Two weeks of below zero sunrises has the wife and me thinking a bit about heading south. We love it up here in Minnesota, but we're 10 years from retirement, and just don't weather these brutal winter temps as well as we did a decade ago.
My requirements would be good hunting and fishing, affordable housing, and good medical facilities. I'd like a little bit of winter, but not this 20 below zero crap on a frequent basis we've been experiencing this year. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks for your input. I'm an optician, and should be able to find work in my field pretty easily, possibly transferring with my current employer, which is Wal-Mart. My wife does pre-school out of the house.
There was a thread on here discussing the various southern states, maybe it'll be of some help:
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8561199/all/Best_state_in_the_southI'd say given your likes that somewhere in the Nashville area would suit you well.
Sounds like a move to North Bama. You could even become an Auburn fan instead of that team you rooted for this season. We have excellent hunting and world class fishing. I would suggest right here in Madison/Huntsville area.
I moved to TN to get 4 seasons, but none are extreme. We have had several days this winter where the temps hit single digits (they didn't stay there) and it was apparently the coldest it has been in 20 years.
This is my second winter and have yet to see anything more than a dusting of snow.
Demographics are very good here too.
What's the crime like in the Huntsville area? My wife and I have always loved the S.C. low country.
Born and raised in Ohio. Still a die hard Buckeyes fan. One of these days they're gonna seal the deal at the end of the season.
Sounds like a move to North Bama. You could even become an Auburn fan instead of that team you rooted for this season. We have excellent hunting and world class fishing. I would suggest right here in Madison/Huntsville area.
How long is your deer season, and is there public land available to hunt in your area or is it all pretty much privately owned?
I moved to TN to get 4 seasons, but none are extreme. We have had several days this winter where the temps hit single digits (they didn't stay there) and it was apparently the coldest it has been in 20 years.
This is my second winter and have yet to see anything more than a dusting of snow.
Demographics are very good here too.
When does your deer season start? Is it cool by then, or still pretty hot out?
Sounds like a move to North Bama. You could even become an Auburn fan instead of that team you rooted for this season. We have excellent hunting and world class fishing. I would suggest right here in Madison/Huntsville area.
How long is your deer season, and is there public land available to hunt in your area or is it all pretty much privately owned?
Deer season ain't much---runs from middle of November to the end of January but you can't kill but one doe and buck per day. It's varied from that some lately, I think. Since I no longer hunt I don't try to keep up with it. Lots of public land to hunt in the state, especially in the northern half. Bow season usta start in the middle of October but don't know for sure now.
What's the crime like in the Huntsville area? My wife and I have always loved the S.C. low country.
Oklahoma? Pretty good medical in OKC with OU Med. And Integris. Snows here are usually gone within the week. This week has been an exception snow been on the ground for a week and more coming tomorrow. No ice fishing here but plenty of lakes with bass,crappie ,cats and strippers (Google Lake Texoma). Even have some lakes and streams with trout .
Lots of deer and public land (most by drawing for gun and mzl though).Archery runs 10-1/1-15 mzl 3rd Saturday in October for nine days .Gun Saturday before turkey day for 16 days and a special doe hunt around Christmas . 2 bucks 4 does if you bow hunt .
I would say the worst thing about OK is the tornadoes in the spring . Feel free to PM
I moved to TN to get 4 seasons, but none are extreme. We have had several days this winter where the temps hit single digits (they didn't stay there) and it was apparently the coldest it has been in 20 years.
This is my second winter and have yet to see anything more than a dusting of snow.
Demographics are very good here too.
When does your deer season start? Is it cool by then, or still pretty hot out?
Bow is late September, ML begins 2 weeks prior to rifle and rifle begins the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
I guess that depends on your definition of hot. I killed a deer on the 12th of November and it hung in a tree for 3 days. The deer I killed on the 24th of November hung in a tree for a week.
50's would be about average highs of mid-late November with 30's for low's.
The only way I can think of for you to have COLD weather for early November deer hunting is to live in places that have 2 weeks below zero weather.
Sounds like a move to North Bama. You could even become an Auburn fan instead of that team you rooted for this season. We have excellent hunting and world class fishing. I would suggest right here in Madison/Huntsville area.
How long is your deer season, and is there public land available to hunt in your area or is it all pretty much privately owned?
Deer season ain't much---runs from middle of November to the end of January but you can't kill but one doe and buck per day. It's varied from that some lately, I think. Since I no longer hunt I don't try to keep up with it. Lots of public land to hunt in the state, especially in the northern half. Bow season usta start in the middle of October but don't know for sure now.
Yeah, I knew it was a much longer season. We get two weeks and can harvest 5 deer or less depending on area.
50's would be about average highs of mid-late November with 30's for low's.
The only way I can think of for you to have COLD weather for early November deer hunting is to live in places that have 2 weeks below zero weather.
That sounds like nice hunting weather to me.
Rifle this past season ran from the 23rd of November thru the 5th of January. ML season is the 2weeks prior to rifle.
Bag limits depend on where in the state you are. My area we are allowed 3 bucks total for all the seasons but are allowed 3 doe a day.
in Alabama Bow Season usally starts around 15th of October . Rifle Season around 3rd Sat in November with a 5 day Muzzleloader Season starting Monday before Rifle Season starts . Varies by county but you on average you can take a Doe a day and 3 Bucks per Season . Turkey Hunting s great here as well as small game . A lot of public land hunting available state wide especially in the North . World Class fishing on the Tennessee River Lakes . Great Hospitals in UAB & UAH along with others and Vandy is just a hour or so from the Huntsville area . Crime is not to bad except a few areas mostly Birmingham and Montgomery are worst . Less than 6 hours to Gulf from anywhere in the state and the same for the Smokey mountains . My pick would be NW Alabama around the Tennessee River from The Shoals up through Scottsborough area .
look at Payson AZ............
... plenty of lakes with bass,crappie ,cats and strippers (Google Lake Texoma)...
The last listed would be a definite plus if the fish weren't biting.
Albuquerque or small towns around it. Lot of sunshine, mild winters but there are four seasons, hunting not far away,
Belen, Las Lunas, Algodones, Bernalillo
Gophergunner: You would fit in well in southern Mexico!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
Still a die hard Buckeyes fan.
Jeff, with some hard work, therapy, and proper medication, you can be cured of that dreaded affliction. Perhaps an exorcism is in order. Go Blue.
Have a look at Western and Central Virginia.
Jim
Demographics are very good here too.
+1, I can go 2-3 weeks without seeing a demographic disappointment.
Gophergunner where ever you go, if you go, rent for one year.
Look the area over, get to know what's good and what's the bad areas. If you don't like that town, very easy to move. Gives you a year to find out about the area.
I don't agree with that, but whatever works.
Still a die hard Buckeyes fan.
Jeff, with some hard work, therapy, and proper medication, you can be cured of that dreaded affliction. Perhaps an exorcism is in order. Go Blue.
Charlie, thanks for your concern and encouragement, but I'm afraid my addiction is past the point of no return.
I won't even think about buying gas in Michigan.
Those danged Badgers were made to be stomped into a puddle of goo.
Wildcats can't put up much of a fight.
Lions are puzzies-especially those from Pennsylvania.
What the [bleep] actually is a Spartan any ways?
Wolverines are just furry little rodents with bad attitudes.
Bowl games seem to have been made to be lost-still can't turn that one around!
Gophergunner where ever you go, if you go, rent for one year.
Look the area over, get to know what's good and what's the bad areas. If you don't like that town, very easy to move. Gives you a year to find out about the area.
Sounds like good advice to me.
How about Pa? Big state with a variety of terrain, that gives you a choice in how much winter you want. Here in Somerset, we've had a couple of -13 or so mornings but it didn't last more than a day or two. Dad had a -22 in DuBois one day. Down off the mountain and the Allegheny Plateau, it stays quite a bit warmer, I think Lancaster had 0 on the mornings we were at -13.
Depending on your weapon choice and area, deer season runs from the middle of September to the end of January. Bear, small game, turkeys, waterfowl etc. are available.
Except for Philthy and Pittsburgh, Pa. is filled with good folks (despite what Steely thinks of us Yankees).
Pretty decent gun laws too. Sports teams wear Black and Gold or Blue and White!
Dale
Two weeks of below zero sunrises has the wife and me thinking a bit about heading south. We love it up here in Minnesota, but we're 10 years from retirement, and just don't weather these brutal winter temps as well as we did a decade ago.
My requirements would be good hunting and fishing, affordable housing, and good medical facilities. I'd like a little bit of winter, but not this 20 below zero crap on a frequent basis we've been experiencing this year. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks for your input. I'm an optician, and should be able to find work in my field pretty easily, possibly transferring with my current employer, which is Wal-Mart. My wife does pre-school out of the house.
Texas fits your request to a T.
Wait a month and maybe those feelings will go away.
Two weeks of below zero sunrises has the wife and me thinking a bit about heading south. We love it up here in Minnesota, but we're 10 years from retirement, and just don't weather these brutal winter temps as well as we did a decade ago.
I can't wait until my wife gets to that same point..
I love WI too, but I've had it up to HERE with the winters. Besides, at some point there's no way I'll be physically able to take care of this place..
Best wishes on the relocation - and keep us informed as to your final choice....
Pack er up! Your kids are gone, MN TAXES and politics suck. Buy or rent a place where you don't have to shovel snow. Buy a truck with a camper if you miss MN and visit in June - October.
I'm in the planning stages as well. This isn't the MN I knew and grew up in. I figured that out about 1 week in when I moved back.
50's would be about average highs of mid-late November with 30's for low's.
The only way I can think of for you to have COLD weather for early November deer hunting is to live in places that have 2 weeks below zero weather.
Cold weather for deer season ain't all it cracked up to be.
I can't wait until my wife gets to that same point..
I love WI too, but I've had it up to HERE with the winters. Besides, at some point there's no way I'll be physically able to take care of this place.. [/quote]
Tell her ya can't anymore. You don't feel good enough to move the snow, if she wants to leave the house, she'll have to do it.
You'll be moving within the week.
When my family moved to Oregon, my wife had never lived anywhere else besides MN...I'd ask her if she missed it after a year or two here, and she'd flip to the weather channel and then tell me "NO"....
Although I love Oregon, there is enough stuff that I am tired of here, that I wouldn't want you to embrace that disappointment down the road....like MN, we have too many democrats in Potland/Salem/Eugene that screw up the rest of the entire state...
Plenty of hunting opportunities, especially with public land...tho deer are not as plentiful as MN by a long shot... was when I first moved here... but the cougar population and the liberals not wanting them hunted sort of killed that...
plenty of varmint hunting opportunities tho...
spending a little time down in Arizona ( 10 weeks) just before Christmas and spending time on my freetime exploring the state extensively.. the Suggestion of Payson AZ.. I could easily live with that...
I use to travel a lot for business over the years... and I can tell ya from my MN days.. going to a business conference somewhere for a week or two in January or February, sure helped make it thru winter a lot easier...
Sounds to me you have cabin fever...while in Arizona, I sure saw a lot of license plates from MN....
Payson or Prescott AZ wouldn't be bad choices...
If ya wanna look at Southern Oregon.. you have a friend here...especially if it is even just for a visit to look it over...all in all this isn't a bad place either...
I can't wait until my wife gets to that same point..
I love WI too, but I've had it up to HERE with the winters. Besides, at some point there's no way I'll be physically able to take care of this place..
Tell her ya can't anymore. You don't feel good enough to move the snow, if she wants to leave the house, she'll have to do it.
You'll be moving within the week.
[/quote]
going back to the 80s, but I had a brother in law, that had his plant shut down and the company gave him the option to move to Rochester NY or get laid off...
he took the transfer to NY, rented a home, while looking for another job...just based on temp alone, his wife was telling my wife, how much she loved NY as it didn't get as cold as Minnesota... you'd think she moved to Florida...
you boys are just getting cabin fever setting in....
two weeks to somewhere warm would be more therapeutic than you can imagine...always helped me make it thru the length of winters...for me, it wasn't how cold it got... it was more like how LONG winter was...that got to me each year...
How about Pa? Big state with a variety of terrain, that gives you a choice in how much winter you want. Here in Somerset, we've had a couple of -13 or so mornings but it didn't last more than a day or two. Dad had a -22 in DuBois one day. Down off the mountain and the Allegheny Plateau, it stays quite a bit warmer, I think Lancaster had 0 on the mornings we were at -13.
Depending on your weapon choice and area, deer season runs from the middle of September to the end of January. Bear, small game, turkeys, waterfowl etc. are available.
Except for Philthy and Pittsburgh, Pa. is filled with good folks (despite what Steely thinks of us Yankees).
Pretty decent gun laws too. Sports teams wear Black and Gold or Blue and White!
Dale
I have to agree but I am in norther lancaster county. Depending on what you want to do but the shotgun and shooting sports is very popular around this part of the state. Not so much where I grew up outside of pittsburgh. The hunting is decent gun laws are pretty good and the winters arent too bad except this year has been a little tougher than the last few but its nothing compared to when I lived off the great lakes in rochester,ny or cleveland, oh
I'd get the [bleep] out of MN regardless of the weather.
Travis
I can't speak to any place west of the Mississippi, but North Eastern Alabama isn't like the rest of the state.
The foothills of Appalachia extend into it. Guntersville always struck me as a little bit of paradise in that area - specifically the triangle between Guntersville, Scottsboro and Gadsden. There is even a skiing resort (resort is a stretch) around Mentone , AL, south of Chattanooga.
North Carolina is a very popular state to move to, however I am partial to Knoxville, TN.
With you desire to be close to hunting and fishing but also have access to modern medical care and be a professional, that might be a great option for you.
If from the north you will find most southern state way too hot in the summer time.. I have worked all over . From Prudhoe bay Ak to the gulf coast. Right now I am in Salt Lake City.. And must say utah may be the ideal place.. Maybe a little south of here away from the city. Lots of hunting and fishing and for the most part mild winter. Summers are hot but not humid like the Deep South.
two weeks to somewhere warm would be more therapeutic than you can imagine...always helped me make it thru the length of winters...for me, it wasn't how cold it got... it was more like how LONG winter was...that got to me each year...
I would agree, it's probably cabin fever. However, this winter has been particually long and cold. I bet we've had 50 days that have been below zero. Today was -18 when I went to start my car for work at 6:00am.
With weather in the 20's (above) this week, we'll have a different outlook on things.
But when I retire, I'm not going to live here in the winter. There is just too much about winter I don't like. I'll leave in Jan when I'm sick of it and come back in June.
My parents wintered every year in Mesa AZ after they retired and loved it.
two weeks to somewhere warm would be more therapeutic than you can imagine...always helped me make it thru the length of winters...for me, it wasn't how cold it got... it was more like how LONG winter was...that got to me each year...
I would agree, it's probably cabin fever. However, this winter has been particually long and cold. I bet we've had 50 days that have been below zero. Today was -18 when I went to start my car for work at 6:00am.
According to the weatherguessers, you've had 41 so far - and the record is 45, back in '81='82 - and yes, I remember that winter VERY well..
But when I retire, I'm not going to live here in the winter. There is just too much about winter I don't like. I'll leave in Jan when I'm sick of it and come back in June.
I hear ya - but I ain't waitin' for Januray.. About mid-November I'm OUTTA here and won't be back for at least 5 months..
Went to the RV show over the weekend.. Coupla them big 5ers with the (either) rear or front living looked MIGHTY inviting.. Even the wifey-poo thought they were plenty comfy.. Probably get one once I'm too old to ride the HD... THEN hook it up to the F-350 and head south until people I ask reply with, "what's 'snow'?"