Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Another retirement question.

I am eligible for retirement on my next birthday.

My plan is to buy a small place with easy access to good fishing and public hunting in a State where a man can buy over the counter big game tags and go hunting. (That isn't Texas for damn sure) My days of leasing land to hunt on are just about finished and I will no longer have a job that prevents me from going hunting during the fall seasons.

My question is; Where in the USA would be the best place to move to do just that? I am thinking a half acre or so and a small cabin within a short drive to good fishing and hunting.

I know some of you already live in just such a place and need one more damn Texan in the neighborhood. Go ahead and speak up....

what's your cold tolerance?

If you've lived all your life in Texas, some places out here might be too much of an adjustment climate-wise

I don't know. But I do plan to try living there for a year before I buy.

southern missouri texas co. or near there

Arkansas...so I'm told by Alaskans retiring and moving south...

Dennis

You didn't say what kind of hunting but for places with a little more temperate climate and a decent mix of game and fish I'd say the aforementioned Arkansas, Southern Missouri, Eastern half of Tennessee or Kentucky (I like hills) or West, by God, Virginia.

All have decent cost of living, affordable land and some good size areas of public land for recreation.

I'd say Big Sky country, and of course I just happen to work in real estate so.......I can help you!

Dober

Dober you are so bad!

PDS, I don't know where this place is you are looking for but I hope you find it. When you do please PM me very quietly. I truly hope for the day when my thoughts are completely occupied by just such a quest. I am envious, but in a good way.

Alan

OK, some more information. This would be a second home for me and a vacation cabin for my kids when I am gone. I would not have to live there all year.

I would like to be able to hunt deer, elk, and perhaps waterfowl and upland birds. I do not enjoy off shore fishing but just about anything from a lake, river of stream is good including fly fishing for trout. I would not have to have property directly adjoining public hunting land but a short drive away. However, a view of a lake or stream would be nice.

I have fished for trout and camped in Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Arkansas. I love the Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills but I have not been there during the winter. I also like the Chama - Eagles Nest area of New Mexico.

I plan to travel the North West coast up to Washington soon. Perhaps this summer.



That is what I am looking for with a breathtaking view.

And Jackson Hole is too expensive for my budget.

pds, where ever it is don't you have to actually live there six months of the year before you can buy resident tags?

I know you do here in Texas but I don't know about any other state.

Unless you are physically present and getting your mail here six months and a day then you are a non-resident.

BCR

PDS/Those places you mentioned are darn cold. As I have gotten older, the cold here in CO really affects me.
Fishing isn't all that good. Almost all major rivers in CO now have 2 trout limit,flies or lure only.
Pubelo reservoir is so disturbed with water skiers and wave runners, that fising is a joke anymore.John Martin,Nee Nosh,Bonny and some other eastern lakes hold some decent wiper action,but is seasonal.

That leaves the high country lakes that are only accessable a few months out of the year and are pretty far back in.

In New Mexico,you can only count on getting an elk tag once in every three years, unless you pay for a landowner tag. I think deer are all draw to,but I am not sure.

Several years gao we were contemplating moving to Cody Wy when I retired. Prices were high there. We did find some real estate west of Billings MT that was very resonable,but dang it is really cold there in the winter.

If you want to do just deer and fish,and can stand the humidity and chiggers, I'd look at Arkansas or Missouri.

Half the state of Colorado is public land. OTC elk tags and if you choose wisely on our applications you can get cow and deer tags every year.

If it were me, I'd look real strong at Pagosa, Durango - anywhere in southern Colorado. Coyote is right OTC tags, plus plenty of zero point first season hunts for elk. Deer hunting is decent in Colorado. The other consideration is availability of really good hunting within a days drive - run up to WY for a speed goat, eastern CO, KS, or back to TX for a whitetail, the NW ain't a horrible drive to hunt bears and deer. Plus, the bonus is the scenery in Colorado is tremendous

Now if elk can be a once/yr trip, eastern Tennessee don't suck. Live west of Knoxville and you're into good deer/turkey hunting, around knoxville is great smallmouth bass, walleye, trout. The Smoky's are within an hour, the Cumberland Plateau less than that. For eastern mountains, the Smoky's are hard to beat. Plus, it's cheap to live here - with no State income tax as an added bonus. It's one of the cheaper, really nice places I've been to.

Like alot of people, I had lots of decisions to make when I retired.
I've been around people who have bought cabins on small plots of land most of my life. The trouble is you are tied to that place. You must maintain it like any other home. For over the counter, resident licenses and tags, you have to live there. Sure, you can get away for a few months when the weather is the worst, but then where do you live ?
I still live in California. I do this because I've got first class medical insurance and my friends and family are here.
I don't, as yet, have any significant medical issues. But everybody gets them sooner or later. So medical coverage is important or will be.
When I go hunting, seriously, I live in my truck camper. I've got one that can handle any weather. I tow a Jeep and hunt out of that. I've got a boat and can tow that for fishing trips.
I live near many thousands of acres of public land with some really good fishing, most of it for the cold water species. Even better fishing for almost anyhting I can reach in a few days. I can, again, live out of my camper.
I can access all sorts of bird, small game, varmit, and big hunting either here or in other states.
If you are considering deer and elk hunting in the western states, have you considered how you will do this ? You either must be able to walk the mountains or ride horses. Have you planned for that ?
For me, I'd pick some place where I wanted to live for much of the year and put in for various quality expereinces when the spirit moves you. So far, it has worked out well for me. E

All the good places are cold!

The Black Hills are beautiful if you can handle the almost 20 foot of snow they got this winter.

I think inthe future ,you will see less and less cow tags given out in CO as the herds get reduced. They are also takling about adding more draw only elk areas which would mean less OTC tags.
As hunter pressure increases,we may see more restrictive seasons.

I would not base where I live on what is available in hunting today

So, maybe I will have to build a little larger cabin and live there then snowbird out of a mobile home during the worst of the winter weather?

E,

Thanks for the advice. I've got the medical insurance covered.

Cold? Haven't you guys heard? The Earth is Warming.

Alan