I may be moving to Batesville Indiana and wanted to know what Indiana is like and the town.

I am currently in Nevada and am used to wide open public land to go hunting, 4 wheeling, and shooting.  How much public land is there in Indiana and are there shooting ranges?  Looks like the cost of living is a lot lower then where I am so that is good.

Hows the weather and recreation for fishing, hiking, and camping?

Thanks

There are a couple of state run ranges within an hour of Batesville, and Haspin Acres, a private off road park for riding 4 wheelers is 30 minutes away. There are 10 public campgrounds within 60 miles. So, there are a lot of places to go. It is not, however, like you are used to. No great expanses of land to do whatever you want, most of the state is private farm land, but we try to scatter as many public places around as we can.

The weather is very diverse. It can get in the 90's in the summer, and 20 degrees and snow in the winter. If you don't mind cold, you can camp all year, but I stop in October usually. If you Google map Batesville, and zoom out, you can see the green areas of public land that are close. Lots of fishing and hiking. The 4 wheelers are a no go on most state park land, but you can find private places to ride pretty easy.

As small as Batesville is, it shouldn't be too hard to make friends with a local farmer or two, and get invited to hunt and or shoot on someones farm.

You picked a good area. It's small enough to have that know your neighbors small town feel, and yet you can almost see Cincy from there. I think your going to like it there.

Thank you for the reply, nice to know there are some good things about it.

I am pretty spoiled with were I live and the land I have access to.  Also no humidity here like east of the rockies.

Welcome to Indiana!

Humidity is definitely an issues here, especially if you are near a cornfield (the stalks wick a lot moisture out of the ground and put it into the air).  Anything over 90 is hot for us (anything over 40 F is too hot for me personally).  In the winter, it usually goes below zero F at least a few times.  Snowfall varies from year to year, but it's usually not too bad.

For shooting, in my opinion you're best served by joining a club.  I don't know what is available near Batesville in that regard, but the public ranges operated by DNR have some restrictive rules that are unacceptable to me (some private ranges do too, but that's a different issue).  If the DNR range rules are okay with you, then not an issue!

We also have shooting sports and defensive training opportunities in Indiana that may interest you.  You can shoot USPSA and IDPA somewhere in the state every weekend and sometimes more than one per weekend.

I live just up the road in Greensburg. Lots of private land to shoot at if you can get permission. Nice hiking, fishing and hunting also. But probably not like where you are coming from. There are also some clubs in the region that will allow you to have access to ranges as well (most have a small yearly membership fees).

I moved to Indiana from Colorado...

I miss dirtbike riding, and shooting wherever.

I became a member of  a "shooting club." Something I never had to do in the desert. And I have to drive a half-hour to get there.

My kids ride motorcycles up and down the street, but that is pretty much it. I occasionally ride to work... Miss the desert, bad.

I live in a -puke- "neighborhood" near Bloomington.

There are plenty of places to camp and hike here in Indiana. It is beautiful in its own right. But you have to pay. And any open-space is "privately" owned...

We have made friends with people from Church who have said we can ride dirtbikes on their property, but when we go out to their place, it is only a couple acres of rideable land, the rest is fields... Nothing like the West. Kids got bored fast riding figure eights. Nothing like the desert in the West.

And another friend from Church said I could shoot on his property, so I went out to his place, and it was a good ~25 yard range... in his *backyard* into a gully... Safe place, but not a good long-term arrangement for shooting every week...

So, I asked around, and found a place that I drive to to shoot. I have gone probably every other week this summer. Whereas in Colorado, it was rare that I did not shoot a couple times a week. Get on my motorcycle, take off into BLM land, and shoot. Easy-peasy.

For shooting, find a range. Pay a yearly fee. Shoot. Easy.

Dirtbike riding, ATVing? It is really not as big here as it is out West... I am not sure I can help you as much here. Good luck. Let me know if you find something...