Hi Eric,

I live just about 5 minutes south of the OKC city limits. We have an acreage close to I-35 just north of the Norman airport. We have a very healthy deer population. Probably won't shoot a Boone and Crockett, but there are some nice sized bucks in the area.

A few ckickable thumbs from stills in my camcorder and a photo shot from inside my house over the past few years.

Shot more video this winter, but haven't done anything with it yet.

Large and small mouth bass seem to be the fisherman's choice. Crappie, catfish, and hybrid bass are numerous also.

Tornadoes are overly hyped. Very fierce, but small storms that do a lot of local damage in very small localized spots. It's no fun though if you happen to live in one of those small localized spots. I've lived here all my life, seen many more than my fair share, and have no injuries or property damage from them.

Like any person defending his home turf, I prefer tornadoes over earthquakes and hurricanes any day of the week. :-)

I won't touch the OKC thing other to say I don't like city living and especially don't like OKC. Just my personal experience and opinion.

Cost of living is great.

OKC is nice but not very pretty as a whole. However, an hour in most directions gives you some very pretty areas, and 2 hours gives you some beautiful and sparsely-populated areas. I personally prefer and chose NE Oklahoma.

Fishing in OKC area is poor, but again, 1.5 hours in any direction gives you some great fishing.

Hunting is pretty good anywhere. Average buck is 1.5 yrs old, 6 pt, and 110 lbs dressed. The harvest sets a new record almost every year.

Housing market is still in good shape.

Most people who live here their whole life will never see a tornado, although all will be in warning areas many years. With a simple tornado shelter, your life is protected from 95% of all direct strike tornados, and the remaining 5% usually come with some warning time.

Seasons are well defined and gardening is good from April until October. People here are very nice as a whole.

I live in OKC. I can't speak for hunting/fishing, but I really like OKC. I grew up just outside of Denver. I have to say I prefer OKC over Denver :) The city is pretty slow paced, the people are friendly and the weather is definitely warmer than zone 4 :)

I've only had one real brush with a tornado in the 20 plus years I have lived here. I have friends that were in the Moore tornado though. Honestly, this is the best place to live in regards to tornados, we have wall to wall coverage...forever and ever! I can't remember a single tornado that took anyone by surprise here. Also, I understand we have never (maybe I should say rarely) had a tornado during the overnight hours...those are the most deadly.

When sun goes down, so does tornado threat
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Â The atmosphere across Oklahoma makes it less likely for tornadoes to occur in the overnight hours than in the Midwest and eastern United States, a national weather expert said.
(snip)
In Oklahoma, 75% of all tornadoes occur between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m., said Harold Brooks, a meteorologist with the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman.

"We have this very strong peak in the late afternoon and evening and very low numbers overnight," Brooks said.

The lower and middle levels of the atmosphere in the Great Plains don't communicate with each other as much at night, which is necessary to form a tornado, Brooks said. The result is a calmer atmosphere after sunset.

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Nocturnal Tornadoes.

P.S. in regards to winter temp....it was 73 degrees on Sunday. Granted that's a little warm even for us, but it was nice to walk around in summer clothes for a day or two. Today we have rain and cooler temps, probably in the middle 30's.

Lisa

Hey Eric-
I've moved to OKC area from Louisiana and I have really loved it. Mostly for the VERY friendly people and overall conservative values. We are a rare area of the country that has a church on most every corner. If you like hunting/outdoors you should fit in well here. The fishing is poor, (compared to having lakes all over the place in La) Its pretty lame because our few "lakes" are man made for water sources. The city itself is not overly pretty- theres a lack of trees towards the west side and I have found that most people aren't just all excited about landscaping their yards and neighborhoods. Not sure why just some observations from an "outsider". The four seasons are nice. They may come all in the same week or even day but they are nice all the same :). If you garden you will enjoy our longer growing season- and when you get down here we will introduce you to growing OKRA which you probably can't do in zone 4. :)
If you are outdoorsy- I would suggest looking into one of the outer areas of okc. Theres more land available there and it may also put you closer to some lakes or hunting leases. Many of the areas are growing but still some good buys are out there. Choctaw, Mustang/Yukon, Wellston etc.

I used to live in OKC, it is a fine city if you take a little effort to learn your way around. There is a good fine arts community, a strong community/volunteer system, plenty of cultural diversity - really there is a place there for just about any take on life, conservative or not.

Also, if you prefer country living, OKC's metro area stretches wide, and you can pretty much be in the country and still have city services.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife is a very accessible building near the state capitol complex. I include the link below.

most of all, welcome!

Here is a link that might be useful: oklahoma department of wildlife