Considering a move (Read 5710 times)

Nwcid

Considering a move
« on: May 01, 2013, 08:30:27 PM »
I am considering a move to the BI from Washington State.  I have been an avid collector and shooter for as long as I can remember.  The last few years I have slowed down a lot having other things in life going on and other things to spend money on.  I have been trying to read up on your laws but still have questions.

I will be selling a major portion of my collection IF I do move.  This is both to fund the move and due to the HI laws.  I decent portion of the collection is not legal there including NFA items. 

I am trying to decide what stuff I would bring with me but that would all be based on what kind of shooting can be done in HI.  Right now I shoot out my back door on my 300 yard range but I realize that is not going to be an option there.  Is there much shooting outside of "approved" ranges?  Can a person just go "out in the woods" and shoot/plink on their own?  Whenever we are out riding our ATV's or in the woods we have guns on us, is that even an option there?

On that same topic is there a practical way to ship my ammo over for the guns I do keep?  The thing I keep getting confused on is that it gets shipped as hazmat but ammo is shipped as ORD-M.  I have more then a little bit of ammo and with current pricing and availability selling here and buying there seems like a risk. 

I am sure I will have more questions as this thread gets going. 
Don't be confused, I live in Washington.  Yes the state.

Haoleb

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2013, 08:39:38 PM »
Quote
I am trying to decide what stuff I would bring with me but that would all be based on what kind of shooting can be done in HI.  Right now I shoot out my back door on my 300 yard range but I realize that is not going to be an option there.  Is there much shooting outside of "approved" ranges?

On the big island there are no public ranges, period. Depending where you decide to live on the island you may have to drive minimum an hour or more to shoot.
Quote
Can a person just go "out in the woods" and shoot/plink on their own?  Whenever we are out riding our ATV's or in the woods we have guns on us, is that even an option there?

You can go out to public hunting areas but you are only legally allowed to shoot certain types of weapons, if you have dogs with you it allows for more weapons. If not you are pretty limited. You are not really "plinking" when you do this you are "hunting"

Places to ride atv is limited.

There is a proposed range to be built, maybe in a few years. At the pace things get done here. Don't hold your breath  ;)

Basically, it sucks to be a gun owner here.

Old Guy

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2013, 10:57:29 PM »
I'd STAY where you are.

Especially if you're heavy into shooting.

Only reason to live in Hawaii is the Weather.

Everything else is waaay to expensive.

Get Bored fast in Hawaii.

Bigkahuna808

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Re: Considering a move
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2013, 11:18:27 PM »
I love Washington I would move there in a heart.
There are 2 reasons to move to hawaii...you have a high pay job setup here the other is weather.
If your a gun guy don't even think about it, unless you want your stuff to become paper weights due to lack of acess to shooting facilitys

Nwcid

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2013, 04:39:59 AM »
Well the weather and diving are what is driving my thoughts. 

I have lived in NE WA (the dry side with pine trees) 99% of my life and I do like it here.  The winter does not bother me but when the temps start getting over the mid 80's it sucks.  I am spent and worthless.  We end up with roughly 3 months of 95+ temps and a couple of weeks well into the 100's.  I work in Yakima (middle of the state) which is desert and for several months during the summer it never drops below 80 and can easily reach into the 110-120. 

I do lots of traveling for fun and work.  I have been to all over WA and OR as that is my main region for wildland fires.  I have been to ID, MT, CA, CO, SC, FL, AK, AZ, UT, NV and HI (Maui/BI) so I have seen some great places.  I am 37 and HI is the only place I have ever seriously considered moving.  I often find myself thinking of being in HI.  Yes I understand things are more expensive there but I will also spend a lot less on other stuff due to my current lifestyle. 
Don't be confused, I live in Washington.  Yes the state.

robtmc

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #5 on: May 02, 2013, 09:07:30 AM »
If weather and diving are your prime motivators, then the BI is great.  I had a great collection in California before I moved, but was not able to use it much there either with the few ranges.  Sold most of it.  For me, being an olde farte, warm weather and no crowds made living on the BI a cinch, and I would just deal with the Obunga worshipper attitudes about shooting.

The shooting situation here does suck, particularly considering the immense amount of space we have, much of it desert lava fields.  The public range planned up in Waikoloa has been in the works for years.  Looked like it got going again last year, then the politician started playing games again with promised funding.  Who knows.

Old Guy

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #6 on: May 02, 2013, 10:17:36 AM »
If you move here because of weather and diving, you'll get bored after a few years.

Be aware that on the BI diving is Not happening all over due to water conditions.

I used to dive on Oahu.  But only in nice water conditions.  Hated Victory at Sea water.

Hawaii has some of the roughest seas normally.

Weather reports aren't.

Getting caught in 6' seas in a 19' boat is't fun.

Worse yet, try it in a 13' Boston Whaler.  Yep, Been there, don't need it at my age.

A boat is a Hole in the Ocean you're pouring $$$ into.

Only 2 X you'll be happy with a boat, when you buy it and when you Sell it.

Just remember, can't Drive to far on an Island, you can on the mainland.

gsmgc

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #7 on: May 02, 2013, 10:50:39 AM »
I am thinking the other way around.

Have been looking at property in Wash. state for awhile now.

It seems to be a very liberal state.

Although there is a difference between being liberal versus being border line socialist.

Nwcid

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #8 on: May 02, 2013, 02:14:14 PM »
All good points and I do want to hear the real things about life there not just the nice.

I am somewhat worried about getting bored there.  How do others keep from getting bored? 


WA is very decent overall but we are still a "blue" state.  But you can have some NFA, Good carry laws, state preemption so no matter where you go in the state all the laws are the same.
Don't be confused, I live in Washington.  Yes the state.

Haoleb

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2013, 02:22:39 PM »
I personally don't know how you keep from getting bored here. If you are not heavy into ocean activities then in my opinion you are limited. There is nothing available like going out to a lake or river to kayak..Or no exciting activities you can really drive to like say a good concert or something. You can keep entertained for a couple months but after than when you have done everything....

I live in Kona and unless I want to go to the beach, which is still a good 30 min trip to get to a decent one not packed with tourists, I have to drive at least an hour to do anything else. Guess it just depends what you are into.

HUCKLEBUCK

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2013, 11:21:15 PM »
You have a few options, depending on how much money you have:

1) buy huge acreage and build whatever house you want. I personally would minimize the house and maximize the land if I had to cut something.
2) buy huge acreage with a house on it already.

The above depends on whether or not you can or want to live rurally. The more you live off grid the more options you have as far as acreage size. If you have the money to solar/PV and you can get huge land. The whole point is the more rural you are and the more land you have the more you can shoot without people hearing you at all or at least without hearing your shots loud enough that it bugs them. I would just tell your neighbors, no matter how far they are, that you shoot/hunt, and also call the police station and tell them you're plinking, so if they do get calls they till legally have to send police to investigate but the guys that go won't be so concerned about really finding you.

I spoke to a Sargent who patrols in my area and asked him about all this.
He said:
1) if they get a call they have to investigate. That's the protocol.
2) they will drive down the road where people reported they can hear shots but they dont drive down long easements to investigate unless they hear screaming or other indications something nefarious is going on.
3) even if they do drive down a long easement to get to the neighbors house who shares your easement and who who made the call, they will not penetrate your property to find out exactly where you are. They do not go hiking into acreage to find who's shooting.
4) the law states you can't discharge a firearm in a residential area. Of course I asked....he said a residential area is defined per the officers discretion. There is no official definition and it is independent of the zoning of the property. In other words if youre shooting on a 10 acre parcel zoned as AG land, but you're too close to you're neighbors house or a county road, the office can cite you for shooting in a res area.
5) if you do get cited by an officer who's just being a dick, the case goes to the county prosecutor who decides whether to bring a case on you. He said no prosecutor has ever done this, and for the record, he's never heard of an officer citing anyone for plinking/shooting
6) he said use discretion. Depending on the size of the lot, proximity of neighbors and roads, certain calibers and amounts of shooting would be smarter. In other words, if you have a small lot with close neighbors, don't go rapidly blasting 100s of rounds from your m4.
7) he said be smart too: dont ever chance even a ricochet going on a neighbors property. Try to build a simple even small berm so of they investigate they know you're being smart. Also fire away from people and roads of course - even of you know the trajectory would put the bullet in the ground long before it got near a neighbor or road, don't do it.

As an example, I have a spaghetti lot: 17 acres but its about 500x1800 feet. And it's backed by forest reserve and vacant land on either side. My house is on the front of the property. I also drive a 1800' easement to get to it so I'm that far from the county road. And I have only one neighbor about 500' from my house on an identical lot and their house is analogously situated on their property. So when I'm in the back of my property as far as the county road and my neighbor is concerned, I'm in the middle of nowhere - and I don't have a big remote lot at all. So I text my neighbor when the 'range' is going hot so they don't care.  There's even a cop with kids that lives on a parcel on the road just in front of my Parcel, and I informed him to.

Remember you can also,  as many people do,  live in a town with people and amenities but you have the money to by land as well, then do that. You can have it both.

Buying big land and living on it cuts the property taxes by more than half, whether you claim it as residential or agricultural. But even if you don't live on the land, the taxes aren't a killer cause the tax assessed value of land the county uses is a third of what the real estate market value is. $5.55 per thousand dollars of assessed value is the county's current rate so a 100acre parcel would be $555/year if it was assessed at 100k but from my experience a hundred forested acres in a rural area with no structure on it and no utilities running into it (even if all utilities are on the road) would be assessed at maybe 60-80k. So if you have the money to buy in town but also own a big parcel, you could plink, hunt, camp...whatever. Have your own getaway.

For the record big land that is mostly or partially cleared with deep soil and grassy is more expensive but big land that is forested is drastically cheaper.

There are a few private ranges here for the record. Cheap for the one I belong to. GRA. glenwood range association. About 50$ a year.

Boring in Hawaii? Don't know what that means. I dive and there are endless boat and shore dive locations for reef, wall, and lava tube/cave diving, and diving lava entering the ocean when it often does. If youre in shape there are endless opportunities for hiking and camping, climbing mauna loa, mauna kea, hualalai and kilauea volcanos. Hiking and camping the valleys in kohala which can take days/overnight. Got offroading, lava hikes, caving, hunting.  Not to mention countless remote prehistoric Hawaiian archeological sites - not just the touristy ones- ones born and raised locals and even Hawaiians dont even know exist. And if when you get tired of living adventure all the time, and you're smart enough to buy land/home where there's nothing but birds and trees around you, and not a sound or site of any other human being, you stay home and bathe in the peacefulness.

Here's the bad part, so you aren't disillusioned:
1)This place is a cesspool of liberal hippie transplants from the west coast; homeless people, vagrants, welfare parasites from the mainland 'inner cities' who have started coming here like a plague of locusts since Obama became president and he and the state of HI expanded handouts and removed restrictions and requirements for existing ones; and welfare section 8 families and individuals that are literally flown here via tax dollars from the mainland so they can suckle at the giant Hawaiian teet that feeds every leech who comes here to live off the best welfare system in the country. The violent and petty crime rate has and will continue to irreversibly and linearly increase with this emigration - believe it or not kona is infested with illegals from Mexico - thanks politicians!
2) you'll get driven nuts by the fact that the vast majority of locals live under a conservative or libertarian belief system (gun owners, hunters, private property rights, despise intrusive local gov and taxes, traditional values -not the younger generation, religious or spiritual) but consistently vote for dems in local and national elections cause they know nothing about dem/lib/prog/socialist ideology vs rep/conserv/libert/constitutionalism
3) this island is rapidly changing for the worse due to all the negatives associated with liberal policies because the puke libs come here and infect locals with their ideology so that the effect is pervasive and insidious; to be seen in state and county agencies and hospitals to the extent that you'd swear people are actually going nuts.
4) local politicians at all levels are driven like mindless automatons to develop the state until there isn't a blade of grass left so the big island will be honolulu in 20years. They just keep allowing building and developing like they can say no. They won't stop....EVER! Because of this, roads are becoming to few and too small, traffic increases, people are starting to drive with the manners of someone on a freeway in LA who's late for work.

Ahhh.....the bliss of "paradise"...

Hawaiitaco

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #11 on: May 02, 2013, 11:49:32 PM »
Im more of a lurker on the board but i wanted to comment.  I'm 34 and grew up on the west coast.  I lived in los angeles, san francisco, london, new york, maui,big island,  fort worth texas, back to maui.  It has been a whirlwind but a very educational experience.  I can say that every place has had pluses and minuses.  The key to living in hawaii for my wife and I is the ability to fly off the rock whenever we want if we get the itch.  We love having here as our homebase.  We love the ocean, weather , etc all the typical hawaii cliches (aside from the questionable political issues).  My wife and I both make a good sum of money. I think that is what makes it tolerable.  If you are not financially secure before moving out here I would highly recommend you make sure of your reasons.  Other than that, everyone that has commented thus far have good points.

GZire

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #12 on: May 03, 2013, 08:02:44 AM »
................There is a proposed range to be built, maybe in a few years. At the pace things get done here. Don't hold your breath  ;)

Basically, it sucks to be a gun owner here.


.........but if it does get built it is going to be epic.........

spanner1751

Re: Considering a move
« Reply #13 on: May 03, 2013, 06:41:09 PM »
I am thinking the other way around.

Have been looking at property in Wash. state for awhile now.

It seems to be a very liberal state.

Although there is a difference between being liberal versus being border line socialist.

 I am planning to move to Washington State next year after I retire. I am there now looking at real estate. Yes, it's liberal, but the gun laws are much friendlier than Hawaii. I grew up there so I know what to expect as far as weather.
Prices are much cheaper there, and the variety of grocery stores and shopping in general puts Hawaii to shame.