I'm beyond sick of the heat and humidity here in Texas. I can hunt on my Mom and Dad's 100+ acres, but that's about the extent of my hunting opportunities here.
The wife and I have been thinking South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, maybe Idaho. Any input from the peanut gallery?
Wyoming winters are much longer and pretty grim by Texas standards, but If I was going, I would look hard at the Sheridan/Buffalo area or over around Sundance. I like a lot of Montana but if I was looking to move there, Lewistown would be at the top of my list--maybe the Three Forks area, too, because I have some good friends there. In South Dakota--the Black Hills country. In Idaho, most of the places that I like are summer home kinds of places--not where I would want to live year-round. I agree with Greg. You might like Flagstaff or somewhere around there.
Ben
Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...
I'm beyond sick of the heat and humidity here in Texas. I can hunt on my Mom and Dad's 100+ acres, but that's about the extent of my hunting opportunities here.
The wife and I have been thinking South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, maybe Idaho. Any input from the peanut gallery?
I hear ya! I find myself secretly wishing to make the list for layoffs next week, but I keep doing to math to see how much I need to retire and come up short...depending on how long I live.
Seriously, what's your situation? Still working, what kind of work? What are you looking for?
Married, three kids, oldest is my daughter and she's ten, then two boys 5 and 18 months. I'm a Professional Land Surveyor. I'd have to take and pass the exam wherever I went, but it's generally just a reciprocal exam so no big deal. Wife is a certified teacher, but currently stays home with the kids.
As far as what I'm looking for. Mainly a place where it's not 90-100+ for 7 months out of the year. I love being outdoors as do the kids, but the heat down here almost makes it intolerable. The ability to hunt public land would be great and to hunt big game species other than whitetail.
We were ready to move 5 years ago or so because we were fed up with Austin, but a move further out of town and to a house with a pool stalled that for a while.
Employment market in MT is good for your skills. I am a shareholder in a regional firm based in Western MT, and PLSs with good experience and solid work ethic can be hard to find.
Good luck!
“I am in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection, but with Montana it is love, and it’s difficult to analyze love when you’re in it.” John Steinbeck
Wyoming. If you don't mind 7 months of winter and 11.9 months of wind.....
Full time wind is a no-go for me. I don't mind a breeze, but windy sucks!
Then you might want to do some basic climate research to help narrow your choices. Here's the link to NOAA's regional climate data centers (NOAA Regional Climate Centers).
BTW, I've been to many parts of the western US over the last 40 years or so for work and play, and except for locations in the interior mountain valleys, my experience has been the winds blow 'relatively constantly' in most locations. Not sure how you define 'windy' but routine wind speeds above 5-10 mph are pretty common across much of the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions.
Pursuit may be, it seems to me, perfect without possession. Robert Kelley Weeks (1840-1876)
5-10mph doesn't bother me, that's what I consider a breeze. I'm talking about 20+mph constant winds like you get in some of the plains. We hunted southwestern NM several years ago and the wind about drove me nuts. Everything covered in dust, tarps blowing off, etc.
I'm beyond sick of the heat and humidity here in Texas. I can hunt on my Mom and Dad's 100+ acres, but that's about the extent of my hunting opportunities here.
The wife and I have been thinking South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, maybe Idaho. Any input from the peanut gallery?
I hear ya! I find myself secretly wishing to make the list for layoffs next week, but I keep doing to math to see how much I need to retire and come up short...depending on how long I live.
As much as it goes against our grain, to get to AK sooner rather than later, and get rid of this obnoxious heat, and just have fun, semi retire and ride it out.. once we are broke at age X, I figure its a long enough ride or the .gov can take care of us, God knows we've taken care of enough others over the years...
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
5-10mph doesn't bother me, that's what I consider a breeze. I'm talking about 20+mph constant winds like you get in some of the plains. We hunted southwestern NM several years ago and the wind about drove me nuts. Everything covered in dust, tarps blowing off, etc.
Thats a factor for us in AK. But while it blows at times like nuts, there are plenty other times it doesn't. And thats good.
We just wished we'd thought this through when we were 18 and had gotten jobs that would easily transfer... juggling hard now to end up at least as a paramedic in a couple of years and that should do well up there...
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
Montana is my pick.. I have considered moving there in the near future.. My second pick is Idaho,with lower elevation, great bid hunting and outstanding fishing...
What would be wrong with northern New Mexico or AZ. Humidity gone, heat mostly gone, winters not so cold.
I'd have to look into Arizona, but NM is a no-go. Unfortunately I'd have to go back to school and get a degree in Surveying. I have a Bachelors from UT, but apparently that's not good enough to survey in the great state of New Mexico.
Side note: a guy I work with is originally from Greece. He has a couple of degrees from universities over there, one of them being a Surveying/Engineering degree. He had to take a Chemistry class or some BS so they'd allow him to take the New Mexico PLS exam.
Everyone in MT has highly transmittable venereal disease, is addicted to prescription pain pills, or both. Whatever stuff you own that doesn't blow away in the wind will get stolen by meth addicts. The school systems recently got around to buying books which recognize Hawaii as a state. Upon hearing your accent, locals will just assume you're a holdover from the oil patch and hate you even more.
I hear Wyoming doesn't have any of these problems.
Idaho is a number of different places. I can't say how the surveyor job market is in any of them, though. Southern ID is much drier and higher. Summer humidity can be as low as 10 to 15%. 90F is a lot more livable that way. Higher doesn't necessarily mean steeper, though. North ID has it's share of vertical stuff. Being drier means lots more sagebrush and more open country. In the south, mulies are more prevalent while the north has more whitetails. The ranges overlap considerably, though. Hunting in the south half gives lots of opportunity to sit and glass for miles. The north has much more timber and brush so hunting styles are different.
Much of the elk hunting in the south is by lottery while in much of the north tags are OTC. Exceptions abound. For draw hunts, ID has no point system so your odds of drawing are the same as everyone else's every year. However, if you don't draw, a little more driving will put you in an open deer or elk hunt somewhere every year. There's no reason to miss an elk or deer season because you didn't draw. We have open hunts with very good game populations so missing out on a draw doesn't reduce your odds of scoring.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
5-10mph doesn't bother me, that's what I consider a breeze. I'm talking about 20+mph constant winds like you get in some of the plains. We hunted southwestern NM several years ago and the wind about drove me nuts. Everything covered in dust, tarps blowing off, etc.
Yellow Pine, Idaho would be my choice. Jumping off place to Middle Fork, Salmon River Wilderness country. Need horse, will travel! (Across the counter elk and deer tags, last time I was there- a couple decades ago....) Or maybe Calder or Red Avery up in the St. Joe.. St Maries if you insist on civilization- only 60 miles from Spokane, and less (or more) into real country. Spent 2 summers USFS trail crew out of Calder Ranger Station, back in the late '60's. No doubt it's changed somewhat, but still...
Roughly 60 miles south of (Kellogg)??. Dunno if the FS trails are still there, ut they were, the whorehouses are long gone with the logging days. Also the smelters with mining days.
I am in NM and would not move here again. Blows almost everyday so if you don't like wind, not good. I have never heard you need a degree to be a PS here? I have friends that are and do not have degrees?
I am moving in 4-years when the last kid graduates somewhere north.
You sure are close to a lot if good hunting in Austin. I hunt in Burnet now. I have been working outside for 40 plus years. You don't like the heat, but you sure as hell wont like all that Ice-snow crap. I would study on that long and hard. Lots time lost to bad weather up north. Not so much down here. I drive right through Liberty Hiil on way to Burnet. We turn north on 281, turn left at last light, if you turn right it goes to Burnet high school. We are off county road 108. If you are sitting at that light looking to the northwest. The big hill a couple of miles is our lease. You can see into Lake Buchanon from our lease. We hunt on the Fry ranch. Half ass deer, lots turkeys, untold amounts of damn hogs.
Idaho might not be quite as high as CO (our highest peak is 12,600') but it's no pushover. I read an article by an outfitter who'd worked in every mountain state during a long career. He rated Idaho as the most rugged. It wasn't the altitude, it was the valleys. He said they tend to be deeper and steeper than what he found in the other mountain states.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
You sure are close to a lot if good hunting in Austin. I hunt in Burnet now. I have been working outside for 40 plus years. You don't like the heat, but you sure as hell wont like all that Ice-snow crap. I would study on that long and hard. Lots time lost to bad weather up north. Not so much down here. I drive right through Liberty Hiil on way to Burnet. We turn north on 281, turn left at last light, if you turn right it goes to Burnet high school. We are off county road 108. If you are sitting at that light looking to the northwest. The big hill a couple of miles is our lease. You can see into Lake Buchanon from our lease. We hunt on the Fry ranch. Half ass deer, lots turkeys, untold amounts of damn hogs.
Decent hunting, sure. As long as you have a lease or family/friends with a place.
I'm not sure if I'd hate the snow and ice, but I can GUARANTEE I hate, hate, hate this heat.
I was ready to make the move about 5 years ago, but we moved into a new house with a pool. The pool helps make the heat somewhat bearable, but that's only when you're in the pool. Hard to shoot, hunt, etc. in the pool.
My wife and I are contemplating a move too, but for opposite reasons. We live in Minnesota, and to be honest, the winter's are starting to be a grind. We're both in our mid 50's and starting to think about simplifying our lives a bit. Our 3 bedroom rambler is really more than we need at this point. Son's moved out, and our daughter is in college.
For me, the winters keep getting tougher, and quite honestly, I'm getting to the point where raking the leaves, and snowblowing really don't interest me as much as they used to.
Thinking of somewhere with a little milder winter, and there'd have to be public hunting opportunities with a good deer season available. It sucks to pull up roots, and move away from one's friends and family, but sometimes you just gotta do it.
We're really leaning toward the Boise area. Plan is for a trip up there early next week with the whole family to make sure everyone is on board. Then we just have to make it happen...
Clark, I think you will love that area.. If I could get my step daughter's husband a position there, my life would be wonderful.. Idaho has lots of opportunities in fishing and hunting.. Plus the weather is more mild that higher states.. But the mountains are rugged! We are looking at another spot to move to.. That state is on our list.. Winters here tend to be long, windy and cold.. Best of luck..
Used to have to go into Boise several times a year and I always looked forward to my visits. Winters there are easy to take, even for a Texan. It has picked up a lot of population in the last 15-20 years, but it's still not a big city--about like what Austin was 25 years ago.
Hope you guys like it--I think that you will.
Ben
Some days it takes most of the day for me to do practically nothing...
If there's any way possible I will end up with a winter and a summer home in just over 8 years. I don't like hot and I don't like cold. Oh, and I hate wind too.
When I retired I moved north 600 miles to just above the Arctic Circle into harsher weather winter and summer with the plan of taking it year by year for a maximum of three.
I live in OK where it also get's really hot in the summer as well. My hunting buddy and I have two areas where we hunt (free "leases") here in OK where we hunt deer, turkey, and hogs. When we get tired of the heat (we've actually hunted deer with a depredation tag in late June when temps were well over 100 degrees) we make our annual trip to CO for elk or SD for some incredibly big bucks. These hunts can be surprisingly inexpensive and traveling makes every year is a new adventure. My hunting buddy and I are both over 65 years old and our fall hunting schedule provides all the excitement we can handle. That said, if I were younger, Alaska would be the place I'd live.
I live in SW Wyoming and I would like it a whole lot more were it not for the wind. It's not always windy but it sure seems like it is. That said, there are areas of the state that are far less windy. I know several people from Cokeville and Star Valkey area that report that they don't experience the wind typically associated with Wyoming. My wife is from Greybull and I also lived there for a couple years and it (along with much of the bighorn river basin) is fairly pleasant in the wind department. One other area that I've heard has fairly low wind is around Sheridan. I've never been there but have been close and think it's a place I'd like to live.
I relocated to Western Montana from Arizona in January this year. No regrets, bought a house on the Clark Fork river, can't beat the views and scenery. Deer around the house nearly everyday muleys and whitetails, elk periodically, turkeys, bears grouse even a moose once in a while. I'm not sure what the job prospects for surveyors is here, but I have a friend in Spokane WA that is a PLS, and I know he has done some hiring.
Just dropping back to this thread now and wondering if you made it to the Boise area? There's actually some really nice communities in and around Boise. Friends just moved from Mountain Hone to Emmett and really like it.
Give me a shout, I travel a lot, but would be glad to meet with you if you're in the area.
Bob Enjoy life now -- it has an expiration date. ~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
Just dropping back to this thread now and wondering if you made it to the Boise area? There's actually some really nice communities in and around Boise. Friends just moved from Mountain Hone to Emmett and really like it.
Give me a shout, I travel a lot, but would be glad to meet with you if you're in the area.
I posted earlier in this thread that we were going out to Boise early next week. What I meant to say was early next YEAR. The wife and I are planning on heading up in Jan/Feb to make sure we (i.e. the wife) can handle the cold. Next step would be to head up with the whole family after school is out next year to make sure there on board.
Right now I've been networking with people on LinkedIn, here, and a UT (Texas not Tennessee) message board. I'll hopefully take the PLS exam later this year and get my ID PLS.
