Considering Moving Out West

Hey everybody,

Recently my family (mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, me, and my girlfriend) has been considering moving out West, specifically the north West, thats why I'm posting here

Anyways, we're from Alabama and lead very conservative lifestyles and by that I mean we like guns and hunting. We also love to camp, hike, kayak, and fish.

We probably live a 75% self sufficient lifestyle and are looking to maintain that, if not increase. We grow and can our own food and soup mixes, that means a large garden. We process the deer we kill and raise cows, chickens, and rabbits for meat and eggs. We have milk goats and we've gone as far as making our own soaps and have been looking into making goat cheese. There's a bunch more, but you should get the point.

This is where we are at as far as skills and jobs go: My dad is a pastor and he would be giving up the church to move out there. He would probably just work around the farm. My mom is the core lab supervisor and a lab technician at the local hospital. She has a 2-year degree and loads of supervisor experience. My brother is a certified welder and is very good. My sister-in-law is a licensed cosmetologist and is also very good. My girlfriend is about to finish school in as an Occupational Therapy Assistant and I'm about to go to school to be a Physical Therapy Assistant. She will be done with school by the time we move and I may have to stay behind a few months.

What were looking for is this:
-Wooded Farm Land: We want to be able to continue to garden and raise animals for food. Not looking for 100 acres. We live on 5 acres now and would like around 10.
-Close to Ntl Forrest/Mountains: Looking for a place with the forest at its doorstep.
-Loose Gun Laws: want to be able to own about any gun and not have to go through a 6 month ordeal to own one. In Alabama, we only have to pass a background check.
-Great Outdoor Destinations: Pretty self-explanatory. Wanna be able to do the above items with success.
-Good Hunting & Fishing Laws: This means we want to be able to kill multiple deer a year and things of that nature. Don't wanna have one tag per season because you cant feed a family off of 6 mule deer, etc. Also want to be able to keep fish.
-Close to a town w/ hospital: Obviously for work.
-Mild Climate: Really just for growing. We kinda like the cold, but would like 4 seasons.
Right now were just doing research. Were looking at Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, etc.

Just looking for advice. Please feel free to suggest places and steer us clear of others. Tell us about where you live as far as the social environment, geography, climate, job market, outdoor activites, etc.

Thanks,
Drew

 

Also, i love to wheel so any place with good wheeling is a plus!

 

I'll check those places out.. were leaning heavily toward Montana right now.

Also gonna check out Wyoming.. Where's Monte? Lol