We've been planning on a move out of NY for quite some time. NC (Asheville) and then GA Appalachian Mtns were on the list until Covid/BLM Riots. We are in no mood to move from one Blue state to another. We're sick of the COVID nonsense. We live in Western NY and life for us is nowhere near what people think of when they hear NY. Wife and I are in the medical field and run a private practice up here, but happily drive an hour commute into the city each workday to get back to reality in the country. We have a small 80-acre farm out in dairy country and I have been into hunting, fishing, the great outdoors and shooting since I was a young kid.

We were looking into the Broken Arrow area for an office and making a commute (possibly east) to get away from the city for a house and maybe a little acreage. Just wondering if you fellas could provide a little bit of intel on deer hunting spots in the state with good public land. How's Broken Arrow for a younger clientele, avg income, crime, and ability to get out and away from anything resembling a city? I grew up with fields and pastures of holsteins and angus all around the house, want to keep it that way.

Gun laws look really nice compared to NYS, anything that's weird or are you boys living in a good, free state as I've read? Any info is much appreciated. I can only get so much intel from OnX Maps, Zillow, and whatever else I can dig up on the interweb. Thanks.

If you want green forested habitat similar to what you're used definitely stick to the far East side of OK.  That area, pretty much from North to south is good to go.  The further south you go the more you start to run into the potential for the territorial meth types.

Broken Arrow is nice suburb of Tulsa as far as suburbs go I guess.  A thirty-forty minute drive east will get you to some nice areas for living.  It's not a terrible choice by any means.  In that area the only public land will be what skirts some of the lakes.  It's not much and because of the overall lack of public land in OK it's usually heavily hunted during the season.  Honestly, for what your property in NY is worth, if you apply that same kind of investment, you can buy a very nice spread here and not need public land access.

If you want green forested habitat similar to what you're used definitely stick to the far East side of OK.  That area, pretty much from North to south is good to go.  The further south you go the more you start to run into the potential for the territorial meth types.

Broken Arrow is nice suburb of Tulsa as far as suburbs go I guess.  A thirty-forty minute drive east will get you to some nice areas for living.  It's not a terrible choice by any means.  In that area the only public land will be what skirts some of the lakes.  It's not much and because of the overall lack of public land in OK it's usually heavily hunted during the season.  Honestly, for what your property in NY is worth, if you apply that same kind of investment, you can buy a very nice spread here and not need public land access.  

Wherever you land in Oklahoma there are two things that are an absolute must.  That is a good underground storm shelter and covered parking for your vehicles.  The weather is wild and potentially deadly.  Ice storms and large hail are a fact of life here and vehicles exposed to the weather will pay the price.  Ask me how I know.

I live north of Tulsa and love it here.

BA is nice, more shopping definitely.

What kind of hunting do you do?

@catmech Whitetail, Elk,  Turkey, Canada Goose, Coyote, Trout (streams) Bass/Pike/Musky in lakes and I trap. I've been down to Northern TX for turk and hogs and always have a blast. Definitely game-rich down there.

@Berger24
I live in Tulsa and hunt deer on Spavinaw Game Management public land it's a lit over an hour away to the Northeast.I use to see turkeys there in the past.There's public land around Wagnor/ Ft.Gibson lake that was
good for rabbit and quail,also some coyotes never got a chance to try calling any though.That's about 30-45
minuets from Broken Arrow,there is also good waterfowl hunting around there also.There are a bunch of lakes
and rivers that are good for fishing within an hour/hour and a half of Broken Arrow.check out www.wildlife department.com there's a list and map of public hunting areas and regulations that will give you an idea of what
there is in the area.Hope this helps.

Texas Pine Country is where you really want.

SE Oklahoma is my stomping grounds born and bred lots of rivers, lakes, creeks and mountains .  It is mind your own business country ,  and not especially welcoming to foreigners . Other parts of the state are less clannish so please keep that in mind as you look for a home .  Lots of out of staters have regretted moving into SE OK when they started having friction with multi generational families and communities  in that part of the world.

People can be friendly on the whole but they don't  adapt to you , you have adapt to them.

Thank you, good info.

@sharpshooter Yeah, it's like that by me as well. Multi-generational farming families here and it's mind your business, but no-one gives anyone any hassle and there's no friction unless some really messes up.  I appreciate the response and definitely good info to know. My wife are friendly country folks, but we keep to ourselves and don't get out and partake in community events, like fairs and town festivals. We have no intention of ruffling any feathers, hopefully, people don't hear NY and have a problem with us immediately. It would be a real shame to have that going on.  We're looking for farm country life, meet some good folks, red-state values, good hunting/fishing, and a place to set up a medical practice to help people and make an honest living.

I am from MA and lived in OKC/Edmond for two years. Here is what I found.

People - really nice. They went out of their way to make me feel welcome. The only thing I will say negative is they do not have the thick skin that Northeasterners have.

Cost of living - SUPER cheap compared to MA. Rent, gas, etc really cheap. Groceries not as much.

Culture - much more laid back, slower. Overall this was great but it could get on my nerves at times. Not a lot to do out there.

Driving - awful. People out there drive like it is the special olympics. I have never seen people have problems making a right turn like I did there. Traffic is no where near as bad as here.

Food - Steak, burgers, Mex/TexMex better then MA. Everything else no. People out there like their food bland. Ranch dressing on everything. It took me forever to find good pizza.

Weather - Hot and dry in the summer. Winters seem to be getting colder but not like up here. Tornadoes are no junk. Flooding is a big issue.

Keep in mind you would be moving to the bible belt. No one tries pushing religion down your throat but the culture is definitely different.

I liked it out there. I lost my job in a buyout and left the state. I plan on moving back there.

OP, IM me if you like.  I was born and raised in OK but lived in NY for awhile and my wife is a NY'er.  We have found everything we need culture/food wise to live here in comfort.
There are lots of little hole in the wall places to buy the things you will miss about NY.
Happy to talk at length if you like.