Thinking of moving, but where?

Hey Rob,
I don't have a lot of extra input, Dani covered a lot of the romance and allure of MT and the downsides. I'm from central Montana and I'd move back there in a second if I had the chance. A lot of recreational opportunity. Ducks aren't a primary pursuit for most but there is definitely waterfowl hunting to be had. If you are in construction you should be easily employed in the Missoula, Bozeman, Helena and Kalispell areas as they are growing at a rapid pace (esp Missoula and Bozeman). Downside is the cost of living is higher in those areas and the property costs are sometimes outrageous. The Great Falls area is really underrated by folks in and outside Montana - waterfowl, upland, big game, amazing fishing within a hour in any direction plus fewer people, relatively cheap housing/property. But its the east slope of the Rocky's so it is windy - that makes for some cold winters and springs but the cold weather cycles out with lots of warm spells. West of the Rocky's it is a little more standard seasons and less wind.
As far as politics go it probably isn't unlike most other places. More conservative in rural areas and more liberal in urban areas. Overall the state leans right but Montana has a fairly consistent history of electing centrist politicians D or R for high level offices. I haven't lived there for about 8 years so perhaps it has intensified, but you used to be able to have an honest debate about ideas without feelings getting hurt.
I've never been to the northeast but I imagine there is a little less room to get away from folks. You would certainly find that room in MT or WY. Lewiston Idaho is a great place for someone with a passion for the pursuit of game (though waterfowl won't be world class); mild winters but it hot hot hot summers. Oregon sneaks under the radar when discussing desirable places for recreation but it has high quality big game, waterfowl, and upland pursuits and most of the state is relatively low people density. I currently live in Washington and it is a fantastic state but dang if it aint pretty full of people.
Not sure I helped you much but good luck on your adventure!
 
I would agree with the Montana push. There are alot of days in the early portion of this virus hoopla that I was thankful to have an essential job... girlfriend is now completely remote and makes me envious
 
Hi Rob,

Great post and I'll add my $0.02. My wife and I have been contemplating this as well. I have never been to Montana, so I can't offer any input there. But over the past 10 years, I have spent quite a bit of time in North and South Dakota. You will have access to excellent waterfowl and upland hunting. In ND, you will be close to the Manitoba border, and can start waterfowl hunting earlier than in NoDak. We are looking around the Devil's Lake area. Cost of living, fuel, taxes, property are low compared to where you are living now. Folks who live in the prairies are wonderful people. That said, the winters are absolutely brutal and not something we are interested in braving. Our plan is to spend summers fishing Devil's Lake and then begin hunting in September and then head south to south Texas or south Louisiana around end of October.

Best,
Steve
 
Rob,
Good luck with your search and I hope you report back when you make your decision. Having lived in NY all my life, like you I'm looking to get out at the first available chance. I'd scratch NY off the list. Its just not the state it used to be.
 
For waterfowl hunting, I am a big fan of the prairie pothole region of ND. I have seen the deer population and pheasant populations experience some extreme fluctuations. I have no idea how much construction is going on. Fargo looks to be growing. Not sure about Bismarck. Things were pretty crazy with the oil patch for a few years in there. Great people and reasonably priced property in my opinion.
 
Rob et al,
What a subject to gather the hopes and dreams of us all. Rob is blessed to have a wife who is willing to go along with his Christmas Retirement List. In my first read of your post I missed the sentence that said, "cold is preferred." That's pretty funny. You are already in the minority of northerners looking at retirement areas by wanting to stay with cold and snow.

I hope you and your wife find the perfect place or find the not so perfect place and make it into the perfect place.

Meanwhile, all the rest of us will sit and drool. Those still working will become less efficient at work while they join your daydream. Those of us already retired can review the choices we made and the compromises.

My wife and I are happy we chose North Carolina because first of all, my wife is happy to be here. As the saying goes, "if momma's happy...." My Kathy hasn't stepped one foot back in Michigan since we left ten years ago. That is her personal statement about the cold. Rob is blessed to have a wife who enjoys winter.

I will carve out my opportunities in NC to hunt ducks, deer and trout fish in the mountains and trout fish on the coast. In no way, however, does NC have the public waterfowl opportunities of Montana, the Dakotas, or even Michigan. If men raised in Montana came to the coast of NC and discovered the restrictive county laws about blinds and boat blinds, they would stage a revolt over the issues of freedom and public places.

Nevertheless, this is home. It ain't Montana or Dakota or Michigan. But it's home. And I am glad to be here.

Larry
 

I recall one time while my hunting partner and I were in Montana on a extended upland bird hunt.

While eating at a cafe the waitress asked us where we were from? PA we told her.

" I went east once. How the hell do you folks live with all those trees. Ya can't see anything. Made me claustrophobic."

Big Sky, for sure...
 
This is very hard question to answer. First lesson is perfection does not exist!

For me i made a list of what was the most important qualities to evaluate the give and take of each state.

My list in order was guns, duck hunting, diving, population density, temperate climate(Nikki doesn't do to well diving/hunting in the super cold), taxes, cost of living

We grow/harvest/forage a lot of our food and live a pretty simple life. No dining out, working on projects around the home, no fancy toys.

Taxes are extortion in my mind but life it to short to be penny pinching 100% of the time and a good accountant is worth their weight in gold.

NH is pretty close to perfect. NC is close too. Needing the salt makes the decision much harder/more expensive.

Panhandle of Idaho is the most beautiful spot i have seen, western montana is unreal too. I NEED TREES! (Really wish i had gone for forestry if i could do it over)

AK would be perfect for me but i dont think Nikki would like it for year round living(happy wife happy life)

I know where my little slice of heaven is, now i need to make it a reality (it would be nice if states stopped changing everything too)

CT sucks lol
 
Vince wrote:
While eating at a cafe the waitress asked us where we were from? PA we told her.

" I went east once. How the hell do you folks live with all those trees. Ya can't see anything. Made me claustrophobic."


Hilarious!!

For me, I went to Arizona once. Cactus are interesting but how do those folks live without trees!


[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Larry[/font]
 
I fell in love with Montana as a freshman at the University of Montana in 1971. I duck hunted at the then Ravalli NWR. However, that world no longer exists. I've duck hunted since along The Front and enjoyed the actual Montana residents versus the recent immigrants several times. The negatives of Montana are the Winters and those "Not Here's" pushing real estate out of sight.

Some of the best waterfowling I have ever experienced was in North Dakota's pothole region, but the Winters are even more brutal than most of Montana. Where ever you choose to go, I heavily suggest investigating the actual sociology of the region. You and your family need to live somewhere where you feel comfortable outside of hunting season. Some places will never truly welcome newcomers while others can be very friendly. My recent move to Orofino, Idaho is a case in point. The average encounter is very friendly. However, my wife and I were totally surprised the very heavy Christian religious presence of all flavors in North Central Idaho. I live next door to a very nice man that has his own ministries. The woman with whom we bought our house from had a super long table in the living room with a bible verse stenciled on the wall. She held Christian religious gatherings in the house and felt compelled to leave for us a "Hell & Damnation" paperback with quotes from the Old Testament and Revelations. A knock on the door a few evenings ago was by two young women asking us to answer a short survey. My wife complied and the questions were all religious in nature with the final question being: "Would you consider this a Christian household?" To which my ever spirited wife replied, "I would consider that none of your business." The two young women's eyes got very big and they promptly left.
 
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Good point about the sociology, and where your moving to.

In my experience people can be very friendly, but it takes ten years for good friendships to evolve in rural areas.

Even then, not being from where ya are, has a impact.

Doing everyday things, like food shopping, etc. and knowing you will not see one person you know can wear thin.


Lotta folks move away, and then end up back where they left cuz of that.

If ya like where ya moved to. Stick it out, cuz in the long run it does pay off.


Nothing worthwhile is easy, and the only paradise ain't in this world.


my 2 cents
 
Vince Pagliaroli said:
I recall one time while my hunting partner and I were in Montana on a extended upland bird hunt.

While eating at a cafe the waitress asked us where we were from? PA we told her.

" I went east once. How the hell do you folks live with all those trees. Ya can't see anything. Made me claustrophobic."

Big Sky, for sure...
Click to expand...

When my sister said about the same thing when she moved to the Ozarks of Arkansas after living in SD, IA and NE all her life. The hills and trees blocked out the horizon. Here we can see thunderstorms half a state away.

I do hate to see trees blocking out a perfectly good view.

As for the original post I can't add much to what's been said. I can say that southern SD has a completely different climate when compared to northern SD. You can go 3 hours north and be in what feels like the arctic or go 3 hours south and find places that only freeze up for short times. There is a long waterfowl season if you are willing to hunt the late season along Missouri River. Deer hunting is good if you are into archery. Firearms seasons can sometimes be a challenge just to draw a tag. But hey MN and NE are close and it can sometimes be easier to hunt there.
Oh and we have great upland hunting. Labs love upland as well as waterfowl. Lots of public land.

The Sioux Falls area is growing like crazy but 20 miles out of town it's a different world. Rural and small town living for sure. Sioux Falls is a hub for the medical and financial industries. Heck they are even getting an Amazon distribution center soon.

Good luck with your search.
 
Rob,

My wife and I are also looking to relocate from Ohio. We have talked about SD, NE and ID. But, are looking more strongly at SC, coastal GA/AL or north FL. I can find with in any hospital, not the flexibility of working remotely but give us lots of options.

Tom
 
Good morning Rob,

I can't to speak to living in any of the states listed, but I do hunt NH often as it's only 15 minutes from my house. All my experience is along the Maine/NH border area, particularly the Strafford and Carroll county areas. Deer hunting can be fairly good there, I'm not sure if you are a hunter of meat or antler but both are available. NH runs "any deer" days as opposed to a season long any deer tag, outside of the any deer days, it's bucks only and spikes are legal. Keep in mind it's a deer per season state unless you hunt archery or draw a bonus tag. Lots of rifle hunting areas too, their black powder comes in before rifle which can give some advantages. The duck hunting adventures I have had in NH consist mostly of Sunday hunting (yes, it's allowed, not so in Maine) the border waters, mostly the Salmon Falls river which is the state line between Maine and NH. I do not run into any competition to speak of. I have always said that our Atlantic flyway is not comparable to others for volume of birds and I continue to believe that, that said, there are hunters and outfitters that would argue that opinion. I typically have shooting opportunity on every outing in NH but have limited on very few days. One beautiful thing about ME/NH and VT is that these states still allow hunting on private land without permission. As foreign as this sounds to many, this is the only way of life I know. Of course gaining landowner permission is suggested in all outings and highly recommended for agriculture property, the law is that the land must be posted to be off limits. I'm sure some are shaking their heads, but the beauty is that in remote areas, especially deer hunting, if you see a nice piece of property, and it's not posted, you can hunt it. Back to fowl for a moment and I make no attempt to understand waterfowl regulations outside ME and NH, but I have heard of states that have blind leases, floating blind restrictions, century old water line boundary laws, etc. I'm sure there are restrictions on permanent blinds here but I don't have any so don't research the legalities of them, but for the most part, especially boat blinds or a small "pruned" opening for a shoreline sit....you are good to go, as is. You must be 300' from a dwelling when discharging a firearm, feather or fur, land or water, makes no difference, 300' feet without land owner permission. The property taxes are higher than some states as NH does not have any sales tax. Many brew pubs and fine dining along the southern coast, Portsmouth, NH comes to mind quickly for those. Northern NH, Pittsburg area is remote, beautiful, fewer deer, fewer ducks, fewer everything, including people, the fishing and upland hunting can be outstanding though.

I love Maine and N.E. for a lot of reasons and I would find leaving the ocean access difficult but Montana and Wyoming have always been a draw for me for the big game and fishing opportunities.

Good luck in your ventures.
 
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