I know this is an old thread but Ive been contemplating moving out west my whole life for good. I always loved the west and wanted to be a cowboy (read too many Louis Lamour books lol). Problem is, I love the culture of the south and alot of things that go with it. Here in Georgia, I can hunt whitetails from September - January and shoot 2 bucks and 10 does not including your check in hunts which offer the chance at more bucks that dont count towards your state limit. All you need for access is to knock on some doors or hit some of the numerous public land pieces. I like that I can shoot out for an hour after work and have the opportunity to shoot a deer without taking a week vacation. Turkey, squirrel, bear and small game are in abundance. The duck population isnt great but we still manage to shoot some geese and woodies every year. We have fantastic bass, panfish, and catfish almost everywhere in the state. I can go trout fishing up north in the mountains or hit the coast for some saltwater goodness. A license is cheap and you never have to worry about draws or the inability to hunt. Price of living is cheap and we have a great economy. And even though the city and burbs are expanding rapidly, there is still the vestige of southern hospitality and good home values. It is the Bible belt and those values are still embedded within the culture. Also its cool to be close to so much American history. Lewis and Clark are cool, but I see more of an emphasis in education here on early American founding than in places out west. Maybe that's because of proximity to those sights and the ability to see and touch those things. Then again I may be completely off as this is all based on subjective experiances...
Problem is tho it is busy here and I miss those wide open skies and towering mountains and the cold. I love the snow and I still love the west. I lived in Central Oregon for two years and loved it, Lived in a ranching town of 9000 and had world class trout fishing within an hour, 300 days of sunshine and not far from the slopes. Was hard to get used to hunting only a month out of the year for deer/elk with my bow tho. Hunting out west is a whole different experience than hunting the back 40 down here. Luckily I got out when I did as the place really is a leftist hellhole. Government overreach increases and no matter how far away from Eugene or Portland you live, it still trickles down. There also was to be frank, a little bit of culture shock coming from the deep south to the PNW. There is just a different mindsest out there and I dont really want to raise my kids there. It is also very expensive to live and the prospect of buying a home seemed too far out of reach for a newly married 23 year old. I will be visiting it often though as the fishing is fantastic and all my wifes family still lives there.
For now, I am content to live here in Georgia and visit these marvelous places out west. I figure its easier to live here around my family and save money to go on trips and hunts out west than it is to live out west and visit Georgia. The pull and desire to move is still there...maybe one day I can own a ranch in WY or MT but as the late southern humorist Lewis Grizzard once said, "Im American by birth, and Southern by the grace of God."
Also I spent a summer commercial fishing is AK. As an outdoorsman, it was paradise, but the thought of raising a family and living in the dark for 4 months puts a damper on the whole thing.
Sorry for the novel lol.
Problem is tho it is busy here and I miss those wide open skies and towering mountains and the cold. I love the snow and I still love the west. I lived in Central Oregon for two years and loved it, Lived in a ranching town of 9000 and had world class trout fishing within an hour, 300 days of sunshine and not far from the slopes. Was hard to get used to hunting only a month out of the year for deer/elk with my bow tho. Hunting out west is a whole different experience than hunting the back 40 down here. Luckily I got out when I did as the place really is a leftist hellhole. Government overreach increases and no matter how far away from Eugene or Portland you live, it still trickles down. There also was to be frank, a little bit of culture shock coming from the deep south to the PNW. There is just a different mindsest out there and I dont really want to raise my kids there. It is also very expensive to live and the prospect of buying a home seemed too far out of reach for a newly married 23 year old. I will be visiting it often though as the fishing is fantastic and all my wifes family still lives there.
For now, I am content to live here in Georgia and visit these marvelous places out west. I figure its easier to live here around my family and save money to go on trips and hunts out west than it is to live out west and visit Georgia. The pull and desire to move is still there...maybe one day I can own a ranch in WY or MT but as the late southern humorist Lewis Grizzard once said, "Im American by birth, and Southern by the grace of God."
Also I spent a summer commercial fishing is AK. As an outdoorsman, it was paradise, but the thought of raising a family and living in the dark for 4 months puts a damper on the whole thing.
Sorry for the novel lol.
