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Posted: 9/30/2014 11:23:33 AM EDT
[#1]
All that is quite doable just about anywhere in the state. I'd like to point out though that Amarillo is out in the middle of west buttsniff.
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Posted: 9/30/2014 11:42:19 AM EDT
[#2]
I am from the panhandle, about 100 miles South of Amarillo in Lubbock. Been here all my life and probably will die here. If you are someone who loves trees, don't move here. We have trees but not in the quantity or quality you are used to. Plus the panhandle gets pretty cold in the winter. Not as cold as Yankee land, but cold enough. I would suggest East/South Texas to you. There are parts of it that will remind you of home. I am sure there will be some boys along here soon who will be more than willing to brag on that area.  |
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Posted: 9/30/2014 12:02:16 PM EDT
[#3]
Define "real" airport
If your thinking of a major airport, your going to find a tough time finding what you want. Where a 1hr drive to the airport may be 15-30 miles. Being able to shoot on your land will probably be out of the question because generally anything near a major airport is going to be expensive and populated. Take a look at Tyler, TX. Most places have a county or community airport. Tyler is cheap, and about 2 hours from DFW. $300k may buy you an old house with enough land to shoot on. Maybe |
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Posted: 9/30/2014 1:06:34 PM EDT
[#4]
You might look into the Prosper/Celina area. It is north of the Dallas Ft Worth area and the DFW Airport. There is still land reasonable and there are a lot of new hospitals going up on the north side of DFW (it's the area of growth). I have a friend who just got 15 acres for a reasonable price. It was more than 300k but he is closer to civilization.
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Posted: 9/30/2014 2:32:47 PM EDT
[#5]
Just to clarify, I wasn't saying that I need trees and mountains near my future house, just that I want to be within sane driving distance of some change in topography. Canyons, hills, something. I know west Texas is FLAT in a lot of areas, I could live in such an area, I just want to be able to drive to a place to hike on a weekend. I'm really trying to avoid the monster sized cities if I can, I've lived near a good sized city most of my life and don't like it much. If not for the need to go to the airport, I'd live WAY out in the sticks.
Speaking of which, I'll probably only fly 6-10 times per year, so 90 mins to the airport is prolly fine... I've been looking almost exclusively at west Texas but am intrigued by comments about the East part of the state. What's out there that isn't big D or Houston? Also, I forgot to mention it previously but I really don't want to have to learn Spanish either... 
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Posted: 9/30/2014 4:44:41 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Just to clarify, I wasn't saying that I need trees and mountains near my future house, just that I want to be within sane driving distance of some change in topography. Canyons, hills, something. I know west Texas is FLAT in a lot of areas, I could live in such an area, I just want to be able to drive to a place to hike on a weekend. I'm really trying to avoid the monster sized cities if I can, I've lived near a good sized city most of my life and don't like it much. If not for the need to go to the airport, I'd live WAY out in the sticks. Speaking of which, I'll probably only fly 6-10 times per year, so 90 mins to the airport is prolly fine... I've been looking almost exclusively at west Texas but am intrigued by comments about the East part of the state. What's out there that isn't big D or Houston? Also, I forgot to mention it previously but I really don't want to have to learn Spanish either... West Texas generally isn't flat, neither is southwest Texas. Northwest Texas is flat. South Texas is flat Land tends to be expensive in the hill country. |
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Posted: 9/30/2014 5:03:05 PM EDT
[#7]
Look around Abilene or Lubbock. You'll have to deal with Spanish speakers if you want to move to Texas.
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Posted: 9/30/2014 5:07:03 PM EDT
[#8]
For Amarillo. The airport is supposedly an international airport but I havent been there so I don't know how often flights go out and to where. There's Palo Duro Canyon just to the south with hiking and horse trails. It can get windy and sometimes it will rain every week or every other week. There's a lake to the north if you have a boat. You can get to anywhere in the city in a few minutes and only has about 200k residents. As far as land that is something you will have to research. Just so you know the electricity can be a bit more expensive.
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Posted: 9/30/2014 6:14:42 PM EDT
[#9]
Look around Central Texas.
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Posted: 9/30/2014 6:35:19 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Just to clarify, I wasn't saying that I need trees and mountains near my future house, just that I want to be within sane driving distance of some change in topography. Canyons, hills, something. I know west Texas is FLAT in a lot of areas, I could live in such an area, I just want to be able to drive to a place to hike on a weekend. I'm really trying to avoid the monster sized cities if I can, I've lived near a good sized city most of my life and don't like it much. If not for the need to go to the airport, I'd live WAY out in the sticks. Speaking of which, I'll probably only fly 6-10 times per year, so 90 mins to the airport is prolly fine... I've been looking almost exclusively at west Texas but am intrigued by comments about the East part of the state. What's out there that isn't big D or Houston? Also, I forgot to mention it previously but I really don't want to have to learn Spanish either... I've lived all my life here except for military time and the only spanish I know is "burrito"
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Posted: 9/30/2014 7:28:42 PM EDT
[#11]
Youch, I've been looking at Zillow postings and you guys have some serious property taxes down there. Somewhere around double what I am used to here in WA. Don't get me wrong, TX kicks ass all over my home state... it just caught me of guard!
I don't mind Spanish speakers being around, so long as I don't NEED to know Spanish in order to get by. I wish I was multi lingual, but I'm getting old and have more important things to do in life than learn a new language at this point! As far as flatness goes, it's all relative. We have several 10,000+ mountains in the nw, so everything I've seen of west Texas looks flat to me, save some decent hills waaay west near NM. Not that I know much having not been there, but a lot of it looks like "watch your dog run away for 3 days" territory.... 
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Posted: 9/30/2014 8:05:08 PM EDT
[#12]
The high property taxes are the result of having no state income tax.
Since I moved down here (from Taxachusetts) my taxes have gone down slightly overall, but not a huge amount. ETA: The Austin area is not going to fit your requirements. Plenty of jobs, but a 1-hour drive (during rush hour) isn't going to get you to a piece of land with enough dirt to shoot on for only $300k. |
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Posted: 9/30/2014 8:57:07 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I want to be within sane driving distance of some change in topography. Canyons, hills, something. Then the hill country is your only option somewhere around Austin/San Antonio. |
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Posted: 9/30/2014 9:11:08 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
You might look into the Prosper/Celina area. It is north of the Dallas Ft Worth area and the DFW Airport. There is still land reasonable and there are a lot of new hospitals going up on the north side of DFW (it's the area of growth). I have a friend who just got 15 acres for a reasonable price. It was more than 300k but he is closer to civilization. If airport is not issues, you may want to go east from the suggestion Fannin county is about hour and 10 minutes from the DFW airport. Look at Trenton. $300k will get you a lot of land and little house. |
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Posted: 9/30/2014 9:20:53 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I don't mind Spanish speakers being around, so long as I don't NEED to know Spanish in order to get by. I wish I was multi lingual, but I'm getting old and have more important things to do in life than learn a new language at this point! Just started to learn spanish. It's been about four months (I am 45). Lot of fun. I just stop and start talking to some hispanics everywhere. They become very friendly when you try to speak their language. |
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Posted: 9/30/2014 10:05:15 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The high property taxes are the result of having no state income tax. WA doesn't have income tax either...still half the price on property taxes.  The real FTW, though, is that I hardly pay sales tax either...Oregon doesn't have it, so I just buy stuff over there or have whatever I buy on Amazon shipped to my work address.
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Posted: 9/30/2014 10:07:30 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Then the hill country is your only option somewhere around Austin/San Antonio. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
I want to be within sane driving distance of some change in topography. Canyons, hills, something. Then the hill country is your only option somewhere around Austin/San Antonio. i thought the hill country is where everyone is moving these days? That usually means soon to be spendy/crowded... 
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Posted: 9/30/2014 11:05:23 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I am from the panhandle, about 100 miles South of Amarillo in Lubbock. Been here all my life and probably will die here. If you are someone who loves trees, don't move here. We have trees but not in the quantity or quality you are used to. Plus the panhandle gets pretty cold in the winter. Not as cold as Yankee land, but cold enough. I would suggest East/South Texas to you. There are parts of it that will remind you of home. I am sure there will be some boys along here soon who will be more than willing to brag on that area.
Its a whole different kinda cold but still fucking cold. When its cold here north of Dallas its a humid biting cold and can feel colder than some places that are colder. |
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Posted: 10/1/2014 12:30:06 AM EDT
[#19]
I'm fine with the cold...at least the kind of cold that happens down there. I'm just tired of the rain up here. In western WA we have two seasons: rain, and August. It gets very VERY old after awhile. There's almost constant overcast for most of the year. At some point you forget what the sun even looked like. Dark and raining when you drive to work, dark and still raining when you drive home. It hardly ever rains very hard, it just drizzles endlessly, like the gods are pissing on you from 10 miles up. It sucks.
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Posted: 10/1/2014 7:13:18 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I'm fine with the cold...at least the kind of cold that happens down there. I'm just tired of the rain up here. In western WA we have two seasons: rain, and August. It gets very VERY old after awhile. There's almost constant overcast for most of the year. At some point you forget what the sun even looked like. Dark and raining when you drive to work, dark and still raining when you drive home. It hardly ever rains very hard, it just drizzles endlessly, like the gods are pissing on you from 10 miles up. It sucks. Depending on where in Texas, the cold may surprise you. I grew up in Massachusetts and went to high school in upstate New York. I found myself digging out my winter jackets and refusing to drive on the roads a couple times last winter in Texas. I can deal with three feet of snow coming down at an inch per minute and three weeks where the high temperature is 20F, but the ice down here is just nutz and it got plenty cold. |
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Posted: 10/2/2014 6:03:53 AM EDT
[#21]
A lot of places in Texas fit your bill, just dont go any further north or west of Abilene.
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Posted: 10/2/2014 9:22:35 AM EDT
[#22]
From what you seem to want the Amarillo/Plainview area would probably suit your requirements. The Palo Duro Canyon is nearby. It is breathtaking as is the rugged area around it. Too the mountains of New Mexico are just a few hours drive away.
Just as a rule of thumb, the further east you go (think trees and forests) the densely populated area you'll find and land prices are much higher. Too folks out west to me seem generally more tolerant of shooting and such. |
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Posted: 10/2/2014 9:32:36 AM EDT
[#23]
Can't speak for other counties but I called and double checked Lubbock County yesterday and the minimum acreage to shoot on is 10 acres.
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Posted: 10/2/2014 9:54:22 AM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Can't speak for other counties but I called and double checked Lubbock County yesterday and the minimum acreage to shoot on is 10 acres. 10 acres is the minimum to shoot on or to HUNT on with a firearm? |
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Posted: 10/2/2014 9:55:01 AM EDT
[#25]
Double tap
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Posted: 10/2/2014 10:11:32 AM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Define "real" airport If your thinking of a major airport, your going to find a tough time finding what you want. Where a 1hr drive to the airport may be 15-30 miles. Being able to shoot on your land will probably be out of the question because generally anything near a major airport is going to be expensive and populated. Take a look at Tyler, TX. Most places have a county or community airport. Tyler is cheap, and about 2 hours from DFW. $300k may buy you an old house with enough land to shoot on. Maybe 1. I live within one hour drive time of a major airport. If you stretch the definition of major airport to include Beaumont's airpoort then it's 2. 2. I spent way less than 300K on my place and I shoot there all the time. 3. I have trees. No elevation change, but I have trees. 4. I live within one hour drive time of a major city. 5. I live in a dry county, so if you're a tea totaller you will feel at home, maybe. I live on the gulf coast, so that's the deal breaker. |
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Posted: 10/2/2014 10:57:55 AM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Look around Central Texas However, here's my advice. Get your topo map of Texas out and look for somewhere along the break of the Edwards Plateau. North and west of the "Hill Country." Maybe Mason, Llano, San Saba, Burnett or Lampasas counties. ABIA would be your closest airport. Sort of "real"
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Posted: 10/2/2014 7:05:45 PM EDT
[#28]
sweet, thanks for the advice guys. Depending on the area/cost, 10 acres may be possible. That's one downside of living somewhere flat, you need more space to shoot. There are places in a lot of western states (with tons of mountains and trees) where you might only have an acre, but a national/state forest or a big ass hill is right behind your property and you can shoot all you want and its both legal and safe. I've seen enough tracers in the USMC ricochet and fly off a bajillion yards distant to know that if you're somewhere flat, you'd better set up a hell of a berm system or your rounds are gonna be dropping on the neighbors.
As far as the gulf coast goes, I got enough of humidity in GTMO, I don't think I can (or want to, more accurately!) handle it these days. I'd rather be high and dry if possible. 
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