Had I known ihis was probably going to be my last hunting season

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

Jason_W

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2010
Messages
2,203
Location
Valley of Stucco and Sadness, CA
for the foreseeable future, I would have gotten out there a little more. I had a good final partridge season, deer season was as bad as ever (granted that's my own fault).

My wife is a strong candidate for a promotion that while increasing our income substantially will require a move to the most anti-gun anti-hunting state in the nation, California.

I'm also going to really miss ice fishing and mackerel fishing in the summer.

It's a lesson to relish your hunting and fishing opportunities while you have them. A free day not spent in the woods or on the water is time squandered.
 
From one Mainer to another, sorry to see you (probably) leaving. I spent a long day in the frigid woods today with my muzzleloader to end the 2013 Maine deer season. Single digit temps but had fun chasing deer just the same!
 
Ya gotta move where ya gotta move, I'll bet there's some good hunting there somewhere.
 
If you go, get involved and go fight the good fight for gun owners in the People's Republic of **********. We need some good folks behind enemy lines.

ETA: That's interesting. When I type out the name of that State, the filter catches it as a forbidden word :)
 
I've got a lot of family in Cali. It may be among the most anti-gun states in the nation, but there's some great hunting to be found in the Eastern mountains around Mammoth, and in the North. It would take one heck of a promotion to make me move to Cali, though; and I really don't like where I live now.
 
You can still hunt deer here, you will just have around 2 million guys in the woods with you. You might find out it ain't so bad, we do have a lot of forest service land (public). Up north, where I live, we have some good fishin. Right now it is on and crackin!! Look me up when you move and I'll show you some spots.
 
California has some great hunting and fishing
Click to expand...

I've heard that's true in places.

I think the hardest adjustment won't be the state itself, but the fact that we'll be moving to a major metropolitan area, or at least the outskirts/burbs.

Right now, I can drive a half hour and be in a place where I can hunt or fish (fresh or salt water). I've been spoiled growing up in the rural northeast in that hunting and fishing is something I can do here once or twice a week. Sometimes early in the season I can even sneak in after work bird hunts. I don't imagine that will be possible in a city or even 20 miles outside of a city.
 
California has a lot of gun restrictions, but lots of opportunities to hunt. You can always hunt out of state. Make the best of it.
 
Since people don't use their location much here, where exactly are you moving FROM? One guy mentioned Maine.

I was born in CA, and left in my mid 20's. My brother is still down there and he owns guns. Yes the restrictions suck.

You sometimes have to do what you have to do, but what is your age? Really consider hard how much you enjoy where you live now. My most recent move was within WA state and for nearly the exact reason you give. And we still nearly cry when we think of where we left (we lived on the Canada/USA border) - don't get me wrong, were we live now is not bad and the job I took is great, but still the place we left was the best place I lived in my life and regret moving. We could have made it on my wife's income and me finding (eventually) a lesser job. But I was all gung ho on the most $ possible and not having the wife work while she cares for the family. Which works fine for us, but still the family life was better up north. Tough decision!
 
We're late 20's early 30's, no kids.

We both really enjoy a lot of various outdoor activities. We do a lot of hiking together and she enjoys bird hunting with me on the nicer days. Can't get her out ice fishing, though.:D We also had a small veggie garden this spring/summer that we enjoyed keeping and tending to. Fresh stir-frys all summer were awesome.

The problem we're up against is the economy in this state is horrendous which leads to a constant state of financial stress. The few jobs available are largely low paying service sector stuff and there is almost nothing that matches my skill set. It's hard to enjoy things like hunting and fishing when you know that you're one emergency away from indigence at any given time. It's a classic case of poverty with a view.

The wife's promotion (if she gets it) will mean a 5-digit yearly pay increase. I've checked the job market in that area (Sacramento) and there is definitely a lot more for me to choose from and the options pay a lot more.

Who knows, maybe we'll be able to make enough out there to afford things like hunting leases or enough for a piece of good hunting land somewhere.
 
I read about the hot and dry summers.

I did visit my wife out there when she was working at the west coast facility for a month. We drove to visit my sister who lives in Lake Tahoe.

The ride from Sac to Tahoe was beautiful. I really liked what I saw of the the Placerville area, though that's too far a commute from Sacramento to be practical.

I've been told that hunting is pretty big in the Sierra Nevada foothills, but I'll have to see it to believe it. Unlike Maine, where it's pretty much assumed that everyone hunts and owns guns, I'll probably be keeping that fact more to myself in California where it seems that being into hunting and shooting makes you something of a pariah.
 
the opposite for me in 98

i was forced to leave NYC for florida in 98..

i couldnt imagine leaving the city..

Now i often think.. what was I thinking... best thing that ever happened to me.. and i dont go back ever.. (unless a funeral)

pray on it... God will work it out..

FG
 
Sacramento = very hot summer (dry though just thought I would throw that out there) .
Click to expand...
My daughter lived there for a couple of years. Hot and dry would be an accurate description.

I trust you have investigated the differences in the cost of living. I suspect that, unless you are seeing at least a 50% increase in income, your standard of living may actually decline.

Your total tax burden will most likely be twice as high. Commuting is usually brutal. Tahoe is incredible
 
Try to make Lemonade. Sacka-tomato isn't nearly as bad as LA, San Fran, etc. Since you already have most of your hunting stuff it won't cost too much to continue your hobby. You can be in good hunting areas just a couple of hours from Sacramento.

I wouldn't want to trade places w/ you, but the folks riding you for "selling out" for the almighty dollar need to realize that, given a certain amount of maturity, the equation isn't money vs freedom but freedom vs money + marital bliss.

I did the opposite move (well, from the east cost to flyover country) a decade or so ago. The wife doesn't like it here nearly as much as the rest of us do, and that is a cause for stress. I am making about half of what I could be making "back east" but my quality of life is better out here. My wife is making a small percentage of what she could be making back there, which adds to her stress (and detracts from my quality of life :( ) You gotta weigh your options, and make your decision, as I'm sure you did before posting. Now make the best of it, which probably involves cutting back on rather than giving up on your hunting.

All the best,
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top