Retire to FL, SC, AZ (or other warm state) and still hunt?

[fwafwow]

I'm not quite old enough but where to live when I retire is on my mind more recently. I'm a big fan of GA for a variety of reasons, but I'm not wed to staying here. On my list of wants is warm weather, good medical resources, a conservative political climate and good hunting opportunities. (Yes - I know politics today vs. in the future is uncertain.) I've also looked at SC, but SC and FL both have the annual threat of hurricanes, which I suppose I could get used to, but being pretty insulated from major catastrophes has its perks.

The WSJ had a recent article on how many people have moved and retired to a small town in AZ. The article was focused on wealthy folks, but it got me thinking about AZ as an option, and it seems to cover a few of the items on my list, but I've not looked at medical or hunting. Anyone else with a similar list already go down this path?

 

[Gone4Days]

I moved from MN to AZ 20 years ago and I am so glad I did. Life is better here. I grew up bow hunting white tails on our private land in MN and grew to love western hunting out here. Awesome hunting opportunities in AZ and arguably the best Elk hunting in the US…. or world for that matter. Turkeys, bear, muleys, whitetail (coues), elk, antelope, sheep, lions, javelina….

If you’ve never been to AZ you’d be surprised at the different geography and climates here. I live in the Phoenix area where it’s 65° in January but I can be skiing in Flagstaff or the White Mountains in 2 1/2 hr drive. Northern AZ (above the mogollon rim) is high mountain terrain full of ponderosa pines and aspen. 5500’ and higher.

Desert and grassland in the middle to south, and this up north

 

[NCSU_Lewis]

Born and raised in SC, hunted SC a decent bit. My folks spend a fair amount of time in FL and lots of coworkers down there. The more I learn and hear, the more FL has to offer. If you like fishing that would be top of the list. Houses down there are built to handle hurricanes. They are aggravating but if you're prepared its not a huge deal if you're not in high flood prone area.

All that being said, given you are on this forum I'm guessing AZ will be the best option. I'm awful set on living out west one day and all the hunting opportunity it would entail.

 

[JLW66]

You're asking the question I asked myself last week as i was looking at land in AZ, Utah, NM and southern Colorado. Love Wyoming, but not sure it makes the list. Family members in SC and FL, but I want a place in the West. My wife says send us a postcard now and then. She is a peach. Good luck in your quest.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I moved from MN to AZ 20 years ago and I am so glad I did. Life is better here. I grew up bow hunting white tails on our private land in MN and grew to love western hunting out here. Awesome hunting opportunities in AZ and arguably the best Elk hunting in the US…. or world for that matter. Turkeys, bear, muleys, whitetail (coues), elk, antelope, sheep, lions, javelina….

If you’ve never been to AZ you’d be surprised at the different geography and climates here. I live in the Phoenix area where it’s 65° in January but I can be skiing in Flagstaff or the White Mountains in 2 1/2 hr drive. Northern AZ (above the mogollon rim) is high mountain terrain full of ponderosa pines and aspen. 5500’ and higher.

Desert and grassland in the middle to south, and this up north

View attachment 377699

This is all completely false. Arizona is way too hot and mostly desert. Way too many rattle snakes and scorpions.

You definitely don’t want to move to Arizona.

Say it with me… Arizona is the worst. I don’t want to move there.

 

[Wyobohunter]

Of the states you listed I’d pick AZ.
Then again, I hate humid hot. And it’s the only state you listed with elk.

 

[MuleyFever]

AZ would be my choice from your list for hunting, today. You have to consider that just like politics change the state of hunting will not be the same in 10-20 years. Its changed a lot in the last 10 years.

Hunting opportunities are on the decline in many areas and will continue to decline. OTC tags are going away and tag numbers are declining in many places while habitat is lost and hunter numbers rise in the west.

If I could only get a deer/elk tag in my home state every few years is there really any benefit to living there if hunting is the priority? This is how it is in UT now. I hunt the surrounding states every year in order to hunt deer and elk. People are waiting 4+ years for a general deer tag in some units here. Elk tags for good bull hunts are about OIL tags now.

I am to the point that my resident opportunities are so limited I may as well live anywhere else as I am a nonresident on one or two hunts a year anyway. So for retirement I am starting to consider I may be happier on a lake in a warmish area where I can fish year round and hunt birds and WT deer with long seasons. Then I would still be doing the same nonresident western hunts I do now. Just a thought. We will see how things go.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I live in FL now. I make a great living, get pretty much unlimited time off, and will still leave the first chance I get. If you like fishing there are ample opportunities, as far as hunting, I think it is some of the worst in the nation. AZ would be my pick.

 

[Sadler]

Arizona for the in state draw odds. At least do that for a year and then buy your lifetime hunting license if you decide to leave. There are some great perks to doing that.

 

[Rich M]

FL hunting is a challenge. Quota hunts are pretty much for 3-5 day hunts. The wmas i hunt will draw every 2 to 3 years.

Much of our hunting is quota draw. Pigs can be had during small game in some places but they do draws too. Turkey tags can be tough for public land. Duck hunting is a game for guys willing to travel to where the birds are.

Keep an eye on the taxes. SC has taxes on vehicles and boats. Not so sure about GA. GA has a lot more deer than FL.

 

[BuckSmasher]

If we ever move back down to the heat we would be near saltwater again. In fact when we moved up here our qualification was saltwater or mountains. Hard to imagine that though. I don't miss sweat dripping down my back or skin sticking to my seat in December.

The desert portions of Arizona are the absolute worst. I could rant about how bad I hate it, I have very strong feelings about 95 degrees at 11 PM. Even the heat and humidity of East Texas wasn't that bad. I honestly do not understand how or why anyone lives in southern AZ. The Flagstaff area is great but you want warm, it gets chilly there in the winter.

 

[pk_]

Don’t come to Florida, that is going in the wrong direction for hunting opportunity. Well, quality hunting opportunity. If you move to FL you will likely quit hunting or travel out of state to do it. So I would recommend staying up in the panhandle, so you are close to out of state opportunities. Still lots of fishing up that way and some decent hunting if you are willing to find it and figure it out. My plan is to move up that way in the coming years.

My vote would be AZ even tho I have never been lol

 

[Crghss]

FL is for fishing not hunting. There are more verities of fish and ways to fish for them.

I enjoy Duck and turkey hunting. But archery hunting in august over 90 degrees out and 90% humidity is just plan suffering…for a stinky pig or 100 lbs deer. No thanks.

Hurricanes really aren’t that bad. Yes your home could be right in the path of one but percentages are quit small it’ll happen.

 

[Holocene]

I grew up in South Carolina and started hunting there in my 20s before moving to Oregon. Now, I hunt all over the West and still go back to SC for deer and turkey when I can.

Compared to the West, including Arizona, SC is much more affordable and probably will remain that way for a little while. Tax situation is something to look at for sure. Among the hook and bullet crowd, life is still relatively slow and Southern. That's changing year after year but know that culture is still Southern culture there.

The quality hunting in SC is almost all whitetail. You will want to find a deer lease that matches your style and budget. The public land hunting is okay, but you won't kill big deer. There is good pig hunting on private lands. Duck hunting is poor (compared to other states). Turkey hunting is good but getting tougher as regulations tighten to help a dwindling population that other Eastern states are also experiencing. Good dove hunting, and quail are sort of coming back in areas but that's not a meat and potatoes hunt, more of an aesthetic experience than a regular hunt.

The big dog thing to do in South Carolina is to buy a property or farm and run it as your personal hunt club for deer, turkey, and maybe hogs. Invite business colleagues, family, friends.

The big dog thing to do in the West is to go on some big public land adventure in gnarly country and kill birds or big game.

What's your speed?

 

[fwafwow]

I grew up in South Carolina and started hunting there in my 20s before moving to Oregon. Now, I hunt all over the West and still go back to SC for deer and turkey when I can.

Compared to the West, including Arizona, SC is much more affordable and probably will remain that way for a little while. Tax situation is something to look at for sure. Among the hook and bullet crowd, life is still relatively slow and Southern. That's changing year after year but know that culture is still Southern culture there.

The quality hunting in SC is almost all whitetail. You will want to find a deer lease that matches your style and budget. The public land hunting is okay, but you won't kill big deer. There is good pig hunting on private lands. Duck hunting is poor (compared to other states). Turkey hunting is good but getting tougher as regulations tighten to help a dwindling population that other Eastern states are also experiencing. Good dove hunting, and quail are sort of coming back in areas but that's not a meat and potatoes hunt, more of an aesthetic experience than a regular hunt.

The big dog thing to do in South Carolina is to buy a property or farm and run it as your personal hunt club for deer, turkey, and maybe hogs. Invite business colleagues, family, friends.

The big dog thing to do in the West is to go on some big public land adventure in gnarly country and kill birds or big game.

What's your speed?

One omitted benefit - staying in GA or moving to SC gives me access to hunting land with friends in GA and a relative in SC, including amazing duck hunting in the Santee Delta. From a hunting perspective, Charleston would be a top choice over FL, IMHO.

 

[Theringworm]

Medical in and around Phoenix/Scottsdale area is extremely good and has some of the top specialists in the country in certain specialties. The further you get away from the big city the less likely this holds true.

The same could be said for any other major city I.e. Atlanta, Georgia, Miami or Tallahassee FL, etc. So, it’s mainly only an issue/concern if living more rural/smaller town. IMO, if your immediate institution can’t handle a major Stroke, cardiac event or Trauma but instead requires you to be transferred, that’s an added risk of a poor outcome. Just depends on how much of a risk you want to take for something that may or may not ever happen. IMO, it’s definitely something to consider when looking for a place to retire.

 

[eddielasvegas]

Here's another good hunting forum as a resource besides this one. Most of the members are AZ based since it is a Coues forum.

CouesWhitetail.com Discussion forum

www.coueswhitetail.com

Also, if you want four seasons, Flagstaff (or northern AZ in general) is just beautiful. In greater Phoenix, we have two seasons: Oven (4 months) and perfect (8 months). The only downside to Oven Season is heat. No humidity, skeeters (like back east), Nor'easters, ice storms, snow storms, blizzards, days and days of cloudy rainy days, etc. Like another member said, it is 95F for a 3 months at 11PM or 6AM. We have A/C.

I grew up in Va. Beach and lived in Boston for 20 years and now here for the last 16. Here is better than the other two IMO for many additional reasons that are too numerous to type.

In spite of Biden winning the last election here (by 11k vote out of 3.4 Million cast (supposedly), the general feel of the state is conservative. Krysten Sinema is one of my new favorite democrat person.

Another tidbit is AZ has the largest percentage of the state land area designated as public land.

Lastly, here a web site in the event AZ if your choice.

Arizona Land for Sale - 14,502 Listings | LandWatch

LandWatch has 14,502 land listings for sale in Arizona. Browse our Arizona land for sale listings, view photos and contact an agent today!

www.landwatch.com

Good luck,

Eddie

 

[Tbonespop]

This is all completely false. Arizona is way too hot and mostly desert. Way too many rattle snakes and scorpions.

You definitely don’t want to move to Arizona.

Say it with me… Arizona is the worst. I don’t want to move there.

Hey buddy, conservatives are welcome here in AZ to help keep things that have made AZ what it is. We don't want the other kind of folk moving here and bringing the problems with them that they voted into their former state thus making their former state the crap-hole it became and them wanting to leave.

 

[Rokbar]

Check out Tennessee??

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I grew up in South Carolina and started hunting there in my 20s before moving to Oregon. Now, I hunt all over the West and still go back to SC for deer and turkey when I can.

Compared to the West, including Arizona, SC is much more affordable and probably will remain that way for a little while. Tax situation is something to look at for sure. Among the hook and bullet crowd, life is still relatively slow and Southern. That's changing year after year but know that culture is still Southern culture there.

The quality hunting in SC is almost all whitetail. You will want to find a deer lease that matches your style and budget. The public land hunting is okay, but you won't kill big deer. There is good pig hunting on private lands. Duck hunting is poor (compared to other states). Turkey hunting is good but getting tougher as regulations tighten to help a dwindling population that other Eastern states are also experiencing. Good dove hunting, and quail are sort of coming back in areas but that's not a meat and potatoes hunt, more of an aesthetic experience than a regular hunt.

The big dog thing to do in South Carolina is to buy a property or farm and run it as your personal hunt club for deer, turkey, and maybe hogs. Invite business colleagues, family, friends.

The big dog thing to do in the West is to go on some big public land adventure in gnarly country and kill birds or big game.

What's your speed?

You left out the humidity, skeeters, deer flies, and fire ants....gators really don't bother me but fire ants are a PIA.