Hello ya'll!

I have been offered a good paying job in Oakdale and have some questions to ask before moving there.

1.  Are there good places to shoot?  I like shooting 1000 yards, doing rapid fire, and shooting at night.  I have zero interest in fudd ranges.  I'd love to get into PRS, pistol matches (IPSC, IDPA, etc), and various other tacticool stuff.

2.  How good is the hog hunting and how do I get into that?

3.  Will I be able to rent an affordable apartment/house and not have to deal with methbillies, theft, or "urban youths"?

4.  Are there any good Bible believing churches in the area?

5.  What are my prospects for finding someone marriage quality in the area?

6.  Will I be able to buy cheap land to shoot on?

7.  How soon will communism spread to the area?

I'm a little further to the north of you.  For pistol and rifle matches check out practiscore.com Usually the same groups that put the matches on are under the same name on Facebook.  Leesville pistol match is usually the second Saturday of the month and is uspsa style they are having one on the 26th if you're around.  Lafayette is usually Wednesday or Thursday nights and is USPSA.  Bossier City is usually on a Sunday havent had a chance to shoot with them yet.  There is also a new club in Natchitoches trying to get started doing USPSA style matches.  For long range white feather in Leesville is currently 700 yards and i heard a rumor they are eventually going to push it to 1000.  Long Range Ally is near the Kingston Frierson exit on I49 it is at least a 1000 yard range.  Feel free to IM me about matches if you need help finding a few.

I'm going to be honest with you:  Oakdale is kind of a shit hole.  Lots of meth, black on black crime, etc.  Its pretty rough, no joke.  

I live 30 minutes south in Kinder.  I would seriously consider looking at places out of town but near Oakdale.  I wouldn't suggest going West from there, Pitkin isn't much better.  Kinder is a great town, though we just had a major hurricane so places to rent or buy are going to be hard to come by.  I would suggest talking to a realtor, which I might be able to put you in touch with.  

There's a range just south of Oakdale, but I've never been and I'm not sure what they offer.  The hunting is pretty good in that part of the parish, but most of it is private leases.  There is the West Bay WMA but I've never hunted there.  You may have good luck finding a piece of land to buy out in the country, again I would suggest talking with a realtor.  

There are a few good churches in the area.  Not sure how old you are but I'm 35 and find dating to be pretty shitty.  YMMV

Either you're getting a job at the prison or the Boise plant (or whatever its called now).  I can't imagine too many places in Oakdale that would offer a good job.  

Just my $.02.  I've lived in Allen parish most of my life.  Even dated a girl from Oakdale many years ago.  She got out while the getting was good.  Any questions let me know.

Thanks for the info guys!

I talked to a buddy who escaped Deridder and he basically said "don't live in south LA if you can swing it".  I'm inclined to believe him, and if I take this job I'll always have an eye for something better (unless they pay me a lot more than I expect to be paid).  Therefore, I don't plan on buying property anytime soon.

I'd basically be an investment analyst for a company that has a large amount of rural land in LA.  I am going to try and see if they will be more flexible on job location and perhaps live in Alexandria.  I can't really live further south than Oakdale because of where the companies land base is- it would make commuting to more northern properties a chore.  

How liveable is Alexandria?  I drove through it briefly and it seemed to be sketchy in some areas.  Are there good places in town?  I don't want to have a bunch of "diversity and inclusion/scientists who are curing cancer" on my front lawn.

I'm glad to hear about that white feather range.  All I've got for long range is a nice DMR in 5.56mm, so 700yds is ok for now.  When the wind picks up I can't really make hits past 800 anyway.

I'm only 24, so I'm not necessarily in a rush to find someone marriageable.  That said, non-methed/whale sized 20's aged women up do not live in non-college towns in the US...  On churches, ideally I want to continue going to a PCA church (the non-communist Presbyterians), but those are pretty rare it seems.

There are some decent areas around Alexandria. My uncle and his family live in Pineville, I have a cousin in Ball. Good areas, but there are some more redneck places the further you get away from the big city. I don’t know how bad the crime is up there but I can ask around.  

Pineville should have some decent rental properties. Its big enough without being too big. Good luck!

Grew up in Alexandria. Been living in Lafayette for 40 years. Oakdale is definitely a shithole.
Most small towns in Louisiana are dying and full of drugs.

I would start buy renting just to get a feel for the place. Maybe around Alex for now.
All of that area has been devastated by Hurricane Laura so renting might be a struggle.
You going to work at the federal prison? That's about all the area has going for it.

It's official- I'm moving to Alexandria in a few weeks.

I'm hoping to find an apartment for under $800 a month.  I'd like to go higher, but I'm trying to pay off my student loans in under 3 years.  I don't care about comfort or amenities- just don't want my stuff stolen.

I suppose I'll check out the White Feather range and Long Range Alley.  If I stick with this job for a few years and get promoted enough I will probably stay permanently.  In that case, I'll probably buy land and open a nice range of my own.

On concealed carry, I have a current permit with reciprocity.  Is it possible to carry with my out of state permit but with a Louisiana drivers license while waiting for a Louisiana concealed carry permit to be approved?