HOW RURAL IS RURAL?

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Even though we all wish we lived in the "wilds" where game was plentiful, with lots of land, lots of freedom, beautiful views, pristine trout streams, and no-one to tell us what to do; unfortunately not all of us are that lucky. I see some on here have no trouble seeing deer, bears, elk, coyotes, mountain lions, upland game birds, mink and otter right out their window. Being I live on a1/4 acre lot in a New Jersey subdivision and have to drive to find a place to hunt, with little game and lots of No Hunting Signs, I was wondering how you would describe the area in which you fortunately or unfortunately live? Flashpoint!
I consider myself fairly rural. Y'all decide. Semper Fi.

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I consider myself fairly rural. Y'all decide. Semper Fi.

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Looks well rural to me. My concerns would be the guy with the hunting cabin next door and whomever owns the large chunk of private land, that has a strip separating you from the national forest and state game lands.
Is there water on the property? Luke a little stream we can't see through the trees?
 
I lived in Muscle Shoals while I was working for the power company, nice subdivision but no room for a shop and only a small garden. I built bows out in the garage, at least 50 of them, and thought "one day I will have a "real" shop".

My wife was always looking for us a more rural place closer to her family's land in Greenhill Al about 20 miles away. Every time she announced "I found us a place" I would look at it and find a major flaw in the location or the house. One day she said it again, I thought it would be another wild goose chase but drove over to look anyway. It was a house being built at the end of a dead-end road about 5 miles out of town, the builder had it in the dry, there was room for a shop and a huge garden plus it backed up to hundereds of acres of forest land.

The house we looked at was full of folk planning to buy it, it didn't take me more than a few minutes to realize I better move fast if I wanted the place. The builder was on sight, I asked what he wanted for the house, he said $184,000 which seemed out of my price range but I figured if I sold my paid for house in Muscle Shoals I could swing it. I told him I wanted the house; he said "let's go draw up a contract "and we did. While we were signing the papers the phone in his office rang, he told the caller "Sorry, but I am in the process of selling the house right now", the caller wanted to sign a contract on the house.

I have the house and 4 acres of woods, A couple of years after I moved in, I had a 28X30 shop built, half for tractor, yard and garden stuff and half for that "real" shop I had wanted for so long.

I love my shop;

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My wife died 9 years ago; I sold the camper after she passed, going out alone wasn't for me.

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I never hunted deer on my land until the last couple of years when getting old age body parts fixed limited my mobility temporally. On a good year with a good acorn crop I may see 50 deer on my land, lately I have been putting a few of them in the freezer. I have planted a food plot for the deer for at least 15 years just to watch the deer, now I hunt it some. I hunt with traditional archery equipment and B/P mostly, if the freezer is empty at the end of the season the modern stuff comes out. The deer become mostly nocturnal a few weeks after the deer season starts.

It seemed strange at first hunting 50-75 yards from the house but I have grown to like it, since I had my hip replaced, I can't drag a deer anymore, my tractor with a front-end loader sure comes in handy for this task.

Here is the view from one of my tree stands below my house, you can see my house in the background.

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The hollow below my house where the deer travel;

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My food plot from a ladder stand I have below the house.

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I lived in Muscle Shoals while I was working for the power company, nice subdivision but no room for a shop and only a small garden. I built bows out in the garage, at least 50 of them, and thought "one day I will have a "real" shop".

My wife was always looking for us a more rural place closer to her family's land in Greenhill Al about 20 miles away. Every time she announced "I found us a place" I would look at it and find a major flaw in the location or the house. One day she said it again, I thought it would be another wild goose chase but drove over to look anyway. It was a house being built at the end of a dead-end road about 5 miles out of town, the builder had it in the dry, there was room for a shop and a huge garden plus it backed up to hundereds of acres of forest land.

The house we looked at was full of folk planning to buy it, it didn't take me more than a few minutes to realize I better move fast if I wanted the place. The builder was on sight, I asked what he wanted for the house, he said $184,000 which seemed out of my price range but I figured if I sold my paid for house in Muscle Shoals I could swing it. I told him I wanted the house; he said "let's go draw up a contract "and we did. While we were signing the papers the phone in his office rang, he told the caller "Sorry, but I am in the process of selling the house right now", the caller wanted to sign a contract on the house.

I have the house and 4 acres of woods, A couple of years after I moved in, I had a 28X30 shop built, half for tractor, yard and garden stuff and half for that "real" shop I had wanted for so long.

I love my shop;

View attachment 211471

My wife died 9 years ago; I sold the camper after she passed, going out alone wasn't for me.

View attachment 211467

I never hunted deer on my land until the last couple of years when getting old age body parts fixed limited my mobility temporally. On a good year with a good acorn crop I may see 50 deer on my land, lately I have been putting a few of them in the freezer. I have planted a food plot for the deer for at least 15 years just to watch the deer, now I hunt it some. I hunt with traditional archery equipment and B/P mostly, if the freezer is empty at the end of the season the modern stuff comes out. The deer become mostly nocturnal a few weeks after the deer season starts.

It seemed strange at first hunting 50-75 yards from the house but I have grown to like it, since I had my hip replaced, I can't drag a deer anymore, my tractor with a front-end loader sure comes in handy for this task.

Here is the view from one of my tree stands below my house, you can see my house in the background.

View attachment 211468

The hollow below my house where the deer travel;

View attachment 211469

My food plot from a ladder stand I have below the house.

View attachment 211470

You sir are living the dream most of us have nowadays.
 
There were times in my early working life were I lived in cities for comparatively short times. But by and large, my life has been spent in very rural country. And around as few people as possible.

My preference too, after 37 years Army moving everywhere but home the last thing I want to do is move anywhere else near people.

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I live on 20 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia, north of PathfinderNC's place. The elevation is 2500'. My house was built in 1850 and the "new" addition was put on in 1870. I have several spring branches (small streams) that feed into a nice creek. It is 7 miles to the nearest gas station and 17 miles to the nearest Wal-Mart. I have several places to shoot.
 

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We live in a small town, about30 minutes from a major city. There is Oneida Lake (largest lake in NY between us. We definetly are in a rural area, but only twenty minutes from suburbia. We are at the base of the Tug Hill Plateau, which is heavily wooded with some farms in it...it stretches about 60-70 miles to the north. We back up to woods, and expect to see deer in the neighborhood daily. Certainly not "country" living. About fifty minutes north we have a camp which is also on the Tug, but the western edge. It is about 25 minutes from Watertown, but is in the middle of state forest, and is a much more rural area. The camp is my getaway, and primary hunting area (ten acres with a modest off grid cabin, surrounded by about 8000 acres forest).
 
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Our place. Top pic is from the very top of our property. Behind the camera is state land. In front looks down on the house about 400 yards away. Across from the house is farm land, great neighbor, then a creek and a county park.
Second pic is about 60-70 yards from the house. Have killed 4 deer from there in the last few years. Very quiet.

Don
 
My brother in law recently passed has a farm of I believe659 acres. He left it to my niece and nephew who will continue his legacy and keep it in the family. My nephew quite the young man has built a couple of flint locks under the tutelage of Herschel House! This farm is only 10 minutes from the historical Ohio river town that I live in. My son and I hunt this piece of Heaven
 

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