Are you really saving money by hunting? How much? (Not an attack thread)

[DMH]

It's a hobby. Like any hobby someone is involved in it is the fun, memories, enjoyment and hard work that keeps you evolved. The cost is no different than say someone who golfs or races dirt bikes. I think it is different if a family has to hunt for the food to supplement the families supply. The cost is going to be all over the place. Someone just starting out vs. a seasoned hunter. High tech gps, good glass .300 Winchester short mag type vs. 30-30 lever, compass type. Butchering your own and making your own sausage and jerky. Just being in the woods is worth every penny I spend on this sport.

DMH

 

[wyohome]

We pretty much break even. Wife and I both get deer the first day, 2 miles from the house, no processing fees, ~$35 each for tags.

 

[LeontheProfessional]

Honestly all you need to hunt is a weapon of some sort and since most of us have those hear I will avoid that cost. Then there is the hunting license. In VA a big game license costs $35 and allows you to take 8 deer, a couple of Turkeys, a Bear and several other things that I can't think of right now. Lets say all you hunt is deer and nothing else. And then lets say you only fill half of your tags, not even counting the bear. You are talking about 100 to 200 lbs of meat right there, for only $35.

Now given that many people spend an enormous amount on hunting gear like stands, decoys, dogs, blinds, camo, boots, etc. But in all honesty all you really need is a weapon of some sort.

 

[dragon813gt]

I don't care about saving money. I prefer to eat venison over beef. It's healthier and I look cooking with it better. I forget what I have to pay for my license plus archery privileges. But doe takes are $6.70 each and are unlimited where I live. I don't mind paying more per pound. I would gladly pay it at the grocery store if they sold venison.


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[Pit4Brains]

I always like this discussion when I have a freezer full of elk and everyone wants some. "You mind if I take a little of that?, After all, you got it for free."
There have been times when I almost didn't want to harvest a cow elk just because I was tight on cash for processing (this is AZ and hauling a carcass down to the hotter valley to cut up at home can lead to a big waste of meat).
To answer the question.. Heck NO, I have never saved a dime by harvesting my own meat.. Except fish.. but that's not hunting"

 

[matrem]

I think I have about $1000 a pound in elk meat, seriously.

Really..?
I think even shooting a calf would make me have to rethink my retirement plan..
I should have looked harder for that money tree.
Dang it!

 

[ZeroJunk]

Really..?
I think even shooting a calf would make me have to rethink my retirement plan..
I should have looked harder for that money tree.
Dang it!

I guess my math is off a little. I have been hunting with outfitters since the mid eighties somewhere in the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana. It's 20 miles in by horseback, about as remote as you can get. I like it there obviously. No way to do it on your own unless you live there and have the stock.

I think I have spent about $70,000 counting the $5000 this year. You could go for about $1500 when I got in to it.

I have probably brought home 3 or 4 hundred pounds of elk after it was divided up.

 

[shiftyer1]

If you can hunt your own property you can save money, if you have to lease land.....no way. Although I don't think ya'll would consider what I do hunting.....more like waiting on the porch or out in the yard.

My venison costs the price of a bullet or 2 and the license fee. Doves are more for fun than meat....I think the shell is worth more than the bird. lol My son brings lots of rabbits home also, they cost about 3 cents each. If I did canned hunts or leased land for actual hunts it would be more for entertainment than meat.

 

[Pit4Brains]

Some of this topic can boil down to local laws too. Some states allow you to stack deer like cord wood while here in AZ you only get one big game animal by species ( one elk, one deer, one javelina, one ram, one buffalo, etc) per year and on very rare occasions can you bag two big game animals of different species on the same hunting trip.

 

[sixgunner455]

Bird hunting is a hobby I do for the sake of getting to work a good bird dog. The meal at the end of a hunt where I actually bagged birds is ancillary, a benefit I get because I like eating quail and dove, not the point of the exercise.

Big game hunting, I've not been successful enough bagging animals to even consider the meat as the point of the exercise, but that doesn't stop me from hoping for it to be on my cow elk hunt next month.

If I lived somewhere I could hunt for more than the sub-one week hunts we get here, and if I could take does, etc, sure, I'd be in it to save money on meat.

 

[kingcheese]

Well, i just go for squirrel and rabbit, so i don't really save money, as far as filling another persons bag limit, in Indiana it is illegal, don't know about other states, the term is "party hunting"

 

[Sav .250]

Today most hunt for the sport and meat of course. Yester year was for food. Times change as do the reasons.

 

[jmorris]

Even if I hit every Dove I shot at, the fuel to get me out to the field and back home cost more than 20 nuggets at Mc D's. Doesn't taste as good or as good for you but it costs less.

If you really want to save or make money you have to raise the animals yourself or move so far off the grid nothing else is available without a plane trip.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Many years ago, I heard bandied about (by fish and game biologists) that each salmon caught by a sportsman around here cost him about $300 all told.
Hey, it's a sport/pastime.. you could do worse.. you could put it all on red or black if you wanted to, and some do.. now that's fun! not

 

[tnelson31]

My dad, on serving us grouse nuggets: best $20 McNugget I've ever had.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Considering the lease fees, camping, hundreds of pounds of corn put out during season, and everything else, no I don't save money. However, the thought of saving money has really never entered my mind as far as price per pound of meat. Hunting is what I love to do. That's why I do it. Eating the game animal is a great part of the experience. It can be a rather expensive hobby though.
If you're a person that buys into the gimmicks like the latest camo patterns, new calibers, new attractants and such, it can be VERY expensive. However, those things aren't necessary.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Road kill is cheap. Might have to factor in brake rotor and pad wear and need a pocket knife and maybe a plastic sack though, unless you drive a pickup.

 

[adelbridge]

I know a lady that runs a high fence ranch in the Texas Hill Country and she has a 65 acre pen where she runs "meat hunts" She charges less than $300 cleaned and quartered for red stag doe's that run about 400 lbs and up. I am not going to comment on the ethics and it is a perfectly legit business that sounds better than my desk job.

 

[Texan Scott]

CD, if you're slowing down before you hit 'em, you might be doin it wrong. Initial investment in a wrap-around steel brush bumper and fuel for the truck are not inconsiderable expenses though. Then again, if you're figuring the cost of meat in dollars per GALLON, you might still be doin it wrong.

 

[anothernewb]

There's no way I'll ever recoup the cost of hunting vs buying at a meat locker or grocer. However, there's also no way I'd ever give it up. Hunting (for me) is a very relaxing and well needed mini vacation a coupe times a year. It's also a way to get types of meat just not available any other way. Keeps the diet varied all year round.

A few of us that hunt together also agree on one other thing - it's a good thing we hunt for fun, cause we'd probably all starve to death relying on our skills. Daniel Boone we aren't.. lol.

 

[22-rimfire]

There are other benefits to deer hunting beyond cost per pound. But I know some hunters like to think in those terms. For my part, I would rather eat beef any day of the week over venision. Hunting is a sport. Don't expect to save money by hunting unless you have your own place.

 

[PapaG]

If you are concerned about the economic return from hunting, and are not in the bottom 10 per cent income bracket, hunting is something you don't and probably won't u nderstand. I suggest you research people like Aldo Leopold, pope and young, and learn about the joy of the outdoors, pitting your skills against the survival instincts of the game, the rush of the sighting of game, the bittersweet feel of the harvest and the gratitude to our Lord for putting us where we can do this. It ain't about the money.

 

[splattergun]

I spend way more than I should for the privelege of using my truck to haul my trailer, gear, and my firearms out into the mountains in inclement weather for a week or so. But if I'm paying attention to my environment, the sights and sounds, I just might be able to fire 1 round at a deer. The bonus for one good shot is the free meat.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

When we (family) would compare apples to apples; in that we were either putting up whole/half/quarter hogs or beefs and comparing that to hunting with guns already owned (and not just for hunting) vehicles not dedicated to hunting and time which would no doubt already have been spent in an outdoor endeavor the result was always a resounding yes in that we did come out ahead in roasts, steaks and grind/stew meat.

Now, you go GQing yourself al up the wazoo at Cabellas or the like in order to make the fashion/equipment status a part of "the hunt", well the expense is on you.

Funny how a fella used to be willing to use a 2-wheel drive car, surplus rifle, off the shelf "soft-points" and some careful and well thought out scouting to fill a freezer chest - being careful of the fish already there, mind.

 

[Ivy Mike]

Deer tag plus the expenses of getting to the area for the hunt here in NV make it more expensive than grocery store meat.

but I've always been of the mindset that an expense of a good time is worth it.
If it costs me an extra round or two at the bar for a football game with some buddies, big deal. You pay up and keep having fun. Someone else will get it next time around. I cost my dad a wasted fishing license more than once as a kid but we both agree it was time well spent and i will do the same with my toddler soon once he is old enough.