Let me start by saying welcome to the world of the hunt.
I have hunted whitetail deer, rabbits, squirrels, turkeys (never got any of these yet), and various upland game birds. I have also hunted turtles and snakes both for pets and for food (not the same particular ones mind you).
I hunt for meat as well as for sport, and as well as to preserve that part of me which is by nature a hunter at the top of the food chain. That is no joke, I mean it. I also hunt for the sheer pleasure of walking in or sitting in the woods, fields, and deserts. The hunting is an add on to my enjoyment of getting into nature, and the actual kill a real bonus because a good hunt does not necessarily have to culminate in a kill.
I do all that yet I live in a fairly urban area. I live in New York, in Nassau County on Long Island, and do most of my hunting now in upstate NY. I have also hunted in California (lived in El Centro and Calexico for 4 years), Arizona, Nevada, and Maine.
I hunt with my son now whenever possible. He has bagged squirrel, and a black bear.
The best meat we have ever eaten was from that black bear. It was tender, something like beef, but with its own taste that was not very gamey tasting, certainly not as gamey as whitetail deer.
All of this cost a pretty penny and we do most of our hunting on the cheap. If you want to add up all the costs associated with a hunt, then the price of a pound of butchered venison would probably be at least $35 per pound, and upward to $75 per pound on some of my trips. I stay in inexpensive hotels (Motel 6) when on my trips because I do not have a place in the country and its too cold to camp for me. Add that up for 5 days to a week, add on meals (I buy stuff at the supermarket and eat it in my room, but sometimes eat at a restaurant), add on gasoline for a 200 mile round trip, plus another 50 miles per day for at least 5 days, add on cost of ammunition (enough to practice with through the year), add on cost of cleaning supplies for the firearm, add on license fees, add on special permit fees, add cost of equipment and supplies like deer scent, hand warmers, at least some new hunting clothing each year, and it can get expensive when all you get is one deer. If you get nothing, oh well, there is next season.
I am not sure how much meat in weight I have ever gotten from a deer before. I know at least a few of then weighed in at about 175 in the field. When dressed out, the skinned and butchered, the weight of meat and bones with which you are left is much less, I'd guess under 100, or under 75 pounds. I keep it in my freezer, and I share it with relatives.
Of course if I lived in a rural area, I would hunt for my food on a regular basis and it would cost much less. I know people who basically hunt within a 1/2 mile at m sot from there homes and get at least one deer, sometimes 2 per year; plus they get birds, and rabbits too. If lucky they might also bag a bear. If living out west they might also be lucky enough to hunt for elk (nice and big, lots of meat), or if they lived in a state like Maine they might get a nice Moose (the most meat on any deer). I hope to be lucky enough to hunt Moose someday.
Unless you are lucky enough to live in rural country, with good hunting nearby, don't even think of calculating the cost per pound of meat. There are just too many cost factors to consider., and it may seem cost prohibitive. The thing is, in a case like that, the hunt is just not about getting meat, or the cost per pound of meat. Hunting is much more than that. It is getting into nature, depending on your outdoors skills, learning and knowing about the prey, firearms or archery skills, friendship with fellow hunters and sportsman, going on side trip to fish, going out and hiking to your favorite spot, months of preparation scouting for game, staying in shape, keeping at a proficient level with firearms or bow. All of this stuff is priceless, and if you worry about the cost per pound of meat when all is said and done, well you will never understand hunting. Its not the meat you pay for, you pay for the whole package. In fact, unless you are starving and in dire need of food, the meat is not the end all be all of the hunt, it is the whole experience that counts.
All the best,
Glenn B
ps: Just wondering if you know the Collins sisters Chris, Patty, or Ronnie who live in, or lived in Fresno. They also used to live in NYC.
