Hunting Budget?
Wisconsin
Curious what we're spending on our sport/hobby/lifestyle annually. How much do you think we're spending and after sitting down and calculating the actual cost what is it really? Everything from taking days off of work, fuel, taxes on private land, price of equipment depreciated over the course of its useful life.
If anyone is so willing....an itemized breakdown would be great.
I'm looking for opportunities where I can save some money and also maybe spot things that I'm over looking.
well when I was younger I could work more OT, to cover some costs, but today I am retired, and have to watch it, yet I still spend too much, ha ha ha
Forget all the flash you see at the stores, I am convinced, that neither deer or elk, or bears, even care if your wearing KUIU, Sitka, mossy oak, etc,,,,,
so I buy clothes, that are functional, and watch for sales..........
I buy some quality stuff, at sportsman rummage sales, went to 3 in the last month, Fond du Lac, Appleton, and Beaver Dam.... I do not buy junk,,,,, just picked up a Tru Angle sharpening hone set, for 8.00
I bought a Lansky sharpening system for knives for 10.00
bought a tree seat, new in the box for 5.00
saw a summit climber, just about new for 150.00, lot of good deals
taxes are what they are, so they do not count...
take care of your equipment, and you will save money,,,, I now have a cabin, but I did a lot of camping, and slept in my truck on a lot of hunts,
Bear hunting in a good year I will spend a couple thousand in gas alone. Vet bills and food another eight hundred or so. New GPS tracker three hundred more if I get it.
Bow hunting I hunt behind the house and need nothing this year but a license. So that will be my cost.
I try not to add it up and hope the wife doesn't either. I know I am over budget already this year. Like razorhead, I don't buy "junk". I really would like a Leica rangefinder, but that is definitely over budget this year.
the hunting budget has not budget... would be foolish to actually have this written down. My wife is going to learn about these strange blinking typerwriters someday, come onto bowsite and i"ll be busted!
I try to keep it to one nice addition per year. Try to keep frills to minimum. Bows'arrows,rifles are top end.
This years budget it $7000. But that's for client's bait, 5 new millennium stands, equipment for the kids who I take hunting and a few things for me. Not as high as in years past, because I am not going to Canada this year. If I go to Canada that's another $3000 for 2 trips a year. As far as taking time off from work, not an issue because that's covered with all the extra time I spend working the first 4 months of the year!
No questions asked. It's who I am and what I do.
I just gave Colorado 3 grand and I'm not even hunting there this year
I'll count for only myself, not the extra I spent on my son. Gas-$1,000 give or take a hundred. Clothes- I buy Walmart camo, less than $50, already had warm gear so I just updated my regular camo. Money lost from days off work (self employed so I get no vacation days)--- at least $3,000. I buy at least one new stand a year, this year I bought a tripod and two inexpensive hang ons---$400. Odds and ends (broadheads, liscense, chair for ground hunting, etc.)--$150 Total-$4,600. In reality it's probably about 5,000 if I include food and beer . This total is only counting what I spend to hunt my in laws land up north. If I stayed around home I could keep my cost to less than $250 a year because I don't need stands and can work every day I hunt. The truth is when hunting season comes around I don't think about a budget or money lost from not working.... The joy of bowhunting is priceless!!! If my wife knew the real cost she would definitely have a different opinion.
Too much, probably 15-20% of our annual income.
Sounds like I'm on the same boat as most of you guys. I also try to do things as cheap as possible and if my wife found out what I spend she'd be pissed. I just keep telling her I only pay for a license and go walking in the woods. I think gas is by far my greatest expense. I'm wanting to get a recurve but trying to justify the expense since I already have an ancient but functioning compound.
Wow not even on the radar screen to think about it much less put it in print. Hunting and fishing are necessary living expenses for me that cost what they cost and I don't want or need to know what the total is. I am as frugal as I can be in keeping costs down but I still don't want to see what I really spend. I might not enjoy it so much then. lol.
Buy quality and it may last a lifetime.
Avoid the latest and greatest junk and concentrate on the hunt itself and you will be surprised at the results.
To many, the largest cost is lost work and wages. I never give up the chance to make a dollar for my family, yet I generally manage to get enough hunting time.
Budget? What's that? We give almost everything to it. I In another day or so can give a very detailed number on it. Just bait, gas, and insurance for bear hunting last year. Cost me about 14k. Plus, equipment, repairs, dog care, etc. Ohh, but I get paid to guide, lol. Total revenue about 9k from hunting. Hefty food cost to that as well. Best guess right now. Out of pocket net still going to be 15k plus. Gee, wonder why I am broke???
Some have paid vacation, others work second jobs during these vacations. Many others are self employed, where time is money.
What is vacation, and how you get paid for it? Been self employed my whole life, and have never had a vacation!!
I could not even imagine all the costs associated with my fishing and hunting afflictions. I just buy what I want when I can afford it and I don't look back. I sold my 29' Lake Michigan money pit to buy 90 acres in the UP (I see more deer there than the little parcel I share in Oneida County). Land ownership (especially crappy land like mine) is even more of a money pit. I made 13 work trips last spring-fall and have hired lots of equipment/people for cabin and land improvements. The price tag would make me cringe so I don't look :). This Friday will be trip #3 for this season of the love/hate relationship I have with my land. Gotta head up and get boats put in the lake property in May with many trips there for grass cutting and Musky fishing. My annual Canada and Lake Erie trips are expenses too especially since my son comes on all my trips now. I need a 2nd job!
Steve,
Every time you head out to the woods it's a vacation. A way of life, it's who you are.
Just admit it!
Same subject, different question.
What would you guess your average cost per deer killed is? Whitetail only/Wisconsin only.
I would guess my cost is around $3,000 per dead deer. I would consider this an expensive addiction. But now that I quit smoking I will consider it FREE!!!!
$500-$1,000/deer on private land.
Average cost per deer killed?
Good question, too many variables. Hurts my mind to even think about it!
I'm going to have to plead the 5th on this one. Don't write any thing down, don't keep any receipts, deny, deny, deny. :)
Mike F, I suppose you are right. It is a lot of work, and does cost me. Keeps us in the poor house. I suppose it's worth it. Got my cost on fishing dialed in pretty well to. About $75 just to drop it in. Gear, wear and tear, etc are extra. Try not to buy much thee if I can. Less and less time on the water yearly. Deer cost? Last year $0!!! I like it that way. Maybe I should go get ours. Just so there are a couple less for the wolves. Not bad idea right there!
Seldom buy at retail stores .mostly buy at Pawn shops , auctions , garage sales .
Example , just bought a as new Vexalar for 75 bucks . A $200 Musky rig for 60 bucks .
Advice . Don't be cheap . Buy the best you can . Buy what you need to get the job done .
There may be a Heaven but there may not be hunting there ;-]
It would be interesting to see the $$$ difference between the landowners and the all hat, no cattle guys. Rc, based on your reply, you are all hat, no land.
Well, without question the landowners spend a lot more money. I never spent a dime on the 5 acres connected to the lake property in Oneida County I hunted but I have spent thousands and will continue to do so improving my UP land. Growing stuff and cutting down cedars to expose more canopy has become an obsession and fun hobby for me and my son. Seeing the deer using it and having my son be able to reap the rewards makes every dime spent worth it. Knowing he always has a place of his own to hunt when I'm not around makes it worth it too. Lots of money is spent at the lake home too maintaining the "toys".
Neverbait, I get the feeling that you kill spikes and doe fawns and think hunting is easy... How many fully mature whitetail have you killed with a bow? Buck or doe, killing a mature whitetail is far from easy. The op was asking about your budget not how easy you think it is to go down the road and kill a fawn. As you can see in my earlier statement most of my hunting budget is gas and days off of work. The actual act of hunting is pretty affordable.
If a P&Y buck is your main objective they can be bought almost any year. All one has to do is spend the outfitting fee, be away from family and work, practice a bit,and perhaps be willing to hunt multiple states. Mature bucks are easier yet to obtain. Can also be readily home grown if one has enough land and time. All is part of the cost.
Most book trophy animals are accessible and obtainable for a fee and willingness to make a priority.
Jodie ..... good post well stated, I like you more and more, although we disagree on the wolves...... stay well
I do not like wolves, but I understand why game managers do. IMO, there are far too many, way over estimates everywhere they are located in the lower 48. A Federal debacle. States should have control and issue more tags for hunters and trappers.
I think you'd be remiss to think that all game managers like wolves.
Not all game managers, just the ones I am most familiar with.
Jodie , you mst be talking about hi fenced hunts , right ?
If not you don't have a clue .
Actually, yes I do have a clue.
Some game managers prefer predatation to prevent harboring. Harboring is where populations remain out of reach of the human hunter and therefore population control is difficult. Has been an issue in the west with elk, where private landowners own huge tracts of lands which may become inaccessible to hunting. National parks are other examples which are not hi fenced. Remember, predators, including wolves know no boundaries, they hunt where and when they choose and do not abide by APR's and horn mongering.
Jodie, in the wild, i.e. Not high fenced or heavily managed large tracts of land but everyday public and private parcels. Horn monger ing and aprs aside its not easy to kill a 4+ yr old doe let alone a buck that age or older. And wolves, as far as I'm concerned, they were here and as much as I'd like the chance to arrow them like I would a coyote I'm willing to accept their presence as simply another obstacle in my persuit of the game I love. Now, back on topic....... Budget, what is yours for hunting dear. This way you can at least answer the OP's original question.
Hunting dear I have spent thousands and thousands and thousands. Hunting deer, not sure. At least a few hundred dollars per year.
Isn't an old deer like the holy grail for hunters? I hunted a small parcel on the Kenosha/Racine county border for 7 years. Low deer density. In that time span I encountered two old bucks, no shot because at that time it was EAB. I managed to harvest a doe in the last year of hunting that property so old she had three teeth left in her mouth. She is as much a trophy to me as any buck I've ever shot. (Although she didn't taste that great). My hunting budget and cost for that deer alone given the amount of times I drove there and time spent going to work late or leaving early is easily $3,000.
Jodie, sorry dear, I meant deer. ;-)
I agree, you do not have to spend a lot of money to shoot a big deer, just have to hunt, where big deer are........
as far as being easy, well, its obvious to me, some bowsiters here clearly can walk on water
Ruger, I'm going to pretend I didn't read this...
"There may be a Heaven but there may not be hunting there ;-]"
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-california-fish-and-wildlife-commission-20160417-story.html
Unfortunately, this is where game management is heading. And, unfortunately I do have a clue Ruger. This is today's Yahoo news.
YZF Are you still living out west ? Did the Mormons get to you ? ;=]
Jodie . Meant that in a constructed manner . I did live on the west coast for 14 years . You cannot compare The west coast with the Midwest . Not even close .
I'll add to this latter , the Eyes are running & the Turkeys are in love . Gotta go .
Thanks for all the input. I agree that the joy we receive from the hunt is priceless but at the end of the day the kids need clothes and the bills need to be paid. I have a small parcel in northern Marinette that I was debating on improving a bit. Mostly just clearing out some areas and set up a decent ground blind and also do some scouting. But the gas and extra time away seem to really put a dent into those plans. I'll continue to hunt the little piece of public land that isn't too far away. Last year was my first year and I think I spent $200 to get 4 or 5 days in the woods. This year I'll start earlier but now that I have my bow and a few arrows, I'm predicting my cost won't be very high. Just a few days off of work here and there and fuel.
