Wanting to move west

[zeke1]

We thought about Alaska but we don't know anything about it, we figured cost of living vs making a living wouldn't be very good. Love the idea of the hunting trapping and remote aspect but afraid we won't be able to find decent income.
Hunting GI I did some EOD training for them and answered a lot of calls with em.
We were thinking just a couple head of cattle for meat, raising rabbits and chickens like we do now and no ranching for profit. Supplement meals with game and fish, trapping for food, fun since fur prices way down here in the south.

 

[zeke1]

What's northern Idaho like for jobs land prices crime etc?

 

[worm]

Elko Nevada

 

[idnative1948]

Blackfoot? How could you do that to somebody?
I lived there, went through grade school, high school, into the military and then back to manage a travel agency before I left for the big city. Funny thing is that brother and I hunted Unit 51 (where we grew up hunting and returned 40+ years later) in October. Ruined tires on his truck, drove to Mackay, then down to Arco and no dice so on to Blackfoot to the tune of 1K plus of tires. Couldn't handle the traffic gridlock so headed back to our hunting area.

Look at eastern Idaho. Idaho Falls, Blackfoot, Pocatello, Twin Falls.

Diverse enough economy you aren't tied to boom-bust oil/gas.

Great farming

State/Fed wildlife agency offices.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

If you were interested in being a Diesel Mechanic again, I would look in Northern Nevada at a Gold Mine. Barrick or Newmont would be great companies to work for. Underground Diesel Mechanics are essential to maintaining equipment to keep the Diesel Particulate in compliance with federal regulations.

They may have security jobs available from time to time and that could tailor to your LE background.

In the Elko area you have the Ruby Mountains which have the elusive Himalayan Snowcock and glacial lakes full of brook trout.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

I just got back from a trip outside of casper.I met a guy whos a mechanic there for a coal company making 6 figures.I think your background will be more valuable income wise and for finding work.Best outdoor states I've found are Montana and Wyoming.I would personally pick Wyoming due to more opportunity at some of the best hunting/fishing/trapping.You CAN find cheap 20 acre parcels there outside of towns for cheap to raise cattle on.Montana would be real tough to find land cheap.I would seriously look into casper,buffalo or Sheridan Wy.Your experience in the trades you have should find you work quite easily.
And Ben,I did notice the 22 yr old wife.Good luck with that

Coal is a dumpster fire right now.

This administration is sticking it to the coal industry.

Though, when the east runs out of power they may reconsider their harsh hand.

A lot of people from Coal are abandoning ship, unless things change I would not recommend jumping aboard that sinking ship.

 

[Rancho Loco]

And gold is a sure thing? Like I said before, anything in natural resource extraction is going to be a temporary job.

Zeke, get out and look around. Remember, a lot of people have found their paradise, and are smart by not talking about it, lest it get ruined.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

No Commodity is a sure thing.

No job is a sure thing.

One capital spending blunder or one hard year can result in job losses for many.

 

[HowaHunter]

South Central and eastern Idaho may be a good fit. Like others said very tough for conservation jobs. I was incredibly lucky to get a job in the field and remain in Idaho.

smaller towns-Arco, Rupert area, Dubois, Malad

fairly remote not many people with probably very minimal job opps. Howe, Leadore, Arbon, Holbrook

those are just a few

 

[roknHS]

Central pan handle of Idaho, Lewiston/Moscow area. Already mentioned the U of I has a top notch Forestry and Wildlife program. Probably need a masters to get a job. Good opportunities for mechanics with skills.....$50,000 salary would be doable. Rural raw land (not farm fields) $2000 - $3000 per acre. Houses are $150 - $200,000. You can find cheaper options if you look. You don't have water rights issues around there. You can live as rural as you want within 30 miles of Moscow and Lewiston. Ocean run fish in the Clearwater running through Lewiston. Lewiston has a very mild climate but you can be in snow in 30 minutes any direction. Great hunting and fishing
within 45 minutes of either place. Elk, Moose, Deer, Bear, Pheasants, Turkeys etc.

 

[old man]

great thread guy's!

 

[zeke1]

Awesome info please keep it coming nothing instone as of yet so secret is safe nothing spoiled or ruined lol, we really appreciate all the help, great thread

 

[jimss]

I didn't read through the posts but thought I would respond because I have lots of experience with Colo and Wyo. It's pretty tough to beat the weather in Colo. That is one reason I moved here from Wyo. The toughest months in Colo are July and August when it often is in the 90's+ at lower elevation. The wind doesn't blow too terribly hard in Colo compared to Wyo. I lived in Laramie, Casper, Rawlins, and Buffalo and the only town the wind didn't blow 360 days a year was Buffalo! I hated the wind and finally blew south to Colo where we have roughly 10 days of wind (>10 mph) a year! Obviously if you live near the Wyo border it blows constant!

Colo does have negatives. The #1 negative in my book is traffic and so many people along the entire Front Range. The mob of people along the Front Range often head to the high country in the summer and ski towns in winter. Western Colo isn't near as crowded but generally speaking the high country still has lots of people. Colo general elk units are almost a dangerous place to set foot during the rifle seasons....I don't even elk hunt the years I don't draw limited Colo elk tags!

I really miss being able to leave the city limits in just about every Wyo town and getting away from the crowds..it isn't too tough! The weather stinks except for a few days in the summer when the wind doesn't blow10 to 50 mph....I hated it and the wind drove me nuts!

Average day and night temps are pretty frigid throughout Montana! I'm a whimp so Montana is not a place I'd be interested in! Utah and Idaho are a couple options that you may want to research....they have decent weather and once away from Salt Lake or Boise there aren't a whole lot of people? Good luck with your choice!

 

[DrH]

A few words from someone who did what you are proposing to do, 50 years ago.
Because my officemate in a college in northern Michigan had a subscription to Wyoming Wildlife, I decided to only apply for graduate schools out West, despite the lack of jobs at the time. I went to the University of Wyoming to "become educated to the point of absurdity", as one of my classmates at the 10 year high school reunion noted. When I graduated, there were no jobs, and since my wife had decided to give up on being a practical nurse in favor of teaching special education, I worked at a truck stop for a short time, then for a taxidermist for slightly more than two years(best job I ever had, by the way). My wife and I both ended up with jobs in our chosen fields in Cheyenne, not our first choice, but a hell of a lot better than east of the Mississippi. I did not take transfers or promotions to very small towns in Wyoming because I am not conservative enough for those places, or the wrong religion. My agency could never keep a non-Mormon family in a Mormon town due the constant pressure on the families to convert or be ostracized..
I do not like wind either, but it is a fact of life in the west, and a major force in keeping big game animals alive in winter, by blowing slopes free of snow so animals can get to feed. As I type this we have a gentle breeze of 45 mph whipping outside my window. But, the 3 inches of snow we got yesterday is gone. If wind drives you nuts, do not come to Wyoming, or select a place that has less wind. Thermopolis and the rest of the Bighorn Basin come to mind.
We get about 330 days of at least some sunshine, do not have to endure constant rain rusting our guns, and until the Republicans take it away from us, have lots of public land, although not much in eastern Wyoming. We can't throw a cat through the side of our rusted-out vehicles in four years, like Michigan where I am from, and we do not have folks suffering from depression due to a lack of sun in the winter, although the wind may have them in a funk. We can drive down to the mayhem that constitutes northern Colorado in a few minutes to get better shopping, concerts, and games if we want. But, it is farther to big game hunting, the reason why hunters from counties 1(Casper), 2(Cheyenne), 4(Rock Springs)), and 17(Gillette), who travel farthest, are the least-loved in Wyoming. No part of any state in the West is going to have everything that interests you, due to geography.
Wyoming has always embraced a boom and bust economy, at least three of each in my time in Wyoming, and have had little interest in enhancing the second largest portion of the WY economy, recreation and tourism, which of course is your wife's field. But, we are close to retirements of another age group of wildlife and natural resource people in the next few years. Your wife may need a master's degree to be competitive.
Housing is expensive everywhere, as is land, because, as Will Rogers noted, they aren't making any more of it. Here we talk acres per cow rather than cows per acre, like Tennessee. Twenty acres for a cow and calf for the year if the condition of the range is excellent, and most isn't.
I agree with those above who mentioned being flexible. Many folks today think they can pick and choose where they live, but jobs are where they are, people who take a job where ever it is are more competitive.
Over my 30 year career I talked to about 100 people who wanted to retire and/or move to Wyoming, but only one did, a retired college professor from southern Michigan. I reminded him about the wind in Wyoming, and he said everyone would live here if the wind didn't blow. Others found lots of different financial, social, and family reasons not to come here. Many didn't because the West wasn't going to be just like home with better hunting, and some that came, went home within a year. You need to decide whether you are really going to do this or not, then decide where, and do it - or not. Just remember that most of us commenting have biases.

 

[JWP58]

constant 30 mph wind is no go, .

Forget Wyoming then lol. Its blowing 70mph today...lovely.

 

[Rat Fink]

A few words from someone who did what you are proposing to do, 50 years ago.
Because my officemate in a college in northern Michigan had a subscription to Wyoming Wildlife, I decided to only apply for graduate schools out West, despite the lack of jobs at the time. I went to the University of Wyoming to "become educated to the point of absurdity", as one of my classmates at the 10 year high school reunion noted. When I graduated, there were no jobs, and since my wife had decided to give up on being a practical nurse in favor of teaching special education, I worked at a truck stop for a short time, then for a taxidermist for slightly more than two years(best job I ever had, by the way). My wife and I both ended up with jobs in our chosen fields in Cheyenne, not our first choice, but a hell of a lot better than east of the Mississippi. I did not take transfers or promotions to very small towns in Wyoming because I am not conservative enough for those places, or the wrong religion. My agency could never keep a non-Mormon family in a Mormon town due the constant pressure on the families to convert or be ostracized..
I do not like wind either, but it is a fact of life in the west, and a major force in keeping big game animals alive in winter, by blowing slopes free of snow so animals can get to feed. As I type this we have a gentle breeze of 45 mph whipping outside my window. But, the 3 inches of snow we got yesterday is gone. If wind drives you nuts, do not come to Wyoming, or select a place that has less wind. Thermopolis and the rest of the Bighorn Basin come to mind.
We get about 330 days of at least some sunshine, do not have to endure constant rain rusting our guns, and until the Republicans take it away from us, have lots of public land, although not much in eastern Wyoming. We can't throw a cat through the side of our rusted-out vehicles in four years, like Michigan where I am from, and we do not have folks suffering from depression due to a lack of sun in the winter, although the wind may have them in a funk. We can drive down to the mayhem that constitutes northern Colorado in a few minutes to get better shopping, concerts, and games if we want. But, it is farther to big game hunting, the reason why hunters from counties 1(Casper), 2(Cheyenne), 4(Rock Springs)), and 17(Gillette), who travel farthest, are the least-loved in Wyoming. No part of any state in the West is going to have everything that interests you, due to geography.
Wyoming has always embraced a boom and bust economy, at least three of each in my time in Wyoming, and have had little interest in enhancing the second largest portion of the WY economy, recreation and tourism, which of course is your wife's field. But, we are close to retirements of another age group of wildlife and natural resource people in the next few years. Your wife may need a master's degree to be competitive.
Housing is expensive everywhere, as is land, because, as Will Rogers noted, they aren't making any more of it. Here we talk acres per cow rather than cows per acre, like Tennessee. Twenty acres for a cow and calf for the year if the condition of the range is excellent, and most isn't.
I agree with those above who mentioned being flexible. Many folks today think they can pick and choose where they live, but jobs are where they are, people who take a job where ever it is are more competitive.
Over my 30 year career I talked to about 100 people who wanted to retire and/or move to Wyoming, but only one did, a retired college professor from southern Michigan. I reminded him about the wind in Wyoming, and he said everyone would live here if the wind didn't blow. Others found lots of different financial, social, and family reasons not to come here. Many didn't because the West wasn't going to be just like home with better hunting, and some that came, went home within a year. You need to decide whether you are really going to do this or not, then decide where, and do it - or not. Just remember that most of us commenting have biases.

Wildcat, Husky, or Laker?

 

[deltaecho]

Thought I would throw in North Dakota to the mix. Diesel mechanics are in high demand (Jobsnd.com search for "diesel" resulted in 237 jobs). Wildlife jobs are tight...but I hear that there are jobs in Grasslands/etc.

Eastern ND is flat primarily ag land...while the west has some beautiful badlands and cattle ranching. Mountains have pretty much been removed by the wind .

The Missouri river and a few lakes offer some awesome Walleye fishing and many smaller lakes have Trout and Bass. Northern Pike are pretty common and while they are pretty slimy and need extra deboning...they are a blast to catch.

Pheasant hunting is pretty good too...and though I don't hunt Waterfowl, the Geese and Duck hunting is pretty lively as well. I had a brood of wild turkeys feeding in my garden through early summer. They have since moved into the riverbottom. The Elk situation is a one in a lifetime tag that you have to put in for each year with no points being built.

Deer hunting is currently one bow tag, and you have to draw for rifle or muzzle loader.
Deer numbers have been dropping the last few years and tags have been greatly reduced. Mule deer population has rebounded a bit.

Cost of living has come up some the last few years as has crime, mainly related to the Oil Field activity.

Good luck in your search!

 

[zeke1]

Thanks for the info this just keeps getting better, weve considered northern idaho as well but not 100% set on anything at the moment.