The desert, if you know how to live in it, has a ton of very useful natural resources. I used to live in Cedar City, and I've spent I dont' know how much time camping out in the desert. One advantage of the desert is that nobody else wants to live in the desert. The mountains will be full of hunters, and there won't be many deer to eat after long. The desert will probably always have a sustainable population of rabbits. you can sink a well, or even just a shallow pit in a dry river bed, if you pick the right bed and the right spot it would fill up with water and become a drinking hole for yourself, or a powerful game lure in the area.

I'm actually wanting to steer clear of the dense forests. A rampant forest fire could really take care of all your preparations in a hurry, if you're crowded by flammable trees. What I'm really hoping for is grassland right at the border of a hill, with some property on the slope. A few copses of trees in the field are nice for cover positions and deer bedding, and the sloping acreage I would prefer to be moderately wooded.

Oh and I forgot. A small stream loaded with big trout, and strewn with gold nuggets along it's bottom. prefferably with a cabin already built, a half-acre garden, a good root cellar, and a brand new tractor, just chillin, waiting for me.