Hunting on a Budget

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thekid

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Texas Panhandle
The season is coming up quick in Texas but money can be pretty tight for a college student. Does anyone have any thoughts on ways to save money during the season? Maybe things like where to hunt, how to cut back on supplies, homemade remedies and anything else that could be of use?
 
Hi. Money is tight for a lot of hunters.
The most difficult thing for any hunter is having a place to go. If you don't have a place to go, that's your first consideration. Sounds like public land(BLM) is your only option, unless you know somebody. BML land is heavily used in most places. Means you have to alter your tactics. Find a good spot for a blind(you should have been scouting already) and let the other hunters drive the game to you. Burlap from a discount fabric shop is relatively cheap, easy to set up, using locally found dead saplings, and will hide you. Patience is occasionally a virtue.
You camping? All your regular kit will do. Assuming you have that. Add a couple large foam coolers. Either for your grub or game.
"...ways to save money..." Reload your ammo(if you don't, you should be), don't buy into the kit you see in the gun rags and use what you have.
"...how to cut back on supplies...homemade remedies..." Kind of depends on what you mean by that. No packaged food of any kind. Cook. Don't forget that you'll need to take water. 5 gallon water jugs aren't terribly expensive.
 
Cheap in TX??? Are you trying to be funny??? Just jokes...

Since your up in the panhandle. Check out some of the Public Hunting areas
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hunt/public/lands/table_contents/1panhandle.phtml

Start scouting now to see where they are moving, drinking, bedding down, etc.

You dont need a lot of specialized equipment, scents, lures, etc. Our forefathers have been hunting for thousands of years without that stuff.
 
tarosean; is right you don`t need all that fancy crap. Check out some of the Public Hunting areas, go to Wally World & get some Doe Pee, grab your rifle & go deer hunting !
 
Check with TP&WD for public-access areas in the Panhandle. If your college is in central Texas or thereabouts, there are also areas in eastern Texas.

There are also drawings for hunts on TP&WD WMAs.
 
Hey we need to know in what areas you need to go "inexpensive", ok? Are you starting from the ground up, or do you have a rifle, or a gun. Hunting what, upland birds, turkey, waterfowl, hogs, all of the above. What type of terrain, and vegetation ..., woods or open areas? Out East you could get buy with a single shot, shotgun, with all the trimmings and chokes and hunt all of the above. BUT we often get lots closer to the dear than you folks can get in Texas, because of our terrain. Fill us in a bit more and there are plenty of good ideas out there for you. ;)

LD
 
Back when I was in your shoes, I split a 250ac lease with 4 other guys. One had a newborn and a 2yo, another worked out of town, and the other two hunted quite a bit.

The lease was from a farmer who was too old to hunt and loved deer meat. Want to swing a guess at what we paid??? One or two deer each.

We three carpooled the 40 mile drive, split the cost of the stands and such and shared in the work load. I took 5 deer there the first season, two of which went to the farmer.

That was something like 20-21 years ago and two of the original five, myself included, and two others now split the lease for $250 each per year ($1000 total) to the grand daughter of the farmer. We just renewed last year for 5 more years at the $1000 per year. (this lease should go for two or three times that)

We have averaged 21 deer per year off the little lease and the population is booming. We now have several 150's class bucks and I took a high 140's buck last year. I put out 100lbs of corn on one stand last year and in was completely gone 17 hours later.

Hunting for cheap takes knocking on doors, a smile, willingness to do hard work, some luck, and good friends.

t2e
 
Other ideas

I really like the other ideas already posted, here are a couple more;

1. Focus on the animals......their location, forget about all the other preferences like "nice areas" or typical camp sites. In other words, don't waist time or money "pussy-footing" around with isues like asthetics, far away places or fancy gear. Find the animal sign and focus on that particular area.

AKA emergency scouting techniques, maybe illegal in your area but if you happen to see deer runing accross the road in a particular area, thats where you hunt. If in a legal hunting area, park right there, go no further. Wait until shoot time or mark it and come back when the season opens.

2. When you go confirm your zero, shoot just enough ammo to sight that "baby" in then put it away.

3. Fancy game-bags are real nice, but I use cotton pillow cases and surplus laundry bags.

4. Bring regular food to camp, hold back on all the nice to have stuff like booze, soda, designer drinks, chips, steak etc. Bring food that will keep you going, easy to prepare (and pass, low sulfur :barf:).

5. Forget expensive cover scents, a lot of old timers used to tie rags on their boots and dribble terpentine (smells like real lighter knot) on them.

6. Don't waste good money on store-bought attractants; cut off and use the actual tarsal glands from a buddy's or last years buck/doe. I freeze mine and use them for several years. I double bag them so I they don't stink up the freezer.

7. A bail of hay/straw makes a fine mattrice; biodegradable too. Basically, forget about spending extra money on comfort, you don't want to be "sleeping like a log" in camp anyway. Rough it.

8. Don't duplicate basic stuff, if you have hunting buddies, no use in everyone buying the same things, coordinate light redundance.

9. Borrow from firends.

10. Expect other people to effect your hunt; program city-slickers into your plan because they have the right to be out there picking flowers too.:)

If I had more money I would spend it, do I need it or just want it......
 
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If you already have a rifle, you can pretty much hunt for free minus your license. To get the burlap to make your blind... talk to a resutrant that makes their potatoes from .... well potatoes and not instant. That's usually 50 lb sacks of potatoes. I used to run through 5-700 lbs of potatoes in one weekend. I had enough sacks to build a tent city... Don't bother camo clothing.. if you're in a blind the deer aint going see it anyways. More than enough deer have been taken in jeans and tshirts. If you already have a rifle capable of the shots you expect to take... use it. I have spent 450 on my hunting guns over the last 7 years, and other than licensing not much more.
 
If you need gear check craigslist and similar places first.
If you need a place to hunt, hunt public land. Since I'm assuming you aren't going to starve to death if you don't kill something, don't forget about bird hunting.

You got some great places in Texas for doves, especially the walk in areas.

As for public hunting grounds, you don't have much compared to a place like Colorado, but you do have some.
Lake Meredith is a place up in your neck of the plains that has both deer, ducks and doves. There's several National Wildlife Refuges too, so don't forget those.
And Sunray, I don't think there is any significant BLM to hunt in Texas.
 
I thought I once heard that you can take four doe without a hunting license, by way of archery, somewhere up toward the Oklahoma line.

If that is true, there isn't anything less expensive than that.
 
I am with ya on the cheap hunting. Since I can only get to hunt on my days off. I just make a day trip out of it. I take plenty of water. the small 16 oz bottles. $5 a case or less and I always have them on hand. Maybe a bag of trail mix or some other snacks. Also a couple of peanut butter sandwiches. Since the public hunting area is only about 25 miles away I just drive in. Get to my hunting area a couple of hours before hunting time starts and I don't leave until shooting time is up for the day.

As for gear I just use a backpack that I already have. Throw the food, water and ammo on it. Grab the ole SKS. Also my old knock off Carhartt's and an old pair of work boots. All told including the rifle I have less than $300 in everything.

You can also use military surplus if you have to have camo clothing. A decent army/navy surplus store can be your friend.

I just wash my clothes and then put them in a plastic trash bag with some pine chips. That's pretty cheap cover scent.
 
+1 on getting to know someone with land. Post at a feed store that you are willing to do some work for hunting privileges. Run a chainsaw, sweat, and bleed a little and you will never pay (money) to hunt again. If you are ever in the Austin area you are more than welcome to try my formula on me :D.

Irondavy
 
Assuming you already have an adequate firearm and also have a place to go, I would apply what resources you can muster to comfortable outdoor clothes.

The longer you can hold out in the elements, the better your chances of success. Decent boots should be priority #1 if you don't already have them.
 
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