Hunting & Fishing Where to MOVE

[Jedi]

OK guys, thought i had this all figured out but the wife has changed her mind due to "dont want to be in Tornado Alley"
so Ozarks are a no go
really i dont care so long as i have access to a 500yd + range/clays with in an hours drive
Colorado was high on list until well ....
So
Montana, Utah, Wyoming
hate to go east of Mississippi
Kentucky, has Rockcastle shooting center. So cking that area out
Tennessee
North Carolina
West Virgina

Deep South, ie Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana are also no go,s for wife

Being within an Hour of 500yd + range is really my only concern and you guys probably know all suitable ranges
Suggestions plz
TIA

 

[Hairball]

Are you retired or do you need a job when you get there? I am from Wyoming and currently live is CA and even though I would like to go back, I would prefer the northwest corner. I am looking at Oregon and Washington as I would like to purchase at least 50 acres and that won't happen in Jackson hole as I did not hit powerball this week. The last 4 you are considering have more humidity than I would like so any of the top three sound good......now if you need a job that may change things up a little

 

[Nukes]

You might peruse the latest edition of Joel Skoussen's Strategic Relocation:
Amazon.com: Strategic Relocation--North American Guide to Safe Places, 3rd Edition (9781568612621): Joel M. Skousen, Andrew Skousen, Audrey Butler, Elizabeth Lindsey: Books

 

[oinco]

IDK, we could use some more reinforcements here in CO behind enemy lines......but I understand. I really like the area around Douglas and believe it or not Cheyenne. If you couldn't find a place in WY to shoot, well hmm.
I do miss living in MT, although there seems to be a bumper crop of pro-gov't dependents and progressive democratic socialists that have found the place too so I would have to be pretty selective on where.

 

[SFree]

Jedi,
Tell your wife that a tornado is no more an issue than the frequency of a house fire. Precautions are no more than any other preventative measures. The ranges you desire are here along with some of the purtiest country in the US.
The Ozarks boonies that is, SW MO style.

Hang on, I smell somethin burnin...

 

[roggom]

I live up in Norther CO, and I can say its been the nicest place I have ever lived, and I have lived all over. In my area there is no gang violence, very infrequent juvenile crimes and the economy is pretty good. Access to the mountains or the prairie within an hour each way, ton of lakes etc etc. Sure there are changes going down in CO , but I have no regrets settling here, my kids did not have to go through half the stuff I had to endure in mid Michigan growing up.

Oh by the way , we have Tornados and hellacious hail here as well. soooooooooooo......

 

[Joey Dean]

I live in Oklahoma City. Tornado's are not an issue if you are prepared. Find a house, put a storm cellar in large enough to hold your MRE's and loaded ammo, and go shot at the OKC Gun Club. Very active club that host numerous matches every year. They have a 550 meter silhouette range and a 600 yard high power range they are getting ready to kick out to a full 1k. Many other ranges from 22 to black powder and a large and active Cowboy Action Shooting group as well. Heck, they have a great 3d archery range I shoot as well.

Every place has something that Ma Nature throws at you. Volcano's, wild fires, mud slides, blizzards, and tsunami's. Pick your poison. You sure don't hear about mass shooting in gun free zones in OK.

 

[TXBRASS]

T-e-x-a-s......

 

[ArmaHeavy]

I would say look into the western part of Virginia as well. West Virginia is also an often overlooked option.

Have you consider a place with enough land to make your own private range?

Concerning the tornadoes... They happen everywhere. Every state. Every country. Only thing you can really do is make sure that you have space in your home that can protect you, if you get a warning that one is coming your way.

 

[Infinity]

I vote Montana. ...some of the best fishing, hunting, and shooting opportunities in the country. It's on my own bucket list.

 

[Muskox]

I grew up in Wyoming and Montana before I joined the military since then I have lived in 9 or 10 states.

Everytime I go home on leave the locals are still anti-anyone that's not from there. Just as bad as it was in Maine or Texas.

Best advice on moving to Wyoming and Montana is this:

If you have an accent at all (meaning you don't talk like Western-MidWestern folks do) and or talk about how this was this way or that way in Texas you will never do well or be liked. Regardless of how long you live there.

Here's my Wyoming primer:

Tons of good ranges, tons of gun owners Jackson Hole is a hippy green peace asshole hang out, and Lander is slowly sinking into the same bucket of shit.

Wind blows all the time, in 90% of the state. Blows in most places 300 plus days a year, and in a select few places over 320. Tons of sunshine, not much rain or snow (wind blows it away), and fog is rare. Wind blows a lot on those -10 F to 20 F winter days, winter is generally the end or middle of November until the end of Middle of April. It is often possible to have winter time wind chills over -40. But it's a dry cold.

Hunting is good, lots of public land, a lot of public land is behind private land, making it private too by state law. Horses will equal better hunting, as you can then use the wilderness areas.

Montana primer:

Eastern Montana is the same as what I said about Wyoming and wind. Western Montana is verticle. Kind of like that Ian Tyson song about Alberta. Horses again will buy you a ticket to the great Bob Marshall wilderness, the biggest difference is Montana as stated before has some politically blue demographics. Beyond that it's for another forum.

 

[xdeano]

My vote would be Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota.

Bismarck, ND has a 1K range SE about 30min. Lots of nice hunting ground. Same thing about western SD, a lot of nice land. Montana is just a given. Wyoming is a very nice place too, lots of hunting to take advantage of.

Muskox is right about the language barrier and not being able to fit in. It is strange how clicky the upper midwest can be. I've got a friend from western Wyoming that came to eastern ND and he said that no one accepts him. I make him fit in. So I can't imagine coming from Tx to the upper midwest.

If you don't like a lot of people, the upper midwest is the place to go. If you like to deal with a lot of people, go east. I don't like population density.

Watch gun laws, Class 3 laws etc.

xdeano

 

[long range newbie]

well I live in oregon as The only bad thing here is there is only a couple 600 or 1k ranges, But what I like is you can go on some dirt road thats no on someones property and shoot and probably won't get in trouble. I have also been to wyoming and montana. I like montana because its a beautiful state, has wonderful hunting, fishing lots of land for long range and same with wyoming but with even more land since that state has the least amount of people living in it. I stayed in montana for a week and we went fishing on a lake, fly fishing in the madison and prairie dog slaying for a whole day. I mean tbh I wish I lived there with my dad my mom she doesn't like me shooting guns .

 

[Scotty22]

Why would you ever want to move out of Texas?

 

[kurt]

My vote would be Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota.

Bismarck, ND has a 1K range SE about 30min. Lots of nice hunting ground. Same thing about western SD, a lot of nice land. Montana is just a given. Wyoming is a very nice place too, lots of hunting to take advantage of.

Muskox is right about the language barrier and not being able to fit in. It is strange how clicky the upper midwest can be. I've got a friend from western Wyoming that came to eastern ND and he said that no one accepts him. I make him fit in. So I can't imagine coming from Tx to the upper midwest.

If you don't like a lot of people, the upper midwest is the place to go. If you like to deal with a lot of people, go east. I don't like population density.

Watch gun laws, Class 3 laws etc.

xdeano

Don't forget to tell people about our nice weather in the winter. Keeps the rif raf down

 

[Muskox]

Don't forget to tell people about our nice weather in the winter. Keeps the rif raf down

A friend of mine on another forum likes to tell prospective residents that Wyoming, the Dakotas and Montana are full, and not accepting anyone else. We are obviously not that smart.

The new string of windmills spread across ranches bought by non-Northern Great Plains folks is really starting to piss me off.

 

[xdeano]

A friend of mine on another forum likes to tell prospective residents that Wyoming, the Dakotas and Montana are full, and not accepting anyone else. We are obviously not that smart.

The new string of windmills spread across ranches bought by non-Northern Great Plains folks is really starting to piss me off.

yeah those damn windmills are really starting to suck, they're poping up all over.

I agree, we must be smarter about telling people about our states. They just suck, who would ever want to live up in this hell hole, freezing cold for 6 months out of the year.

xdeano

 

[dawson08]

->West Virginia<- the beckley area has a 500yd range in central west virginia is white horse a 1000yd range and there is a 1000yrd range up in the martinsburg area. LAND IS CHEAP. COST OF LEAVING IS LOW. JOBS ARE HERE (depending on what you do that is) and the gun laws are G2G and not going to change anytime soon welcome
P.S. West Virginia is nothing like what is portrayed on TV.

 

[kurt]

SoDak...just sayin.

haha can you believe I saw fights at college because some one said one side or the river was better than the other. as a transplant from east I will go west side is the best side

 

[Tornado]

T-e-x-a-s......

I think Jedi is trying to leave Texas (as his profile say location is Tx). Sort of takes that one of the list.

 

[Jedi]

I really do not want to go east of Ole Miss, but it is what it is
bowling green area looks good
have to look into WV

 

[CMH]

When Yellowstone erupts most folks on the planet are going to die, so don't let that influence your decisions too much.

Don't sweat the tornados. Look at it this way, when Yellowstone erupts, Montana, Utah and Wyoming will be wiped out. It's the volcanos you have to worry about!

 

[TheGerman]

Utah is full.

 

[relentless]

Texas. Winters are pretty much non existant where I live.

 

[Dutch405]

I'm with Joey Dean. I was a couple miles from the tornado that just came through Moore,ok. If you prepare for the slight chance that you will be in a tornado, you'll be just fine. Everyone thinks that we sit and dodge tornadoes here in Oklahoma, but this tornado we had this week is the only one that I've ever experienced and I'm 32 years old. When the big EF 5 comes its bad, but it's not as often as most think. Good luck.

 

[KYS]

Being from Kentucky I am pretty proud of my state. If you come this way I will show you the ropes.
We do a lot of work out near the Bowling Green and Albany area. Pretty country and you're close to everything.

 

[Burglecutt]

Utah is full.

Agreed! Full up for sure.

 

[snipe10]

nice try you two, I live in Colorado and know of plenty of good ground in Utah!

 

[wvlapua]

WV-Morgantown area voted best small city. Harry Jones Memorial 1000yd range 45min driving distance. Whitehorse 1000yd isn't too far. Its a growing college town with faithful sports fans and a booming economy. If you get land here, make sure mineral rights are included as Marcellus shale is big here and in neighboring PA.

 

[RanchhandTCR]

the current laws suck but at the same time its not that horrible, in buena vista their is a 1000 yard shooting range there, and your within 1-1.5 hours from a skeet range. I wish people did not leave colorado because it passed the gun laws we need the gun owners to stays so we can overturn these laws in the future. Dont turn us into another california.

 

[McCrazy]

Jedi- I responded to your pm in regards to KY and TN, but seeing as NC is also on your list it is a good choice too. I was there until recently and there are several good shooting venues, both public and private. All 3 states are gun friendly and allow NFA items.

Maybe this map can help you make a choice: County by County 2012 Presidential Election Results - Imgur

 

[Parsons]

Another vote for WV. Can't wait to move back in two years after school. You can still pick land up pretty cheap. I live near Charleston and there is a 400 yard range 30 minuted from and White horse like someone else mentioned is less than two hours away. As for gun laws you won't have to worry about that in WV. Our Governor also just passed more laws to protect WV gun owners. As someone mentioned earlier we are not at all like we are portrayed on TV. May be worth taking a trip east of the Mississippi with the wife and see if you like the area. WV also has some of the best Rivers for rafting/kayaking and ski resorts east of the Mississippi.

 

[TestnDoc]

Mississippi. Best state in the union. Conservative, gun loving, God fearing.

 

[JaysonF]

Move to nevada! So long as you don't live in a city, you can usually drive 15-20 minutes into the desert trails and go shoot. I have never paid range fees (dumb) and I can shoot as far as I want!

 

[MLC]

Utah is full.

That's why I fly out with miles to shoot there.
Quite a place for a person who loves the long range game.
My friend lives in Park City and in an hour shooting to a mile is not a challenge.
In 15 minutes you can shoot out to 800 I believe, further if you know the right folks.

 

[Tackleberry]

I love my Mississippi as well. Although we must be really near hell due to the excessive heat and humidity. Outside those 2 issues it is a great place. We do know who god is and don't mind saying so!

 

[tobedell]

Colorado is full of flaming anti-gun, bug luvin, tree huggin, river lickers.

 

[Some Day]

West Virginia is beautiful.My wife would move there in a hart beat.I like it a lot to but I am trying to get her to move out west.Pennsylvania is beautiful state to and you can find places to shoot distance out here.The Williamsport 1000 yard club is only 45 min a way from me.

 

[45.308]

Go west, Wyoming or Arizona would be my choice. 500 yards range within an hour or just a place to shoot 500 yards within an hour. Me, I prefer the freedom on open land to shoot my way when I want to.

 

[6mech]

I just spent a week in WV and loved it. I would move there If I could. AZ is nice too. A different type of nice. The gun laws are great, good hunting and fishing. There are also 1000 yd ranges in Phoenix and Tucson. Many places in the desert to shoot beyond that if you want. It gets hot as balls but the humidity is usually pretty low.

 

[Jedi]

Well
We jumped ship n left TX for greener pasture
Banjos n shotguns rule here, its what TX was promised to be but never was
Not learning to speak Spanish, required in TX
Can hunt right out my back door on my land
world class trout fishing
Turkeys abundant as are deer, 6 or so share my morning coffee with me as i relax on deck and watch the morning fog slowly fade away to reveal the mountains
Miss TX
Hell no
800yd range and sporting clays within 30min drive
all is well just gotta learn to speak hill billy

 

[Harvey]

If the progressives take the House in 2014, screw it, I'm moving to Costa Rica.

 

[idaho1]

Coeur d Alene, Idaho.

 

[briscoetab]

You must have been living somewhere in east or central texas near the city or something. I live in west texas, all the land you want to shoot on, whitetail and mule deer, turkey, mountain lions, bob cats, dove, quail and whatever else you want. Even seen a couple elk.

It is dry and can be windy here certain years but this year very little wind and plenty of rain. No body messes with you out here. I have two or three place I go where I can shoot as far as I want, 2000+ yds if I want. I don't live in the flat land area either, plenty of mesa's here. Little bit further south your in the mountains.

I don't know what banjo and shotgun's rules mean but I can almost bet you where you moved to the hunting and gun laws are stricter.

You can hunt out your back door here or out of your truck if you want. You can spotlight for varmint, set up corn feeders for deer and many other things that is illegal in nearly every other state, not all state but most of them. I don't know every states hunting laws but I know a majority of them don't allow what texas does.

It sounds like you are happy where you are, so good for you. Just letting everyone else know that texas is not a bad place to live.

Ohh and you don't have to be from texas or speak Spanish either. I am neither from texas nor speak Spanish. Speaking Spanish could be helpful if you live where I do, only an a couple hours from the boarder and see illegals all the time here.

 

[briscoetab]

Forgot to say too that texas is one if the few states you can drive 80 and 75 . Might be a turnoff for some but sure makes getting across the state a lot faster.

 

[Soct]

I just moved to Texas myself. I love it here.

 

[briscoetab]

What part of texas soct? All the areas have their positive and negitives. I think I like it here in west texas about the best, probably second choice would be the less populated part of the hill country.