Cost of hunting

[dgc1963]

Had a thought after reading another post and thought Id add a few of my thoughts, I have a few friends always want to go hunt out west and never make it happen mostly due to $ issues
A bit about me 57 yrs old and was raised by a man that lived through the depresion and fought in WW11
Yes hunting is expencive Yes we all have family obligations ,Homes, cars and lots of other things we need to spend our hard earned dollars on
But do we need new $1000 phones every year ,$75,000 trucks that has the same payment as my house,big screen Tvs $250 dollar a month cable bills
One of the guys that always complains of the cost of doing this or that spends $ like water
I work very hard every day love my life but live very simple, homes close to being paid for no credit card balances if I dont have the cast I just dont need it
I just wonder if we are getting lost in buying this or that and keeping up witth the Jones'es any more and lossing sight of the important things Family, Friends ,Faith
And using our time and $ to buy memories with them not a new phone
Just a Sat morning post from a old fart that didnt understand what his Father was trying to teach him when he was 20 and wishes he was still here so I could tell him I get it now

 

[Fullquiver]

Well having been raised by the same kind of man I got the lesson a long time ago..

l didn't even have a cell phone until less than a year ago. My wife made me get one..My house is paid off (btw: I have been in the same house on the same farm for 28 years) I've travelled to Africa to teach, spent 13 months there. Hunted and fished all over the US and Canada with my boys and still do some of that.. Stood on the continental divide up in the Wind River mountains with my sons.. Fished in the Gulf of Mexico worked helping people rebuild their lives after Katrina..

I've had a great life, mostly though I have learned that even more than memories, helping hurting people who are in need and or without hope has true meaning.. Helping kids in a war torn country get fresh water, or rebuilding a house for an older veteran who can't do it for himself.. Those moments changed myself and my world for the better... They also moved my children more than anything I did or said.... More than any mountain top or deer or fish.

They see meaning in people, not in possessions, or even memories.. Which is the big lesson my father learned from his life. and passed on to me.. It is the same lesson I passed on to my children.. I pray it is a lesson that they pass on to their children..

 

[HandgunHunter]

I’ll take a day in the hills over a hot new phone any day.

 

[LCH]

The guys who don't go because of money, nearly always don't value hunting as a priority. Sure, maybe you don't build points and tie up thousands every year in different states, but if you can't afford a doe tag and a tank of gas you just flat out don't want to go.

 

[88man]

It's that self imposed perception on how and with what they should be doing it with instead of just going hunting or fishing. My dad hunts/fishes/traps over 200 days a year. Lives on fixed income. Doesn't buy new gear and doesnt want for anything but to be able to go enjoy the hunt. The key is controlling the wanting.

 

[glass eye]

Where there's a will there's a way.
I hunt annually in places that most people see as "once in a lifetime hunts" Alaska, Hawaii, New Zealand.
I'm financially poor but rich in time being self-employed.
I don't mind sleeping in a tent ( in fact I love it) and I don't need a 5 star hotel with a mint on my pillow.
You just need to really want it and not be afraid to go out to the unknown on your own.

 

[8andcounting]

I hear it every year too from the same type of people . In nd it’s hard to draw a gun tag every year so I say to the guys that bitch , why don’t U go hunt out of state to Wyoming or Idaho or Montana it’s not that far from ND . Same excuse oh it’s too expensive but those same guys sit in the bar 3 nights a week and get new pickups and toys every other week seems like . Priorities...

 

[gouch]

Most folks are like me and have a limited amount of Discretionary funds. So they spend it on what they like most. I spend most of my entertainment money on hunting, fishing and other activities that get me out into the woods. If I had more money I might try a few more hobbies or maybe just spend more on hunting.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

I wonder if it is a generational thing...I've never been a "gear head", neither are any of my 50+ year old hunting partners.
I don't need a new rifle...my 30-40 year old rifles work fine.
I don't need a new tent...my 27 year old tent works fine (for me)
I don't need a new stove...my 30 year old MSR whisperlite works fine (for me)
I don't need the latest synthetic meat bag, my old meat bags work fine after another cycle in the washing machine.

I don't need a $1000 pair of new Sitka/Kuiu/Kryptic rain gear...my Helly Hansen and a tarp works fine (for me).

My impression from the internet is "gear heads" tend to be from a younger generation.

 

[Steiny]

I've got friends that own Harleys and attend pro sporting events without giving it a second thought, yet they won't spend a dime to go on a little hunting or fishing trip. They say it's too costly.
Many of the same guys will be glad to go for an opening weekend firearms deer hunt on my place, in stands I set up, etc., and even kind of hint around about it. Once it starts involving money or effort they lose interest fast.
No big deal. We don't need the woods full of hunters.

Hunting and fishing have just always been proorities for me, so I've found a way to pay for all the things trips, etc. I've wanted to do.
Now I'm fortunate so frequently pay for nephews, son in laws, etc. to get them exposed to this stuff. Maybe they'll drag me along when I'm 80?

 

[VikingsGuy]

The pastor who married my daughter & son-in-law last year has couples make a budget together as a pre-marriage exercise. Not because he cares about the particular outcome, but because after many years of marrying folks (and counseling many in the following divorces) he believes that where you spend your money (and how a couple talks about money) says a lot about where your heart is. Words are cheap -- actions (including where you choose to spend money) are a truer test. If hunting is "too expensive" then you are either truly broke, buy stuff you probably don't need or you don't really care that much.

 

[Hertervillian]

Priorities, yes they would like to do the thing but, their priorities lie elsewhere. If everyone hunted the west it wouldn’t be worth a damn.
I’m secretly happy it’s hard. If I want a friend to come badly enough I pay his freight.

 

[diamond hitch]

It was and still is a serious effort to pay my fuel bill to get to my many hunting sites. It's matter of priorities. I live here in the west and it is a long ways to everything. I normally put on about 2000 miles during the 5 weeks of season and a week or two of trail cutting.

For 9 years I drove back and forth every hunting weekend to Montana from my home in Newport, Wash.

 

[Doublecluck]

I’ve never looked at the cost of hunting or anything in life for that matter from a sense of this is how much money I have and what can I do with it. I have always lived by, these are the things I want to do, how do I make the money I need to do them.

If hunting is something you love to do, you will find a way to do it. People just have different priorities

 

[Art Vandeley]

I've yet to find a hobby that's inexpensive that I enjoy. Hunting is my number 1 priority. Just like anything, you can spend as much as you want on it. I can hunt for whitetail deer less than a mile from my house for the price of a deer tag. I still do out of state hunts and spend a small fortune on gasoline driving around MT.

 

[EvisRaptor]

All hobbies cost more than we truly want to think about if the sink there teeth into us propperly!!!

Buuuut!! one of the ways I have found to afford the costly parts is to always try to buy things that I will not have to replace any time soon, thats over my whole life. I have found that for example spenging £150 on a pair of boots and not having to replace tham for 3-5 or more years costs me less over all.

And the old monied families hree in the UK have always gotten rich by buying 'stuff' that last a long time, even to lasting long enough for several generations to use (well when they got done with the era where you could just be the nastiest bugger around and murder, rape and pillage your way to fame, fortune and a title that is ).

 

[Wildabeest]

Just a Sat morning post from a old fart that didnt understand what his Father was trying to teach him when he was 20 and wishes he was still here so I could tell him I get it now

My mom always had a saying: “By the time your kids are fit to live with, they’re live in with someone else.” How true.

 

[LopeHunter]

My advice varies depending on if is a single person with no kids and no spouse vs. someone who is married with kids. Family security is what I suggest as a much higher priority than any hobby. Roof over head, food on table, living below means, contributing towards retirement, saving for future of kids.

If are solo in life then should still live below means and contribute towards retirement but can go a bit crazy with time and money devoted to a hobby or other passion.

I shot a lot of squirrels, rabbits, doves, ducks and geese before even harvested a deer. Big game hunting is a lot more expensive than small critter hunting. Or punching holes in paper. I enjoy all the above.

 

[dgc1963]

And this post wasnt as much about just hunting but how we or I look at things as Ive gotten older
I rember my father talking to me as a teenager and in my early 20s and thinking yea dad you just dont get how it is today and one day in my late 20s or early 30s thinking wow when did he get SO very smart all of a sudden
Hope folks on here as safe and doing well with the crazyness these days

 

[VikingsGuy]

And this post wasnt as much about just hunting but how we or I look at things as Ive gotten older
I rember my father talking to me as a teenager and in my early 20s and thinking yea dad you just dont get how it is today and one day in my late 20s or early 30s thinking wow when did he get SO very smart all of a sudden
Hope folks on here as safe and doing well with the crazyness these days

This pretty much sums up my experience as both a son and a father: