What would you willing to do, to move to a very rural life in hunting country?

Strange that this subject has recently come up at work. Here in Dodge with an unemployment rate of less than four percent and more work than we can keep up with, maybe we need to recruit some hunters from depressed areas that like to work.
 
CRP said:
If anyone is contemplating a move to SD, you better bring your money with you, because you won't make much here. I left a Fortune 500 company to come back to be with elderly parents. They are now gone, but the struggle to survive in today's economy continues. For retirees on a pension, or those with Gov't jobs, it would be OK.

For those that think living in bird country means all of your neighbors will let you hunt their property gratus, think again. The state has turned into a pay-hunt mecca in the prime bird areas.

The oil patch in ND/MT area is hot for workers now, but you will live in a trailer and work long hours. At least the pay is good. The low taxes and gobs of public land make WY the place to live.
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That's exactly what has kept me from moving to South Dakota. I have a 150acres where I live now and many 1,000s of acres of state and country land to hunt. Everything is pay to play in South Dakota other then the small amount of state land they have. Also, the cost of living is way higher IMO in South Dakota. Specially groceries and property taxes. I pay less property taxes on my 150 acres in Minnesota then my friend who has two lots and home he paid $60,000 for in South Dakota.

Sometimes, just maybe you are already living in the best place but the grass always looks greener on the other side.
 
onpoint said:
That's exactly what has kept me from moving to South Dakota. I have a 150acres where I live now and many 1,000s of acres of state and country land to hunt. Everything is pay to play in South Dakota other then the small amount of state land they have. Also, the cost of living is way higher IMO in South Dakota. Specially groceries and property taxes. I pay less property taxes on my 150 acres in Minnesota then my friend who has two lots and home he paid $60,000 for in South Dakota.

Sometimes, just maybe you are already living in the best place but the grass always looks greener on the other side.
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Chuck, I again do not want to make this a SD/MN debate but I do need to clarify a few things in your post. I'm 65 years old and have lived half my life in MN and half in SD so I think I'm quite able to provide a fairly accurate assessment.

While I'm not sure how many acres of public land MM has I do know that SD over 5 million acres available to the public. So I don't think you can say that SD has a "small amount" of public land avilable. MN may have more but a lot of those acres are in the northern forests. If we would limit the issue to public acres available to hunt pheasants I think MN would be hard pressed to have as much land as SD.

I also take issue with your statement that the COL in "way higher" in SD. I don't see much difference in the COL between the states. I researched this on the web and found that in the 4th quarter of 2010 SD ranked 26th and MN was 34th. The higher the ranking the higher the COL. So according to that report the COL was higher in MN but not much. Certainly SD is not "way higher" than MN. The RE Taxes in SD tend to be a little higher due to the fact that we have no state income tax. And our sales tax is on everything unlike MN which exempts food, clothing and drugs. I find food and other necessities to be quite comparably priced. I do know I can buy food in the grocery store much cheaper in Aberdeen, SD than in Canby, MN.

Both MN and SD are great states but they do have their differences. I guess one would have to weigh those differences to make a personal decision on which state is the best suited for them.
 
well said Dakotazeb- grew up on 176 acreas in northern minnesota- lake shore
taxes were low untill you improved the land- very little if any public land to hunt- unless you looked at tax forfeited logging land

lived in Lawrence for 30 some years- gave it up to come out here to the dust bowl country- now on a farm site- walk out the door and I can grab any kind of weapon and enjoy the walk- besides the wind and dry country- I'm in about as good an area I could wish for in the later years-
might not see a deer in 4 months- but heck- this is flat country good for only a few things- tough country- but it has it's rewards

I like the peace and quiet, nothing but birds crowing, and coyotes howling- you can't see the closest neighbor- and that's three miles
 
Dakotazeb said:
Chuck, I again do not want to make this a SD/MN debate but I do need to clarify a few things in your post. I'm 65 years old and have lived half my life in MN and half in SD so I think I'm quite able to provide a fairly accurate assessment.

While I'm not sure how many acres of public land MM has I do know that SD over 5 million acres available to the public. So I don't think you can say that SD has a "small amount" of public land avilable. MN may have more but a lot of those acres are in the northern forests. If we would limit the issue to public acres available to hunt pheasants I think MN would be hard pressed to have as much land as SD.

I also take issue with your statement that the COL in "way higher" in SD. I don't see much difference in the COL between the states. I researched this on the web and found that in the 4th quarter of 2010 SD ranked 26th and MN was 34th. The higher the ranking the higher the COL. So according to that report the COL was higher in MN but not much. Certainly SD is not "way higher" than MN. The RE Taxes in SD tend to be a little higher due to the fact that we have no state income tax. And our sales tax is on everything unlike MN which exempts food, clothing and drugs. I find food and other necessities to be quite comparably priced. I do know I can buy food in the grocery store much cheaper in Aberdeen, SD than in Canby, MN.

Both MN and SD are great states but they do have their differences. I guess one would have to weigh those differences to make a personal decision on which state is the best suited for them.
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George, I in no way want to offend you. Your a very nice fella and I have enjoyed our gun talk very much. I also enjoy my time at my place in South Dakota very much but for me. It is much more restrictive there, then where I live in Minnesota. I can literally drive near 20 miles in all directions and hunt. Rarely encountering more then a few private places at my place in Minnesota. I have as much public land within 50 miles of me as there is in all of South Dakota. Another thing, I can't believe how possessive land owners are there. When I have got onto private property in South Dakota. The land owner is absolutely paranoid that you may step on the neighbors property. In fact, my son and I were cutting cedars for a land owner and the neighbor came over and was worried about us trimming the bordering fence line, because he was worried that it might not be the actual property line. The damn fence had been there for between 50 and a 100 years. I have been told by the ranch owner where I hunt deer. If the you wound a deer and it crosses onto the neighbors property. Let it go, DO NOT CROSS THE FENCE. That's not how we do it here in Minnesota(at least where I live). Rarely does a neighboring land owner have a problem with you recovering your game. My dad ran into the same thing in Wyoming. The ranch he hunted on said the same thing. If a wounded deer crosses the fence onto the neighbors. Leave it go. DO NOT CROSS THE FENCE. Begins to look kind of unfriendly if you ask me. I would think neighbors would be much closer to one another out there. I guess I'm wrong.
 
Like many I have always thought about moving to SD. As stated, it would probrably be a tough go financially unless you went to one of the bigger cities. Though If the birds keep disappering around here, I will be moving to somewhere that still has wild birds. Money or no money.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Chuck, I again do not want to make this a SD/MN debate but I do need to clarify a few things in your post. I'm 65 years old and have lived half my life in MN and half in SD so I think I'm quite able to provide a fairly accurate assessment.

While I'm not sure how many acres of public land MM has I do know that SD over 5 million acres available to the public. So I don't think you can say that SD has a "small amount" of public land avilable. MN may have more but a lot of those acres are in the northern forests. If we would limit the issue to public acres available to hunt pheasants I think MN would be hard pressed to have as much land as SD.

I also take issue with your statement that the COL in "way higher" in SD. I don't see much difference in the COL between the states. I researched this on the web and found that in the 4th quarter of 2010 SD ranked 26th and MN was 34th. The higher the ranking the higher the COL. So according to that report the COL was higher in MN but not much. Certainly SD is not "way higher" than MN. The RE Taxes in SD tend to be a little higher due to the fact that we have no state income tax. And our sales tax is on everything unlike MN which exempts food, clothing and drugs. I find food and other necessities to be quite comparably priced. I do know I can buy food in the grocery store much cheaper in Aberdeen, SD than in Canby, MN.

Both MN and SD are great states but they do have their differences. I guess one would have to weigh those differences to make a personal decision on which state is the best suited for them.
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George, I in no way want to offend you. Your a very nice fella and I have enjoyed our gun talk very much. I also enjoy my time at my place in South Dakota very much but for me. It is much more restrictive there, then where I live in Minnesota. I can literally drive near 20 miles in all directions and hunt. Rarely encountering more then a few private places at my place in Minnesota. I have plenty of public land within 50 miles of me. Another thing, I can't believe how possessive land owners are there. When I have got onto private property in South Dakota. The land owner is absolutely paranoid that you may step on the neighbors property. In fact, my son and I were cutting cedars for a land owner and the neighbor came over and was worried about us trimming the bordering fence line, because he was worried that it might not be the actual property line. The damn fence had been there for between 50 and a 100 years. I have been told by the ranch owner where I hunt deer. If you wound a deer and it crosses onto the neighbors property. Let it go, DO NOT CROSS THE FENCE. That's not how we do it here in Minnesota(at least where I live). Rarely does a neighboring land owner have a problem with you recovering your game. My dad ran into the same thing in Wyoming. The ranch he hunted on said the same thing. If a wounded deer crosses the fence onto the neighbors. Leave it go. DO NOT CROSS THE FENCE. Begins to look kind of unfriendly if you ask me. I would think neighbors would be much closer to one another out there. I guess I'm wrong.


As far as I can find on info, Mn has about 11.8 Million acres of state and federal owned land. IMO, there is at least that much in county owned land also. Near all of it is open to free public hunting.
 
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My wife and I left St. louis 6 years ago. We got held up at gunpoint in our driveway 3 days after Christmas. We moved 5 minutes outside of a little town in SW Mo. after interviewing at a dozen schools. There's a few quail around. Lots of deer, lots of turkey and we have a 5 minute walk to a beautiful Ozark river. The small mouth fisshing is great!

Cost of living is not any different. Walmart costs the same as it does in the city. Property taxes are a bit lower. My pay took a big hit about 20k difference than in the city. My wife makes a little more that what she made in STL.

We Have no neighbors we cans ee, but are 10 minutes from Richland. 15 minutes to Ft. Lost in the Woods and an hour from Springfield, Mo.

We are close enough, but far enough away that we don't get dragged into the politics of the small town,

Life is Good!
 
Cobblestone said:
My wife and I left St. louis 6 years ago. We got held up at gunpoint in our driveway 3 days after Christmas. We moved 5 minutes outside of a little town in SW Mo. after interviewing at a dozen schools. There's a few quail around. Lots of deer, lots of turkey and we have a 5 minute walk to a beautiful Ozark river. The small mouth fisshing is great!

Cost of living is not any different. Walmart costs the same as it does in the city. Property taxes are a bit lower. My pay took a big hit about 20k difference than in the city. My wife makes a little more that what she made in STL.

We Have no neighbors we cans ee, but are 10 minutes from Richland. 15 minutes to Ft. Lost in the Woods and an hour from Springfield, Mo.

We are close enough, but far enough away that we don't get dragged into the politics of the small town,

Life is Good!
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Outstanding, Congrats. I believe we have it good where we live too. Then have a place in South Dakota too. I'm not going to complain where I am.
 
That's Funny !!!! Sorry I forgot to attach the original quote.
 
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