Gonna miss the hunting but,......
New Mexico
......I've seen enough. I'll admit it, NM has some of the best hunting opportunities in the country. I've been pretty darn successful on my hunts over the years and have killed my fair share of Trophy animals. But it just doesn't make up for the quality of life here any more. Its time to move on.
So, what are your 1-2 year plans? Have you given SERIOUS consideration to leaving NM? If not, why not?
I have been a lifelong resident native of NM. Almost all of my elder relatives are dead and buried here in NM. I have really enjoyed the outdoors activities, hunting, fishing, hiking, site seeing, history, photography here in NM over the past 60+ years. I also had a good career here and have retired comfortably. It hasn't been all bad by any means. But a new chapter has been written in the history of NM, and this is an EVIL chapter. I hate to admit this myself, but NM is a LOST CAUSE. I don't say that lightly. I had planned on living out my life here and passing on and being buried next to my parents. That's not going to happen now, We are moving out of this state in the next couple of months. I'm not going to say exactly where we are going but I'll divulge this, we are moving to the Heartland.
I studied and researched this extensively. Here's a list of places you should consider. I do not recommend many of the SW states mostly because there are huge water issues that do not bode well for these states, as well as political issues in the SW. The 2 SW states I do recommend are TX and UT. I also recommend MT, ID, SD, ND, WY, OK, KS, NE, MO, IA, TN, NC, GA, FL, AL, AK, AR, OH, WV, IN, KY, & LA. If you have relatives in any of these states ask them to help you. I would also caution you to stay out of the population centers of any state, of those listed above TN, FL, TX, MO, OK, GA, AR, OH, LA, IN, & KY in particular. There are a good number of rural properties in all of these states. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. We found a good number of properties we really liked and made offers on, during our search. I spent a good part of last summer searching and have relatives in the area that viewed properties for us. It really paid off and we now own an acreage in the country.
Give some serious consideration to this post. Its come to this, the ONLY vote that counts for us conservatives/Christians in NM, is when you vote with your wallet & your feet.
Good luck all.
PS: Did I say I'm going to miss the hunting?
I hear your concerns loud and clear. Not quite sure I'm ready to leave...but it's not out of the question. How "we" could elect MLG a second time is absolutely mind boggling...
Good for you life's to short to deal with that crap constantly especially in your golden years. Not sure where you settled but I can attest to at least Oklahoma on your list. Although agree Tulsa or OKC wouldn't be my first choice especially if retiring. There's still places we're common sense can be found and you can still always visit home. Good luck in your new chapter in life hope you find some good hunting around your new home.
I have recently thought about it, I am a New Mexican thru and thru and I love this state but it's not the same place I enjoyed growing up in. I think we got a couple more years here and then we might move along as well, I would like to enjoy a rural lifestyle for a while, a piece of property that doesn't come with 6,000 dollars a year in taxes and hypocritical neighbors that complain about everything and vote people like MLG into office. The liberal agenda has no room for freedom!
Lol, "we" didn't, "they" did!!
Best wishes for you Vichris!!
I've lived elsewhere, and I'm pretty happy living semi-rural in New Mexico. My best friend moved to Texas last year for the same reasons you listed, and is already back in rural New Mexico. Pros and cons anywhere you go. Best of luck to you and the family!
Well, goodbye I guess. You honestly believe that the areas you mentioned don’t have their problems? Martinez, Richardson, Johnson, all bad governors as well. One of the biggest problems we have in our country is everyone trying to leave for somewhere they think is better instead of trying to better where they are. I get it though, but I’m not leaving anytime soon.
I hear ya vichris ! It is hard to stay here and watch these liberals tear it down with their anti, liberal ways. It’s a different NM now. Good hunting ? hell yeah but New Mexico now sucks !!!
Well, not even the hunting is worth staying for if you can’t draw tags.
I’ve been trying to convince my wife South Dakota is where we need to be. It hasn’t worked.
My wife and I are having this discussion in a serious way. Arkansas looks pretty good, but the question remains, could you start all over and make a half-way decent living? At least the cost of living and real estate helps with that.
HB 7 was signed into "law" yesterday. Going forward it will have devastating consequences for many. The short of it is, the liberals are the supermajority now and it will remain that way for a while until some major upset happens that causes people to reset their brain and morals. Basically, whatever they want, they get.
The next legislative session will be a radical attack on 2nd Amendment Rights, and then they will begin to further erode 1st Amendment Rights. The magazine ban will resurface, and it will be signed into "law" next year (unless they extend this session and fast-track it through). Semi-auto rifles, shotguns, and pistols will also resurface with extreme restrictions placed on them or outright "banned". They have the votes; they have the so-called power. Radical education will be introduced on the acceptance of gender identity and why it's normal. HB 7 is the pre-runner to it.
Do not be surprised when abortion procedures are available at school. HB 7 is the pre-runner to it.
Hunting will be next. Maybe I'm an alarmist. Maybe I'm not...
Lived here my whole life. I hate to say it but NM is a lost cause. Liberal beliefs are making us more like Colorado and California everyday.
“until some major upset happens that causes people to reset their brain and morals.”
I feel like, if that hasn’t happened yet, it’s not going to. You watch the news on any channel other than Fox you don’t hear about ANY of the insanity that’s taking place. People really don’t know what’s happening.
Born and raised here. I love my State and the culture but the liberal agenda has destroyed it. so many people here don't get involved and understand how our leadership has ignored what we really want. they vote like their parents and grandparents did just because and than complain about the problems. true ignorance!! can not see any changes down the road as we can't fix stupid!!
Shaft - it's not sustainable. Never has been in the last 6,000 years of recorded human history.
I am pretty surprised by your saying that NM is a lost cause. Relative to Commie Cali it isn't. What the the trend indicators that lead you to believe so - I'm sure there have to be many for someone with such deep roots to be bailing out. Are you sure the problem isn't related to voting machines?
^^^ the problem is too many voting districts in the major population areas that are liberal. Voting machines are irrelevant because the deck is already naturally stacked.
I live in a rural area in one of the states you mention, Indiana. Life is good here. All my representatives are conservative. Our North central part of the state has the lowest cost of living in the US. Housing is very affordable. We have no homeless living in tents. Our house cost $126k. Our property tax is $1,200/ year. Our infrastructure was completed without federal money in 2021. Last year we got a check in the mail for $600 due to a state budget SURPLUS. We moved here from liberal hell hole Illinois in 2019. No brainer of the century. My wife moved here from China in 2018 and loves the rural lifestyle too. We had to go to LA two years ago for her flight to China. Never again. I don’t know what NM is like any more since I haven’t been able to draw a tag since 2011. But I’m quite sure I know why you prefer to leave.
Thank you all for the well wishes. There's a lot of places and a lot of people here in NM I will miss. Just a little less than half the population here has their head screwed on right. There are far to many ignorant and STUPID people here,.......that and EVIL people. And I'm not saying stupid just to be name calling. Watch this video. Its exactly what we are dealing with here. Commonly known as Bonhoeffers theory of stupidity. .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww47bR86wSc
I'm at T minus 5 weeks until we leave and head for the heartland and REDDER pastures.
Zim is more correct than he knows. There are some areas of the country just loaded with "Salt Of The Earth" people. People with a quality you don't often see here.
It's to bad it has come to this,........
Best of luck! Native New Mexican here, no way in hell I’d ever move back there. Life’s too short.
"Best of luck! Native New Mexican here, no way in hell I’d ever move back there. Life’s too short." . . . ......... My sister left many years ago also. She says the same thing. Never moving back.
I didn't even put in for any hunts here this year. That's how done I am.
Yes, NM is effed up. I don't see any way out of it. The government educations system has left so many completely unable to understand the basics of self government, so they gladly latch onto the nanny state. Half of society wants to be taken care of and the other half is now out numbered. I feel fortunate to live in a fairly conservative, God fearing area of the state so we are somewhat sheltered from the lunacy.
It's only a matter of time before it is unlivable. I'm at a point in my life where I can live anywhere I want. I'm not ready to leave but I do understand my time in this soon to be shithole is limited. There is no place in America right now that has been under long term Democrat control that is not either a shithole or soon to be one.
The real reason this is happening is we are no longer a nation that reveres God. We have lost Gods favor and we have lost his protection. There is only one way back and I don't think it's possible. I pray that I am wrong. I pray that every day.
There are a few states left out West that I found to be OK. Met some very grounded folks in Wyoming. Montana & Idaho are red but I no longer hunt those states. I'm surprised to see Arizona blue. I thought they were pretty conservative.
UT will be purple before long, it's heading that way as subtly as NM went deep (state) blue.
Bye bye
Bye bye
Yes,...... I am leaving NM. A picture is worth a 1000 words. Hasta La Vista Sh!thole. (Notice all the bullet holes in the sign, typical for NM) .
We are moving from city living, to rural country living. I've got an acreage, with a wooded lot & a small private lake that's a three minute walk from my back door. Deer, turkey, quail, waterfowl and pheasants abound. One neighbor, but several others not to far away. Our ATV will be our main transportation in the immediate area. Thank you God.
Congratulations Chris. I hope you find what you seek.
Chris, I looked all over for a photo I took of my wife with our moving van overflowing with taxidermy mounts when we left blue Illinois in 2019, but could not locate it. She moved here from China in 2018 but has a big smile in the photo because she knew the reason we were moving and was all in. I had spent a couple years educating her about Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, AOC & company. She saw massive amounts of drugs & homeless in Chicago, as well as LA, Reno, Madison, WI and other places. She grew up in a concrete box in Sichuan yet adapted amazingly to our clean small town in the rural Indiana countryside. And she appreciates what we have here. You know the amazing thing is I bet most Americans have no clue China may have the CCP government, but it is far, far more red than the US today. I would definitely classify the US as the socialist country, and by far. Sadly, that is in fact not even debatable. The government in China is one party Unitarian. But I have to laugh at Wikepedia definition as "Marxist-Leninist Socialist" LOL! That is such total BS. Maybe in 1949, but certainly not today. It is Capitalist unless your company has over 50 employees and gets a CCP member assigned to the BOD. Then they have bribes to deal with.
This diagram shows you are not alone as far as blue states go.
Why don't you hop your happy ass on down the road and stop with the selfies and the bad mouthing. You want to leave then leave. My $00.02
"Why don't you hop your happy ass on down the road and stop with the selfies and the bad mouthing. You want to leave then leave. My $00.02". .
Ha ha ha,......I get it,......... April Fool ...... As for me, T minus 27 days and counting. Back attcha ,.... My 2 cents.
Good luck to you vichris!, i want to retire first(6yrs), but then i'm out to.....i work in Fanta Se and it's getting worse every year; and i've been here for 30 years. The hunting is pretty phenomenal but definitely not worth the daily headaches. I feel like it's gonna have to get a WHOLE lot worse before it gets better and that goes for most of this country. Buy ammo.....
We left in 1999 and found an immediate appreciation for a different world view. Even now that our kids are grown there is no way I could talk my wife into going back. I also miss the elk tags but that is getting harder for everyone, even residents. I had hoped to retire in WY someday and may still. However, it is looking less and less likely so I'm building me a barn on our 5 acres and a hunting shack out of pallets on the 20 acres next to us in the likelihood that I'm here another 20. I'll travel to the mountains as much a possible, but it looks like I'm stuck in KS. Hope your transition is a good one!
Darrell, JSW, Chuckles, HDE, mrelite, JDee, Shaft2Long and others, Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement.
I moved to Prescott AZ back in the 90's to expand on a business venture I was involved in. I moved back in 2000 after my mom was severely injured in an accident. I realized then how much I had missed out on hunting opportunities here in NM during the 90's. But I also noticed how much NM had changed for the worse. I remember thinking how ABQ felt a lot like Juarez. (BTW I am 100% Hispanic) As we can all see, it's gotten exponentially worse. I won't lie, this hasn't been easy and I can totally understand how family connections, jobs, and various other things can make a move like this hard to swallow. My wife must really love me, Ha ha ha. She hasn't ever been 100% on board. More like about 80%, She's still working and having to change jobs was stressful at first until she found out it was all going to work out just fine. .
As far as hunting, I'll be buying OTC tags for more than 1 deer EVERY year and have new opportunities for pheasant, turkey, and much more fishing. I'll also be putting in for elk in surrounding states with fair to good chances for NR elk. Zim and a couple of others have been very helpful in opening my eyes to other hunting possibilities. I even discovered that the travel time from my new home to scout and hunt in nearby states would be no more than me going to say unit 34, 15/16's, 23.....etc, from here in ABQ. And one more advantage, I'll be hunting at least one deer and turkey, and fishing ON MY OWN PROPERTY.
Good luck to you Chris! I agree with you completely about Albq. I only drive through there on my way down to hunt Oryx. I pretty much stay in the northwest part of the state but it’s slowly changing as well.
Thanks butcherboy, "I pretty much stay in the northwest part of the state but it’s slowly changing as well." . The NW part of the state is my favorite. I've spent tons of time up there. And yes it is changing and not for the better. Part of the attraction to that area was its proximity to CO. Colorado has definitely lost its luster, as much as, or even more than NM.
Just an observation. I rented a car trailer from U-Haul so I could tow our Corolla to the Midwest and finally making the long arduous 15 hour drive to our new home. I had a conversation with a very conservative customer service rep @ U Haul. He mentioned that he liked my bumper sticker that says " Are you an American OR a Democrat". So I was asking him if there were more people moving to NM or more people leaving. He answered there were more people moving to NM. BUT he said they were mostly people from California and leftist coming from RED states. Lots of LGBTQ types, encouraged by NM's leftist governance. In his own words things are only going to get worse in NM. He is in U Haul Management and has asked to transfer to Oklahoma.
This was VERY near my old house in ABQ. These poor deer. It seems that even the deer are trying to get the hell outta NM. ha ha ha.
Hey Chris, I thought you left?! Just can’t seem to stay away? Just shows that you can take the boy out of NM but you can’t take the NM out of the boy! Lol jk, jk
I did leave butcherboy, Apr 30th. My sister who lives here in the Omaha area sent me this. this morning, She was raised in ABQ too. We both are shocked at how bad things have become in ABQ. BTW, I cant even begin to describe to you how fantastic it is here in the Heartland.
I’ve been to Omaha. It’s like any big city. I stay away. The rural areas of Nebraska are nice if you like the smell of manure all the time. Lol just giving you a hard time. I only go through Albuquerque once in a while on my way through to go Oryx hunting. Or, taking kids to the zoo.
Crazy pic of those deer!!
Good to hear it’s all working out for you.
The homeless, junkie tent city madness is spreading across the whole city in Abq. Arroyo near Wyoming and academy has people living in it full time now. The new home construction is probably the only thing that has kept them out or the land Abq Academy used to own.
