Best bang for your buck??
General Topic
Without giving your outfitter away or your hot spot, what is the best "bang" for your buck as far as an outfitted hunt or an out of state hunt that a guy can look into?
I know a DIY elk/mule deer/antelope hunt cost me $700-1200 depending on tag cost/lodging/distance from home.
I'm looking for future ideas.
Rack and stack the average success ratios on public land by species. Obviously there are a ton of variables but antelope is hard to beat when you take the average success ratios and low costs into account.
Kodiak island. Best adventure for the money hands down!!!!
Deer on Kodiak is tough to beat on the $/adventure scale.
Big adventure at homer ocean charters on kodiak
TDvorak, can you translate that math into something understandable?
My experience is that you seldom get more than you pay for. And sometimes, far less. Yes, there is the exception, but I have not seen it.
No brainer. Kodiak for blacktails.
No free lunch, but the best deal for outfitter hunts I’ve seen are eastern Canada black bear hunts. A few are bowsite sponsors.
For DIY it just takes time to figure it out. For most cost effective, great meat, and high success I would say a reduced price Wyoming doe pronghorn hunt. 2 tags for $80, plenty of public, and just about every rancher will let you shoot a few out of their hay field if you ask.
There is no better “bang for buck for adventure”, than Sitka Blacktail on Kodiak.
I have enjoyed the 4 DIY SD antelope hunts that I have been on. It is a fairly cheap endeavor and the trophy quality has been good. Good luck
So I have been lucky to hunt a little bit all over lots of places. Unfortunately I generally don't have the big dollars to book the top outfits. But like all these kinds of threads, it depends there are lots of variables.
Kodiak is great, it is certainly an adventure type hunt, and high percent (hopefully), but i generally don't consider it cheap. But you asked for a good ratio, not necessarily cheap.
I have a great guy in WY i hunt elk with, significantly less than Kodiak (all in) and I absolutely love going there, but far from an "adventure hunt".
The Eastern Canada bear hunts (as mentioned above) are a great value IMO and high percentage, but again, most of those aren't really super adventurous.
The adventure doesn't get much bigger than AK moose, but that would have to be DIY, and the costs can add up quick there too. Opportunity can be all over the place, lots of guys do really well, i personally struggled, and didn't even get close to a moose.
And for me personally i like the overlooked lesser species, but quite honestly i see these prices on the increase as well. Pigs and exotics are great and often affordable. Texas turkeys on private are generally pretty affordable, fun, spring (doesn't cut into the fall seasons). Javelina in TX, AZ, NM are a good value in my book. FL alligators are a fun hunt with fairly low costs (good quality/cost ratio) if it appeals to you, and easily combed with a family type vacation.
And if you are willing to look outside N/A, Africa plains game is an incredible value right now, and can be a cool adventure.
There are great opportunities if you keep an open mind. Keep your options open. Networking and forums are great places to find unique opportunities and be ready to jump on them when something comes along. Just some food for thought...
--Jim
Usually only get about two weeks a yr for my out of state hunt and for many years did the DIY elk, but now I enjoy doing something where multiple tags can be filled started two yrs ago In Alaska doing black bear and caribou 2019 it was Wyoming for cow elk and antelope and this year back to Alaska can’t wait.
For guided....I have a bear place in Ontario that is $900. That includes a nice cabin on a lake and boat/motor/gas for fishing and hunting. Add a tag/export/food/drive up. That is a fairly inexpensive bear hunt with good opportunities and beautiful scenery.
The DIY antelope hunt in MT can be done easily under $1K from the house to MT if you already have the gear and knowledge from previous trips.
So how much all in, do you estimate a DIY kodiak deer hunt?
If Covid 19 gets to Africa I bet there will be some great deals and Safaris. Heck there might already be some cancellation hunts international. Might be some opportunity if you are willing to risk it.
Kodiak for Sitka Blacktails is the best bang for your buck in all of North America. Incredible adventure, target rich, reasonably priced and multiple tags.
Willy, do you bowhunt or just show up here to peddle your guided hunts?
OK, where do I buy a 30K hunt for 5K?
if an outfitter is in it to “make some cabbage” it would be safe to assume that he is making some on the $5k hunt. $25k more to simply add a guide for the same hunt seems a little excessive. Or is that the “worst bang for your buck” option? ;-)
Ambush, just send me the $5k and I’ll lake care of you! But that is USD, none of that Canadian crap! ;)
—Jim
Antelope and baited bear hunts are relatively cheap. They must be because even I have managed to afford those. I can’t comment on Kodiak, yet! Turkey would also be pretty cheap.
If we're talking low-end cheap....there are hog hunts on Craigslist in central Florida starting at $100.
I don’t think he is asking for necessarily cheap, he is wanting the best cost/quality/adventure ratio. At least that is how I understood it...
—jim
My vote is for Kodiak.
The only better bang for your buck, is if an adopted father graciously takes you on a sheep hunt for free! Still have my fingers crossed for someone to adopt me...
I'd always say diy moose in alaska... I have not gone to Kodiak but def will in the near future.
I’d do that in a heart beat JT, except I’ve seen threads of your hunts and 5K would barely cover the liquor bill. I’d probably wake up in a ditch, severely hungover, broke and barred from further entry into the country. All that and haven’t even hunted yet!!
I find almost all DIY hunts good bang for buck value. In Arizona in January, I hunted Couse deer for a week for the price of a tag and licence. Could have hunted two weeks or more for the same price. Camping was free and food cost was little different than home. I drove a total of 4,800 miles but visited family, looped through seven states and hit the Reno sheep show.
I can hunt, OTC, over a dozen species here at home for about $300 (in Canadian pesos) tag costs . After that it’s just fuel. I should kill two bears in May for around $50 in tags and about $200 in fuel.
And antelope Is a great deal too, even for NR’s.
If you like Whitetail you can do most any state Kansas and Illinois and a couple others the tag is high figure $600 but many others for under $300. I can hunt most any state for 15-20 days all costs included for $2500 or under. In the last 5 years I have hunted Kansas 3 times, Nebraska and Ohio and hunted no less than 15 days and did them all for under $2500. I took 3 really good bucks in those 5 years and blew it on a 140" deer in Ohio but saw big bucks on every hunt. I stayed in motel rooms on all those hunts as well. I should draw Iowa this year and I will be hunting right close toi Nebraska so will buy that tag too and now staying in my travel trailer I will be able to do a 20 day hunt for under $2500 for sure. Shawn
Another super cheap hunt and good value and exciting is a Hog Hunt in SC on WMA lands. There are quite a few hogs and you can camp for 15 bucks or less a night. License and wma permit is 200 bucks you can add deer and bear and turkey for another 100 bucks or a tad more. You can hog hunt for two weeks for $6-700 bring a kayak or canoe and greatly increase your chances at hogs! Shawn
I sent ya a personal message with a couple options for ya
Best value would be to find a super remote place in your home state/province, make it an adventure, find a way back there and hunt whatever species lives there. You can make an adventure and memories anywhere. Look at a map and find a spot it will take you a day or two to reach and make it happen
