My brother Scott lives in AZ now...he loves to bird hunt but would much rather big game hunt. He's taken several large mule deer, antelope and a Dall sheep in AK.

It is...just can't convince my wife :crying:she loves the beach and no snow

Exactly what I am fighting here. But our kids are 13, 17, 19 so have a ways to go. We were married in Maine and love it, and I asked "What about a small rustic cabin in northern-ish Maine?" And she said, "What about a larger modern home on the water on the lower coast of Maine?" I said, "That's a heck of a LOT more money honey.." to which she replied, "What am I going to do when you're hunting???" I asked, "Who said you were going with me!!!" :rotf::rotf::rotf:

I have the opposite issue. My Wife having been born and raised in Kodiak, AK, would be perfectly happy to live there full time. I think I'd eventually go nuts being a nine hour ferry ride to the mainland. Don't mind spending summers there, but we haven't been able to go the last two years. I had all the reservations made for our drive up and the ferry ride last spring. First thing that happened was the hotel in Whitehorse, YT, canceled our reservation, then the State of Alaska shut down the ferries. The other reservations tumbled after that.

Spring visitor in our yard --

Attachment 92564

We are right in town along the channel into the harbor.

I Love the Finger Lakes Region of Western NY. We do have 4 seasons but I enjoy the change in seasons. I have the ability to move anywhere in the country but I made my life here and have all my friends and other connections to the community. I have good fishing, upland, waterfowl and deer hunting in close proximity. I travel to the west and southern states to experience what I can't hunt here. Taxes are high and regulation is a pain but picking up my life and starting over at 71 is not appealing to me.

I understand this completely Craig. It is a beautiful area around the Finger Lakes. I'm sure a lot of people who aren't from NY would be blown away by the beauty of upstate. Then they'd high tail it outa here when they got their tax bill. A good friend put his Skaneateles lake home up for sale when his tax bill hit $40,000 a year. Nice home, but that's just criminal.

Tennessee
 

A local Police Officer charted the National Weather Service and other means to chart the mean average temperature across the US every day for ten years prior to his retiring. His conclusion was Eastern Tennessee for the least fluctuation of temperature. How the hunting and fishing is, is another question.

Its a no brainer the upper peninsula of Michigan until December then either Arizona or New Mexico for three species of quail, more fishing and maybe some deer hunting as well.

Rich, that would be a great combo, have to speak to the wife about the southwest.
Are you back from Georgia?

Andy:

On the Hauseman’s thread you asked if there were other Bone-fishers on the forum. This thread may be more suitable for my answer.

I generally fish for what I can eat (which is bad form in Bone-fishing), even if most of what I generally catch is released. But I did sample a day of Bone-fishing on a chartered trip, out of Islamorada, in the Florida Keys. It was many years ago.

That Bone-fishing is a sight-fishery appealed to me, making it as much a hunting as a fishing trip.

We were spin-fishing, not that such a "crude” method in our case made it any more “effective”, as my friend and I did not hook one.

We saw a huge Tarpon underwater on the edge of the bank that we stopped to fish on, and most exciting of all was seeing a moving Permit cutting its fin out like a Swordfish would. It was working its way across the reef at so rapid a clip that our guide could not pole fast enough to keep up with it. Thus, the elements were present of hunt AND chase.

It was an enjoyable and memorable outing, with all the “Conch” atmospherics – pastel colors, sun, and warmth -- that one would expect in those climes.

In reading through this entire thread, it does look like we are fortunate to have a myriad of hunting and fishing opportunities in this country, from sea to shining sea. I wish you luck in settling on a destination that is best for you and your wife.

Andy,
I live in northern lower peninsula of Michigan, about 1.5 hours south of the mackinac bridge. We have very good grouse and woodcock hunting here, we have trout streams, good fishing almost everywhere. I can take a run to the upper peninsula and hunt and fish up there too. About an hour or so south of us seems to be the better weather area, if we get 8 inches of snow they get 4. Every once in a while the tables will turn and they will get more snow than we do. I am looking for property in the upper peninsula as we speak,for another grouse hunting area. I may end up in the eastern upper peninsula because I have a cousin that lives up there. We are in the snow belt area (around Gaylord on the map) So you just have to get used to snow, I have often thought about durham north carolina to get away from the snow for a while during winter we have relatives down there too. My taxes are under 2 grand a year, we live on a canal that goes out into an 850 acre lake. We will be selling this home and I am building a home with an attached/heated garage for my wife. She struggles every winter our garage is 100 feet from the house and full of my stuff. She parks as close to the house as possible and when she gets home at 11 p.m. its tough to walk to the house on ice. We also have cross country skiing and snowshoeing and ice fishing, if you set your house up correctly then the winters up here aren't nearly as hard. Good luck Andy.

Ed you are certainly in the snow belt. This past December your area was covered with snow on my way up and back down from the UP, but had no snow in the UP, except for right around the bridge. I remember several times when the road was quite dicey in the Gaylord area (4WD), but was nothing after getting across the Mac--and that was in October.

Why thank you Ed! Sounds like you live close to paradise.

Ed, I hunted grouse in the Atlanta area for a number of years. Nice country and easy shooting compared to where I live and hunt. On our first hunt there my son commented that you can actually see the birds here, not like at home.

I understand where Harold is coming from. I grew up in NY and doves were considered song birds and no hunting was allowed. I shot them when I lived in Maryland but I never really got into it based on my NY upbringing.

But I also understand the long tradition of dove hunting in the South. It is a big deal there with families often participating. It’s a tradition passed down through the generations, just as my grouse hunting is a tradition passed down to me.

Those traditions are strong -- and distinctive -- for many of us.

And the way Stan describes his dove hunting,, involving scouting, blinds, and, I'm sure, strategic positioning, it's very similar to hunting from a well placed deer stand, or finding the right spot to pass shoot a prairie chicken coming into a bean field to eat in the afternoon. It's much more than just shooting.

When I was a teenager my family lived in rural Tennessee. There was a large tract of land that had what seemed like at least 100 minnow ponds on it. The owners raised the minnows to sell to retail outlets. Some of the ponds didn't hold water well being mostly dry with water on one side or in one small spot. Late in the day doves would fly into those "dry ponds" to water and take their fill of small gravel. I sat there many days as the sun was setting with my 20 gauge Winchester shooting those birds. It reminded me of a waterfowl hunter shooting incoming ducks only the target was mush smaller and zigged and zagged much more than an incoming duck! That was hunting to me!

Reggie, I know we can't "go back," but it doesn't keep me from wishing we could.

I would love to dove hunt. And while I've been reading these responses, I think the following:

Sitting in a tree waiting for a deer to walk by sure doesn't sound like hunting (unless you're scouting and hunting a particular deer)

Walking looking for birds isn't really hunting, the dog is surely hunting for you

Shooting hogs from a helicopter isn't hunting

Shooting black bears over bait is most certainly not hunting

Shooting ducks from a blind isn't hunting since they were probably going to land anyways

The point is we can criticize any form of hunting and it's rather pointless. Do what you LOVE, but do it with a Parker : ) That being said, I might just go break in my 16g Trojan (choked F/F) doing some squirrel HUNTING this weekend.

Great points Andy. Yes I have changed my mind, and will once again beg forgiveness from my fellow Parker shooters, Stan and Reggie--matter of fact, I will buy you a drink if we ever meet up.
Stan, my little DHE 16 st grip O frame came out of Anderson hardware in Atlanta, Ga.--26" cyl/mod, had to be somebodies quail gun.

Wasn't directed at anyone in particular Harold. I will take a drink too please, and I want to see that gun!

Is there a line forming for Harold's drink buying? I have dibs on the spot behind Andy...

I'm going to be there a while...

Harold just sell me the little straight grip and we will be all good. :cool:

Good luck Reggie. I tried getting that away from him several years ago. He once told me he didn't shoot it well IIRC. I need a grade 3 16. I foolishly traded a nice Damascus gun for a 30 inch A grade Fox. The Fox was a nice gun but I didn't shoot it much and sold it to a friend. Now I don't have either of them:banghead:

Nice thread Andy, it really gets me to thinking about stuff. The upper peninsula is almost a different "world" compared to lower michigan in many respects. I really do love the upper peninsula. I am more worried about wolves than anything else hunting up there. My brittany often ranges out over 100 yards if we are in an area I am familiar with. We have coyotes down here and I think they could probably be just as dangerous in certain situations. I saw Garry post a picture of a wolf track when he hunted in Minnesota earlier. I am talking to a couple of guys in the upper peninsula as we speak about the hunting up there, the wolves, bird populations etc. I won't know until I try it out I guess. I would urge anyone who has never hunted grouse or woodcock over a bird dog to try to find someone to hunt with. And go out as many times as you can, its quite an experience. I am addicted to my "walks in the woods" watching a good dog do what he was put on earth to do. There is nothing quite like it. As I get more time off from my work, I would try my best to help anyone who has not experienced bird hunting to give them a chance. Its as much as an "open" invitation that I can give under the circumstances. I also have a buddy with 2 really good bird dogs his dogs are getting older, so he hunts them an hour or so apiece and the other can rest a little and go again. I bet he would enjoy taking a guy out to experience bird hunting. I wish you the best Andy in your search, heck I have a nice house on the water for sale coming up soon:) were close to two nice size towns about 40 minutes from each one. Andy I know you could buy my house, yeah thats it, I might even raise some quail or chukars for my buddies with bird dogs and you could probably get in on that too:) My new hunting buddy moved to Utah, and built a nice home, one of their daughters live just a few minutes from me. They lasted a year out there before missing their kids. A lot to think about as we get older. Good luck again Andy.

Gary,
Atlanta is one of the many many places I want to try hunting, its about an hour away. There is another place about a half hour north of me, a glass customer gave me a book his neighbor wrote called "ghost" by Capt. Tony Petrella, it was quite a nice book to read. Tony used to donate a hunt every year to the ruffed grouse society. His dog I heard was quite a bird dog, the guys would go crazy bidding for the chance to watch his dog hunt so they raised a lot of money for that society. Tony used to plant trees for the grouse all along the manistee river where he lived. Tony passed away, there is a plaque on a tree commemorating him, someday I hope to hunt that area and find his plaque, after reading his book, that would really mean something to me.

Back to the OPs original question, for many years I was looking for my retirement home in a small town in south eastern Washington, near my favorite Quail and Pheasant hunting. However, by the time retirement arrived, the reality was that with increasing age and family health issues, the Spokane area with a real airport and real hospitals was a much more viable option and put up with driving a ways to my favorite hunting.

Ed thank you for the "invite" : ) I'll go wherever one invites me if I find the time. Dave, that's the issue I know we have to consider. I'm 56, and in ten years things change a lot. I realize an eight hour walk at 66+ is going to be tough, but if I'm close, a few short jaunts to keep the soul alive is probably wise. As my dog is now older and we have kids entering college, it's lucky I get out more than 3-4 hours at most "boots on the ground" time. I'm pretty tired after that. I guess we don't want to admit that time catches up, at least I don't.

Andy,
I am 67 years old, a half day hunt suits me just fine if I have decent leather boots on. Wearing rubber boots a half day is hard on me, your right the next 10 years you will notice a difference. We have a lot of state land around here, the department of natural resources is constantly selling off small tracts of timber much to our delight.

I love Montana, especially the West Yellowstone area and the Madison River. But I have spent most of my time fly fishing the Bighorn River in the Ft. Smith area. It's a beautiful area steeped in the history of the Indian Wars.