HOW RURAL IS RURAL?

[3 trees]

50
Acres at house, no neighbors in sight.
High fences and a little distance make good neighbors..

 

[springfield art]

Rural Missouri town of 1200. I live in a house that is 116 years old on a 1-acre lot. However, I have 78 acres of unimproved property less than 2 miles from my house.
The Mississippi River is a mere 3 miles away. No trout, elk moose, or bear here. Lots of deer, turkey, small game, and an abundance of waterfowl in the fall. I can catch fish in the river and don't ever remember getting skunked. It's a pretty peaceful place.

Beautiful! And, let's hope that Ol' Man River STAYS three miles away! Best regards.

 

[Crowtalks]

It "feels" remote for us. 46 acres in a TN holler, down a .7 mile long gravel driveway, populated with some welcoming signs (we have had a couple of FedEx guys backup to the highway). Nearest neighbor (good people) is over 1/2 mile away and the nearest "town" is a 15 minute drive. When we step outside all we hear is wind and birds (no "civilization" noise), and we love it.

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If you're near nameless, then we are sorta close for I'm between Baxter and Gainesboro...

 

[andy52]

Beautiful! And, let's hope that Ol' Man River STAYS three miles away! Best regards.

Ol' man river has been much closer several times but my house is 405 feet above the flood plain sitting on a bluff. If the water gets to my house it's time to build an ark..

 

[TraderVic]

Interesting thread and how each of us has made life work in our little corners of the world.
I would enjoy talking about our outdoor interests, especially muzzleloaders, with all of you over coffee. I still don't have a flintlock

 

[user 53891]

I was living in the middle of the forest a few years back. I could go outside my house and walk 100 yards in any direction and be in prime/legal hunting.

Here we are 40 minutes north of Spokane on 5.5 acres of countryside. There are 3 safe, legal and somewhat acceptable shooting lanes I have found on my land. Haven't hunted them yet. We have quail, deer and the rare grouse. If I was a quail eating type I could fill my bag daily. But I just don't like quail. Deer, this year it is any buck. I don't hunt bucks. Just too few to spend my time hunting an animal I am not likely to see. And I much prefer doe and fawn to buck.
Now when it goes to any deer here... eventually I will get out and hunt again. Won't take long to fill a tag. They bed down in my yard and there is always a bunch of them around. Makes me wonder what is wrong with fish and game. They aren't counting the deer like I do. Their herd count is way off and low. But they have weird math that don't make sense. And part of it is road kill counts. But that fails to take into consideration that on mild winters the deer are less likely to go on the roads. And they tend to only count from state and county roads. If they would drive out to some of these small roads and look at our fields in the evenings they would count hundred of doe per field. But they only count certain days and not much at night.

....get me rambling and bitching on that topic lol

Well, the first problem is Washington state, the second problem is, no matter if it is local, state or federal government, not one of these government agencies have ever been efficient and or capable.

 

[chorizo]

50
Acres at house, no neighbors in sight.
High fences and a little distance make good neighbors..

Yes.....and common courtesy, which in urban areas is in inverse proportion to density, goes a long ways too.

My immediate neighbor, who's dog if its outside is barking, was putting up signs on her fence that said "Caution: Watchdog" I couldn't resist and asked her, "Do you call it a watchdog because you watch it sit on its a** and bark incessantly?"

She never liked me much in the first place...less so now...but the dog gets called inside when it starts yapping now.

 

[senseisugarbear]

My property 4 acres is just outside the village limits pop.92 .village limits are my property line. I can shoot, raise any animals I want and they leave me alone. I've been here 53 yrs.and holden'. Got deer ,coyote, ****, squirrel, rabbit fox, turkey and lots of birds..Got a cabin in the Ozarks with 7 acres pretty much the same setup. born and raised in the City of Omaha Ne.til I was 16 . I don't care to have nieghbors , and DEFINATLEY don't want to lose the FREEDOM I got.......
Be Safe>>>>>>>>>>>Wally

 

[flashpoint]

Find of my lifetime. Solid 1950 3 br 2 story house on 3.5 acres surrounded by a 65 acre private estate. Mine used to be the chauffer's house. The whole package is situated in rural southern Lancaster Cty PA. Surrounding properties run heavily to small farms, many of them Amish. But only 15-20 miles to the city and shopping, very good medical care, restaurants, etc etc

Several state game lands within 30 minute drives. Unhappily my passion is birds. Grouse in particular. So wanting to hunt them involves driving a couple hours. But deer, coyote, squirrel, rabbits, ground hog, stocked (DUMB) pheasant are nearby.

Solanco, I hunted Lancaster county in the old days. You'd see flocks of wild birds in fields as you drove along. Farmers let you hunt, no edge to edge farming. Sure do miss those wonderful days.

 

[flashpoint]

Hoo boy. Your governor, who is gearing up to run for President, just "tightened up" your modern-gun laws! Expect more tension on the screws! NJ is a really nice state below the Northern part!

Oh, don't I know. I'm in South Jersey but sure do miss those mountains in the North.
.

 

[flashpoint]

I worked very hard to get what I have. This is the view from my computer chair. I can walk out the door and start hunting. I feel blessed every day.
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Robby

Glad you have what you have. A real treasure.

 

[flashpoint]

I live with the wife on 1750 acres/2 lakes (club grounds ) 64 members owning a share and we are one of 8-9 members who live here/Ed

We live on 5 acres here in Northeast Pa in Pike County.
I can hunt right out our backdoor and wander over to our clubs 145 acres which is next to 83,000 acres of State Forest land.
I can also drive 2 miles and hunt 1000 acres that I help a friend take care of.
Also can drive 8 miles and hunt the 70,000 acres Deleware WaterGap National Recreation Area.
Right on the other side of the river in NJ there are lots of public lands to hunt .

I'm originally from PA (Bucks County) and I do miss that area. Pike County from what I hear has a good bear population..

 

[flashpoint]

Semi-rural. A few neighbors within a few hundred yards, but can shoot in my yard. Some wildlife visits, deers, scads of bunnies, antelope in the yard, coyotes all around, black bear poop in the driveway once, neighbor had a wolf in his yard when he came in late, grizzlies come around rarely, but live 3 or so miles away commonly. Lots of elks wintering within 4 or so miles, lots of public land to shoot on 5 minutes away, I can only see the hits out to around 1200 yards though. Its about a 70 mile round trip to get groceries, mail, or anything else.

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[flashpoint]

That' sounds like Gods country. The best to you my friend.

 

[flashpoint]

We are fortunate enough to live on a dead end, dirt road. 33 miles to the grocery store and a gas station within 10. We have 45 acres of woods and meadows. Trout stream is 1/4 mile east and another 5 miles west. I can walk from one stream to the other without crossing any private land. Deer, bear, turkey rabbit, snowshoe hare, grouse and squirrel are all abundant. We even see elk occasionally. It's not perfect, but I am thankful to be where I am.

Good for you. It sounds pretty perfect to me. Good luck.

 

[flashpoint]

We've lived in the same home in Louisiana for almost 40 years. 6 acres all surrounded by woods a mile and half from our very small town. It’s all pines for the most part, poor habitat. But my wife told me she saw a doe on our gravel road today coming home from church. Our land in Mississippi is 160 acres of mostly (90%) good hardwoods. Both my east and west boundaries are deep feeder creeks feeding into a live, fast flowing main creek which is my northern boundary. I have almost a 1/2 mile on the main creek. White sand bars and bream, bass, & catfish. There are a couple of families living within a mile or so to the east. But to the west, north, & south there’s nothing but woods and clear cuts for 6-7 miles, even then there may one house then more woods. This is where I’m happy and where I spend most of my time. Luckily my wife and family love it too. I’m very blessed to have but I worked hard many years to get it.
I have deer, turkey, bobcats, red fox, a few coyotes, and the occasional young Boar hog wandering through. And the usual raccoons, possums, armadillos, squirrels, but very few rabbits. Closest town is 14 miles away. The county is as large as any other average county in the US, but to total population is less than 12,000. So it’s pretty rural.

Sounds like the perfect spot. It's great that your family loves it also. You are indeed blessed.

 

[flashpoint]

I live with the wife on 1750 acres/2 lakes (club grounds ) 64 members owning a share and we are one of 8-9 members who live here/Ed

I live in a tract home in Mexifornia. Nothing here but mudsharks and zombies. Local Nat'l forest burnt to a crisp and no water. A real modern "forbidden zone"

Woah. sounds like you are in survival mode. Hang in there and hopefully the rain will come.

 

[flashpoint]

I have a 60 acre place 3 miles from a small town, however, except for varmints, doves, and an occasional duck, hunting sucks.
Since I am getting so damned old, I used half of my IRA and bought a 150 acre place 200 miles away. Now I have deer, turkeys, hogs (!@#$%), and bears along with all the varmints. The place is 17 miles from a large city but everyone living there are old-timers who hunt so tree huggers are non-existent. It suits me fine except for the long drive.

Good for you. That's a pretty nice piece of land.

 

[Eutycus]

Definitely not urban and not yet completely rural, our little community has a little less than 300 people. But there are close neighbors. I own a 1/4 of a "city" block. We are surrounded by brush country.

 

[flashpoint]

Wow, what a gorgeous spot.
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