Best western hunting state to retire in with good hunting and fishing access?

[ReaptheHeat]

As a Co native it has gotten to the point where I think about leaving, but where would I go? Most western states are facing a lot of the same issues as Co, just about 10 years behind, and I want to be in the West.

I will say you better have some deep pockets if you want to come live here. There are a few off the beaten path spots that are still reasonable housing wise but expect 3-5 hours drives to civilization.

Also what kind of hunting and fishing are you looking to do? Honestly I may look to certain parts of the Midwest, you can get a decent house on a hunting property with a bass pond for what it costs for a starter home on the west side of the metro area. At a certain point big mountain hunts won’t be super viable but it would be pretty sweet to have, whitetail, Turkey, waterfowl out your back door and much better s
Fishing, unless you are into trout, we got tired ass trout

Its pretty appealing to see properties in the midwest/south with massive acreage sell for the price of a Colorado home. Actually, its insane how inflated the west is comparatively. Its almost worth it to move and just do a yearly hunt out here.

Seems to be a trickle down effect. Californians from HCOL areas where salaries are 200k move to the west and drive up prices. Locals sell for massive profit and jump ship to the east.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Its pretty appealing to see properties in the midwest/south with massive acreage sell for the price of a Colorado home. Actually, its insane how inflated the west is comparatively. Its almost worth it to move and just do a yearly hunt out here.

Seems to be a trickle down effect. Californians from HCOL areas where salaries are 200k move to the west and drive up prices. Locals sell for massive profit and jump ship to the east.

Yep it is crazy, kind of a vicious cycle. Coloradans move into spots and drive prices up too I’m sure, just are a lot less of us

 

[ztc92]

I appreciated this reply. May I ask how you would go about searching out these doctors specifically? Regardless of where I live, finding good primary care doctors always seems to be a crapshoot.

Thank you, I’m glad to be able to contribute to the discussion despite being many years away from retirement. I wish I had a great answer or resource to help you find a good primary care doctor but I’m really not aware of any that are applicable to rural areas.

Some basic advice would start with pointing out that the extent of training and oversight required during training is usually least for nurse practitioners (APRN’s), more rigorous for physician assistant/associates (PA-C’s) and most rigorous for physicians (MD’s and DO’s). That said, I know some experienced APRN’s and PA-C’s that are far more knowledgable than many newer MD’s and DO’s so this mostly applies to comparing newer graduates in each group. If you are relatively healthy it likely doesn’t matter much who you see but if you are older or have chronic medical problems then there likely is benefit to seeing an MD/DO or opting for an APRN/PA-C with many years of experience.

After that, I would say ask people you trust who have been in that community for a while who they see for primary care and what their opinion of them is. It’s hard to put much stake in most online reviews because it’s generally those patients who are exceedingly happy or frustrated with their doctor that write them, so you’re getting pretty biased reviews. I would also highlight that most doctors I know never take it personally if you want to transfer care to another provider and this happens all the time when the therapeutic relationship isn’t working. In the end, we went into this line of work to help care for people and if the thing that’s best for the patient is seeing a different provider, then that’s what should happen.

If you’re in a place so rural you don’t have many alternatives locally, then this gets a lot trickier. One thought is that with the advent of telemedicine during the pandemic some physicians are still offering virtual visits and perhaps you could find someone that was a bit farther away when you needed an in person visit but was okay doing a virtual visit for routine things like medication refills to cut down on the travel needed to see them?

Best of luck, it certainly can be challenging!

 

[Stalker69]

I appreciated this reply. May I ask how you would go about searching out these doctors specifically? Regardless of where I live, finding good primary care doctors always seems to be a crapshoot.

Crap shoot he'll, Russian roulette. If the illness don't kill yea, the docs will, and leave yea broke.

 

[mkbubolz]

Still got a few years to go, but curious about other states, other than Texas. I had been eyeballing the CO west slope, but CO is changing....and not for the better it seems. But I don't live there so I have a small amount of exposure.

Texas is a great state, but our public lands access suck big time.....and it's hotter TF 10 months out of the year!

Curious about CO, Utah, WY, ID, MT

Property prices, taste taxes and public access are factors as well.

Don’t sleep on the Dakota’s.

 

[Mojave]

Wyoming is great, moved here from Texas.
Locals do not want to know how you did things back in Texas though, lol.

Do you not have an accent or say y’all. Grounds for being shot in the face. Do not how to ask for where to go I will tell you to go back to Texas especially Wyoming natives?

 

[Mojave]

Do you not have an accent or say y’all. Grounds for being shot in the face. Do not how to ask for where to go I will tell you to go back to Texas especially Wyoming natives?

My fathers lived in Wyoming for 65 years. He is originally from Amarillo area. He tells people he’s from Wyoming. Has no accent doesn’t say y’all.

 

[wytx]

Nope, no ya'll here and I am confused by your post, lol.
Never treated the way you are posting about either. I guess 36 years ago folks were more welcoming.
Folks in Texas ask where I'm from now, based on that accent you brought up.

 

[Jstumbaugh]

Any of these states have local school tax to go on top of the property taxes?

 

[Lytro]

Any of these states have local school tax to go on top of the property taxes?

I pay a local school tax here in SD. This last go around about $2,200 of my $4,500 total property tax bill went to the school district. I can't remember what the annual appraisal value was this year, but the house would list for around $350K.