Possible relocation TX > TN?

[JD Jones]

My wife has an opportunity to take a job in TN that would require us to move east to TN… Nashville/surrounding area.

I am a little apprehensive but not closing the door. My job can take us anywhere and honestly Idaho has been my dream for 3 years but we have stayed in Texas to handle some things here.

For those in Tennessee what's the low down on the outdoors? Every thing I hear about how great Nashville is surrounds around broadway, nightlife music history etc….. but nothing about hunting opportunities, fishing, hunting camping off-roading etc. I assume those things can be had but is it something I'd have to take long trips just to get away from the city? Seems like it's Texas but smaller and further from western hunting opportunities and maybe even less public land?

Pros of living in Tennessee?
Things to be aware of?

 

[K9TXS]

Lots of lakes and rivers to fish. Coyotes and a few woodchucks as well. Lots of deer all around along with some elk in the eastern part of the state.

This is a big shotgun state. Some ranges are shotguns only and there's lots of shotgun competition in the state. Lots of smaller ranges for rifles and pistols as well. The State also have state owned ranges across TN.

Also Midsouth Shooters is about 5 miles from my house. I save a lot on shipping.

As of this writing, gas is around is around $3.60 per gal. Check gas buddy and it will point you in the right direction. Most of the time I use Sam's Club since they're alway the cheapest in my area.

My taxes are a good bit cheaper here than where I was living in Sugar Land TX. Off hand I don't know the tax rate, but my wife can tell you more on this.

When covid came in, a lot of the grocery stores started allowing free pickup service. We like this a lot. You don't end up buying a lot of junk you don't need when you're cruising through the store.

Pros:
1. A little bit closer drive to PD fields.
2. We have humidity, but not the gulf coast humidity. Being use to the gulf coast humidity, it's funny to listen to people that think the humidity here is so bad.
3. No more hurricanes. We will get rain from them, but that's it.

Things to be aware of:
1. Driving at night, lots of deer and other critters on the road.
2. Probably a few more tornadoes than Texas, but normally in the southern part of the state.

Anything else let me know.

 

[JD Jones]

Lots of lakes and rivers to fish. Coyotes and a few woodchucks as well. Lots of deer all around along with some elk in the eastern part of the state.

This is a big shotgun state. Some ranges are shotguns only and there's lots of shotgun competition in the state. Lots of smaller ranges for rifles and pistols as well. The State also have state owned ranges across TN.

Also Midsouth Shooters is about 5 miles from my house. I save a lot on shipping.

As of this writing, gas is around is around $3.60 per gal. Check gas buddy and it will point you in the right direction. Most of the time I use Sam's Club since they're alway the cheapest in my area.

My taxes are a good bit cheaper here than where I was living in Sugar Land TX. Off hand I don't know the tax rate, but my wife can tell you more on this.

When covid came in, a lot of the grocery stores started allowing free pickup service. We like this a lot. You don't end up buying a lot of junk you don't need when you're cruising through the store.

Pros:
1. A little bit closer drive to PD fields.
2. We have humidity, but not the gulf coast humidity. Being use to the gulf coast humidity, it's funny to listen to people that think the humidity here is so bad.
3. No more hurricanes. We will get rain from them, but that's it.

Things to be aware of:
1. Driving at night, lots of deer and other critters on the road.
2. Probably a few more tornadoes than Texas, but normally in the southern part of the state.

Anything else let me know.

Are there camping opportunities that are not purely car/rv type that you typically get with smaller state park situations? Backpacking options?

Are their 4x4 trail systems/parks?

Are deer leases the primary option for deer?

Assuming waterfowl is popular with all the water… what's the name of the game there? Texas we do a bit of big water waterfowling

PS thanks for your first reply

 

[Weaver93]

I'm in Southwest VA and several friends drag their modified Jeeps to TN for the weekend. I know Dragon's Back and Royal Blue are two they hit. If you are East TN you are within weekend trips to Hatfield-McCoy trails in WV.

https://www.alltrails.com/us/tennessee/off-road-driving

The 9 Best Off-Road Trails in West Virginia for Jeeps and 4x4s (July 2022)

If you are an off-road enthusiast or discover your passion for off-roading and want to challenge your skills, we have found the best Jeep trails in WV. So gather your

driverillustrated.com

 

[K9TXS]

Are there camping opportunities that are not purely car/rv type that you typically get with smaller state park situations? Backpacking options?

Are their 4x4 trail systems/parks?

Are deer leases the primary option for deer?

Assuming waterfowl is popular with all the water… what's the name of the game there? Texas we do a bit of big water waterfowling

PS thanks for your first reply

1. Are there camping opportunities that are not purely car/rv type that you typically get with smaller state park situations? Backpacking options?
Check out this link, then scroll down to almost the bottom of the page and there's information about Backcountry Campsites.

2. Are their 4x4 trail systems/parks?
Here is a link to several off roading areas in TN. Off Roading
There are also several in Kentucky as well. The Jeep Jamboree has a yearly event I believe in Kentucky, which is a short drive from where I live in Clarksville.

3. Are deer leases the primary option for deer?
I'm not sure about deer hunting here. I don't deer hunt any longer, but you can check out the this link at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

4. Assuming water fowl is popular with all the water...what's the name of the game there?
There is quite a bit of duck & goose hunting here as well along with dove hunting. When I use to goose hunt on the Katy TX prairie, everyone was always excited to get a Canadian goose. They were far and few between. Quite a few pintails among other duck species, but few Canadians. I've seen more Canadian geese in my first year living here than I've ever seen in my years of hunting in TX. When I duck hunted along the gulf coast in brackish water, you had to be concerned about alligators. Gators were also around a lot of the fresh water lakes we had to watch out for. No gators in the upper portion of TN. There have been a few spot in the lower area of the state near the Mississippi and Alabama state lines.
Waterfowl & Migratory Birds

 

[TennJed]

I just moved to eastern Tennessee about 1hr 20 minutes a little north and east of Knoxville, in the Smokeys. My back yard is teeming with deer, bucks, does and fawns as there are 2 apple trees that the apples are falling on the ground and they're feasting as well as the turkeys. I came from new germany, mean jersey so for me it's a dream come true. Don't know anything about the Nashville area yet, but east Tennessee is awesome.

 

[michaelfelix13]

I am retired and please forgive me I moving from NYS. Beautiful state horrible government. I love to fish , hunt and shot. Looking at North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. All comments are greatly appreciated

 

[TennJed]

I am retired and please forgive me I moving from NYS. Beautiful state horrible government. I love to fish , hunt and shot. Looking at North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. All comments are greatly appreciated

I just escaped from NJ, looked at the same 3 and settled on east Tennessee. NC is purple leaning blue, SC is too hot and I love the 4 seasons. The weather in east Tennessee has 4 seasons and very little snow if you want to get away from the northeast dumps. I've been here since February and absolutely love it, not on negative comment. Cost of living is great also. If you want more details PM me and I'd be happy to continue.

 

[xsn10s]

I can say that Idaho was on the top of my list, not so much anymore. Tennessee sounds pretty nice. As does West Virginia. I'm hoping that Eastern Oregon gets absorbed into Idaho.

 

[Kelljp]

I just moved to eastern Tennessee about 1hr 20 minutes a little north and east of Knoxville, in the Smokeys. My back yard is teeming with deer, bucks, does and fawns as there are 2 apple trees that the apples are falling on the ground and they're feasting as well as the turkeys. I came from new germany, mean jersey so for me it's a dream come true. Don't know anything about the Nashville area yet, but east Tennessee is awesome.

Be quite, we're trying to keep it a secret

 

[TennJed]

Be quite, we're trying to keep it a secret

where are you located?

 

[spladi]

I am retired and please forgive me I moving from NYS. Beautiful state horrible government. I love to fish , hunt and shot. Looking at North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. All comments are greatly appreciated

I moved to Myrtle Beach in 2010 and there were no shooting ranges for miles, only option was indoor. Predominantly a shotgun shooters state at least in the East. Super high humidity. My suggestion to anybody moving from the North to the south is to rent a place for several months at the location you are considering moving to so you can find out for yourself whether or not it suites. As for me this Pa. boy is staying up North.

 

[michaelfelix13]

Thank u

 

[Ratherbhuntn]

It's not Texas for sure, but we don't have it to bad here. Like someone already mentioned we have tons of lakes and rivers here if you are a water person. Tons of camping that is not in a RV/camper park. I do overnight canoe/kayak trips all the time. I'm in Knoxville which is about 2.5 to 3.5 hours from Nashville depending what part you are coming from, between there you have the Cumberland Plateau which is a great area for all that stuff. We have several WMA's and National forests and state land. Someone mentioned elk just a heads up there are some small herds they have reintroduced and we do have hunts but you'll have better luck trying to kill Bigfoot than getting drawn for one of them. There is plenty of deer hunting and deer opportunities and the heard seems to be getting better quality. That being said we are not the Boone and Crockett destination for hunters. Although I think it was the world record nontypical was killed right outside Nashville a few years ago so there is always a chance. If you are looking for huge horns Kentucky is only 30 minutes to an hour to the north and the monsters live there. I have a good lease there very reasonable price and could kill a 130 every year if I wanted, I don't I set my min at about 150 and if you really hunt you can harvest one of those very regularly. My biggest so far is 203 and other guys close have killed 165 to 195 so they are there. There are countless places to Jeep and four wheel. I think it's a required course here in high school. LOL. In the country a lot of guys drive their rigs as daily drivers. The Somkey Mountains are here in east Tenn and has miles and miles of hiking trails and some good trout fishing also. For waterfowl you will want to head to west Tenn you got the Mississippi fly way and Land between the Lakes and tons of lakes and rivers. You can kill ducks around Nashville but the more serious guys go west. Goes without saying if you are in a flyway you will see more ducks. Geese are everywhere KILL THEM ALL!!! We also have black bear hunting here and those dang hogs. It's pretty easy to get off the beaten path here if you want to and it always surprises me that so few actually do. Most people just hit the hot spots here just like everywhere else. You know like going to Yellowstone and only going to see Old Faithful and DRIVING around the loop. All in all it's a good place to live for an outdoorsman and generally anyone, the people are nice hard working folk for the most part. Things are cheaper here than a lot of other places and one of the best things and why tons of people are moving here no state income tax!! YET!!!! Give it a try you might like it, If not you can always move. LOL. Hope this helps.