The "affordable" thing can be a problem. I absolutely LOVE where I'm located now, but land around here is 10K an acre. It's only about an hour and a half west of Katy/Rosenberg in the west Houston area, lots of absentee landowners out here. Pretty country, LOTS of game, lakes here and there, the coast only 70 miles drive for good salt water fishing, great duck and goose hunting available from public land (about 100 miles) to local rice fields. We were lucky to find a HUD foreclosure and got a great deal on several acres of woods and a house. My box blind is 200 yards behind my back porch. My gun range is my back yard, part that ain't my garden.
Yeah, we both love it out here. We were thinking hill country, but events happened and we found this place. Sure wouldn't change my mind now! Besides, we're a lot closer to family here. My BIL has 400 acres over near Kenedy, about 2 hours, and we're going to go help him with the hog problem in a few weeks. In Texas, helps to know folks with lots of land and, other than east Texas, there is not a whole lot of public land. I have lots of deer here, though, and occasional transient hogs for my hog trap. Life is good regardless.
NE corner of Texas is another area of affordable land and WMA hunting all around and lots of lakes. But, it was low on our list as it's a long way from family, not that Barksdale (hill country) wasn't, but NE Texas is WAY up there from us. East Texas is a little crowded, too, more folks live in the eastern part of the state, but they do have lots of lake fishing and public hunting lands from WMAs to national forests. You can go to the Texas Parks and Wildlife site and check out Annual Public Hunting for maps an info on the lands they have. There are five national forests in east Texas that give added public hunting. Most of the counties up there are one buck counties, though, and the land is forested, heavy cover for the most part. Lots of pigs up there, but can't hunt 'em at night on public lands, maybe in the national forests, but not on the WMAs.
Oh, BTW, Texas has no income taxation, but some counties, the property taxes can give you a heart attack. I guess they make it up there.