Hey guys! I am hoping some if you might be able to help me gather some info. My wife, kids and I are tired of living here in Utah. I have been considering possibly making the move to the Branson, MO area ( or somewhere around that big lake...). Do any if you live in that general area? What is the job market looking like ? I am open to any and all opinions/info. I do know that home/property prices are much better than here in UT.. I would really like to find a little property to keep a few livestock , and of course a little hunting . John 3:16 Thank The Lord !
I know nothing about MO...but where are you from in utah and what are u "tired" of persay....reason I ask is we are considering a place in midway as a hunting cabin/vacation home for the family....been there a bunch as we have friends there as well....loved the area along with park city and 40 minutes from salt lake seemed a good distance out from city life but within reason to travel if we wanted to.....would be nice to hear what someone that isnt a friend who wants us to pull the trigger as to say about the area/state Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Don't get me wrong, I like Utah.. I am 30 and have lived here my whole life. There are a lit of really nice places to go so things outdoors with the wife and kids. I just want to try something different. The Midway area is really nice I think you will like it. I have considered that area my self a few times. I also know of a couple great Elk herds not too far from there ... John 3:16 Thank The Lord !
I'm not from the Branson area but I am familiar with it. We live about 4 and a half hours away and have vacationed there many time. You won't find a lot of area that would be suitable for livestock as it is basically all rolling mountains with very little topsoil. There's plenty of hunting opportunity in the area, but it is in general a fairly difficult hunting experience. Deer run on the small size down there due to the lack of agriculture and fairly poor browse. With that said, I love the area and one day I hope to own a vacation home in the area. Branson has one of the hidden gems in my opinion. Everyone thinks of Branson for their entertainment and shows or for Table Rock Lake or Bull Shoals Lake, but the cream of the crop is Lake Taneycomo. The only self sustaining trout fishery in the state. It's quiet, you don't get all the boat traffic running up and down the lake like you do on Table Rock, and it's just one of my favorite places on earth. Large tracts of land can be hard to find, and everything has been subdivided up into tiny little plots. We have looked into buying down there on several occasions. I can tell you that there are a lot of homes for sale that have been foreclosed and great deals can be had, but some of the areas can be fairly sketchy. We looked at about a dozen homes down there last winter as we were seriously considering purchasing a second home down there. We just didn't find exactly what we were looking for(well we did, but not at the right price). There were some decent homes down there for between $30,000 and $40,000, a couple were less than 10 years old. There are a lot of these foreclosures because the job market is pretty poor. Most jobs are in the entertainment/ service industry so as you can imagine they don't pay that well. Really, the entire region of Southeast Missouri has a pretty poor job market. The good news is that it's not an expensive area to live, unless you want to live ON the water.
I don’t know anything about the job market or hunting in that area but if you like to fish it offers some of the best of everything. I know a professional B.A.S.S. angler that moved to the area several years ago because of the fishing diversity. Skywalker is right Taney is a gem (but it’s not the ONLY self-sustaining trout fishery in the state). It’s a great fishery. It’s called “Lake” Taneycomo but it fishes like a river. Table Rock is a really fun lake as well with a nice Small mouth population. Best of luck with your move.
I live just about 45 minutes from Taneycomo. Which puts me 30 mins to Stockton Lake (walleye) and about 30-40 mins from Pomme De Terre ( musky). There's plenty of fishing and hunting here in Mo. But, it can and will get hot. I'm from Minnesota so this is a oven to me. As far as jobs, what do you do? If your a truck driver you can do well here seeing I-44 is a main artery for the country. That's what I did, til I retired 6 years ago. If you don't mind hunting public land there are several conservation areas here. Check out MDC.com. You have the Mark Twain National Forest which for the most part stretches across the southern part of the state. Springfield is your best bet for job hunting I think.
Taney is by far the largest, with the largest fish, but there are others. I've only fished Blue Springs but last I heard there were at least six locations in the state with a wild trout population. Blue Springs is a little creek with small fish but it's the most populated wild trout stream in the state with about 290 fish per mile (MCD 2009 survey). Small creek, small fish, but it's a challenge and a lot of fun. I call it my Smoky Mountain National Park practice creek. Crane Creek, Little Piney, Mill Creek are all supposed to have reproducing numbers of wild trout. You won't put much of a meal on the table due to length and creel limits but you can Catch and Release wild trout in more than one location in Missouri.
I live about 30 minutes south of Branson, Mo. I am not sure about the job market per say, but I would say to start looking the in the Springfield, MO area if jobs are your main concern. Lots of little nice rural areas out there. I actually live just across the Arkansas line and work in Harrison, AR. FedEX has a large office here, which is the major employer in my area. I enjoy the area. As for lakes, there are actually four lakes in the area of Branson. You have the closest one Table Rock Lake, and three on on the Arkansas side within driving distance. Beaver Lake is in NW Arkansas, Bull Shoals Lake, and Norfork Lake. Would be a big change of scenery from UT, I can assure you of that. I'd be happy to help out with any info you may need.
Learn something every day, not sure what made me think Taney was the only with a breeding population. Maybe the only lake. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4
I may be moving there as well if things work out for a position I interviewed for a few weeks ago thinking more in the springfield area.
I believe they have the worlds largest toilet and I think they have some nice caves? Somewhere around that area the previously stated is true. I remember the signs.
