Costs of hunting. - Page 2

kraigwy · August 7, 2016, 08:06 AM

Its all relevant.

I'm retired. I said when I retired I would do nothing but hunt, fish, and shoot.

That's pretty much what I do.

But the cost of hunting can be an expensive hobby, or it could cost virtually nothing.

I buy gadgets and stuff because I like gadgets and stuff. I have had some rather expensive hunting trips where I spent a lot of money and got skunked.

I also harvested game for a few cents.

My first deer as a kid cost $.25. I didn't need a lic. I used my grandfather's single shot 16 ga. Walked from the house to the hunting spot. And we butchered the deer our selves. The $.25 came from walking the highway picking up pop bottles to raise the money to buy 3 shotgun shells.

I spent a couple thousand dollars to fly from Anchorage to Kodiak, and charter a plane to take me to Afognak hunting Elk. Spending two weeks of the 10 day trip weathered in, and had to be rescued by the coast guard.

I spent a few cents for some black powder, cast a bullet, used an old shotgun primer from my skeet shooting days in the 70s, to harvest a deer in my back pasture. Cut it up and tossed it in the freezer.

I spent $3500 for a guided bear hunt in Idaho, a couple hundred for the tags, forgot the cost of driving there and staying in motels to and from. Probably over five grand, only to get skunked.

Here there is lots of public land, lots of game, you can hunt for a little of nothing. If I did that I'd save a lot of money, but I wouldn't get to buy fun stuff. What would I do with my money but drink it away setting on a bar stool at the VFW telling lies.

I don't drink, I'd rather tell my lies around a camp fire.

If I didn't hunt, I'd spend my money traveling to rifle matches. That way I could still spend my money on gadgets and stuff.

My kids are all grown and doing fine. My wife will get my pensions when I'm gone and wont have to worry about anything.

I have the choice of eating Antelope or Deer at a few cents per hundred pounds of meat, or eating that same critter for $100 per lb. or more.

I have a group of friends at Cabela's who depend on my for their lively hoods. I have to think about them.

EIB0879 · August 7, 2016, 08:18 AM

My only two hobbies are hunting and fishing, and I hardly ever fish anymore. Hunting season is what keeps me going through the year, i.e. I can put up with anything during the year by thinking of going hunting. Truth is that in Texas, I could hunt year round.

With that said, I do spend a lot for draw hunt applications in Texas and have been drawn several times over the last twelve years, including a mule deer hunt and turkey hunt last season. I also put in for USFW NWR hunts and have been drawn for turkey and deer this year. These are pretty inexpensive hunts and you can scout all you want on the NWR hunts.

I will spend whatever I need to, within reason, to hunt. I have most of what I need, but also look at doing as much hunting as possible while I still can. And I like hunting alone even though I'm in my late 50s and not as spry as I used to be.

krimmie · August 7, 2016, 08:26 AM

WVMountaineer · August 7, 2016, 09:07 AM

I have a lifetime license. I spend $80 a year on extra tags. I usually put up 4-5 deer/year. Not much small game anymore as it is just me and the wife now. Lets say an average of 180 lbs of meat. We do our own butchering and Vacuum seal it.

I don't run feeders. I don't drive a long ways to hunt expect on Thanksgiving week. I get out maybe 15 days a season. 10 of those days I walk to my area or, drive 2 miles to hunt. The week of rifle I drive 102 miles one way. Our camping tent was paid for long ago. So is everything we use. Depreciation has those cost to such a minimum now I can't figure them. I make my own arrows. I use old heads that are 30-40 years old. I have pennies in them. Aside from a Nicholson file, a batch of 100 feathers, and hot melt, my costs are almost non existent.

With all that said, it still costs money I'm not figuring. I spend several hundred dollars on our rifle trip. I spend my time making shafts, sharpening heads, fletching arrows. etc... Countless hours shooting my traditional bows etc.... So, the costs are high even if you don't have to spend a lot of money.

I truly don't know what they are. But, figuring just costs the price per pound is much lower than say organic beef. Figuring in everything, I'm saying Organic beef is CHEAP in comparison. I do hunt for the meat and depend on it but, I hunt for so much more than that as well. So, it is a cost that I have never tried to justify. Lord willing, I'll never have too. God Bless

GarandTd · August 7, 2016, 10:20 AM

As stated by many, hunting can cost little or it can cost much. I hunt in a simple fashion as I learned when I was young. Public lands are nearby, guns are heirlooms passed down, gadgets are minimal (monocle, scent cover or urine, and a call). One of my biggest expenses is a good pair of boots to keep me warm and dry. I look forward to passing on this simplistic way. My main goal is to pass on the basics and abillity as I don't need to regularly hunt for food.

jmr40 · August 7, 2016, 07:48 PM

Yea, everything costs more, but people make a lot more.

In 1950 the median yearly income for homes in the US was less than $3000. In 2014 it was over $54,000. Adjusted for inflation we work about the same amount of time to purchase the same consumer goods as we did in 1965. There was a time in the 1980's and 1990's when we were actually paying less than in 1965.

In short, the prices we pay for everything relative to our incomes are about the same as it was in 1965.

eastbank · August 8, 2016, 09:55 AM

i always wanted to go to africa to hunt and got to go with a friend four years ago and after that hunt i was hooked and have gone three more times since. believe it or not all my hunts were under 5000.00 US dollars for every thing from start to getting home. i,ll admitt i stay with friends and hunt with them useing their rifles on privite ranchs. i just came back from a 18 day hunt in mid july and took 13 animals and the total cost was a little over 4300 us dollars. with the rand being 14.51 to one dollar at that time, every thing was just about 45 percent cheaped this year compared to last year when the rand was 10 to one dollar. a good friend went to new mexico for a week long elk and his cost was close to 6000.00 US(he did kill a good size elk). to drive to new mexico took close to 30 hrs, to fly to south africa took 24 hrs. eastbank.

bamaranger · August 9, 2016, 12:57 AM

I don't have an exact dollar figure for you, but I can comfortably estimate that the cost of my hunting has gone up about 3 times the amount that it did 20 years ago.

I base that on what I a paid then, and what I am paying now for club dues, and the cost of loading components, arrows, stands, that sort of thing. I don't buy a lot of high tech or trendy boots and clothes, but that has gone up as well.

License fee/permits have gone up as well, but AL is still pretty much a really good deal as far as costs paid to the state.

August 7, 2016, 08:06 AM	#26
kraigwy Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2008 Location: Wyoming Posts: 11,061	Its all relevant. I'm retired. I said when I retired I would do nothing but hunt, fish, and shoot. That's pretty much what I do. But the cost of hunting can be an expensive hobby, or it could cost virtually nothing. I buy gadgets and stuff because I like gadgets and stuff. I have had some rather expensive hunting trips where I spent a lot of money and got skunked. I also harvested game for a few cents. My first deer as a kid cost $.25. I didn't need a lic. I used my grandfather's single shot 16 ga. Walked from the house to the hunting spot. And we butchered the deer our selves. The $.25 came from walking the highway picking up pop bottles to raise the money to buy 3 shotgun shells. I spent a couple thousand dollars to fly from Anchorage to Kodiak, and charter a plane to take me to Afognak hunting Elk. Spending two weeks of the 10 day trip weathered in, and had to be rescued by the coast guard. I spent a few cents for some black powder, cast a bullet, used an old shotgun primer from my skeet shooting days in the 70s, to harvest a deer in my back pasture. Cut it up and tossed it in the freezer. I spent $3500 for a guided bear hunt in Idaho, a couple hundred for the tags, forgot the cost of driving there and staying in motels to and from. Probably over five grand, only to get skunked. Here there is lots of public land, lots of game, you can hunt for a little of nothing. If I did that I'd save a lot of money, but I wouldn't get to buy fun stuff. What would I do with my money but drink it away setting on a bar stool at the VFW telling lies. I don't drink, I'd rather tell my lies around a camp fire. If I didn't hunt, I'd spend my money traveling to rifle matches. That way I could still spend my money on gadgets and stuff. My kids are all grown and doing fine. My wife will get my pensions when I'm gone and wont have to worry about anything. I have the choice of eating Antelope or Deer at a few cents per hundred pounds of meat, or eating that same critter for $100 per lb. or more. I have a group of friends at Cabela's who depend on my for their lively hoods. I have to think about them. __________________ Kraig Stuart CPT USAR Ret USAMU Sniper School Distinguished Rifle Badge 1071

August 9, 2016, 12:57 AM	#33
bamaranger Senior Member Join Date: October 9, 2009 Location: North Alabama Posts: 8,303	x3 I don't have an exact dollar figure for you, but I can comfortably estimate that the cost of my hunting has gone up about 3 times the amount that it did 20 years ago. I base that on what I a paid then, and what I am paying now for club dues, and the cost of loading components, arrows, stands, that sort of thing. I don't buy a lot of high tech or trendy boots and clothes, but that has gone up as well. License fee/permits have gone up as well, but AL is still pretty much a really good deal as far as costs paid to the state.

August 7, 2016, 08:18 AM	#27
EIB0879 Member Join Date: May 22, 2016 Posts: 45	My only two hobbies are hunting and fishing, and I hardly ever fish anymore. Hunting season is what keeps me going through the year, i.e. I can put up with anything during the year by thinking of going hunting. Truth is that in Texas, I could hunt year round. With that said, I do spend a lot for draw hunt applications in Texas and have been drawn several times over the last twelve years, including a mule deer hunt and turkey hunt last season. I also put in for USFW NWR hunts and have been drawn for turkey and deer this year. These are pretty inexpensive hunts and you can scout all you want on the NWR hunts. I will spend whatever I need to, within reason, to hunt. I have most of what I need, but also look at doing as much hunting as possible while I still can. And I like hunting alone even though I'm in my late 50s and not as spry as I used to be.

August 7, 2016, 08:26 AM	#28
krimmie Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2007 Location: S. Florida Posts: 280

August 7, 2016, 09:07 AM	#29
WVMountaineer Senior Member Join Date: January 11, 2015 Posts: 330	I have a lifetime license. I spend $80 a year on extra tags. I usually put up 4-5 deer/year. Not much small game anymore as it is just me and the wife now. Lets say an average of 180 lbs of meat. We do our own butchering and Vacuum seal it. I don't run feeders. I don't drive a long ways to hunt expect on Thanksgiving week. I get out maybe 15 days a season. 10 of those days I walk to my area or, drive 2 miles to hunt. The week of rifle I drive 102 miles one way. Our camping tent was paid for long ago. So is everything we use. Depreciation has those cost to such a minimum now I can't figure them. I make my own arrows. I use old heads that are 30-40 years old. I have pennies in them. Aside from a Nicholson file, a batch of 100 feathers, and hot melt, my costs are almost non existent. With all that said, it still costs money I'm not figuring. I spend several hundred dollars on our rifle trip. I spend my time making shafts, sharpening heads, fletching arrows. etc... Countless hours shooting my traditional bows etc.... So, the costs are high even if you don't have to spend a lot of money. I truly don't know what they are. But, figuring just costs the price per pound is much lower than say organic beef. Figuring in everything, I'm saying Organic beef is CHEAP in comparison. I do hunt for the meat and depend on it but, I hunt for so much more than that as well. So, it is a cost that I have never tried to justify. Lord willing, I'll never have too. God Bless

August 7, 2016, 10:20 AM	#30
GarandTd Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2016 Location: Rural PA Posts: 1,639	As stated by many, hunting can cost little or it can cost much. I hunt in a simple fashion as I learned when I was young. Public lands are nearby, guns are heirlooms passed down, gadgets are minimal (monocle, scent cover or urine, and a call). One of my biggest expenses is a good pair of boots to keep me warm and dry. I look forward to passing on this simplistic way. My main goal is to pass on the basics and abillity as I don't need to regularly hunt for food.

August 7, 2016, 07:48 PM	#31
jmr40 Senior Member Join Date: June 15, 2008 Location: Georgia Posts: 10,805	Yea, everything costs more, but people make a lot more. In 1950 the median yearly income for homes in the US was less than $3000. In 2014 it was over $54,000. Adjusted for inflation we work about the same amount of time to purchase the same consumer goods as we did in 1965. There was a time in the 1980's and 1990's when we were actually paying less than in 1965. In short, the prices we pay for everything relative to our incomes are about the same as it was in 1965.

August 8, 2016, 09:55 AM	#32
eastbank Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2008 Location: pa. Posts: 2,450	i always wanted to go to africa to hunt and got to go with a friend four years ago and after that hunt i was hooked and have gone three more times since. believe it or not all my hunts were under 5000.00 US dollars for every thing from start to getting home. i,ll admitt i stay with friends and hunt with them useing their rifles on privite ranchs. i just came back from a 18 day hunt in mid july and took 13 animals and the total cost was a little over 4300 us dollars. with the rand being 14.51 to one dollar at that time, every thing was just about 45 percent cheaped this year compared to last year when the rand was 10 to one dollar. a good friend went to new mexico for a week long elk and his cost was close to 6000.00 US(he did kill a good size elk). to drive to new mexico took close to 30 hrs, to fly to south africa took 24 hrs. eastbank.