Where to relocate to for warm weather and good hunting?

[Jerry Russell]

Georgia is a great southern hunting state. We have mountains and coastal islands and a lot of diverse habitat in between. TONS of public land. Great hogs, deer, bear and gator hunting.

[Rossco7002]

Lots of good suggestions here guys, thanks! Utah is one that caught my interest and I certainly enjoyed my time in Georgia last month.

Gotta figure out what an ex-cop can do for work too....

[nineworlds9]

Tallahassee buddy!  Charming city, great WMA's all around us here, great parks in town, nice people, a university, 3 hours to Jacksonville, 5 hours to Atlanta, 6 hours to Savannah, 2 hours to Gainesville.  Panhandle livin!  this area is a sportsman's paradise!  Hunt, fish- fresh/salt.  Check into it!

PS: no state income tax!  

Texas also good choice-  check out Brenham and the Brazos river valley area- only 2 hours outside Houston, gorgeous country!!

[ddauler]

What RC said! Tallahasee sound good too!

[UrbanDeerSlayer]

If I could get out of the Northeast it would be South for sure maybe South GA, North Florida. Anybody hunt Louisiana/Mississippi area? Wonder what's that like? I want low taxes, and a nice RED state, sick of the lefty loonies in the Northeast.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Man...I can't imagine voluntarily leaving the Rocky Mountains to go someplace flat.

[tarponnut]

Florida.Great hog and turkey hunting, excellent fishing, great winter weather, no state income tax.No trout, but you can't have everything.

[Rick Wiltshire]

Where in GA?

[twitchstick]

I think that there are better states out there than Utah to pick but that just my 2 cents. Here in Utah big game hunting is on a draw system other than archery elk and it's OTC. Deer herds are way down and with the draw now you may go without a tag some years. Most of the good elk hunting is on units that you are limited to only spike bulls or cow elk, which I don't mind. Our famed limited enrty elk units may take years to draw and they are not what they used to be. Once in life time tags(moose, sheep, bison, Mt. Goats) can take a life time to draw even one. Small game most years is abundent except turkeys have been way over hunted the last few years. We do have lots of public land. If your looking for warm weather stick to the southern border of the state and it can be real nice weather with lots of sunny days. I live in Cedar city and we see months of temps between 30 to -30 in the winter up to 100+ in the summer.

[Dimondback]

SC...lots of public land...cost of living is lower that most,one of the longest deer seasons in the country with great bag limits in most of the state...lots of turkeys, deer, hogs, squirrels, rabbits, doves a few quail/chukkar and even a few bears in the NW part of the state. Fishing is awesome too, especially on the coast. Come down!

[RC]

Where in Ga? south of Macon.RC

[BillW]

Not to hijack the thread but I have always considered NC or SC as a place I would like to retire myself. I have no idea how the deer hunting is but the little I have heard sounded encouraging.

You Carolina guys care to elaborate more on the hunting (specifically deer)?

I was in SC last spring (Myrtle Beach) and the weather was GREAT in May (just missed a storm). Driving from NW IL down south was a pleasure. So many beautiful areas going through the Appalachian Mountains between Knoxville and Greenburg. We went down to Charleston for the day and there is a lot to see in this area. Lots of cool history as well.

So back on topic I guess. Even though I don't live in the Carolinas I think it is a nice area.

Bill

[TSP]

There was an article in Outdoor Life back in June 2010 that listed the top 200 recommended USA outdoor towns to retire to.  Of the top 20 places one state had 5 entries (not bad!).  That state was...drum role please...Wyoming.  Arizona and South Dakota each had 3.  If you expended your list to the top 30 places both Idaho and Minnesota had 4, and North Dakota moved in with 3.  

Looks like outdoor retirement place reviewers hate the ocean, lol.

[RC]

I would`nt want to retire anywhere I had to cut a lot of firewood..lol.RC

[killinstuff]

I think about this everyday. I'm 47 and planning the retirement thing already. If I was a resident of Canada I wouldn't give that up and try to immigrate to the US. I'd move to BC and live there May til December then head south and rent a little house for a few months or just bounce around state to state to see what's out there. Why settle for one state? Non-res hunting license for deer and small game are fairly cheap in most states and each state offers something different. BC is the hunters paradise. You can have the best of both worlds in my view. And if your not used to hot summers, you won't like the southern states. I like  the heat but most of the folks I know that live in Florida and Texas don't live there in the summer. They live in a AC and only walk in Texas or Florida from their AC car to their AC office or house.

[Buranurra]

Australia    :D  

Buffalo, big boars, deer, fox, camels, goats and a few others.

[amazonjim]

Well I would suggest Alabama, long deer season, liberal limits, good management areas.

[pruiter]

Been thinking same thing.
 Am very tried of cold 6 month winters. BC is good hunting. In most of Canada BC stands for Bring Cash. Texas in the winter, Yukon in summer

[Panzer]

I have never been there but I think Arkansas would be a nice happy medium.

[BillW]

amazonjim, AL is not a bad suggestion. My mother in law lives in AL near Boaz. Although I have not really considered it she has an acre lot she wants to leave to me and my wife. Like I said in my earlier post I was thinking NC/SC but AL is not bad. Still HOT/HUMID but if you look at the Bowsite state forums AL has a lot more activity than NC/SC. I assume that could indicate fewer archers and archery clubs.
One Easter weekend in AL I went to a traditional only 3d shoot at a club near Birmingham. Those trad guys made me feel welcome, shot with me and even invited me to come hunt some time on public land. I find most archers open and friendly when I go to big shoots like Cloverdale and Compton and many are from Southern states. There are shoots in TN (TN Classic) at Twin Oaks archery club that would not be too far to drive if I did settle in AL.
So to the OP I would also say if you want to belong to an archery club you might look at what clubs are around. I belong to a great club in LK Geneva, WI and that will be hard to leave. I think I would want a good club close by when I move to hang out with other trad guys as well.
Only issue with AL is the tornados…… I would definitely build a storm bunker if I moved down there.. Might be fun to build. LOL Just hope you NEVER need it. All kidding aside, I have seen some areas near my Mother in Law that were devastated by tornados. That is a concern and something to know about that area.
Deer density is more important to me now than shooting big bucks. I currently hunt an area that can produce big deer but the density is very low. For me, I would choose having a good number of deer to hunt regularly over getting a good deer every two or three years. Besides, smaller deer are easier for an old guy to drag out of the woods. Ha

Bill