But sometimes they must be faced! I bought my property, a beautiful 250 acre tract in western Kentucky, 2 years ago January. So second deer season. Love it. But...it’s every bit of 6 hours from my home northeast of Atlanta. Not a huge deal until we welcomed a child in February, our first and only, now it’s a “big” deal. My wife is great, i have been able to go up several times this spring, summer and hunted last weekend so far with several more hunts to come. But the reality is it’s not easy to go anymore and I know that the amount I want to go vs the amount I realistically can go is running a massive deficit. The cabin is nice but small, unfinished, and off the grid, not exactly welcoming for the wife and small child. The hunting is good but so far the reputation of the area has outweighted the reality, no shooters on camera for my standards (140 or better is what I’m after). Both neighbors have shot 160’s so far this season so it’s not like hunting a unicorn.
The dilemma, do I sell my place and buy in Georgia. I have been looking and found some stuff that’s interests me that is actually larger and one in particular has a house/lodge on it that is more than I would ever deserve. A place where my wife and kid could come up and spend the weekend no problem with electricity, air conditioning and a full functional kitchen and the absolute best part...2.5 hours doorstep to doorstep. The problem is I have big deer dreams and though Georgia has fine deer for the areas I can afford it doesn’t necessarily stack up to western Kentucky. I would say a 130 class deer in this area is not uncommon by any stretch but a 150 is gonna be an anomaly (according the record books, whatever that is worth, the top 10 in the county are all over 160 so not dink’s). Oh also I hate hot weather, Georgia’s freaking hot, I love cold, I hate rattlesnakes and I love the midwest broken ag and timberland.
If you’re still with me what would you do. Ultimately the decision lies in do I stay in kentucky, hunt and work when I can with the chance at “better” hunting, but understanding there will be some inevitable hurt feelings cause I want to go more than it’s responsible to do so. Or sacrifice the chance at a world class deer for the comfort of a place my family and hell even friends could go easily, a place I could run down for a day trip if I wanted or a short weekend or whatever that wasn’t 12 hours of driving and more land under my control which has always been a goal.
I hate big decisions...