Relocation Ideas
Mule Deer
Thinking about relocating and my family and I have been traveling to various states looking for real possibilities. We just got done down in AZ and we are going to go up to UT over Thanksgiving. I don't how much my wife wants to be in the snow so our plan is to look at areas in and around Draper, Kaysville and Farmington. I have 4 boys (5-15yr) and it's either sports or outdoors ( they all love to hunt and fish). School quality is important ( actually going to be school included), economic is probably #1, I am currently in the real estate business selling agricultural properties ( I may have to joint work for a while), open to starting a new business as well. Culture of the community ( we are conservative in our values), and quality lifestyle is important. I would think 30 min from a main metro area would be a circle. I guess I am on here to see if anyone has some pointers, referrals, ideas and options. I've been in real estate since I was 20 and now 38. Selling houses doesn't excite me.
UT, AZ, as a resident, you don't have a ton of options to hunt. They're so focused on quality, they forgot about opportunity for their residents. Colorado, come on! You can put in for all those high end states and knock down some nice animals locally in the meantime. Good place for the kids to enjoy sports, and get outside. Weather is excellent, it has everything except the ocean. I moved out here in 2001, best decision I ever made. You'd be surprised at the number of people out here now from CA.
Weather is excellent, tell me more about that? Where are you located? The economic piece is important. Colorado is on the short list. Some of the negatives I had was the weather and the deep blue state.
Not if you’re a bowhunter
Roy, I know all about the bow hunting in AZ, it’s great. Added note my boys kids and I also love to waterfowl hunt.
Not if you’re a bowhunter
“ You'd be surprised at the number of people out here now from CA.”
Hah! Californians started invading in the ‘80s! No surprise that’s gotten worse....
CO has a lot of ag. Front range does not get a lot of snow some but not a lot . It can be cold but a lot of sunshine. Lot of hunting opportunities but IMO the ones you can do most year are so so unless private. If you end up here I’d look at the charter schools. This is not a dig on you but Californians have screwed this state up. If you are truly conservative you are probably the exception. With that said if you stay out of Denver, Boulder, maybe Fort Collins you will find a lot of like minded people.
Granstville. Have you considered Cache Valley (aka Logan)? Quick drive, relatively speaking, to ID and WY.
You mention conservative values. Bear in mind, SLC leans blue...
Thank you John. I wouldn’t even think about Denver. Colorado Springs maybe? I’m sure like a lot of meto area they lean blue, but those more rural areas is what I’m looking at.
Jesus, if you like to waterfowl hunt, what are you waiting on? This past week I must have seen over 10k Snows and Canadas in several fields and more mallards than I could count. I don't hunt them, but I see them all the time archery hunting.
I live in the Denver area, it will get cold from say December to March, and then you're done for the most part. Most people enjoy skiing at this time so it's not a big deal but I normally Ice fish etc. The nice part is it's always sunny even if it is cold so that helps. Another plus is the trips are easy to neighboring states to hunt. If you're focused on sports for the kids, as bad as it sounds, the front range is where it's at for the most part. For what I like to do, if I had a "Do over '' on the front range, it would be from Longmont North although a lot of the forest up that way has burnt now, so not as great but still alot of alpine fishing not affected by the fires. I'm not sure where you're from in CA, the traffic around Denver is bad, but certain locations you can avoid it i.e Golden etc. Good luck, as I said, great place to be and we'd take a guy from CA who likes to hunt any day over the alternative. Lastly, AG is pretty big out East, and NE, KS, OK, are right next door so there is opportunity there. Enjoy, PM if you have any other questions.
Tony-
Ihave been on the same thought train and it keeps taking me back to a deeper look at that area between Durango and Pagosa Springs. Lots of growth, plenty of "rural" that you can hang signs on. Spectacular fishing, great hunting, winters arent crippling at all. Hour south are some cool places to visit in New Mexico. Great family ski area close by as well. The area has alot to offer a young, active family. I've got a couple contacts down that way that are great people. Happy to make an intro
I live in Greeley north of Denver about a hour. Around 100k live here. It is hub for a lot of the ag in are. Maybe more of blue collar town than other front range cities but I like it. More conservative than most anywhere else with a population base. Public schools suck but some great charter schools.
Is there a disadvantage with non LDS doing business in the greater SLC area?
I live in Loveland, CO. Nice place but the State turning blue has me making plans to relocate down the road. Coming from California, our "blue" may seem pretty mild and its a great state geographically.
The western slope outside of ski towns is pretty conservative and closer to elk hunting in general.
Worth a swing through to check out. Wyoming can be tough in the winter but for a conservative hunter it has a lot going for it and 10X less people than CO or AZ.
I lived in UT for 12yrs and it's not a hunter friendly state if your a bowhunter. I would look elsewhere if I was you. MT has a lot of hunting and fishing. The archery season is very long for elk. They also have lots of animals to hunt. AZ would be nice, but it's blistering hot there and most tags are draw only especially elk. Good luck finding a new state in the west.
Yep, Alaska... no question. Ed F
Colorado has been a great place to live, hunt and fish, however imo this has changed significantly over the last decade. You will have to make a good living if you want to enjoy Colorado's varied outdoor activities. Having time and money is going to be more important than ever, no matter where you live. Private or charter schools would be my choice. I wouldn't trust the public schools with my children's education. As stated, the weather is mild here but the over crowding and everything that comes with it is something to consider, I know I would. Regardless, I would imagine it still would be better than California.
"You'd be surprised at the number of people out here now from CA."
Conversely it's no wonder why Colordao is becoming like the cancer that invaded from California. Same with Montana and Idaho.
Not mine, but the author hit the nail square on the head, IMO.
“People can’t grasp or accept the fact that Americans are gradually shifting to a more liberal, and progressive viewpoint. Many ideas and ideals from this viewpoint started on the coasts so the easy thing to say and believe is these ideas and ideals come directly from individuals moving from out of state when the reality is they come from their own residents wanting these changes and the folks moving in are hoping to escape them.
Its the ultimate conspiracy theory, the evil Californian coming in to change their way of life.... I really love the part about even the conservative republicans in Kali are progressive liberals by (insert state) standards.
I live 20 miles from Oregon in what used to be an extremely conservative republican county whose industries were logging and milling lumber, commercial fishing and on a small scale construction. It has changed drastically in the last 30 years. Everyone wanted to blame the Prison that moved in and the people it brought with it, and to some small scale that’s true, but for the most part it’s just society in general that changed it. The locals from way back changed too.
Its coming to your most Coservative dream town too, sooner or later, and it won’t be caused by a moving van full of Californians.“
My folks have a place in Wyoming and the winters are not for us. I really think the top line of the elevation is about 5k/feet for our needs. Many have suggested some options for consideration and that is what I am looking for. Appreciate the PM's too. The migration from California is real and I cringe when I think about all the great towns in the west infiltrated with California values. I like to believe the ones leaving are the for the right reason's, some are good some not. I have a successful real estate business out here. It's a lot think about starting new somewhere else, especially when business is good out here. For me, I ask myself am I still excited about what I am doing and or do I need a new adventure? We are heading out to Utah in about a week. I wouldn't make any final decisions without a trip through CO. These are the final three, AZ, UT, CO, with CO being the most liberal on the list but may check the most boxes, for business, school, sports, outdoors, community/lifestyle, weather. I do like AZ except those darn 3 summer months out of the year. We ruled out ID.
Are summers that bad in Payson or Prescott Az certainly not Flagstaff?
If we are talking fisheries for trout, how would you guys rate UT versus Colorado, public land fishing? I don't think AZ would pale in comparison.
HUNTING - UT I have 9 NR bonus points for elk and deer and 5 elk points in Colorado and 2 for deer ( was out in the eastern plains archery hunting and burned my CO deer points). Although I have taken 2 good bulls with my bow (389' and 330 - both public land DIY), the largest mule deer I have killed is about 160" ( I did chase a 225" giant in CO one year). I think mule deer is my favorite animal to hunt with my bow, also the hardest to kill (at least for me). My options in Colorado for hunting deer rank higher than UT, although I am sure the general can be good for deer if you put in the time ( I've heard the horror stories as well). Colorado is pretty close to UTAH and vice versa, so really it comes down to the other items on the list besides my personal hunt fish obsession.
Nobody ever recommends Oklahoma. Moderate climate, low cost of living, conservative. I don’t know about hunting there, but expect for deer, turkey and hogs, it would be pretty good.
Huntcell, the summers are probably pretty similar to what I am used to, maybe even cooler up in northern az. The issue as I see it with AZ is the majority of the state is public land, you probably ask what is the issue with what??? Hear me out, what I do is sell ranches and vineyards, and if I relocated, I would want to sell hunting properties, cattle ranches, commercial AG ground, etc. AND as we all know if real estate, the higher the transaction trades at, the more you make per deal. So for AZ, I may have to figure out something else, they don't have landowner tags in az and not a lot of trophy ranches ( I am just talking in relationships to the other states) NM's structure is great for real estate with all of the landowner tags - these drive the demand for the ranches especially the large holdings. But, NM didn't make the list either for some of the other items on my list.
Dale06, Are there mountains in OK? Elk and mule deer?
Utah is pretty awesome. Great hunting. Some nice rural areas around Cedar City and Beaver with elk and deer not too far away. Thats in Southern Utah.
empty freeze - I would love to live in southern UT, I hunted the MT. Dutton with my dad in 2017 as he drew the archery elk tag as a non res. Gorgeous county, Not sure about the money making piece down there though. Appreciate you.
Grand Junction in CO has a few vineyards. Plenty of pricey ranches and ag ground around that area. Montrose is a nice place but a little higher elevation than Grand Junction. Hard to get the combo of elk, muleys, schools, business opportunity, great views, mild climate and conservative.
Pagosa/Durango is close enough to show and sell property in CO and NM. NM is great but odd politics and seems like under the surface of some of the places that look like paradise like Chama, there is some rough societal stuff that goes on.
I suspect Wllieboat and NCV will think am crazy.....bu after a lot of exploring and evaluating...Roseburg, Oregon is my 1st choice for a lot of reasons. As a life-long Cali guy, I am used to decent weather without snow and ice...Roseburg fits that criteria, I want a town with small town characteristics but modern facilities, i.e. hospital, Walmart, restaurants, etc. and even more important....outstanding hunting and fishing! With Roseburg, you get 2 forks of the Umpqua with trout, steelhead and salmon, roosevelt elk due west, Yellowstone elk due east, blacktail deer all around and some whitetail, waterfowl hunting heaven and Roseburg is the turkey capital of the western U.S....If you are interested..my 2nd choice was Pocatello. Idaho and 3rd. was Cedar City, Utah. My kids are grown so school quality was not something I measured. Did I mention...NO sales tax !!
Joe
I think your biggest challenge will be finding a job. Figure that one out first, then the rest will be manageable.
Non-LDS in Utah is an easy fix, Get baptized :)
I can't speak for fishing in Utah, I'm sure it's great, but I can speak on alpine fishing in CO and let's just say, it's phenomenal, and very little pressure. If you fish the main popular rivers, there are alot people but the backcountry lakes, forget it, they're pretty much yours. Also, as you know, a lot of those lake are way up, and high, so it's a great way to scout for summer bucks if you're into that sort of thing.
There are times I can't stand the front range, but I get over it pretty quickly with all the outdoor stuff available. The ability to hunt from August to end of December is pretty nice. It's a big decision, good luck.
Wylie, I’ve hunted black tail my whole life. I want to focus on Mule deer and Rocky Mountain elk.
Wild wilderness comments has got value to it, focus on the employment piece and the rest will become clearer.
The only place I'd move to for hunting opportunities would be Alaska. Out west any state is within a days drive. In state resident hunt opportunities may be better... but not worth sacrificing quality of life and family. Hunting is secondary in my opinion. I just finished a 20 hour drive to go hunt... my family is safe, comfortable and happy at home. Ed F
Ed glad to hear everything is going good. Things are headed south over here in my opinion. I’m still young even to start a new business and dual work for a while. Getting out from under the newsome stronghold will be refreshing.
Dale06, Are there mountains in OK? Elk and mule deer?
People in OK call them mountains but they are really just big hills. Yes there elk and mule deer. However hunting opportunities are far and few between. I grew up there and summer heat and humidity is awful.
John as nice as that sounds I’m going to look elsewhere.
More posts disappearing I see. And people say Facebook censorship is bad. Apparently they haven’t been to bowsite!
Any referrals or introductions/lead in's in the real estate business would be appreciated.
CO definitely votes liberal because of the Front Range voting bloc. But the majority of the state (geographically) is pretty conservative. And if you can avoid Boulder, on the rest of the Front Range pretty much the only symptoms of overt liberalism you'll have to avoid are pack-riding cyclists clogging roads, man buns and capri pants, Subarus with Bernie stickers, and a few college girls with BLM signs on the random street corner.
Tony was not suggesting OK just answering your question. There is a reason I left. Truthfully I doubt I would pick CO again. CO biggest plus is economic options.
Why are you not looking at Idaho. Boise, Twin fall elevation is fairly low. Not a ton of snowfall on average. Snowfall probably less than CO front range. Seems to hit on a lot of what you are looking for.
Boise and the ID south I ruled out for the economic options, right or wrong, I ruled it out. Some gorgeous country, actually maybe some of the nicest but where we thought it fell short was on the lifestyle/biz opportunities. Hunting and fishing it was Go.
My wife is a Realtor on Prescott Az... it's booming... bitter sweet. Ed F
Come on Ed, Jennifer could sell the proverbial refrigerators to Eskimos in Alaska with just her smile...LOL !!
Joe
I have a house in AZ and Nevada , I reside in Southern California right now , i have 2 years left until I retire , I will be a snow bird ( not because of snow , the cold ) , love both states but Northern Nevada has way better fly fishing and waterfowl hunting , Tom
Man I love NV for their mule deer. Those archery hunts are great and I've never had issues getting away from other hunters. Eastfornia (Reno) or Las Vegas are not options for me. If I was retired Elko would be a consideration for me.
Reno sucks but right outside is nice , my wife wants to be close to Reno for all the concerts and social events Reno does offer , my boys been living up there for several years now and I really got to were I like it for all the different activities it has offer . But it is starting to get expensive up there , glad I bought a house several years ago .
I looked at Genoa last year and I thought that was cool little town, scenic and quaint yet commutable. Prices are about the same no matter where you go. Austin, Boise, greater Scottsdale area, SLC, greater Denver area - it's all high right now.
Move to AK for 3-4 years. Then find your quaint little piece of heaven in any western state that appreciates residents.
There are plenty of hunting options in Utah from mid August into December with a bow tag-------->
I live just north of Kaysville if ya wanna reach out to chat, you are welcome to do so before ya come next week.
Good luck, Robb
I would sell in California now while searching. If you have capital gains. Take advantage of the current federal rates.
Rent and wait till the full Biden/Bernie, AOC plan emerges, scares the market, the economy will slide who knows how much.
Then buy where your research takes you.
Moved to UT from WI 8 years ago. Like Robb says, decent hunting opportunities for a long time. I don’t live to far from where he is at. Yeah it’s mostly general hunting but you can still find good bucks and bulls. You are close to Idaho and Wyoming. Ok have actually hunted Idaho every year. My wife, daughter and ai have all drawn LE elk tags since being here.
Winters are EASY.
Schools are good for our kids.
Plus all his Non-Ressy Points turn into Ressy Points!
How is your OIL points? haha
That would be crazy to draw the first year as an official Ressy draw pool.
Good luck, Robb
Thanks Rob. We just got up to the greater SLC area yesterday. I'll send you a message direct with my number.
Draper utah for sports and schools is pretty stacked.. corner canyon high is a highly sought after school. Utah is booming right now.. Just don't California our utah... lol.. We do have our share of mormons.. there thick... Great outdoor destination.. The winters on the front are rough.. St George is nice and growing..
Hungry brown’s on the Provo
Snowboarding in the morning and fishing in the afternoon
Gotta Luv Utah--------->
Robb
My family and I are planning to move to a place with a nice, clean lake, so I can fish. ahah I'm a great fisherman, I recently caught a 24 kg fish, which is my record. Thinking about how to move all our stuff, and imagining how much we have to pay the moving company. My dad advised us to transport by train, he even asked the db auskunft how much it would cost, they said about $150. My choice would still be the train. Cheap and practical, what I need. I need to move as soon as possible, as I already have friends waiting for me on a fishing trip. https://www.dbfahrplan.com/de/
alabama. very conservative, lots of fishing.long hunting season but most of land is private, but there are lots of reasonably priced hunting clubs and some public land.For reasonable public schools you will be limited to Baldwin County in south, auburn in east,birmingham suburbs ,or Huntsville
Whatever you choose keep in mind water. Water in the west is a big issue. It's dry, and getting drier, yet more people are moving here to use more water.
It's possible if things stay on the same track and a solution isn't found that places may run dry. That's a story as old as time itself and the results are the same... migration out of the dry/death to those who can't get away.
Just something to consider for the long term.
I currently live in the Boise ID area. The weather is much like Albuquerque NM...mild most of the time. Hunting and fishing are great because of all the accessible land! BUT, the Cali's are flooding in by the Prius load, the traffic is frustrating, and the road system isn't capable of handling so much traffic efficiently. Income levels are lower than most places I've lived. We looked past much of that because we love the outdoor possibilities here. We're talking about relocating, but it doesn't seem as though there are any truly appealing places left to go. I don't understand the incessant liberal trend of ruining all that is good, but it's beginning to get on the way of my retirement plans.
"They " are like a virus... infecting all the "healthy cells". It is unbelievable what "They" are doing to housing markets. Good if you are a seller. Not so much if you are a buyer or young local couple just getting started. These awesome, friendly little mountain communities are no more. Sad.
