Looking to relocate: AR or MO–Any help?

[Doc Nock]

#2847

Ladies and gents,

I have GOT to find cheaper living and better hunting. I’m too damn old to move back to MT and hump those steep hills and high passes…or deal with those long cold winters! But this Eastern country has me frazzled… my native farm land now only grows housing developments, shopping centers and industrial parks. Pretty to look at but you can’t do anything, especially HUNT!

I have done research on parts of Missouri and North Central Arkansas as being more affordable, decent weather and better hunting access. I’d like help narrowing that if anyone has current information?

Goals are to find cheaper living and local access to hunting w/out long hikes. Public land is great, but here you have to hike till you drop to get away from the madding crowds. Figure I best do it now while I can still get around some before Uncle Arty Ritis takes me outa the game completely!

Flying into St. Louis 11/1 and out 11/8. Base camp will be a time share a friend can muster in Branson, MO.

Looking for suggestions for areas to explore! Affordable rental would mean clean digs under $500/mo and not an area experiencing rampant growth like NW AR is these days with close access to go deer hunting, etc.

Fly fishing or general fishing (stream versus lakes) would be a plus

Not looking for invites as I got lodging covered. Just looking for suggestions with some data points.

PM or emails might be best to not clog up the band width here.

Thanks to Robin for letting me turn to you good folks to find new home with way better hunting and less expensive living! Thanks to all!

[Brennan Herr]

#13567

Doc,

You don’t have to abandoned PA…just move west. I worked in Chester Co. for a while so I feel your pain. I live in Western PA it is much better with a lot more public hunting and friendly farmers. Northern part of the state is not bad from what I hear. Good luck on your hunt.

Brennan

[Doc Nock]

#13951

Brennan,

Thanks for that input. Not to get too political, but I’ve considered that… North PA means some serious winters. And in the end, one is still saddled with the fine realities of the PGC and a mis-managed deer herd.

COL is not that improved. Been to Beaver, PA and it’s very rural, but not very affordable for being so far out in the Boonies!

[Troy Warner]

#14026

In South Dakota, We don’t have a lot of tree covered rolling hills, unless your along the river(Missouri), or out in the black hills, but we have good white tail sate wide, mule deer out west, turkeys in some county’s, a long waiting period to draw an elk tag(around 14 years of applying on average), antilope, and all the water fowling, pheasant hunting, and prairie chickens you want to hunt.

Plus the state is within 12 to 24 hours drive(dependent on were in the state you are) to areas in Colorado(Northern and SW), Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and many other states North, South, and East that have great nonresident hunting for big and small game alike. Mostly freindly people.

Out of the last 20 years living and hunting here I have only been turned down for hunting permission 5 or 6 times. And we have a lot of public lands.

Cost of living is fairly cheap. The worst thing is property taxs, but we don’t have a state income tax.

Annnd, our winters only last from, sometimes, Oct to June. on a poor year they could start in Nov/Dec and run into Feb/Mar. 😉

Good luck in your search.

Troy

[Rummy]

#14039

Doc,

Not any of the states you mentioned and I dont have a lot of details for you, but considering what your after, milder winters, lower COL, ya might want to look into North Carolina. Just a thought. Good luck!

Don

Doc Nock wrote: Ladies and gents,

I have GOT to find cheaper living and better hunting. I’m too damn old to move back to MT and hump those steep hills and high passes…or deal with those long cold winters! But this Eastern country has me frazzled… my native farm land now only grows housing developments, shopping centers and industrial parks. Pretty to look at but you can’t do anything, especially HUNT!

I have done research on parts of Missouri and North Central Arkansas as being more affordable, decent weather and better hunting access. I’d like help narrowing that if anyone has current information?

Goals are to find cheaper living and local access to hunting w/out long hikes. Public land is great, but here you have to hike till you drop to get away from the madding crowds. Figure I best do it now while I can still get around some before Uncle Arty Ritis takes me outa the game completely!

Flying into St. Louis 11/1 and out 11/8. Base camp will be a time share a friend can muster in Branson, MO.

Looking for suggestions for areas to explore! Affordable rental would mean clean digs under $500/mo and not an area experiencing rampant growth like NW AR is these days with close access to go deer hunting, etc.

Fly fishing or general fishing (stream versus lakes) would be a plus

Not looking for invites as I got lodging covered. Just looking for suggestions with some data points.

PM or emails might be best to not clog up the band width here.

Thanks to Robin for letting me turn to you good folks to find new home with way better hunting and less expensive living! Thanks to all!

[mhay]

#14053

Southern and eastern Ohio has a lot to offer . Lots of streams , rivers , man made lakes and scores of public hunting land . I have 4250 acres within 10 minutes of home . The turkey numbers are down but the whitetail thrive there as well as the private land .

Eastern Ohio , especially in the south is nearly mountains , but in my locale it is gently rolling hills . Some will make you pause but there not too bad .

[Stephen Graf]

#14197

Rummy wrote: Doc,

Not any of the states you mentioned and I dont have a lot of details for you, but considering what your after, milder winters, lower COL, ya might want to look into North Carolina. Just a thought. Good luck!

Don

I would nix NC. We have one of the highest state tax rates and highest sales tax rates in the nation. Not to mention that the Wildlife Commission is in the pocket of the Insurance Lobby and wants every deer dead.

The mountains are great, but no deer.

Head west young man. Head west.

[Doc Nock]

#16473

I truly do appreciate so many suggestions for alternatives.

Not to be knotheaded, but I’m locked into the exploratory trip to MO and AR, come first week of Nov. So that is why I posted up for suggestions there.

I never considered OH. I’d have thought the rate of expansion and such there would have nixed that??

I have a friend who recommended N. NC. I researched it…if $7,000/acre is cheap, I’m in BIG trouble. After I bugged him about his thoughts, he confessed that the mountains of NW NC have been inundated by yuppies. Ride around on their golf carts on dirt roads all day… no hunting allowed on their land! Drive electric Prius (no offense to those who like affordable travel after a heavy investment). He did mention that the New (?) River was all bought up years back by the power company to damn for Hydro electric…but the Feds squelched that with the Scenic Rivers Act. When the power company dumped their holdings, then land was cheap… dirt cheap with houses they’d bought… but now…not at all!

Public land is what it is…often it’s great if you’re young enough to hump back in a good ways and then get back out. 😯 I lack the common sense to reserve enough “fuel” to get my bones BACK!:roll:

just thought perhaps some MO or AR folks might be on this site. I’ve got targets for AR, but none for much of MO.

Thanks for all the thoughts and kind recommendations.

[Ralph]

#17392

Me? Where I been at a tourney the last few days in the eastern panhandle, close to Ok border, I’d pick the place with the least humidity and start there. Humidity liked to kicked my hiney. I’m too old to adapt to that ;)).

Good luck!

[Doc Nock]

#18630

R2,

You mean to tell me there is a place in TX where it’s not hot as hell’s kitchen and HUMID as a Sauna??? 😆

Plane tickets were finalized yesterday. The trip is ON!

Still trolling for any ideas, especially in Southern MO to central MO that might fit the bill of lower COL, good access to local hunting and fishing, decent weather…

Thanks to all who chimed in with thoughts. Much appreciated!

[Steve Capps]

#20109

I lived in MO for about 7 years. It is a good hunting state with reasonable land prices and good (not great) public hunting. I can’t say that I would recommend the branson area for anything other than a family vacation. Northwest part has a good mix of public land, farms that still let a guy hunt for a handshake and a day in the hayfield, and a decent deer herd. The northeast part has the biggest bucks but the least accesible ground because of leases that spill over from IL and Iowa. Southwest section is the Ozarks which is tougher hunting for generally smaller deer but great stream and river fishing. One of my favorite public land areas is the Fountain Grove area which is primarily known for waterfowl hunting. It is archery only for deer and has a good herd in both quantity and quality.

[Doc Nock]

#20140

Steve,

Thanks for that information. Sorry to mislead any readers. No WAY I’m considering the Branson, MO area…just that a buddy who died and his widow had Time Shares all around… and now with him gone, she can’t use all the points they have so offered to do a “swap” of points to somewhere in MO or AR and Branson had openings.

Branson will be our BASE CAMP to do day trips every day!

How old is your information? What about the S. Central area around West Plains? Any knowledge of that area…just North into MO from Mountain Home, AR area.

Thanks for the input! I’ll have to look up this Fountain Grove area…

[1shot]

#25186

My friend is in the bentonville, Ar area, not realy sure on public land hunting around there, but he (Matt) is the curator of the American Indian Mus. And it is a very worthwhile stop for viewing some of the finest authentic relics in the country imo..

[Doc Nock]

#25191

THANKS!

I’ll google that area and see if I will be close and add that to my travel plans!

[Barefoot]

#27285

Lived in Missouri all my life. Specifically a little town called Bunker. It is surrounded by public land with many healthy herds of whitetail. Also, close to several streams and other bodies of water. As for property price I have been told it is lower than most. The only thing I would call a downside is the poachers in the area. Also, if you are planning on working there’s the sawmills and the mines or a 30-min drive to another town. This is about a 4 hr drive from branson.

I myself just had to make a move to the tip-o-tex, so if you happen to this area shoot a few for me.

[Doc Nock]

#27310

Barefoot,

Thanks! I tried to google Bunker, but it came up w/out map. I did locate it thru Wikepedia. Now 470 pop is SMALL!

I might look for some Ptime work, but being forced into retirement, I wasn’t looking to find meaningful FT work, just affordable living to go with what I have coming in.

I added the GPS coordinates to my list of search areas out there!

Thank you for the idea. Doesn’t appear to be TOO FAR from West Plains… One of the areas I will be looking into also!

[hunt1321]

#52283

Might look at calico rock,ar as well as mt. View. Both communities are on the white river which has great trout fishing and vey near sylamore and leather woods of the ozark national forest. Good deer, turkey, and bear hunting. Southern mo near Alton, west plains,and cabool offer some of the states best turkey and deer hunting and are near large sections of the mark twain national forest. I turkey hunt there in the spring. The white river in north arkansas is cold year around even when our summer days can get mighty hot. Good luck!!

[Doc Nock]

#52286

Hunt,

Thank you. They were already on my itinerary to at least drive thru and look over the area…

I’m planning on starting out from Branson (where we stay free) and then hit Yellville, and other smaller towns on way to Mt Home, then another trip circle South thru Mt View, and up around Calico and others.

I was hoping that North Central AR might not get the sweltering heat? Wrong?

[hunt1321]

#52330

It gets pretty warm in July and August this year September was hot. The humidity gets pretty bad, nothing like new orleans or the gulf coast. Those “mountains” near mt. View are cooler but you would have to get into northern mo to escape the summer heat. But the other three seasons are usually very mild and the fall and spring are both beautiful in the ozarks. I was stationed in co in the army and envy summers enjoyed by westerners!

[Doc Nock]

#52800

Good reality check! Thanks.

Everywhere has it’s foibles and draw backs. I lived in East Slope MT (Helena area) and it regularly got over 100* but they were fond of saying it was a ‘dry heat’. Yeah, but 100*+ is still 100*+!!!

I appreciate the input!

[OldbowKY]

#56559

Family left Lancaster Co. in 1760.

Ended up in KY about 1810.

Got 180,000 ac. Down the road to hunt. “Land Between the Lakes” near Cadiz KY. Lots of room. Great place to retire.

[Doc Nock]

#62391

I didn’t ignore your input, just sent you a PM response.

Set to hit AR and MO this coming friday, 11/1 to do some “looking around”.

got a bunch of ideas on AR, but less on MO… Big move on my part to shuffle across the continent half way at this stage of life…but we’ll see!

[Col Mike]

#62464

Doc

check out this months AARP mag. Location in ID. that may meet your desires—albeit cold but that will diminish as we continue to heat the planet. I’m actually looking seriously at that area—when we can sell the business:D

Mike

[Doc Nock]

#62987

Thanks, Mike.

Sent you a PM… Don’t think my bones will wait for the Global Warming (?) to up ID temps anymore than my beloved MT!

[j505]

#10853

Doc,

for what you are looking for, southern Missouri is excellent. Relatively low taxes compared to neighboring states for example.

OK it sounds like you are retired, have some income, and are looking to rent and hunt public.

In that case, it might be a good idea to concentrate on being close to Mark Twain National Forest, which is in 8 large blocks in southern Missouri.

The portion just SE of Springfield would’t be far from your timeshare, would give you easy access to a major city if necessary, and is just crazy nice country, look up the “Glade Top Trail” for example. If you like to fish it borders Bull Shoals like which was fantastic fishing at least a few years ago haven’t been down lately.

Good luck on your trip. Take a camera and your bow. You are coming down for prime fall colors, and the deer are starting to move around well.

[Doc Nock]

#10979

Thanks for the input! I’m leaving in the AM before sunup! I will print out your ideas, in case.

Trying to leave no stone unturned, but it’s daunting to say the least. I’m not much of a “traveler”, so this will be an experience, to say the least!

Thanks to all for your thoughts, ideas and suggestions!

Leavin, on a jet plane…😯

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