Caribou Gear Tarp

AITA (Am i the @$$hole)?

Had my kids' mother wanted to move away and take them, it would have required her burying my corpse somewhere.

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If you want everywhere to be Montana, you are going to be disappointed. That said lots of other places of cool things going for them.
Absolutely. But some people don't need Montana and what it offers, while some do.

I cannot live without mountains. To the point where it's in our will that if my wife and I die prior to our kids growing up, they must live with family in or west of the Rocky Mountains.
 
Hmmm

I put my boat in 15-20 times a summer in NW MT and N ID. Never seen such a thing.

Maybe I need to venture out.
 
Nothing on that list would entice me to live in Florida....sorry.
Trust me, we don't want any more people moving here. I wish everyone felt the way you did, as libs are moving here in droves to escape places they ruined, and will now ruin Florida in due time I'm sure.

None of the "benefits" (some tongue in cheek) I listed are "reasons" to move to Florida......but if you have to live here for work or family dynamics (like the OP), there are plenty of things to keep a true outdoorsman busy. Just as there are some population centers in Montana you probably would rather not live, that doesn't mean the whole state is like that. Just because you have taken a few trips to Florida to some touristy beach area, population center, or Disneyworld/Epcot, etc. doesn't mean you know spit about living Florida. I am not from Florida, and I probably won't live here 15 years from now either, but to say it's one of the worst states to live in (as some on here have said) is pure ignorance.

Little side story....had a couple of young guys from Colorado pulling the taxidermy trailer come by my house last year to drop off a euro mount. They had driven across most of the country at that point....I asked them where they were headed next, they said somewhere near the beach to try to catch the sunset and a view of the ocean, then to find a cheap motel to crash in for the night. I asked if they wanted to go on a boat ride, and they said yes. So I took them out a mile or so offshore and gave them some cold beers. They were grinning ear to ear the whole time. They asked about fishing and I told them they can come back anytime to go catch grouper and snapper.
 
Trust me, we don't want any more people moving here. I wish everyone felt the way you did, as libs are moving here in droves to escape places they ruined, and will now ruin Florida in due time I'm sure.

None of the "benefits" (some tongue in cheek) I listed are "reasons" to move to Florida......but if you have to live here for work or family dynamics (like the OP), there are plenty of things to keep a true outdoorsman busy. Just as there are some population centers in Montana you probably would rather not live, that doesn't mean the whole state is like that. Just because you have taken a few trips to Florida to some touristy beach area, population center, or Disneyworld/Epcot, etc. doesn't mean you know spit about living Florida. I am not from Florida, and I probably won't live here 15 years from now either, but to say it's one of the worst states to live in (as some on here have said) is pure ignorance.

Little side story....had a couple of young guys from Colorado pulling the taxidermy trailer come by my house last year to drop off a euro mount. They had driven across most of the country at that point....I asked them where they were headed next, they said somewhere near the beach to try to catch the sunset and a view of the ocean, then to find a cheap motel to crash in for the night. I asked if they wanted to go on a boat ride, and they said yes. So I took them out a mile or so offshore and gave them some cold beers. They were grinning ear to ear the whole time. They asked about fishing and I told them they can come back anytime to go catch grouper and snapper.
This is basically all one needs to know about Florida correct?

 
That was a totally different and very unique spot, definitely tight quarter hunting.


Friends have shared some canoe camping pics with me from FL... looks pretty cool.

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If you want everywhere to be Montana, you are going to be disappointed. That said lots of other places of cool things going for them.
BTW, I was quite shocked to see that there are ample reservations for those Chickadees.
 
F everyone that participates in those parades. Got caught up in one last summer on Smith Mountain Lake when a bunch of morons decided it was a good idea to run three columns of boats through the most congested part of the lake with no regard for right of way, the wake they were throwing, or common sense.
 
F everyone that participates in those parades. Got caught up in one last summer on Smith Mountain Lake when a bunch of morons decided it was a good idea to run three columns of boats through the most congested part of the lake with no regard for right of way, the wake they were throwing, or common sense.
Glad I have missed them. Sounds like a mess.
 
I’m posting this more to vent so thanks for allowing me the catharsis. A brief backstory is that I’m a medical professional who gave up my twenties living in major cities to achieve my degree and met my wife in the city during my last year of training. My goal was always to move to the mountain west, and we have been there for over a decade. She is very close to her mother and they are both immigrants so our smaller community lacks the immigrant population that she is very fond of and feels more at home at. I told her when we met that our current state wouldn’t have to be permanent if she grew to to dislike it which she has, then we could move.

Eleven years have passed and we now an elementary school daughter. I have made good on my word to my wife that literally any time that she or her mom wants to fly to visit each other, I will pay the ticket no questions asked. In addition, I paid cash for half her mom’s house so she could retire to the south without a mortgage and she owes me nothing in the meantime, only that I get half the house value after she passes which isn’t exactly a wise investment overall. Her mother was able to retire but hadn’t visited nearly as much as I’d hoped (about twice a year). My wife and daughter fly to her about 3-4 times a year so in total they see each other probably about 40-60 days a year, and could do more if her mother came to us more since we are limited by our daughters school year.

In addition, I paid for my wife’s education and she is now a stay at home mom who is able to volunteer at our daughters school and be with her as much as she wishes.

My current job is fantastic and jobs in the new location would be a 10-15% pay cut and/ or a 25-50% reduction in vacation not to mention having to start over with building my reputation, etc. The upside is my wife would be very supportive with me flying back to the west and also Alaska to hunt for 3-4 weeks per year albeit I would be a non-resident.

I love my wife dearly and fear that eventually this will boil down to an ultimatum and if we did split, I would defer and let her take our daughter to the new state which would probably end up making me move there anyways to see her. This is of course a horrible, worst case scenario and my wife and I love each other very much and overall are doing very well. It’s just this one pretty major sticking point. Anyways, I realize this kind of post to a hunting forum is akin to financial advice and pretty inappropriate. Mostly I just wanted to vent and air it out so thanks for the venue to do so.

I know I'm late to the party, but here are a few thoughts . . .

1. You and your wife are a team - hopefully you both play for the same team and not opposing teams. ;)
2. Your daughter's upbringing is very important - if she is assimilated in her school and other facets of her life, I wouldn't uproot her.
3. People die. Your family may unroot everything to be close to your MIL, what if she passes away suddenly? Not to be callused, but it's a reality.
4. If you move closer to your MIL, are you ok with her becoming a bigger part of your marriage than she already is?


Best of luck on your decision! FWIW - I live in a place that I never thought I would. It's turned out to be absolutely fantastic!
 
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