Hunting... The financial side.

[Montana]

So curious as to how others handle the cost of hunting trips, gear and permits.

I personally got hammered this year. I did a great job saving for my New Zealand trip. Saved for a little over a year and came back with a few extra hundred bucks, even after taxidermy. I had 2 additional week long trips after that. Then in the stand 3-4 days a week. The last 2 weeks of rifle I had to dip into the family savings account and the wife was not happy. To be honest, I wasn't either. Now with Wyoming's drawing only 6 weeks away, here we go again. I just paid back the family savings and it seems like I'm off to a rough start for 2013.

I put in for 6 states, do roughly 3 or 4 one week trips a year. Curious to hear strategies of saving and most importantly keeping the family happy, which means mama happy

 

[Fink]

Excluding Missouri and Kansas, which have guaranteed tags, I put in for 6 states. Annually, I spend about a week and a half hunting turkeys in Missouri and Kansas, and about 2 weeks of vacation bowhunting whitetails in Missouri. I only plan for 1 western hunt a year, while building points for the rest. If I don't draw a tag, I hunt CO OTC elk.

As far as savings and financial stratagies go, when my wife and I got married, we decided that it would be in our best interest to keep separate checking accounts. Each month, we each place an agreed upon amount into a joint checking account for our joint monthly expenses like the mortgage and other bills. The rest of our money stays in our separate accounts. That way, I don't get bent when she spends our money on a stupid Coach purse, and she doesn't blow a gasket when I spend a bazillion dollars on elk and deer points.

 

[Timberstalker]

It wouldn't surprise me if I spend less money on hunting than anyone on this forum. But I haven't applied for out of state tags yet either, that is going to change in 2013. I would say a typical year I spend about $2000 on hunting and most of that expense is fuel, I spend less than $500 a year on gear, and less than $150 on license and tags in Oregon. I usually only take one week a year off work for hunting, it changes between deer and elk depending on what tags I get. In 2011 I drew a Bighorn sheep tag, I took 2 weeks off work for that hunt. The only gear I bought for that hunt was a pair of Kennetrek boots, I used my 40 year old rifle, a $200 pair of bino's, my $80 packframe and a $40 daypack, and borrowed a buddies spotting scope, and the tag was $122.50. That sheep hunt cost me about $3000 total, with fuel and taxidermy being the two biggest expenses. One thing I've always liked about hunting, you don't have to spend a ton of money to do it. But if I want to start hunting other states I can see that changing for me.

 

[Drhorsepower]

I hope my wife doesn't see this thread but if you guys keep popping out these big numbers then I might have to show her to get an atta boy.
I never have added up the cost of a hunt and never will. I'm too scared.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I've always tried to hunt on a budget. I have spent money on good glass, clothing and boots. I wait till I find sales and pick up what I need. I don't need the newest stuff. I like what I have and use it till its worn out then maybe upgrade at that time. As far as out of state tags go I put away money through the year to help pay for the trip if I do draw.

 

[Montana]

to get an atta boy.

Only way you are going to get your "atta boy" is if you dont add it up, because the cost is there

I think Timberstalker nailed it at $2,000 a year without the out of state stuff. Thats where I am too. But i do at least one out of state hunt a year.

As far as Fink.. Thats pretty much my dream. But no chance here on the separate accounts.

 

[Timberstalker]

I hope my wife doesn't see this thread but if you guys keep popping out these big numbers then I might have to show her to get an atta boy.
I never have added up the cost of a hunt and never will. I'm too scared.

Hunting expenses add up fast when fuel is $4.50 a gallon. If I didn't count fuel one of the expenses, I would be lying to myself. The closest place to my house that I hunt is an hour drive one way, I can't leave the driveway witout spending at least a $50 bill.

 

[Drhorsepower]

Taxi bill as well is a huge cut

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I'm retired and do not have an unlimited amount of $$$ to spend. I travel to Texas to hunt turkey and hogs every year in April. Licenses are cheap...less than 200.00 for unlimited pigs and 4 turkeys. I stay at a friends house and hunt on his land...fuel & food is about it. I usually hunt elk here in Colorado and deer too. Hunt from my place here. I save up and try to do an out of state big game hunt every year. 2013 will be a wilderness deer hunt in Calif...about 1,200 to 1,400. 2014 will be a guided out of state elk hunt or Alaska for moose or caribou (or both), not sure yet. Will make up my mind in a couple of months. Budget will be about less than 5k. How can I do Alaska on that? We are planning a 3 month trip to Ak during the summer in our RV, I'll hunt while I'm there at the end of the trip.

I keep my wife happy by taking her on a trip every year in the winter. She picks it, this winter we are going back to Belize in February. We get out of the snow and enjoy some warm weather. I also invite her on any of my hunting trips....she laughs and declines! Been to Mexico (Cabo) lots of times, Costra Rica and Hawaii.

Just wanted to add we have been married 48+ years. She came from a hunting, fishing and camping family....I chose well

 

[Zim]

"As far as savings and financial stratagies go, when my wife and I got married, we decided that it would be in our best interest to keep separate checking accounts. Each month, we each place an agreed upon amount into a joint checking account for our joint monthly expenses like the mortgage and other bills. The rest of our money stays in our separate accounts. That way, I don't get bent when she spends our money on a stupid Coach purse, and she doesn't blow a gasket when I spend a bazillion dollars on elk and deer points."

OMG. For all you young guys out there, shoot for this deal from day one. My ex quit her job after the first kid and never looked back. We only had a joint account and she never deposited one dollar in there in 20 years. I had to pay 100% of the bills for her and our 3 kids plus myself. What a nightmare. On top of that she controlled and conditioned my kids to dependency on her alone. Pathetic soul wiped me out for life.

 

[Fink]

"As far as savings and financial stratagies go, when my wife and I got married, we decided that it would be in our best interest to keep separate checking accounts. Each month, we each place an agreed upon amount into a joint checking account for our joint monthly expenses like the mortgage and other bills. The rest of our money stays in our separate accounts. That way, I don't get bent when she spends our money on a stupid Coach purse, and she doesn't blow a gasket when I spend a bazillion dollars on elk and deer points."

OMG. For all you young guys out there, shoot for this deal from day one. My ex quit her job after the first kid and never looked back. We only had a joint account and she never deposited one dollar in there in 20 years. I had to pay 100% of the bills for her and our 3 kids plus myself. What a nightmare. On top of that she cotrilled and conditioned my kids to dependency on her alone. Pathetic soul wiped me out for life.

Damn Zim, that's horrible. I think our decision is probably the best one we've made. When we got married, right out of school (actually, she was still in school), neither of us had a dime.. Everything we've built from from that day is ours. I like that.
When studies show that the vast majority of marital disagreement is about finance, we figured we'd just cut that part out. It's worked like a charm. I suggest it to all of my friends who are getting married. My brother listened, and it's worked great for them as well.
I suppose it's not for everyone, but we feel like even though we are married, we are still individuals, and part of being an individual means having your own dayum checking account.

I'm also with CC. A week or so long vacation with the wife, to a destination of her choosing, will go a long way come September.

 

[xtreme]

August 19 my wife was at Mayo In Rochester Mn. Our surgeon said he could do surgery the following tuesday or we could set a later date. My wife said let us wait until september 25 for surgery, we can go back to Arkansas and you can do your Colorado bear hunt. As soon as we got to Ar. I sent the bear tag in to Colorado for a refund. I decided to keep 3rd rifle unit 67 with 9 points. My wife passed Oct 12, not from the surgery, but from the disease. She would have insisted I go on the mule deer hunt, in fact, of the three scouting trips, she was on one of them. We drove the jeep pretty much all over that unit looking. She almost never complained about hunting expenses.
I seldom do anything but diy hunts. Spring bear on the Jicarilla was an exception and expensive all things considered. May have been a bargain at that. I estimate the bear hunt with taxidermy to be about $6000. The mule deer, gas $750. License $350 plus and lodging was about $250. Total will be $1800. Too much.
I bought a new cheap camera, an Olympus model no. SP-820OZ It has a 40x digital zoom, so far so good. My thinking is to take some wildlife pictures on the cheap while not too crowded in the field. Weather is mild pre season.
I do have 4 elk pp. Four pp should get me a decent elk hunt this fall and I expect to apply for deer pp and unit 81 as a second choice. I don't want to hunt elk but I have been helping others get their elk out, I may as well hunt my own.

 

[Doe Nob]

I just pay my child support and tell her when I'm leaving town, I have an 18 mo old son and his mother and I are not together. I keep track of all the kid time I miss during hunting season and make all that time up in the off season. I also give her a round trip plane ticket anywhere she wants to go at the end of hunting season provided she is agreeable during the season and doesn't give me too much hell. I start traveling in August/September, will be gone for a week or so at a time 3-4 times in the fall and every other weekend I'm in town Nov-Jan I will be duck hunting Saturday and Sunday morning.

This seems to be working out ok so far. The big thing for me is managing her stress levels. I can tell when she's getting at the end of her rope and then I'll take a Sunday off from hunting and take the boy so she can decompress. Keep the pot from boiling over, its all good, but if it blows up, it requires a lot more maintenance to clean up.

On the financial side, I love my son and would not change anything about how things are, but man, I think of all the awesome hunts I could go on if I kept that $1500 a month!

 

[Timberstalker]

As far as how the wife and I deal with the expense of hunting, we have seperate accounts. We both work full time and we share the household expenses. She has her $ I have mine, its the only way to go. I am still trying to figure out where the extra $ for out of state apps/tags is going to come from though. She alway has said, as long as we have our house, food on the table and no 72 hr notice on the door from the utility companies, she doesn't care what I do with my mad money. Bringing her flowers to her on the way home from hunting doesn't hurt either.

 

[llp]

I guess I am a little old school for this discussion. Been married for 30 years and only ever had one checking account. My wife is frugal, as am I, generally, but we hunt and fish together as much as possible. We never count food and fuel in the cost of hunting trips, nor taxidermy. These are either "extras" or something we would be spending money on anyway. Just like I don't count the cost of my truck or guns in the cost of a hunt - I would have them anyway.
About this time of the year we start our discussion and planning for the following year. "Where do you want to go dear?" followed by "I'm thinking of going (sheep/moose/muskox/whatever) hunting myself this year." Together with a realistic look at what we should draw in the fall in various states. My wife isn't interested in hard core backcountry hunts, and in many cases prefers fishing trips to hunting trips. I've already been told that if we spend a week fishing in Baja this summer, all will be right with the world. We skipped that trip last year as she asked to go hunting in Argentina, which seemed like a good trade at the time. Somehow I will suffer through the Baja fishing trip o), and we will spend the spring turkey and black bear hunting, with maybe a trip top Namibia or Australia (her next request) and come fall I will elk hunt in 2 or 3 states depending on the draws, with a few lower priority antelope and deer trips thrown in the mix. If I can find the right deal, maybe a sheep or Grizzly hunt on my own. My wife will come with me on 90% of these hunts, and she never complains about the money when she is with me on the hunt.
llp

 

[llp]

And yes, our entire recreation budget is based around hunting and fishing trips. When I was a bit younger, we spent a lot more weekends just camping and fishing from our tent trailer, scouting and seeing new country. These days we have a camper and travel a bit more widely for some hunts, but still greatly enjoy our time on DIY hunts throughout the west.
llp

 

[AKaviator]

I come close to paralleling llp's situation. Only I have only been married 20 years to my wife. ( I had a catch and release wife early on!)

One advantage I have; I have numerous friends that hunt world-wide. I point to their $30,000+ Marco Polo hunts and that makes my hunts look like a bargain by comparison!

My wife is and excellent hunter and my son is getting that way; it's a family event for us.

 

[slim jim]

My wife and I split bills and put the same amount each away for savings and the rest, which isn't much, we keep for our own spending money. I don't even want to add up the cost of all my gear and hunting for each year. My freezer is full of venison and elk and I'm sure it cost me a lot more than the price of organic beef but oh well I'm going to do it again next year!

 

[HuskyMusky]

did anyone mention the Credit Card?? haha.


pretty simply I don't spend more than I have, if I ever draw that sheep tag etc.. and have to hire an outfitter etc... I would find the money, even if that meant credit card and paying that off. If that meant no out of state hunts the following year, or going out less etc... priorities!

 

[Jerry]

I too have been married 30 years, with only one checking account that both incomes are deposited into! I guess our incomes aren't high enough to pay all these extra fees and license charges. I've never applied out of state and am at a loss how people can afford thousands of dollars every year in just license and tag fees not counting travel to several states every year. My one major wish would be to go on a sheep hunt somewhere but 30 grand for a hunt several thousand more in taxidermy, license fees travel etc. says it will probably never happen!