z")
The sky there is pretty big. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/4 "2010-05-26T13:40:52Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’m thinking of moving there soon. All I have is a pair of zircon encrusted tweezers and a pygmy pony. > > What can I expect? It’s full of people raising dental floss. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/5 "2010-05-26T14:07:59Z")
There is no there there. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/6 "2010-05-26T14:08:15Z")
When you get there, throw a big party for your new neighbors. Let them get to know you and see what a good person your are by using the word **“aint’”** a lot and by randomly firing a weapon into the air. Any weapon will do but your best bet is either a full-auto AK-47 or a 20ga, single barrel shotgun that your ‘pappy give ya when you was just a little varmint’. Keep the pony, you’ll want it for the BBQ. Once they see you eating strange, meat based food, they will accept you as one of their own. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/7 "2010-05-26T14:12:39Z")
Actually, my suggest moving to the next state to the west, and kicking all of the other residents out. That way, you’d have your own private Idaho. ---
**Author:** ![smee\_goan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@smee\_goan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smee_goan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/8 "2010-05-26T14:29:06Z")
Custer’s last stand at the Little Big Horn River, I once found a plastic jar of coins that probably fell out of a car on the road, I was bicycling cross country 30 years ago. I bought much needed supplies. Some kind of Karma there… Fly fishing lodges there, Remember Dynamo Hum? > [@](#): > > Got a spot that gets me hot… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/9 "2010-05-26T18:02:38Z")
Beeve mutes. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/10 "2010-05-26T18:14:07Z")
I love Montana. Beautiful country. However, I’ll give you the same advice my dad got from one of his ham radio buddies years ago. Before you buy a house or otherwise commit, visit the state in the winter. My family owns no land in Montana for this very reason. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/11 "2010-05-26T18:58:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There is no there there. That’s Los Angeles. I grew up in Montana. The sky is bigger. The winter’s are awful. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/12 "2010-05-26T19:33:50Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I love Montana. Beautiful country. However, I’ll give you the same advice my dad got from one of his ham radio buddies years ago. Before you buy a house or otherwise commit, visit the state in the winter. My family owns no land in Montana for this very reason. {Wistfully}It’d be nice to live someplace with milder winters. 😃 There are areas of Montana that we drove through that are unbelievably beautiful - in some mountains, around some twisty river. There was a lot of bald-ass prairie, too, and believe me, I know bald-ass prairie. I didn’t see any pygmy ponies, though. Maybe someone was getting antelopes confused with pygmy ponies - there’s a metric assload of antelope there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/13 "2010-05-26T20:19:58Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > That’s Los Angeles. > > I grew up in Montana. The sky is bigger. The winter’s are awful. The springs too! I was there two weeks ago… snowed during my visit! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/14 "2010-05-26T20:39:14Z")
Montana actually has a lot to offer during the nicer months. It’s a rockhound and amateur geologist’s paradise. We followed the Lewis and Clark trail along the Missouri Breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/15 "2010-05-26T21:44:52Z")
You could ask Marie Osmond 🙂 Seriously as always you can check [City-Data (dot) Com](http://www.city-data.com/forum/montana/) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/16 "2010-05-26T22:48:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Montana actually has a lot to offer during the nicer months. It’s a rockhound and amateur geologist’s paradise. We followed the Lewis and Clark trail along the Missouri Breaks. That should have read “amateur paleontologist’s”. There are dinosaur bones falling off every mound of dirt. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/17 "2010-05-26T23:45:08Z")
Montana-- big. What it’s like is pretty specific to where you are. (east, west, north south, mountains, plains, rez, city, which city, which rez, etc). Where ya headed? ---
**Author:** ![shellofmyformerself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@shellofmyformerself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shellofmyformerself)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/18 "2010-05-27T01:07:12Z")
I was stationed in Great Falls for 2-ish years. I loved it! It was beautiful all year round. The two summers I was there it was actually very hot. The second summer we had a stretch of 100+ temps–sucked since my house, like many up there, did not have AC. I am from south Georgia so I was pretty miserable whenever I had to go outside during the winter. I learned that in the winter folks plug in cars at night and/or leave cars running while they are dining out or going to the grocery store. I signed into the base on May 3rd, then checked into my hotel. It was 60 degrees that day. When I woke up, it had snowed 4 inches! It was crazy! If you love the outdoors, you will be in heaven. Hiking, fishing, hunting… ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/19 "2010-05-27T12:26:18Z")
Compared to the 70s, it’s slow. The days of the “Reasonable and prudent” speed limits are gone. About 15 years ago when the national limit was raised from 55 to 65, Montana went back to R&P. Didn’t go well, so they’re now capped at 70. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780/20 "2010-05-27T12:55:20Z")
Set your sights high… why not be a Tycoon? VunderBob mentioned there are lots of Dental Floss farmers there… why not try to cap that market? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/montana-whats-it-like/540780.md?page=2)