Price per pound of deer

[neededausername]

Just curious all of you hunters, what do you figure your overall price per pound of deer is after you figure in licenses, gas, ammo, processing, any other costs a non hunter wouldn't think of? I love the taste of venison and I have nothing against hunters, might take it up sometime. Just curious.

 

[HarleyFixer]

About 350.00 a pound not a good deal but sure is fun.

 

[JimKirk]

And... What do you enjoy? Hiking, fishing, skydiving, golfing ... knitting?

Doing what you enjoy is priceless... what ever it is!

When is the last time you ate fried golf balls? I wonder what the price of golf is per pound?

Jimmy K

 

[CoRoMo]

Pennies.

I process it myself.

 

[chains1240]

For me it usually works out to be about $1.25-1.50 per pound. But it is much better than buying burger at that price because of the quality of meat and the experience.

 

[desidog]

The cost of the tags; unless i lose the arrow...deer 1 to 4 are cheapest. Then its rifle season, cost goes up per round expended for deer 4-8. On to BP, deer 8-12 are hit using .50 ball recycled from .22 lead from the bullet box, so cost is only 70grs of Pyrodex.

I hunt my backyard and process it myself. Rifle and BP season is still cheaper than going to the range for paper-hunting, and you get meat to boot.

Only problem is freezer space; and finding enough time to fill all my tags.

 

[2ndAmFan]

I'm with CoRoMo. I do my own processing, use guns and ammo I would have on hand even if I didn't hunt, gas costs are negligible since I hunt the land I live on. I do have a couple of deer feeders but they were given to me so I didn't have to pay for them, and I don't always use them so corn or other bait isn't something I necessarily have to buy. Just 1 average size deer might work out to around 75 cents or a dollar a pound if I figure in the cost of the license and if I bought some corn or other bait but if I take a big one or a couple of average sized ones the cost goes way down and it's more than worth the small investment and time. Of course if I take three or four deer the cost drops to a few pennies per pound.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

I have figured my total is between $.75 and $1.20. I do my own processing, bought a couple boxes of shells ( I hunt with my AR, and .357, so the stash of fmj's is a no go), purchased special indulgences for deer camp (18 yr old single malt scotch) , tags, and gas.

 

[KodiakBeer]

Deer tags in Alaska are free. One bullet per deer... It's essentially free.

 

[czarjl]

Well if I count all the gear (including gun) tags, processing…., it is probably like $1000-$2000 for the first pound and only pennies for the rest. So just don’t tell the wife about the first pound and it will sound like a great deal.

 

[saltydog452]

Cheaper than fish.

Boats have other advantages though.

sd

 

[avs11054]

I saw this same post about a week ago. One guy explained it pretty well. When you go to a football game, you don't figure the price of a beer by factoring in the tickets, parking, gas to get there, a jacket to keep warm, etc. I would figure the cost of the license, ammo, and processing fees, and use that as my 'price per pound.' the guns that I own, I would have whether I hunted or not. The gas used to get to where I'm going would be used to go somewhere else if I wasn't hunting.

 

[countertop]

Assuming I don't have to pay for the guns . . . . . not very much at all

I get one NC out of state license every other year (they are calendar date annual, so this year I will hunt there next week - last year I hunted there the week before Thanksgiving). Its $120 for the license and big game tag, but split it and say its $60 each year. I do a lot of work there, and so my trips down are all work related. While there, I have access to a gorgeous piece of property in Samson County which is quality deer managed and they want me to shoot as many does as possible (and let me take 8 point and above bucks). But, I also do turkey hunting down there in the spring (got 2 last spring) and shoot some quail as well, and so we need to portion off a part of the license for that. So lets say it works out to $30 a year for the deer part. Land access costs nothing, and travel doesn't cost me anything either. Ammo is cheap. I shoot a .280and roll my own for about .30 cents a round. I process my own deer.

I usually kill 5-6 deer a year there (I'm planning on taking 4 next week). Assume I get 60 pounds of meat, dressed, per deer that comes out to:

$30 (value of deer portion of license)
+ $1.20 (4 rounds of ammo)
divided by
240 lbs of meat
--------------
.13 cents a pound.

In Virginia, it costs me $36 for my total license ($9 for the hunting license (its actually $18, but again I hunt other things, so I figure 1/2 goes to deer), $18 for big game (but I also get bear and turkey)).

Last year I shot 8 deer in Virginia. Because of a medical emergency (my mother in law fell and broke her collarbone and hip) I had to bring one deer to the butcher. That cost me $125 (never never never again - not only was it expensive, but I do a better job). I have land to hunt on for free (friends).

For the butchered deer (which was shot with a rifle)
$3.37 (hunting license value)
.60 cents (bullets, I missed a deer earlier that day)
$125 (processing)
Divided by
60 lbs of meat
----------------
$2.15 a pound

The other 7 deer

$23.63 (value of the license)
$2.10 (bullets)
DIVIDED BY
420 lbs of meat
-----------------
.06 cents a pound.

Now, of course, we don't consume that much venison in my house. Most of this we gave away. Some of it I give to hunters for the hungray and some to friends. - I just gave a buddy of mine 40 lbs of venison that was still in my freezer. But I still factor it all the same. And while I don't include my time (it takes time to butcher the deer) I basically enjoy that and include it as part of the experience.

So, I guess the value you get depends on the number of deer your able to harvest. Here on the East Cost, its high. I'd also point out that in years past, I would get an out of state Georgia and Maryland license, but am gonna pass on those this year (though I may get an Indiana license if I end up there in December to shoot a big buck)

 

[usmc1371]

Tag application--$8
Hunting license--29.50
Deer tag if I draw it--24.50
Drive across the state, 300 mi each way--100.00
Had the same rifle for ten years so---0$
Box of shells, 300wm,--50.00
Total of $212 for an avrage year if I don't buy anything else like new boots or a new pack.
So "if" I kill a deer and put 60# of meat in the freezer thats $3.50 a pound.

This year I tried bow hunting for the first time, Bought a used bow--$250
New bow sight--85
New release--100
Dozen arrows--90
Broadheads--40
Total of $565+162 from the normal costs above (212 less one box of shells) now I am up to $727, for one deer. New price per pound=$12.00

I also bought a new pack this year $140, but since this pack will last many years and was a want not a need I am not adding this in. I Needed the bow and such to bow hunt since I didn't draw a rifle tag so thats why I added it into the price per pound.

It costs me an extra $20 to hunt elk and I get 4 to 5 times as much meat (if) I get one so per pound elk is a much better deal, and I prefer elk over deer.

My friend and I were joking about how much money in gear is involved in hunting, if I were to go out and buy all of the hunting gear I have now it would be thousands of bucks. Now, alot of gear lasts for years and alot of it is "want" things more than "need" things so it makes sense to build up your gear pile over years of hunting.

The enjoyment I get out of being out in the woods away from work, school, Portland hippies, stop lights, well I could go on. It's a chance to hang out with life long friends that I don't see all that often or family that live far away.

 

[Sunray]

HarleyFixer is closest when you factor in everything. I recall one of the gun rags doing this, long ago. Free or under $5 per pound it ain't.
Most of ya'll are leaving out the cost of everything but the licence, firearm/bow and ammo. If you figure everything in(gas, taxes, accomodations, clothing, etc., etc.) you'd never hunt just for the meat. No guarantee of taking a deer either. You're still paying all those times you sit in a blind all day and see nothing. Of course, hunting isn't about that.

 

[CoRoMo]

No way to figure in a rifle & scope's cost because you'll never know how many dozens, or hundreds, of animals it will take in your lifetime. And of course, some of these guns would have been owned even if the owner never got into hunting. It's like those reloading threads asking if it is worth the money.

Not everyone travels three states over, stays in a hotel, buys special hunting clothes, boots, high priced factory ammo, etc. Some of us can take the equipment we've had all along, put on the shoes we normally wear, sleep in the tent and sleeping bag that we were given for Christmas in college, and we can go put meat in the freezer without even using the credit card. Well... I guess I used it to buy my license.

 

[kyle1974]

I can't believe some of you guys actually sit down and calculate this out...

 

[Mamertine]

We have calculated this at deer camp and it's not very good unless most people get deer. If you spread the cost of orange gear and rifles over the number of deer harvested it's pretty reasonable.
I don't hunt for cheap meat. I enjoy the hunt and I like the reminder of what meat actually is.

 

[neededausername]

Wow so from pennies to crazy amounts per pound. I appreciate the replies. To those who asked, I just don't hunt because I never have. Like I said originally I would like to get into hunting. I'm currently laid off and trying to justify the purchase of a rifle to hunt deer with. Deer season opens here on 11/13 and if it makes sense I will buy one and fill the freezer. I have a great place to hunt at a relatives who lives in the Ozarks and always has deer on his land to the point of being pests in his garden. Just wanted to see if it made monetary sense.

To those of you who process yourself, how difficult it is? How hard is it to learn how? I'm not scared of getting bloody or messy, but don't want to corrupt any meat I might bring home.

 

[Dr.Rob]

You'll be shocked when you do the math, it's not cheap for most of us. You might as well be buying hand cut dry aged steaks daily.

 

[2ndAmFan]

Re OP's question on self-processing: Make sure you don't accidentally cut into the stomach or other organs when you begin skinning/dressing the carcass, and wash the gut cavity out with water if you do. Remove the scent glands at the rear end of the deer near the tail. There are diagrams online to show exactly where the glands are. Processing isn't hard, but it depends on what you want to do with the deer.
If you don't want to cut through a bunch of bone, you can cut the cartilage in the joints with almost any sharp knife and strip the meat from the bones and grind it. You can also find instructions online for the basics or really getting into it and using a hacksaw or sawzall, cutting all kinds of steaks and whatever, but I usually keep the backstrap, haunch roasts, sometimes cut a few steaks and grind most of the rest of the meat into sausage for breakfast, chili, spaghetti sauce, stews, etc. I use an antique hand grinder, but you can buy a fancy one if you want to spend the money.

 

[buck460XVR]

I can't believe some of you guys actually sit down and calculate this out...

You'll be shocked when you do the math, it's not cheap for most of us. You might as well be buying hand cut dry aged steaks daily.

+1 to both of these.

I'm waiting for the Dillon guys to chirp in, "but.....you're not figuring in the value of your time spent!"

 

[mbopp]

Until he retired dad was self-employed. He would close the shop the first day or 3 of deer season. He figured it cost him +/- $1000 wether he got a deer or not.

 

[Art Eatman]

I don't guess I've ever worried about the cost per pound of deer, dove quail or javelina. I just wanted to go hunting, so I went hunting.

Cost? If it doesn't affect my daily standard of living, it's like any other interest. I do it.

I never worried about the cost per mile or the fuel economy of my race cars, either. It's just that I never raced on the grocery money.

I will say that since 1968 I've had a top priority of living such that I had a benchrest and a 100-yard backstop very nearby (front porch, these recent 27 years) and could start hunting as I left the house.

 

[kyle1974]

lets see just for fun...

lease cost
protein feed from feb 1st to september 15
corn year around
new feeders now and then
bullets
batteries for trail camera
new trail cameras every few years since no one makes one worth a damn
gas for the truck going back and forth
4 wheeler/UTV/jeep
food at the camp
misc crap that I have to have from time to time (new guns, binoculars, scopes, deer blinds, taxidermy)


how much meat do I get? 300 lbs?

yeah.... I don't think I'm going to run the numbers...


why didn't someone tell me it's not about the money?