Living in Texas?

ActionBob said:

Here's what them black dots look like against grey and white tones.
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My driveway after being gone for a while

And lots of whitetail also..... if the damned wolves don't eat them all....100 yards off my driveway.
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Bob how far north do you live. Them wolves would have to go. There was a wolf shot in southwest Kansas about a year ago. My taxidermist mounted it.

lpace said:

Access to an airport is a consideration, particularly for my wife (she is from Montreal, her family is still there). The thing that concerns me, and I hate to be a broken record, is the humidity. Is there some demarkation line on a map that would give a rough estimate of 'stay north and/or west of that line' to minimize humidity?

The 10-20 acres is my wife's attempt to allow me a little hunting without the cost of a hunting lease (which I hear often is the order of business for hunting in Texas). As with all things Texas, I have no idea if that is anything approaching realistic or not....

Agreed, first rate medical facilities are also a consideration. This getting old business, although preferable to the alternative, is a pain - literally!

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No humidity, try west Texas.

10-20 acres may not be enough, my county is 40 acres with a rifle, 10 with a shotgun. The statewide minimum is 10 acres to lawfully discharge a firearm or the use archery equipment.

Some areas really West are truly dry as desert can be. For instance The Glass and Davis Mountains are lovely on the North edge of the Big Bend. HOWEVER, this is pretty much small town West Texas. Alpine, one of the “larger” towns is pretty small. Lots of deer and aoudad but not any public land to speak of (anywhere in the state). Takes around 150 acres per cow out there, so a 60k ranch is pretty much a mom and pop operation. I am pretty sure your spouse would feel like she was at the end of the earth. El Paso is a real city, but has some of the worst crime statistics in the State. Lubbock would probably scratch the humidity itch, but there is nothing between Lubbock and IWater’s place but a barbed wire fence - and it is down. The wind blows - a lot.

I would listen to my wife, embrace a little humidity, and at least take a look at the country around Tyler.

lwaters said:

Bob how far north do you live. Them wolves would have to go. There was a wolf shot in southwest Kansas about a year ago. My taxidermist mounted it.

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Just a couple miles East of Mil Lacs Lake or 2 hours North of the Twin Cities.
Not far enough to be having wolves.. I believe we have more wolves in NE Minnesota and NW Wisconsin than the whole Yellowstone region.

We had a season and some liberal judge closed it. Out of some 3000 wolves, I seem to recall just over 200 hundred being taken per year. You could buy a tag during deer season and most were incidental take.

The closure is being fought in court by our hunting organizations.

But these wolves are getting pretty brazen, had tracks 75 feet from the house last winter. We had two wolves Making their rounds every couple weeks, and I found 3 deer kills last spring. Now there is a full pack. They were howling like crazy a few nights ago, when they caught that deer. Went to put the got a out and our new pup turned tail and came right back in.... I just hope reason wins out and we can hunt them again soon. MN DNR wants a season open.

Red Leg said:

Some areas really West are truly dry as desert can be. For instance The Glass and Davis Mountains are lovely on the North edge of the Big Bend. HOWEVER, this is pretty much small town West Texas. Alpine, one of the “larger” towns is pretty small. Lots of deer and aoudad but not any public land to speak of (anywhere in the state). Takes around 150 acres per cow out there, so a 60k ranch is pretty much a mom and pop operation. I am pretty sure your spouse would feel like she was at the end of the earth. El Paso is a real city, but has some of the worst crime statistics in the State. Lubbock would probably scratch the humidity itch, but there is nothing between Lubbock and IWater’s place but a barbed wire fence - and it is down. The wind blows - a lot.

I would listen to my wife, embrace a little humidity, and at least take a look at the country around Tyler.

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I went down to Lubbock to look at a feedlot a few years ago.... it was cheap but no sustainable water left. And I'll take our snowdrifts a few months out of the year before those sand drifts.

If you want an example of a beautiful piece of property in West Texas, go on a hunt at Gizmo’s place. Not too far from Abilene which also has some great country around it.

Ridgewalker said:

If you want an example of a beautiful piece of property in West Texas, go on a hunt at Gizmo’s place. Not too far from Abilene which also has some great country around it.

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Yessir! I plan on moving in to his guest house at the ranch when I retire. I just haven't told Erik that yet! Lol.

Ridgewalker said:

If you want an example of a beautiful piece of property in West Texas, go on a hunt at Gizmo’s place. Not too far from Abilene which also has some great country around it.

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Most Texans don't use "close to Abilene" as a descriptor about where they would recommend someone move...at least someone they like.

I am going to suggest Junction. The vast majority of the time the dry line will be east of there. It's not that far from San Antonio. Otherwise, you are going to be stuck with humidity.

Junction is a good suggestion.

wesheltonj said:

I am going to suggest Junction. The vast majority of the time the dry line will be east of there. It's not that far from San Antonio. Otherwise, you are going to be stuck with humidity.

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How about Kerrville? Was there in the fall a few times and the weather was pleasant. Close to Luckenbach too so you can pitch washers on Sunday.

Spent my first 30 years growing up north of Fort Worth near the lakes (Lake Worth, Eagle Mountain, Marine Creek). Great place 40 years ago. Spent summers in West Texas and college in East Texas. I vastly prefer from the Hill Country to the edge of the Caprock. That said, the Big Bend and Guadalupes are beautiful as well as Padre Island and even Caddo Lake in the east, just hot in the summer like EVERYWHERE in Texas.
IMO spend winters in the Hill Country and travel north in the summers! Best of both worlds I think.
Good luck in your decision! I know it’s a tough call. But as suggested, either RV there for a year, or rent for a year before spending your savings.

@Scott Slough , I noticed you are in Nacogdoches. A lot of nice looking land between Lufkin and there. I also think the section of Hwy 7 between Nacogdoches and Center is really nice. When you come over one of those rolling hills and can see for miles around, you just say Wow!

375 Ruger Fan said:

@Scott Slough , I noticed you are in Nacogdoches. A lot of nice looking land between Lufkin and there. I also think the section of Hwy 7 between Nacogdoches and Center is really nice. When you come over one of those rolling hills and can see for miles around, you just say Wow!

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Nacogdoches was the last address that I had before retiring. I was a forestry major at SFA a lifetime ago and spent 4 years pretty deep in those woods. I went back to do my last 4 years at SFA. I currently live in a 35 1/2 motorhome traveling the US.

To return to the original question...I was born in Waco and you don't want to live there. don't let Fixer Upper confuse you. The reason the show works are there are 1000s of homes to renovate. People have been moving out of Waco for years.

RedLeg gave you some great advise. Stick with the Hill Country...or maybe even better the edges of the Hill Country to make your housing/land budget go further. If you like big towns..East of Austin or North of San Antonio. If you want smaller towns pick something West of 35, East of 16, North of 46 and South of 190...or if your wife says Waco, South of 84. The whole area allows easy day trips to Waco and easy access to Hill Country hunting.

When I move back into brick and motor it will almost certainly be Georgetown. I am looking at the back side of the Dell Webb Georgetown community (I chase a little white ball when not hunting or camping) with a small piece of land further West for bowhunting.

Scott Slough said:

Nacogdoches was the last address that I had before retiring. I was a forestry major at SFA a lifetime ago and spent 4 years pretty deep in those woods. I went back to do my last 4 years at SFA. I currently live in a 35 1/2 motorhome traveling the US.

To return to the original question...I was born in Waco and you don't want to live there. don't let Fixer Upper confuse you. The reason the show works are there are 1000s of homes to renovate. People have been moving out of Waco for years.

RedLeg gave you some great advise. Stick with the Hill Country...or maybe even better the edges of the Hill Country to make your housing/land budget go further. If you like big towns..East of Austin or North of San Antonio. If you want smaller towns pick something West of 35, East of 16, North of 46 and South of 190...or if your wife says Waco, South of 84. The whole area allows easy day trips to Waco and easy access to Hill Country hunting.

When I move back into brick and motor it will almost certainly be Georgetown. I am looking at the back side of the Dell Webb Georgetown community (I chase a little white ball when not hunting or camping) with a small piece of land further West for bowhunting.

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PS OP if you want more info, feel free to PM for my cell.

Scott Slough said:

Nacogdoches was the last address that I had before retiring. I was a forestry major at SFA a lifetime ago and spent 4 years pretty deep in those woods. I went back to do my last 4 years at SFA. I currently live in a 35 1/2 motorhome traveling the US.

To return to the original question...I was born in Waco and you don't want to live there. don't let Fixer Upper confuse you. The reason the show works are there are 1000s of homes to renovate. People have been moving out of Waco for years.

RedLeg gave you some great advise. Stick with the Hill Country...or maybe even better the edges of the Hill Country to make your housing/land budget go further. If you like big towns..East of Austin or North of San Antonio. If you want smaller towns pick something West of 35, East of 16, North of 46 and South of 190...or if your wife says Waco, South of 84. The whole area allows easy day trips to Waco and easy access to Hill Country hunting.

When I move back into brick and motor it will almost certainly be Georgetown. I am looking at the back side of the Dell Webb Georgetown community (I chase a little white ball when not hunting or camping) with a small piece of land further West for bowhunting.

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We love our place near Georgetown (east side - I don't do golf ). Shoot a PM and drop by for a drink when headed this way.

As my name suggests I am somewhere in Texas...
I would definitely suggest it. The hunting is Fantastic, there are places all over Texas where you can hunt exotics (on game ranches of course) but there are wild populations of Blackbuck, Axis deer, Nilgai antelope, Audad goats, Japanese snow monkeys (believe it or not, there are some in south Texas), and there are rumors of a small population of warthhogs in south Texas.
Also we have your normal Texas big game such as white tail deer, mule deer, pronghorns (some), mountain lions, coyotes (I know, not really big game) and more hogs than you can shake a stick at. There is also plenty of wing shooting. We have Turkey, ducks, doves, pheasants, and quail. There is also fantastic fishing in both fresh water and saltwater.

However you asked about the weather. We have a saying here in Texas; if you don't like the weather... wait 5 minutes. It is 100% true. We do have hot weather here in Texas. No matter what part of Texas you live in you will have hot weather from April- September. But you can do something about the humidity. The closer to the east/north east the more humid it gets. but the farther you get from said directions, the drier it gets. You can live in south west/ west / northwest Texas where it is basically is a desert and you wont have to worry about the humidity. However, the farther west you go the less game you are going to find. (Because for the most part, Texas turns into dry scrub brush and rocks once you go about 100 miles past the hill country).

If you are worried are worried about having too much humidity but still want good hunting I would suggest finding a place down in south Texas. South Texas hands down has the best hunting for almost everything. And it aint nearly as humid as the Houston or San antonio area.

LostinTexas_45 said:

If you are worried are worried about having too much humidity but still want good hunting I would suggest finding a place down in south Texas. South Texas hands down has the best hunting for almost everything. And it aint nearly as humid as the Houston or San antonio area.

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You would be wrong. It's not Houston, but it's not El Paso either

Let me also say, if you are looking at airports, Austin beats San Antonio hand down. Austin has service on BA to Heathrow, Norwegian to Gatwick, Condor to Frankfurt, Vacation Express to Punta Cana, Scandinavian to Stockholm, Delta to Amsterdam and Air Canada to Toronto. And 3 airline lounges AA, UA and coming soon DL, which will the the largest. San Antonio nothing, just a small UA lounge but lots of Southwest flights.

Makes me want to move.

wesheltonj said:

You would be wrong. It's not Houston, but it's not El Paso either

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Alright where do you think it is then?