Anyone in Eastern Kansas?

[centershot]

My wife and I are considering a move to Kansas in the very near future. She'll be retiring in two years and we're both sick and tired of life here, behind enemy lines (western NY state)! I'd like to know more about the area of eastern Kansas. We like to hunt, fish, and kayak. We don't object to wintertime but the lake-effect snow here is something we'd both like to get away from. I've heard Kansas is a gun-friendly state, that's a big plus for us. We are planning to visit sometime this year to check things out for ourselves. I'd really to hear from some of you regarding climate, cost-of-living, etc.

[JSH]

I am about as east as it gets. About 10 minutes from MO line. I am north eastern.
Windy today fairly mild weather now. Sometimes we get a north front that will drop down, nothing like your lake effects.
Several casters and shooters around, and a couple more I need to shake hands with.
PM me if you want and we can talk rather than type.
Jeff

[johnson1942]

move to north western idaho, you will send me thankyou cards every year. you wont believe the joy of getting up every morning and being there. told a fellow worker that years ago and her and her husband moved there and loved it. another place is rapid city s.dak. or custer s.dak. check out custer s.dak. mountains, a good climate and millions of acres of trails and black pine forest, mountains and streams that belong to you. you will never ever get tired of it.

[runfiverun]

Idaho doesn't have a northwest.
it has a south east and a south west and a north.
the other area is the Boise area and it's part of Oregon.

[rancher1913]

if you have retirement income try farther west in kansas, the homes and land are cheeper and less competition for hunting ground. the further south the better the growing conditions but the further north is less expensive.

[starmac]

And you will love the wind.

[richhodg66]

I moved to Fort Riley when the Army sent me here from Alaska and have loved the north eastern part of Kansas since day one. Not living in Milford now, but still own the house we raised our kids in and may move back into it someday; I lived on the shore of the biggest lake in Kansas and could be fishing in less than a minute, I was a five minute drive from big tracts of awesome deer hunting public land, miles and miles of rural two lane to explore on the motorcycle, friendly, soldi and sane people are the norm, what's not to like?

I tell people I'm not from Kansas but I got here as fast as I could. Love it, wouldn't consider living anywhere else now.

[Bodean98]

I'm a native. Born, raised, and lived here all my life. Born in Emporia and moved to south east Ks. when young. Great fishing in the eastern part of the state. You have large impoundments, quite a few state fishing lakes, good rivers for big cats and even many farm ponds that are probably one of the best kept fishing secrets of the state. Crappie are one of the highly sought after fish. They grow to very nice dimension in the large impoundments and to say they are abundant is an understatement. If I remember correctly there is a limit of 50 per day and that was only imposed to quiet the "do gooders".
Yes we are gun friendly for the most part. Some of the larger cities can be ticklish.
Hunting is quite good and a person can still find private property to hunt if your willing to do the leg work and get to know the area and locals. Plenty of public hunting lands to hunt also. Whitetail are plentiful and large bodied and some sport some mighty big headgear. They are very fine eating in this area too, because they feed a lot on grain from the farmer's fields. They generally have a lot of fat on them and are quite tasty. Bird hunting is generally good. The quail have seen an increase in the last couple of years but not nearly as plentiful as in the past. Decent duck hunting can be found and turkey are plentiful. A short trip west and you can hunt pheasant too. Doves are also a good bet.
Can't speak to kayaking. Never done it!
Taxes and cost of living in my area are higher than most. I suppose it's that I live in an economically depressed area and we also have one of the highest concentrations of community colleges in the world to pay for!
The weather? Well let's just say if you don't like the weather just wait a bit and it will change! In a years time you may very well experience all of the weather extremes that are possible. I have used my air conditioner and heater in the same day! Generally, though, things are right for the season but the extremes are always looming.
Sorry for the "windy" post (pun intended)
:bigsmyl2:

[popper]

Any thing east/north of Wichita (except Topeka & KC) is good, but extreme SE is old mine country. Kansas has open carry now but most shops are posted, schools and medical centers are still trying to figure out how to handle it. Not many rivers for kayaking but Ar/Mo not far away. Raised 2 block from Mo. left at 18 but went back near Riley for a ew years - very windy north and west of there.

[Plate plinker]

I second rapid city SD. One of the nicest towns I have ever been and beautiful country.

[johnson1942]

all that federal and state land around rapid city belongs to you and me to go on when we want. mountains, streams, lakes and trails.the only three things you have to worry about is rattle snakes, mountain lions and the buffalo. you do not walk up to a buffalo and pet it. people die around here from doing that. 2 in one year recently. they come from the big city and want their picture taken with their arm around a buffalo. the natives have a saysing about the greeney wienies, they get out of their landrovers wearing the best ll bean clothes , kiss a rattle snake and hug a cactus and then want to be given a indian name. the black hills and the bad lands are too beautiful to put into words but you cant take them for granted. use common sense when you go into them. they belong to you and i and we dont pay land taxes on them, it is our right as a citizen.

[FISH4BUGS]

I lived at Ft. Leavenworth and Leavenworth in northeast Kansas, (at - not IN), graduated from Leavenworth High School, attended Kansas State in Manhattan, and wound up in New Hampshire (it's along story for another time).
Kansas is fine. Didn't hunt (except for prairie dogs in western Kansas) and the fishing was great almost everywhere, especially the farm ponds.
The worst part is living in tornado alley. Having seen more than my share up close and personal with tornadoes, I really have a healthy respect and grudging appreciation for wild weather.
If you live there, be ready to be very attuned to the weather in tornado season.

[Plate plinker]

True about the rattlesnakes I have encountered two in my life in the wild and both were in the black hills. However it is still worth it to live there. I love the mountains.

[richhodg66]

Funny about rattlesnakes, where I grew up in S.C., or when I lived in west Texas or southern Oklahoma, coming across a venomous snake was a daily occurrence it seems. Last time I visited my folks in rural Wise county, Texas in the Summer, I killed three copperheads in their yard in a day and ahalf.

After 22 years or so in Kansas, and doing a lot of camping and hunting and fishing and a lot of time n the field with the Army, I have come across exactly one venomous snake, a small copperhead that was almost too cold to move at the time. Don't see many snakes here at all, and almost never venomous ones. We don't have scorpions or fire ants either.

The tornados were mentioned, yes, they are fairly common, but during my time in S.C., I saw more stuff destroyed by hurricanes than I have here by tornadoes.

I'll take Kansas over any other place I've ever lived, or been for that matter, as a place to live

[Huskerguy]

I have lived in western Kansas (Goodland) (20 years) and now the central part (Salina) (12 years) although Kansans think Salina is western. Great pheasant and deer hunting out west - mule and white tail, pheasant and now the quail are coming back. Not much fishing west. Good fishing and deer hunting in the central part if you know people.

Our son lives in Less Summitt. MO which is just in Missouri south of Indepence and east of KC. We really like that area. MO is fairly friendly on taxes if you have a state retirement income which I do. Lots of lakes and places to fish in the east. Living in KS would be an easy drive to get to great fishing and hunting.

If you ever get to the Lees Summitt area stop in at this place. It is huge. My son and I shoot there on occasion when we are visiting, reasonable and very nice.
https://www.frontier-justice.com/

I second the Milford lake area of Junction City. I was just there last week, gorgeous. We have talked about moving to one of the small towns around there so fishing would be out the back door. My goal was to be in a place where I could fish during the week when no one else was around except all of us old codgers with our dog or wife in the boat and then mow the lawn and go to church on the weekends.

Kansas and Missouri are both gun friendly aside from the usual liberal hotbed of Lawrence. Yes, the wind blows in the east but not nearly as much as in the west. Humidity is terrible and we are still getting accustomed to that, not sure we ever will and that is the biggest barrier to moving further east.

I don't know much about duck hunting although friends hunt regularly so it must be OK and I don't kayak. Taxes are reasonable although the state is experiencing a shortfall with some changes they made so I expect that to go up. The tornado thing is way overblown. I think we have had one warning here in 12 years.

[JSH]

Lees summit went from a nice place to a sprawling metropolis, same with grand view.
Lansing and Leavenworth have both expanded greatly. Basehor and tonganoxie have grown leaps and bounds.
Places I would prefer to live just don't have enough jobs to make me move.
Have a fair bit of family south of Topeka around Burlington. A lot of lakes in that area along with plenty of hunting opportunity.

I I look at available medical treatment as I get older, not that I need any or am planning on it. Just some thing I keep in mind.
If it were not for that, I would drive west in the dark until I saw no street lights or porch lights, then set up shop there.

[54bore]

We don't object to wintertime but the lake-effect snow here is something we'd both like to get away from.

I seen Idaho mentioned, from the quote above this is DEFINITELY not a place you would enjoy in the winter months, we have some AMAZING estate sells around here after a deep snowy winter!

[JSH]

Tornados, after a year you would be like the rest of the natives. Out side trying to see it.........

[edler7]

Tornados, after a year you would be like the rest of the natives. Out side trying to see it.........

Those sirens are handy for that. You don't need to go outside and look till you hear them.

[FISH4BUGS]

Those sirens are handy for that. You don't need to go outside and look till you hear them.
The sirens....always reminded me of some science fiction movie when they went off.
I watched one go over our house once. Very scary. i got caught downtown and watched the movie marquee float away in the wind - just as the store windows bowed out with the rapidly dropping pressure and exploded into the street.
I went through too many of them. I loved Kansas but not that part.