Poll: How Many Moved For Hunting?

[go_deep]

I moved for a job, but would have never been willing to move somewhere that didn't have great hunting.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I moved to Alaska 30 years ago, when I was 23 yo, just for the fishing and hunting. Immediately started college up here, graduated 4 years later and got a good job. Those early decisions were without a doubt some of the best decisions of my life.


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[Howdoyoulikemenow]

I'm an avid outdoorsman. Have been most of 63 years. I usually hunt two and a few times three states per year. But there's no way I'll chose living away from my family for the sole reason to hunt. For all of us the day will arrive when we're too old or crippled up to hunt anymore. None of us are escaping that fact. If I were to move to another state I'd be choosing to live alone. No thanks man. I'm very grateful for my family who are part of my life 12 months a year. I'll buy the NR tags and pay the gas as I do now but continue to be close to my grandkids.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Plus no snakes, gators, hurricanes, tornadoes, chiggers, fire ants, poison ivy, lymes disease, heat and humidity, etc.
No road salt to rust out vehicles, a free hunting/fishing/trapping license at age 60.
Free over the counter tags for most big game species including Dall Sheep.

Don’t forget , we have the ability to kill sheep, moose, and two goats every year, and the list goes on and on!


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[Tradchef]

I left Vermont 20 years ago. Im always glad i made that choice politically and personally. Unfortunately Montana is going the way Vermont did 20 years ago. I still love it here but its changing for some good and a lot of greed as well. I'm glad i was able to enjoy it when it was still the reason i wanted to be out here. I'm feeling like one more good move is in the future just not sure where yet.

 

[DuckDogDr]

Moved from Alabama to Eastern idaho in '12 right out of college
...Boss wasn't paying me according to our agreement and when I was younger and dumber..hand shake was all that was needed (was how I was raised)
No money, local politics and admittedly by the end of my stint a very sour attitude I was basically ran out of town. I had to move back home ..literally coasted in with empty fuel tank and $3

Had a friend in boise tried to convince me to move further west. Wish I had stuck it out ..but I didn't want to be a freeloader and with no job and no prospects..didn't know when I could pay him back.

I've kicked around the idea of moving to Alaska but have since gotten into diving /spearfishing, have a pretty serious gf I plan on keeping around. She's not opposed to moving but right now her kid has about 3-4 years left in his current school system so not moving anytime soon. .And also from what I've researched there's not any "quick" morning duck hunting opportunities before work like here.....(maybe someone can chime in)
who knows what the future holds though..been at this current job 7 years and not thrilled with new management

 

[AK_Skeeter]

Don’t forget , we have the ability to kill sheep, moose, and two goats every year, and the list goes on and on!


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No personal property tax, no sales tax, free hunting/fishing/trapping license at age 60, waiver on first $150,000 on property tax at age 65, permanent fund dividend check, no license or registration required for open or concealed firearms, no vehicle inspection required, permanent registration for vehicles older than 8 years, and some pretty good ocean and freshwater fishing opportunities.

 

[Poser]

Moved from Alabama to Eastern idaho in '12 right out of college
...Boss wasn't paying me according to our agreement and when I was younger and dumber..hand shake was all that was needed (was how I was raised)
No money, local politics and admittedly by the end of my stint a very sour attitude I was basically ran out of town. I had to move back home ..literally coasted in with empty fuel tank and $3

Had a friend in boise tried to convince me to move further west. Wish I had stuck it out ..but I didn't want to be a freeloader and with no job and no prospects..didn't know when I could pay him back.

I've kicked around the idea of moving to Alaska but have since gotten into diving /spearfishing, have a pretty serious gf I plan on keeping around. She's not opposed to moving but right now her kid has about 3-4 years left in his current school system so not moving anytime soon. .And also from what I've researched there's not any "quick" morning duck hunting opportunities before work like here.....(maybe someone can chime in)
who knows what the future holds though..been at this current job 7 years and not thrilled with new management

Unsolicited advice without knowing anymore than what is written here: I’ll say this about your situation and, take it however you want, but, with some life experience with/observations of women, particularly single moms, waiting around “3-4 years” on a GF with kids to move to Alaska from Alabama is highly unlikely, almost certainly something that is not going to happen in life. If you want to move to Alaska, you should move to Alaska. If you want to wait 3-4 years on a GF, either you’re going to get married (keep in mind that 2nd marriages have divorce rates pushing 70%) or your going to break up and you’ll never get that time back. Realistically, it’s one option or the other.

Once you hit a certain age, very few people will uproot purely for lifestyle reasons even if they have romanticized about it for years. It’s easy to talk about moving “3-4 years down the road” over Mexican food and margaritas in your home town, its another thing all together to actually do it. Depending on the age of the kids and whether or not the father is in the picture, it may not even be permissible for her to move out of state and then There’s the whole not wanting to separate kids from their grandparents and extended family factor which is often the final dealbreaker on these scenarios. Could be that this GF and spear fishing in Alabama is what you actually want in life, but if it’s not, don’t let a woman be the dream killer, that road is nothing but regret (I’m sure a few members here can testify to that) and there are plenty of women who already live in Alaska.

 

[wyosteve]

Very true what Poser said! With the pandemic purge from other states moving to Wyo., after 2-5 years a good share of those folks will be moving back. I've kept an eye on real estate listings and see the same house come on the market several times in those time spans.

 

[woods89]

I'm strongly considering a different approach than most in regards to this. Plenty of people move to Colorado for hunting opportunities, but the writing is on the wall that Colorado will be full blown CA in the years to come and its getting ridiculously expensive to live here(like much of MT, WY, ID). I'm looking to find a remote work opportunity in the Midwest where the living is cheap. If i can maintain my current salary and move to an area of lower cost of living, I'll get to do higher quality trips possibly to Canada, Alaska, and Africa.

I submitted 8 applications in Colorado, and was denied on every one. being a resident to a western state is losing its value.

Yea, lets not talk too much about the Midwest. It's just fine the way it is.

In all seriousness, after seeing the Front Range, I'm just fine living here and buying a few NR tags. Lower cost of living, slower pace of life, etc. Lots of outdoor fun to be had here, it's just different from out west.

And I realize there are many places that aren't like the Front Range, but I wonder how much of the west will look like it in 5-10 years. I think I'll wait and see.

 

[DuckDogDr]

Hey thanks for input Poser. I definitely agree with you. Right now the hold up is definitely more myself than her. There's only a handful of clinics in Alaska that do the specific work I do now (Veterinary Emergency ) and I'm reluctant to move across country following one or two interviews after the east Idaho experience. I had interned with the group for 2 weeks as a student and wanted to do mixed general practice and felt pretty confident hiring with them...as soon as I moved out there everything changed...when I left; I under exaggerate when I say on bad terms....it was bad...an NDA I ultimately signed, 2 pending lawsuits they ultimately chose not to pursue in return of the NDA....

The gf situation is actually a pretty good one currently. You are 100% correct with the discussion over Mexican food. Even though emotionally attached; financially neither one of us are invested. We are keeping money 100% separate and both in agreement. Pre-nups will be in place before anything moves forward...and shes the one that brought that to the table ..emotions are there but we're both moving slow and keeping each other at arms length. It's a weird dynamic but works for us.

Alaska for me is cool what if scenario and a fluttering dream that may ultimately evolve but I have student loans to pay down before I do anything drastic again. That first major move left me once bitten 2x shy

 

[mhabiger]

Thought long and hard about it over the last year. I couldn't get my wife on board with Idaho or Wyoming. She couldnt get me onboard with Colorado. So the compromise will be moving within the KC metro when housing inventory rebounds to an area where I dont have shoot my bow in the basement!

I'll keep doing my 2-4 trips a year and when I really think about it there really isnt anything I dont like hunting. So being centrally located has its perks for running around the country hunting.

 

[LongWayAround]

I moved to Colorado because there's no elk in Iowa.

Several years past that decision, I definitely think about some of the things that I traded. All in all, I'm glad that I did it but I've gained an appreciation of all the things that I took for granted.

 

[CApighunter]

Thinking about it more and more everyday. Girlfriend and I can't wait to escape the liberal hellhole of California. Setting our sights on Wyoming, Idaho or Montana.

 

[Stalker69]

I have not moved living in Colorado I have plenty to hunt. I do like traveling to other states ( mainly Texas to hunt pigs and javelina) but would not like to live there. Now that I am getting older, don’t snowboard as much, but love fly fishing for carp, I could see my self moving south we’re I could pursue bone fish and red fish. Along with other species of fish, year around. Don’t care so much for winters any more.

 

[z987k]

Mostly came to AK for the fishing first and hunting second. That has changed.

I could make an argument that hunting and fishing are much better back in North Dakota where I came from (seriously). At least for a working man anyways.

North Dakota has 7 over the counter big game species with a season for something always open, virtually unlimited small game and so many fish you feed your dog what people pay $20/lb for?

I mean, by all means go where makes you happy, but I'm fairly sure there's not more available hunting&fishing in the US, probably the world.

 

[ReddingArcher]

Not exclusively for hunting but def plays a role in our decision. We are movin to Idaho from Ca hoping to flee the libtards. Me and my wife are not okay with them trying to push critical race theory and a twisted sex Ed program to our young children. And if I so choose to put a silencer on my ar I think that should be okay as well as having 30 rd mags lol there’s many reasons we’re choosing to flee and better hunting opportunity was one of them


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The bizarre sex ed they are pushing in CA now is the main reason I want to get out of here! And the heat, I just cant stand it anymore...and the fires, those suck too. But mainly the sex ed, I have a son on the way due in November and I do not want to raise him in this degenerate riddled state. My wife sent me a letter to the school board that had been posted and after reading that, theres no way we want to raise our kids here. Better hunting is also a huge bonus.

 

[1moredeer]

Retired 18 months ago and wanted some land of my own to hunt on. My first choice was Wyoming but was outvoted and overruled by my wife, kids, and grandkids. Ended up in far northeast Texas close to the grandkids. My wife is happy, the kids are just down the hill and I can set on the porch or walk to a stand and hunt. Best move possible for us.