Moving out East (VA or WV) and I need a pep talk…

[TheCougar]

I’ll take you up on that!

Front Royals city district may be small. But, it’s no longer a quaint town

you can take that to the bank.
I spend a week or two I. Front royal every year. I’ll introduce you to some world class small mouth fishing and a couple friends of mine there I hunt with every year. They are the real deal. Great hunters. Don’t be fooled either. There is great hunting in all that area. It’s just not as remote hunting as I like.

 

[S.Clancy]

Flying for United.

Are you a FO or Captain? My buddy flies for Hawaiian and commutes from MT. He grew up in PA and hunts like a maniac. Flying is a good career for hunting as far as his life tells me.

 

[TheCougar]

So if you’re a pilot why do you have to live somewhere specific. Honest question as I have no clue how it works.

It’s a bit complicated to answer. If you’re close to base, you can pick up premium trips that pay double time - can’t do that if you commute. Also, depending on your plane and seniority (I’m brand new, so I have no seniority), you have to sit reserve (“on call”), which means if I lived in Montana, I would have to fly out to my base and sit in a crash pad with a bunch of other pilots for 2 weeks a month, waiting to get called to fly. If I am senior enough to hold a line, I get a schedule I can plan on and commute to. Commuting sucks. Right now, I live in Fort Worth and have to travel to Newark to fly. So I have to try and snivel a jumpseat the night prior (or day of, if my schedule has a late start), get a hotel, fly my trip for 2-4 days, then snivel a jump seat back home if I can get a flight, otherwise I get a hotel and try the following day. It sucks, it costs me money, stress, and more importantly - time. If I live within a couple of hours of my base, I get all that time, money, and stress back - plus I can pick up premium trips and make more. DC is a junior base (along with NYC, LA, and San Fran) because no one wants to live there, so I can hold a schedule as a brand new pilot and maybe get premium trips or upgrade to a plane that pays more. If I live around Denver, which is a senior base, I lose out on pay, good schedules, and upgrade opportunities. EVERYTHING in the airlines in based on seniority, so being in a junior base is a way to create artificial relative seniority and enjoy a decent life until I can get to where we want to go. Oh, and Denver housing is effing crazy, so there’s that too. I really want to live in WY or MT and I’m not sold on the airlines, but we are going to give it a go.

 

[TheCougar]

Are you a FO or Captain? My buddy flies for Hawaiian and commutes from MT. He grew up in PA and hunts like a maniac. Flying is a good career for hunting as far as his life tells me.

Brand new FO- as in just finished training, at United. I refuse to commute while I have my kids in the house (13,11,8,5). Time is something I can’t get back. As much as I live and breathe hunting, I won’t sacrifice a lot of my down time with commuting and lose that family time forever.

 

[S.Clancy]

Brand new - as in just finished training, at United.

Got yea. You may have to suck it up for a couple yrs but being a pilot is one of the best jobs to live the life you want. I know another guy that flies for Delta, he does international flights only and works like 8-10 days a month, and as a captain makes bank. I also think there is pretty good whitewater in WV

 

[Bottom Rung]

I’m from eastern CT and northern VA towards DC is insane. You will most assuredly hate that area. I’ve driven family from south/central PA to Dulles. It wasn’t too bad but it was the weekend and I escaped in laws for a few hours. The areas you are describing won’t be bad, plenty rural and plenty of space. Just not “west” big. I think you will do fine finding a nice piece of property to call home. As a side note, buy yourself a lot that’s large enough for you to hunt and enjoy.

 

[sargent]

I've hunted spring turkeys in VA and WV. If I had to choose a state to move to, I'd pick WV. If you've done most of your hunting out west, get ready for a whole new level of "thick" cover.

 

[awasome]

. I also think there is pretty good whitewater in WV

New River during bridge day is awesome. Gaulley River during the fall when they open the damn is world class.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I have been an east coast guy for a while. It ain’t all bad. Give PA a think. We relocated to my wife’s home town near Scranton a while back. Good hunting culture. Between their state game lands and other public stuff there are a lot of no pay options for whitetail. I belong to a shooting range and have some friends that give me access to over 1000 acres for next to nothing Within an hour of my house and 1000s more for not much driving. Between NY and PA I have dropped 2-4 deer a year since I started hunting 6 years ago Using mostly a bow and a combo of spot and stalk and mobile ambush. I rarely hunt a stand. Plenty of guys do an annual elk or antelope run out west each year.

plenty of turkey, squirrel, rabbit, coyote and trapping options. Wing shooting varies a bit but you can find it.

another thing to note about the east is the size and proximity of states. It makes it easy to mix and match tags and hunting opportunities. a drive of 6 hours or less gives me access to 8 states. Drive 12 and I can be anywhere from Indiana to South Carolina. you can mix and match tags and states and hunt pretty hard if you are inclined. I am not talking about $500 tags. My NY out of state tags were $120. I hunted Tennessee last year for $100 more. With PA, those two states gave me +15 deer tags and allowed me to deer hunt from October to February.

if you are into fishing, within 3-4 hours drive I can do salmon and other Great Lakes fishing, inshore and off shore in the Atlantic. plenty of rivers (catfish, etc.) and lakes (bass) and I have a dozen fly fishing streams just in my town, including some trout in the creek running in my front yard.

 

[540-Virginian]

I’ll take you up on that!

If you move to Front Royal, Melting Pot Pizza should be your first eating out experience.

 

[540-Virginian]

I've lived in Northern Virginia, Winchesters, and now in Central Virginia.

Do you have any other priorities you look for in a city/town besides hunting and airport (good health care, political leanings, opinions on gun rights, etc.)?

In Virginia; Winchester, Front Royal, Middletown, Berryville, Woodstock are all solid little towns or small cities to live in. They'll have the necessities or be close to major things like Target, Lowes, Walmart, eating out, getting to IAD, etc.

School systems don't really concern me personally as I believe the parents play a huge role in their kid's development. Health care on the other hand is more important to me personally. Inova, UVA, VCU are tops. So, living near one of those regions if you want/need superb healthcare may be a priority. I know of some hospitals to avoid like the plague, but message me if you need to know.

For hunting Whitetails in Virginia, it's like everywhere else in that it all depends on where and when you go. I have some National Forests I hunt that I'm the only one all day. I know a WMA that is empty most of the week and full of deer. The National Forests have lower deer densities, but if you like to hike you can get to them. It's no secret where they bed; it's pretty obvious, but hard to hunt from a physical standpoint. Bear and Coyote hunting is plentiful in the National Forest, almost too plentiful...

Private land hunting can be stellar but, like everywhere, getting permission is tricky, and leases around the Northern Virginia area are stupid expensive. If you're into Urban Archery, there is an archery club in Fairfax that has some serious urban hunters and there are places to hunt deer in the cities. I have heard of guys getting as many as 12 deer in one morning from one stand.

What I'm finding is, If you hunt opening week archery or muzzleloader, Saturdays, or during rifle season, Yes, you'll see some people. Also, the tidewater region (Virginia beach) has some crowds and that also seems to be where most of the firearm injuries come from (shotguns and thick brush).

But the middle of the week, in the middle of October, in the middle of National Forest is pretty dead where I've been. My problem is I have too many spots and I can't hunt enough right now (young kids).

Message me if you want more details.

 

[RonnieMilsurp]

I live in MD between DC and Baltimore, so basically identical country to where you're looking at. We have a very long archery season for whitetail (Sept through the end of the year) with breaks for gun season. Really, only gun seasons are crowded here, and even then if you know the property well and are willing to walk a bit more, you can get away from the crowds. Plus, you'll find that some properties are better than others. The farther away you get from DC, the better it'll be in that regard.

The turkey population is doing very well these days and I highly encourage getting out there for them.

For fishing, if you get up into Appalachia, there's year-round native trout fishing (upper Potomac for one), as well as robust stocking programs throughout spring, summer, and fall. There's decent bass fishing as well (Deep Creek Lake) as well as all the Chesapeake Bay has to offer if you're willing to head that direction. Don't forget to float the rivers for some great smallmouth action (the most fun to catch, IMO). The mid Potomac is a great smallmouth fishery.

It isn't the West, but it has its own beauty and desirable things. It will require you to develop a somewhat different skill set but it is a totally legit hunting experience in its own right. Plus, it's not like you can't go out west to hunt! I just went to Idaho last month for muleys.

 

[TheCougar]

I have been an east coast guy for a while. It ain’t all bad. Give PA a think. We relocated to my wife’s home town near Scranton a while back. Good hunting culture. Between their state game lands and other public stuff there are a lot of no pay options for whitetail. I belong to a shooting range and have some friends that give me access to over 1000 acres for next to nothing Within an hour of my house and 1000s more for not much driving. Between NY and PA I have dropped 2-4 deer a year since I started hunting 6 years ago Using mostly a bow and a combo of spot and stalk and mobile ambush. I rarely hunt a stand. Plenty of guys do an annual elk or antelope run out west each year.

plenty of turkey, squirrel, rabbit, coyote and trapping options. Wing shooting varies a bit but you can find it.

another thing to note about the east is the size and proximity of states. It makes it easy to mix and match tags and hunting opportunities. a drive of 6 hours or less gives me access to 8 states. Drive 12 and I can be anywhere from Indiana to South Carolina. you can mix and match tags and states and hunt pretty hard if you are inclined. I am not talking about $500 tags. My NY out of state tags were $120. I hunted Tennessee last year for $100 more. With PA, those two states gave me +15 deer tags and allowed me to deer hunt from October to February.

if you are into fishing, within 3-4 hours drive I can do salmon and other Great Lakes fishing, inshore and off shore in the Atlantic. plenty of rivers (catfish, etc.) and lakes (bass) and I have a dozen fly fishing streams just in my town, including some trout in the creek running in my front yard.

We looked into eastern PA and commuting to Newark for work. The taxes on the east side are CRAZY - 2.6% in Stroudsburg, which drove us away really quickly. WV property tax is really low. Even VA is lower. PA really sticks it to you on the east side.

 

[Desk Jockey]

We looked into eastern PA and commuting to Newark for work. The taxes on the east side are CRAZY - 2.6% in Stroudsburg, which drove us away really quickly. WV property tax is really low. Even VA is lower. PA really sticks it to you on the east side.

Prop taxes in the north east are a chunk. FWIW I travel for work and I am 100 miles or so from Newark and philly airports. It sucks when you arrive Hime late and have a 2 hour drive but it is manageable.

 

[mlgc20]

I was born in WV and still have lots of family there, including my parents. So, I say this with all affection. As much as I enjoy visiting, it isn't where I would want to live. I almost accepted a job in NOVA a few years ago. It would have been a hefty raise and promotion. We even already had a buyer lined up for the house. But, after visiting and thinking about it, we decided to stay in TX.

Do you not want to consider Houston? Personally, even though it's not my favorite city, I'd rather live in Houston than NOVA. Not from a hunting perspective. Just in terms of general quality of life and cost of living. YMMV. Best of luck in the decision. It sounds like you are thinking about the right things. I'm sure you'll make the right choice. If you put your family first (which it sounds like you are), you can be happy darn near anywhere.

 

[TheCougar]

Prop taxes in the north east are a chunk. FWIW I travel for work and I am 100 miles or so from Newark and philly airports. It sucks when you arrive Hime late and have a 2 hour drive but it is manageable.

Where are you?

 

[TheCougar]

I was born in WV and still have lots of family there, including my parents. So, I say this with all affection. As much as I enjoy visiting, it isn't where I would want to live. I almost accepted a job in NOVA a few years ago. It would have been a hefty raise and promotion. We even already had a buyer lined up for the house. But, after visiting and thinking about it, we decided to stay in TX.

Do you not want to consider Houston? Personally, even though it's not my favorite city, I'd rather live in Houston than NOVA. Not from a hunting perspective. Just in terms of general quality of life and cost of living. YMMV. Best of luck in the decision. It sounds like you are thinking about the right things. I'm sure you'll make the right choice. If you put your family first (which it sounds like you are), you can be happy darn near anywhere.

Houston is even more senior than Denver. Its actually the most senior base in the United system, outside Cleveland. I’d stay in TX if it wasn’t for that.

 

[NVVAHunt]

Was in a similar situation moving to the Winchester area trying to decide between staying in VA or moving to WV. The housing market around here has been a little nuts (got a great realtor referral if you want). Decided on VA just outside Winchester. Not so much for K-12 schools (you said you home schooled I believe) but for college choices when the little ones get old enough. VA has some too notch colleges and universities and to be able to pay in state tuition is a plus.

As for hunting it’s a toss up. I’ve got friends places I hunt every year but have been doing some more exploring on WMA’s and National Forest.


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[TheCougar]

Was in a similar situation moving to the Winchester area trying to decide between staying in VA or moving to WV. The housing market around here has been a little nuts (got a great realtor referral if you want). Decided on VA just outside Winchester. Not so much for K-12 schools (you said you home schooled I believe) but for college choices when the little ones get old enough. VA has some too notch colleges and universities and to be able to pay in state tuition is a plus.

As for hunting it’s a toss up. I’ve got friends places I hunt every year but have been doing some more exploring on WMA’s and National Forest.


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I’ll take the realtor referral, thank you!

 

[EastCoaster]

I took my first trip out west this year after hunting in the southeast for 30 plus years. It was awesome but hunting public land here vs public land in Wyoming wasn't much different. I watched two ATVs rear end each other opening morning and pretty much saw people all day every day. There is alot more land to roam but I never felt "alone." I say this because I think you will find a lot of positives in the east between decent hunting, great fishing (Fresh/Salt), and pretty places to get lost in with in a few hours of any town. the only negative would be Northern Virginia.....there is no hope for that place.