Hunting Trip for Under $1000

[JeffG]

If you are not opposed to high fence, Spartan has fallow does for $900. Their our the door hunt for big hogs is $950. Good people.
http://boarhuntingtn.com/

 

[Olympus]

If you are not opposed to high fence, Spartan has fallow does for $900. Their our the door hunt for big hogs is $950. Good people.
http://boarhuntingtn.com/

Not opposed to that, it just depends on the place. If it’s like shooting half-tame hogs in an area the size of a pasture, then that’s not my kind of hunting.

 

[MCgunner]

I don't think there's such a thing as "half tame hogs". LOL I've hunted high fence areas for pigs, over run with 'em, needed thinning. It was quite sporting, though. By shear numbers, I got my three hog limit. These pigs would lay up in patches of cover and you walked and walked kicking cover. Occasionally, 4 or 6 would pop out and run. I got two and my third one came out at dusk as per normal to a feeder.

I would NOT SHOOT (notice I didn't say "hunt") exotics there. They were quite tame, like pets.

 

[Random 8]

Northern MN or WI deer are certainly doable if you own one or more campers. National and State forest lands are open to low-impact camping. Lots of guys set up a small camp on a log landing or such and hunt the surrounding public or industry forest lands. Some State forest, Nat Forest and private developed campgrounds are also open through firearms season with reduced services, and some resorts and roadside motels have reduced rates at this time. Millions of acres of public land, affordable non-resident tags, and some areas currently have a high population of whitetail with either sex tags and some areas with bonus antlerless. It is a challenging hunt, especially coming into an area cold with only map scouting. I would suggest a long weekend in early August (bring your boat and a tent) to do some basic scouting, find a camp area and catch some walleye and pike and eat blueberry pancakes. It will be a real Northwoods deer hunt though like you read about in Field and Stream as a kid, especially if we get weather like last year dropping below zero by the second weekend. Archery is also a good (and warmer) option with bonus grouse and fishing. Season opens in mid September, firearms is in November. The North Shore of Lake Superior is breathtaking with a good deer population. Big country though, make sure your orienteering skills are up to the task.

 

[Olympus]

I don't think there's such a thing as "half tame hogs". LOL I've hunted high fence areas for pigs, over run with 'em, needed thinning. It was quite sporting, though. By shear numbers, I got my three hog limit. These pigs would lay up in patches of cover and you walked and walked kicking cover. Occasionally, 4 or 6 would pop out and run. I got two and my third one came out at dusk as per normal to a feeder.

I would NOT SHOOT (notice I didn't say "hunt") exotics there. They were quite tame, like pets.

I asked because about 10 years ago, I went on a high fenced hog hunt with a group because it was pretty close driving distance. It was 700 acres inside the fence and it was rocky and hilly and dang tough terrain. The hogs they had were incredibly wild and smart as a whip. They had stands and blinds set up, but you quickly saw that the hogs knew where the stands and blinds are and would skirt around them. You had to stalk hunt and let me tell you, we walked our butts off. The hogs would either hear you coming or wind you long before you got close enough to shoot. But we got to be friends with one of the guides and he said big city rich guys would pay tons of money because they wanted a 500lb trophy hog and wanted to shoot it with their bow so the owner would go out and buy a “wild” trophy hog and they unload it in a pen about the size of a normal yard and the cities guys would “hunt” these giant hogs inside essentially a pen. And you’re right about the exotic species too. The guide said if someone booked an exotic hunt, the owner would go out and buy one of the animals and let it out inside the ranch to be hunted, but the animals were all bought from some petting zoo kind of place and were not tame, but not wild either. They were not scared of people so they’d let you walk up to about 20ft of them before they hopped back a little more. So essentially, the guide said you drove around the trails on UTVs until you saw the animal and then you got out and shot it.

Now that’s DEFINITELY NOT the kind of thing I want to do. The only reason I even went was because they guys I went with assured me the hog hunting was not like that, and it wasn’t. The hogs were small, incredibly fast, and dang near impossible to find. We had fun, but that was the most work I’d ever put in on hunting an animal.

 

[MCgunner]

I asked because about 10 years ago, I went on a high fenced hog hunt with a group because it was pretty close driving distance. It was 700 acres inside the fence and it was rocky and hilly and dang tough terrain. The hogs they had were incredibly wild and smart as a whip. They had stands and blinds set up, but you quickly saw that the hogs knew where the stands and blinds are and would skirt around them. You had to stalk hunt and let me tell you, we walked our butts off. The hogs would either hear you coming or wind you long before you got close enough to shoot. But we got to be friends with one of the guides and he said big city rich guys would pay tons of money because they wanted a 500lb trophy hog and wanted to shoot it with their bow so the owner would go out and buy a “wild” trophy hog and they unload it in a pen about the size of a normal yard and the cities guys would “hunt” these giant hogs inside essentially a pen. And you’re right about the exotic species too. The guide said if someone booked an exotic hunt, the owner would go out and buy one of the animals and let it out inside the ranch to be hunted, but the animals were all bought from some petting zoo kind of place and were not tame, but not wild either. They were not scared of people so they’d let you walk up to about 20ft of them before they hopped back a little more. So essentially, the guide said you drove around the trails on UTVs until you saw the animal and then you got out and shot it.

Now that’s DEFINITELY NOT the kind of thing I want to do. The only reason I even went was because they guys I went with assured me the hog hunting was not like that, and it wasn’t. The hogs were small, incredibly fast, and dang near impossible to find. We had fun, but that was the most work I’d ever put in on hunting an animal.

I saw two large hogs on the hunt I went on, but I was restricted to hunting sub 100 lb meat hogs. It was cheap, couple hundred bucks for a three day hunt. I hunted all day the first day and got my three, but like you say, walked my butt off. It was fun, though. I shot the last one at dusk from a blind and riding back in with it on my Honda CT90 I had at the time, there were dozens and dozens of pigs running around after dark. During the day, I'd sworn there were only maybe a dozen on the whole place.

Yeah, I'd not go to a place like that for exotics and I'm sure they do what you say with "trophy hogs". I find it a bit weird, anyway, that some think there are such animals as "trophy hogs". I think of 'em as "free range pork" or just pests that root up pastures. If I shot a huge toothy bore, I might be tempted to get the head mounted, though. I have a large Javelina boar on the wall from 25 years ago shot on a lease in west Texas. If I had a large hog on the wall, I could show visitors the difference. Some don't even know what a Javelina is. I have to explain it to 'em that..."NO, that's not a hog."

Anyway, I guess it all depends on the high fence hunt. As you say, though, pigs are danged smart and quickly learn to avoid and evade when hunted hard. They smell well and have ears and the slightest sound or something don't quite smell right and they're outta here. I confirmed that opening day of bow season this year when I slipped the safety off on my crossbow and it went "click" and the pig scooted off behind me. Dang, that mistake is still haunting me. The critters are hard to hunt. Night hunting 'em on bait is more successful generally. I watch my feeders and when they start coming in regularly just after dark, I'll go sit and wait on 'em. I do let my trap do my hunting, too.

 

[George P]

We have some high fence hunt clubs here in north Florida; but those places have thousands of acres under the high fence; that's a lot different than shooting zoo pets inside an acre or two pasture.

 

[IdaD]

I don't really have any suggestions beyond traveling to somewhere with a lot of public land that has a general big game tag available. Camp in a tent to save money over staying in a hotel. The downside is the travel may eat up a lot of the budget, not to mention out of state licenses and tags. Idaho (where I live) tends to look at out of state hunters as a good source of revenue, so the non-resident fees can be pretty high.

A hunting trip is pretty cheap in my neck of the woods. The biggest cost is probably however much diesel it takes to tow the camper trailer out to where we're hunting.