are you thinking of moving to MT?

[chrismford]

Originally Posted by RangerDuke08

Bozeman if where the only police academy is in Montana!

Been a while since you have been around huh? In Helena for years and years.

[rangerider]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Gopher assassin is an honourable profession I once had a cat that singlehandedly exterminated the gopher population east of the Belgrade airport (I lived on Tower Road). Once he got started he spent all day every day killing gophers, and within 6 months there were none left anywhere within a quarter mile or so of my house.

I chuckled harder at that than I have anything for quite awhile - thanks for the laugh!

You wouldn't have knowledge of any offspring of that cat, would you? I know myself and at least two neighbors that could sure use an injection of DNA like that into our barn cat populations...real good mousers, but not keen on big game.

[hengruh]

My family moved to Helena, Montana in 1966, when I was 5. Things were quite different then. It is never easy to move to a new place. The thing is, we took our time, met people, and most of all, adapted to the place and its people as it was. I was young enough that I am basically a Montanan in the way I think, act, etc. "Old Montana" (pre-1960s) generally accorded social status on how long your family has been here, not so much how much money you have. Helena is a bit different in that it does (and did) care about wealth too.

I moved away after 1995. Even though I am from here and have a good education, I could never get a decent permanent job in Montana. I moved back in 2006, to be around family, and because I just was tired of the fast life, career-focus stuff most in the "outside world" are into. Now I'm basically poor and broke all the time, but at least I am home and around family.

I decided to join this forum after reading it a bit. Helena is in the process of pimping itself out, that's for sure. Most people I talk to, aren't from here at all. That's the problem with Bozeman. Bozeman's success destroyed it. It used to be a pretty nice town. But the population rose, the focus on money and celebrity rose, and the natives moved out and Bozeman changed. I hear most people originally from Bozeman moved to Three Forks and Belgrade.

I think some things have gotten better in Helena. There are now a couple of places to eat that are ok, like the Jade Garden, the gyro place by Capital Hill, and the Thai place downtown. But some of the good local places like the Ice Cream Parlour and Gertie's closed in the face of fastfood chains.

Of course I don't like all the new people coming in, not because they are new, but because there are so many, because Helena will become just like Kalispell and Bozeman, and because the new people seem to move to a place to get away from somewhere...then within a year, are complaining about the new place not having what they used to have, and then turning the new place into the same mess they just left.

I know things are going to happen anyways. Helena has been "discovered." My good old, judgemental, clicque-ridden, boring hometown. Myself, if my family was somewhere else, I'd probably never have moved back. The good parts was it used to be peaceful (if dull) and not too expensive to live in. That's changing. Now I hear people honking their horns impatiently, which you never used to hear, it would have led to a fistfight.

Originally Posted by therifleman

Here's my background and "moving to mt" experience, hope it helps someone.

I grew up on a 1000 acre ranch in Utah. At 10 year old, we went bankrupt and moved to california for work. At 15, I moved to live with relatives on a sheep ranch in Montana. At 18 I moved back to California to live with my parents when my mom had surgery. I got married. At 25 my wife and I wanted to leave California due to the insane amount of laws, housing prices, and people. We took a trip through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Oregon. (I have spent summers in all of these states).

I love firearms, hunting, camping, fishing. All things considered we decided on Montana.

My job allows me to work remotely, and Gallatin Field appeared to be the best airport in the state, so we moved to a little town outside of Bozeman.

The good:
It is beautiful here, depending where you live.
The lack of laws/restrictions is wonderful (I can actually run a home business without getting 50 permits).
The weather was easy. People kept telling me how harsh the winters are, and that this last winter was the worst it's been in a while. We never had more than 4 feet drifts where I live, and to me that's literally a walk in the park.
Traffic. there's not much unless you commute to town for work, which luckily i don't have to do.


The bad:
People. In the small town we live in people say hi and we know the store clerks by first name. BUT if you go to Bozeman for any reason, it's like entering a police state. People cut you off, give you the stink eye and generally just don't act neighborly. If your car dies leaving you stranded, most people wont stop so don't expect it.

Now to me, a person who will gladly live in an off-grid cabin 80 miles out of town for the rest of my life, I'm perfectly happy here! I live far enough away that I only see the "Natives" (By Native I mean white people who moved here within the last 30 years but consider themselves better than you) when I drive into town to pick up supplies. BUT, if you plan to move here with kids, or if you plan to live in town... don't expect to find the warm, small town atmosphere you might here about. It only exists in certain small towns, and since you're an "out of stater" you wont be included.


Long story short? Montana is a place for the self-dependant. If you love the outdoors and don't give a crap about having friends, you'll enjoy it here. If you're looking for a warm welcome, consider Utah

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by rangerider

I chuckled harder at that than I have anything for quite awhile - thanks for the laugh!

You wouldn't have knowledge of any offspring of that cat, would you? I know myself and at least two neighbors that could sure use an injection of DNA like that into our barn cat populations...real good mousers, but not keen on big game.

Welcome... sadly, no offspring that I know of... This was a HUGE cat, 16" tall at the crest of the back, 38" from nose to tail (I measured him), and weighed about 22 pounds in lean hard workin' condition. He also seemed to think it was normal for cats to wallow in the mud til you gotta use a boot scraper on 'em before they can come in the house!!

How he got to gopherin' is its own tale... this cat was a stray, probably 9 months old when he showed up one spring... looked a wreck and got named "Mangey". Anyway one morning I heard this gawdawful SCREECHING, went out to see WTF, and here's a gopher standing up screaming bloody murder at my "new" cat, who isn't quite sure what to make of it and is tentatively reaching a paw toward the gopher, but so far the gopher is winning this contest of wills... So, loving gophers as I do I found a 2x4 and proceeded to whallop said gopher, then flung the corpse up on the barn roof for the crows.

A little later I heard the same racket, picked up my 2x4, and gleefully went forth to do violence upon another gopher. Mangey saw me coming with my club, got this "you ain't takin' my dinner this time" look, grabbed the gopher, and ran off with it.

And after that he spent all day every day killing gophers, til there were none left.

My other cats didn't want anything to do with big game either! tho I had a feral cat a few years ago who'd kill gophers occasionally, but it wasn't a blood sport with him like it was with Mangey.

Next time I find myself somewhere infested with gophers, I'm gonna get me a Patterdale terrier.. best little vermin killers around, and they'll take on possums and coons too.

[jarsmom]

When I was growing up we had a doxie named JUM JUM. He was a standard. Strong as an ox and loved big game hunting. The grandparents
tool us to kevin on day (they still had a home there) Just the other side
of the driveway was a gopher, Jum was off like a shot, down the hole went the gopher. Poor Jum, he started digging frantically, we felt sorry for him so I grabbed a bucket and dumped a bunch of water down the hole, out came the gopher into the gaping maw of jum, from then on he was obsessed with every gopher hole . When we got a little older, we would make grand pa take us to the feed lot for a little gopher hunting ??
gopher asassinating ????? was that it.

[seven of nine]

that is what the "plinkster" is for

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by jarsmom

When I was growing up we had a doxie

Heh heh.. I had one once too. She was good for absolutely nothing but killing skunks!