Kentucky-----East Tennessee

[MikeSmithWV]

I also see a lot of simialarities in Southern WV and Eastern KY. However, I see them in a different light than SilverZuk. I do see where SilverZuk is coming from but to say that these areas doesn't have alot to offer all depends on what you want offered. I have lived in Southern WV all my life and feel that the area offers me all that I want in life. I have a good job. I have good neighbors. I have several close strip mine areas loaded with rabbits. I have 1000's of acres of Mine Land that I use as recreational areas(four wheeling, deerhunting, ect.) I have a few good trout fishing streams. I live 45 minutes from Charleston, WV, which is the state capitol, and less than a half days drive to the ARHA World Hunt. We have alot of God loving people here also. The only thing I think Southern WV can't offer is flat land, a high crime rate, and a lot of good beagles(and thats partly my fault). JMHO

BTW, We are still far enough away from the Pike Co. outlaws that we only see them occasionally....

[TC]

Moved here last March Finally Feel like I have Come HOME!!!!!
You think land is bad Here? try Oregon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jobs are like everywhere else Ya Gotta Just Want to Work!!!!
AND guess maybe I am gettin older but MONEY aint everything!!!!
Come on Down Hillbilly You will fit right in!!!!
heck If they let me in I am Dang Sure they Aint gonna throw You out!!!
If you like the Hustle and bussle!!! Weelin And Dealin!!! Got ta Get MINE Attitude Ect then KY aint the place fer ya!!!!
But if ya Want to get to know yer neighbors!! have folks stop on the road and see if yer Ok!!! Wave at ya All the time and ask about yer family and MEAN IT then Your headin in the right direction!!!!!!!!!!

[ny hillbilly]

I grew up poor, in a city, in the "projects" , and then in a neighborhood where they now have frequent shootings and deal drugs at all hours right on the street. I would go and stay with my dad however on weekends who lived in the swamp (literally) along Lake Ontario and also stay with my grand parents in a town not far from me. I would lay on their carpeted floor with my feet under the heat register for hours and pour through the Field and Stream magazines and Outdoor Life that they got in the mail each month. I used to day dream about hunting and fishing all of the time and even in class at school would often be caught by the teacher drifting off in my mind to lands far away as I sat there in my chair. I guess in todays world I would have been labeled ADHD and found myself on medication. My Uncle Pete who was only a few years older than me started taking me hunting and trout fishing. I remember the first animal I ever shot was a woodchuck. He had me lay on a small rise and draw down with the rifle as he guided me through breathing and slowly easing back on the trigger. When it was over he pounded me on the back, laughed and yelled darn good shot! I on the other hand was in disbelief that I actually made the shot and when we walked up to the now dead animal I cried. I was not sure I had done the right thing. Uncle Pete could have made fun of me and called me a baby but instead he quietly explained broken equipment, holes all over the pasture, hurt live stock and the natural order of things in general and that what I had done was a good thing, proper and right. He was a good man and role model for me and though he is now gone his sensitivity and lessons of hunting live on in me. There were other hunting and fishing characters in my childhood that would come pick me up and tag me along for company and their antics could fill a book. Come to think of it I should write that book it would be a gut splitter and probably make the best seller list. I'm getting long winded so I need to stop but what I want anymore is a simpler way of life. I'm not looking to ever be a millionaire because I have met a few along the way and they were miserable. I'm not looking to sit on some sandy beach with the la de da crew sipping on fruity drinks because I would look scary in a speedo and I don't like wedgies. I'm not out to prove anything to anybody or even myself. I tease my wife and tell her if I could move to some area that was in need of a good nurse and could survive on getting paid in chickens and goats I would. I want a nice warm safe place to live with similar folks who think hunting in us is not so much a sport as it is just bred into us much like our hounds. Nature or nuture or a little of both, it don't matter to me it is just there and I don't appologize for it. I would like a big front porch however and some running buddies who play instruments because me and the kids all play and bluegrass is high on my list.
NYH

[TC]

Your Welcome to Come sit on My Porch any day Hillbilly!!!!!
Ya know there are those that Say Dreams dont Come true!!!!!
Well All ya Gotta Do is Believe My Wife and I talked about this for YEARS
And thanks to A great Friend (Oakhill) We are now Living it!!!!!!
We Poured 15 years of our lives into making it happen.
just believe Hillbilly!!!!!

[JIMMIE ABSHIRE]

Hilly, listening or should i say reading your post brings back many a memory, I have taken for granted our little state i love so well, you are right also . I am a redneck and do stick with ky boys , but it just aint me its all of us . Kentucky may be backwards and all. But there still is a genuine filling that people really do care. I still take my ol buddies rabbits and ck by to check on the sick and elderly, dont everybody?

This world is going to hell and ky hopefully will BE late as always too follow suit. Come on down to our neck of the woods , you cant go wrong [/list][/b]

[oakhill]

I told NYH this story once before.

The Lord made the world in 6 days. On the 7th day He rested. While resting he spun the world around and kissed it. Where the kiss fell the Lord called it Kentucky. Just can't get any better than that.

[Lynn Perkins]

BTW, We are still far enough away from the Pike Co. outlaws that we only see them occasionally....

Mike you make it sound so bad and here we thought you were our friend................Anyway did you ever finish filling out the application to be one i sent you?
U do live close enough to fit in,Chip E is one of us and i think Karl is Also!!

[Pine Mt Beagles]

OAKHILL
THAT WAS VERY WELL PUT,US OLE KY BOY'S ,LOVE FAMILY ,FRIENDS,AND MOST OF OUR NEIGHBORS.MOST OF US SPEND A LOT OF TIME OUTDOORS.I CAN RIDE AN A.T.V. FROM MY HOUSE,AND RUN MY DOG'S,GO FISHING ,DEER HUNTING, TURKEY HUNTING,MIGHT NOT SEE ANY ONE ELSE ALL DAY THAT SUIT'S ME FINE,BUT HILLY COME ON DOWN WE WILL FEED YA SHOW SOME OF THE COUNTRY.-BUT- JUST DON'T TALK DOWN OUR HOUND'S.WE KY BOY'S TAKE DOG'S SERIOUS JUST ASK THAT GA HILLBILLY,,,AND WE DO STICK TOGETHER

KEEP'EM RUNNING
PINE MT BEAGLES

[Lynn Perkins]

I would like a big front porch however and some running buddies who play instruments because me and the kids all play and bluegrass is high on my list.
NYH

NYH i don't play but enjoy bluegrass very much.I can get you hooked up though for i am real good friends with Timmy Cline,he's made many a good bluegrass album,he's the son of the famous Curly Ray Cline.Also have a good friend(Mitch Bently) that played Bass for the group called Natural blend,so we can hook you up.Plenty great pickers in pike county and surrounding counties,you should be here when they have a "get to gather"

[SilverZuk]

Boy knew i didn't have much but hadn't realized i was poor,thanks for pointing that out to me.Actually life is what you make of it wherever it is,whether it be WV or Ky...

Lynn,
I am not taking anything away from anyone, anywhere. I am not criticizing anyone based on location or making generalizations about people by location.
I grew up near Montgomery WV. There were very jobs. I was fortunate that my Dad had a good one.
There are some great people, some really rugged land but lots of open space, but few opportunities for work.
Where I grew up I fished and swam from April to October and hunted from October to February. It was a good childhood, but when it came time to get a job most had to leave (myself included). I surveyed for mines (mostly Massey) in the mid 90's. Coal prices dropped and I went from working 60+ hours a week to low earnings. It is a tough place to make a living for the average guy. It is either feast or famine.

I have worked (surveyed) all over the coal fields in WV and some in Virginia.
I spent a year surveying gas wells through McDowell, Mingo, Logan, Wyoming counties in WV. I lived out of motels in Gilbert, Welch, Pineville WV, Grundy Va, and other places. I know what it is like. I know the pros and cons. If I was telling someone to come to WV, I dang sure would be classifying it to say all of WV is not the same. There are fewer opportunities in certain areas.

I been over in Eastern KY quite a few times for different jobs and recreation. It is nice around Paintsville, Prestonburg, and seems to get nicer as you go west.

Like you said, it is all what you make it.
I'd rather live up a mud road hollow in a tar paper shack than live in a city.

[SilverZuk]

There are good and bad. You see more people moving out of the area I came from than moving in. I left and haven't looked back.

I wrote this a while back on a four wheel drive club message board about coal mining and West Virginia:

West Virginia produces nearly half of the nation’s coal, it is a close second behind Wyoming which is about 5 times larger by area.

Roughly half of the nations power comes from coal, so therefore WV produces roughly 25% of the power for the United States. In theory we should be one of the richest states in the Union. However, all of our coal and timber dollars keep leaving this state without us hardly ever getting a turn on it.

It is partly the reason I like WV – No economy, poor people trying hard to scratch out a living. Even the ones that think they are wealthy don’t realize that they would just be another “rat in the race” in Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, or Los Angeles.

We are living in a time that has already past most of America. A time where we can grab the shotgun, hop in the truck, ride up on the hill and squirrel hunt without anyone caring. I hate to see all the coal and timber leave this state without the residents getting another turn on those dollars, but then again if we had an economy we would be just like North Carolina – everything fenced, gated, and posted. We are going to see a lot of the properties that many of us take for granted be closed in our lifetimes. Enjoy it while you can, respect it and treat it like it was your own, and don’t let others abuse it. All it takes is one idiot dumping a load of household garbage along a road to have it closed for everyone.

I would like to see the people living here have it a little easier, but then again the hard times that many have to face keep us grounded to reality and closer to the truth and to God. I always wanted to leave this place, and once I traveled around some I realized that I want to die in the Hillbilly Nation of West Virginia.

If you disagree with that, I guess we will have to disagree.

[MikeSmithWV]

That was a good post Matt and one that I agree with..

Lynn, Its a tough decision. I have the application filled out but I'm still debating whether I should put it in the mail or not. I'm not sure what it will do to my reputation if I associate with the mafia. I mean just look at Chad. When I first met him his name was plain ole Chad. Now after he joined up with the so called mafia it is J.C. Blair. Then there is all this talk about silver bullets and shootin people. I also can't seem to get out of my mind that pic of you and Tackett that was posted some time back..... It seems like it may be a bit much for me...

[Lynn Perkins]

SilverZuk i agree and understand!

Mike it is a hard row to hole,but all in fun.Mafia didn't have anything to do with chad changing his name,its when he left the POOR county of pike and moved to winchester he became important and famous but how many counties and/or Mafia's have their very own john caines.......and please don't bring that picture up anymore i get sick to my stomach

[J.C. Blair]

[quote="MikeSmithWV"]
I have the application filled out but I'm still debating whether I should put it in the mail or not. I'm not sure what it will do to my reputation if I associate with the mafia. I mean just look at Chad. When I first met him his name was plain ole Chad. Now after he joined up with the so called mafia it is J.C. Blair. [quote]

I'm still the same ole chad from back in the day, I just associate with a different crowd. Its amazing all the people you meet through trialing and I have met a great bunch of people. I remember where I come from, I just cant get back as much as I used to. The Central KY Mafia and the Eastern KY Cornbread Mafia have joined forces, I mean Johnny Caines is our mascot, what more could a guy ask for!!

Cya down the road Mike, and tell Mr. Griffith hello for me.

[JIMMIE ABSHIRE]

Mafia is just that ky proud and strong , we actually have let in a few outsiders from differnt states, With mixed results . I would let all of you in but would have to kill ya. . Ky sticks like gorilla glue , if we fight its usally resolved as quick as it started . Screw one of us ya just screwed probaly 20 or more . We aint a big time outfit , but we all stand for a few things . Rights right and wrongs unfortunate. Gotta be able to drink pretty good and hard at least 1 night of a big hunt weekend .
Never cuckle ur buddys , theres plenty to go around . Ya gotta be able to judge at least once every hunt (unless ur seriously injured) then it goes to vote . your dogs must present jump power and the ability to win the Big One . Dont buy champs or grands , make em . There must be at least 12% mtn zion pete in ur bloodline . Rain and or snow will not stop us from tresspassing on our favorite spots . Coors light and shine is drugs of choice. Maybe the splif. If ya dont like bluegrass kizz my azz.
Most are true blue ,cards will do in a pinch. This is the surface of guide lines if you met theses requirements hilly welcome to the bluegrass, the banjo music and mask stuff with the sheep will be a later date.