Suppose you could move to anywhere in the USA.  If you're like me, you'd want a gun-friendly state, an area with plenty of natural beauty, places to shoot and fish, reasonable cost of living, and reasonable real estate prices.  Two places that I have been looking at are Cody and Dubois Wyoming.  Anybody have comments on these two towns?  What are some towns/places that make your short list?

Well if it were me I would go to Alaska.  I have no idea what their gun laws are, but GOOD hunting and fishing, cheap land, and the biggest issue for me NOT MANY PEOPLE. But the job prospects arent that great (at least that I know of) Im just talking out my ass here cause Ive never been there, but thats where I would go.

Alaska would be nice...except for the outlandish cost of living.

I grew up in S.W. Nebr. and plan to retire there. Nebr. is one of about 6 states that have no provision for concealed carry but class 3 stuff and open carry is allowed.

Plenty of lakes for warm water fish plus three or so lakes with water cold enough for trout. Pretty fair deer hunting in most areas and darned good pheasant and quail hunting. That's what I really miss.

Low cost of living so low real estate prices, also low paying jobs. That's why the low prices.

No mountains but very beautiful open plains, especially when the summer thunderheads are looming on the horizen.

I already live there, heh, heh....

[url]http://bandonbythesea.com/[/url]

East Tennessee.

Smoky Mountains National Park
Dollywood
Tons of lakes
Pro sports (Football, Hockey)
College that might as well be pro sports
Farm League Sports (Baseball, Hockey, Basketball)
Class III
Shall Issue State
Open Carry
Great schools
LOTTERY!!!!
No State Income Tax
GREAT SOUTHERN FREEDOM SHOOT

One of the nicest places would be in the Lufkin, Texas area!
Gun laws=good
Hunting=very good
Fishing=excellent

We are within minutes of Sam Rayburn Resevoir one of the finest in the USA.

Lake record Largemouth= 16.4 lbs

Catfish records right at 100 lbs (With smaller, good eating size cats in the 7-20 lb range plentiful!)

You would be within 2 hours drive of Toledo Bend on the Texas-Louisiana border!
Also one of the top lakes in the USA.

You would be about 2-1/2 to 3 hours from Lake Fork...The Jewel of the state!
Where something like 35 of the top 50 largest Bass have come from including the State record @ 18.18 lbs.

Anytime that you would like to see our great State just let me know and I'll help you any way I can.[:D]

The really good fishing starts about February and lasts until June![:D]

BigDozer66

Marvl, I have spent quite a bit of time over the last few years looking at places to retire.  I was in Dubois a couple of years ago and spent a day scouting around and talking to the locals.  The country is beautiful, hunting is great, but the winter there can be brutal.  The way that Dubois sits in the valley keeps it from getting much sun in the winter due to the surrounding mountains.  It is pretty high, I believe just over 7,000'.  There is a lot of snowfall and it lasts for a long time.

I was in Cody a couple of months ago and have been there many times over the last ten years.  I finally ruled it out because it is just too windy for me, no matter what time of year it happens to be.  It is a really nice area if you do not mind the wind, especially west of town out towards Yellowstone and the resevoir.

I really like the Anaconda area of MT, and also the area east of Bozeman and south of Livingston, called Paradise Valley.  It sits in the middle of the Absaroka Range, but again, it is very windy in the valley and property is getting expensive there.  The Big Hole area west/southwest of Divide is great, but pretty isolated from major services.  I have narrowed down my list to the areas around Salmon and Ashton, ID, the Bitteroot Valley south of Missoula, MT, and the areas around Bozeman, Anaconda, Norris, Ennis, and Whitehall, MT.

My wife was a horse rancher and mud logger out in Wy...we are thinking about headding back there...though Wy just got a Democrap Gov....
Wife says "If it aint windy, you aint in Wy"
My sisters live in Nacogdoches older one being there these past 30yrs..married to a real Texan not a transplant..
I was stationed down in San Antonio like it alot back in the late 60s..
My Pa was from N GA and we spent alot of there and still have alot of kin there...another nice place..
Wife says to say SW corner of Wy...( I say west TX)

I can think of several states that meet your requirements.

Northern New England -
New Hampshire (my home state)
Vermont
Maine

Northwest -
Montana
Wyoming

I also fell in love with the Pacific Northwest almost two decades ago after spending three years at Ft. Lewis, WA.  I would also offer:
Washington
Oregon
Idaho

Very very nice! Now I'm really depressed today! The view I have out my front window is the line of cars waiting for the drug dealer across the street to get home and his nextdoor neighbors,Mr.Welfare's, late 70's Salt-Rat Blazer having the engine revved out headers and the f_cking rap music blaring in  the garage. Guess I'll call the cops AGAIN! I hate working nights and trying to sleep days.....

I think liberty86 screwed up posting that link.  We're all gonna move to Bandon, drive up real estate prices, traffic, noise, pollution, crime, taxes, and generally ruin the place. [:D]

Idaho is a great place to consider.  Fairly high income tax; around 8% I believe.  Up in the Coeur d' Alene is full of CA refugees, but beautiful country.  Stanley is  quite remote, only about 65 year 'round residents. Stanley is, however,quite touristy in the Summer with white water rafters. Fall for hunting, and winter for snowmobiling.
Salmon is more typical western ranch town...My kinda' place.  Right on the Salmon River, incredible hunting, good people, very gun friendly, etc., etc.
New Hampshire is quite a good place as well. Anything goes for guns.  CCW MUST ISSUE.  Although I don't like having to get "permission" from anyone.  NH has no sales tax or income tax.  Property taxes are very high as are vehicle registration fees.  If you're self employed expect to pay a "Business Profits Tax" in the amount of 8.6% I believe; although you can avoid it by funneling income directly into your personal income.
NH is very touristy, primarily in the central part of the state known as the "Lakes Region".
Good hunting throughout the state, but it isn't the West.
Too bad the best part of the country is located in the PRK.  Nothern CA, in Siskiyou, Trinity and Modoc counties is truly the Libertarian and/or Conservative hotbed of the country.
Go ahead and flame away.  I've lived there and know the polotics.  The Libertarian values in the rural parts of the PRK would put Idaho, NH, Montana, Wyoming, Texas, ALL of the South, and ALL of the midwest to ABSOLUTE SHAME!! To bad they are so outnumbered.
As a side note:  To all of the PRK bashers who feel that CA gets what it deserves...If you only knew how much of a strugle the freedom loving Californians go through.  When we were all suffering under the rule of Czar Klinton, did we all "get what we deserved"?  Instead of bashing CA, send money or at the very least prayers!
Good luck in your move, from the "LIVE FREE OR DIE" state of New Hampshire!

Huntsville, AL (North Alabama) is pretty good...

Cost of living good, lots of high tech jobs (BIG dept of defense R&D and contrasctign area!!!)

Deer are a little smaller then up North...
Suppose to be decent fishing in several direcrtions,

Good public schools in the area, several colleges ioncluding a great engineering school, the U of Alabama in Huntsville (just check out its reputation)

Even the democrats in this state are pro-gun!
Cheap CCW w/ reciprocy in several states like GA and FL...

close to bigger cities like Atlanta and Nashville...

Folks are nice for the most part...

I'd stay here permanantly if I didn't have roots in South Carolina, but SC is turning kinda liberal it seems, (probably cause of Charleston Area...)  I can't hang around with libs too much!

central pennsylvania.

btw, i'll need a new roommate come january.

We have a trailer in Frontier Park on Toledo Bend. Excellent place to be and the fishing is kick ass...

How about:

1. Boston Mass
2. Trenton NJ
3. Los Angles CA
4. Washington DC

Uh, thanks but no thanks. [puke]

You don't want to go to NH. Really, you wouldn't like it! Honest. Go someplace else.[:D]

 S-I

No one has mentioned Arizona ???  OK I will !!
I plan on retiring in northern AZ (when I get that old [:D] ) AZ has great gun laws, great shoots, great hunting and fishing, great golf, winter sports up north, desert sports and off roading all over the place and the weather is outstanding !!  Four seasons up north and southeastern AZ and sunny warm to hot in other areas.
***[red]DISCLAIMER[/red]***
[red]NO LIBERALS WANTED !!![/RED]

Cost of living in Anchorage isn't that bad.  The worst thing about Alaska is the shitty weather.

Well, mine would be a mix.

It would be located in San Diego, California, with about million less people, lot fewer guns laws, be able to get a state CCW but have some decent hunting in the county.

I love the weather here, and ocean is real close for fishing (I don't care much for freshwater fishing). I also really like the dryness; it does not rain much (3 inches this year so far). I like being near Mexico for the cheap trips and 5 hours from Vegas and AZ. The cost of living is _not_ that much here.

But in non-dream world, I think some mid size town in Arizona where it does not rain much and population is not a bunch of old people.

Being a Federal Employee I have lived all over the US. It's ID. & MT. Hands down!!
Cody WY. Is a great choice too.[:D]

I like it here,if you move out of the cities it's a bit to ruff for most people but thats ok,more room for me[:D]

There's no utopia. The kind of places with lots of natural beauty tend not to have infrastructure and jobs, while the areas with jobs and infrastructure tend to be liberal. And weather is an issue. For me at least, I absolutely hate living in humidity, so that rules out much of the east coast and the south (including TX.)

I too enjoyed the tour of Bandon.  What you propose might not be that difficult...  Considering the number of folks we have on this site we could TAKE OVER A PLACE THE SIZE OF BANDON!!!  The concept is pretty straightforward as it doesn't look like the town has that many residents.  They've done us the favor of already having the infrastructure in place.  And looks VERY ATTRACTIVE TO ME...

But maybe there is another small town like Bandon the AR15 Army could appropriate for our own.  Seems like a pretty good idea to me...

Oregon is liberal and their economy is doing poorly. Why would you want to take over Bandon? I couldn't live in an area where the sole source of income is tourism.

Seems to me the economy is doing poorly just about anywhere in the U.S.  And you, who lives in Disneyland, are complaining about tourism? [;)]

We definitely need to find and stake claim to a town named ..say...how bout Ar-vile??! Got a nice ring to it....[:D] Course we'd be know as the town down the road where the militia moved in...

Liberty86,

I wonder what the weather is like there?  I think Seattle is beautiful, but the constant rain and cloud cover bites.  I've only visited Oregon once, and too briefly to see much.

Is your part of heaven snowy/rainy/dreary?

I live in RI and love the weather and beauty, but hate the taxes and politics.

what are the jobs in the area like.

i might consider takeing you up on that one..

being done, although on a state wide level and not just with guns in mind..
http://www.freestateproject.org/