Have you ever ( please open)
General Topic
Have you ever held the horns antlers or skull of something you’ve taken on a high $ hunt and thought to yourself… I could have put a down payment on a vehicle etc… with what I dropped here?
Nope, don't want to overthink it!
Nope not once... nickled and dimed myself into Africa 2x's, Alaska moose 3x's, and countless others.. never missed a penny of it... Well...the third trip to Alaska was very bad due to not having a very good transporter... so maybe the one time.
LOL..... No, but I never spent much money to go hunting... On the other hand, I often think of going on a hunt, see the price of it and think, my kids could do a lot more with this money than me going out and shooting an animal..
No sir. Every critter I have taken… especially with a bow gave me something a material item can not. Is part of who I am and a new vehicle or house, at least for me, doesn’t add to my life. I have everything I need and live a modest life. Be blessed
Maybe when I look at 13 unfilled Colorado elk tags...
No but I have put a down payment on a vehicle etc and said I could have taken a heck of a hunt for what this cost me
No. If I went, I thought about that ahead of time. If I was unsuccessful, I thought about it again. ;-))
HELL NO cherish the memory, Because in the end thats all we have are the memories, ive been blessed to have a supportive family and two sons that turned out to be my bowhunting partners. I live A modest life and no material thing can replace my hunting experiences with family and friends.
I like nice things. I like nice memories too.
Alaska was always a dream for me, wish I'd made it there when I was younger, am too old now, will never make it now,,, at least not alive... Always wanted to go to Alaska and always wanted to fly in a bush plane so I told my kids to cremate me take my ashes to Alaska and hire a bush plane to scatter my ashes out the window over a glazier...8^)
Spent lots on hunts. Never once worried about it. Better me spendin it then those who won't appreciate.
Yes. Usually on a guided hunt.
Nope……… but it might happen with a big moose
No. But, I value vehicles for nothing but dependable transport and as a working tool. I’ll never buy another new one. I truly value them for these purposes very highly.
With all that, the memories and friends I’ve made chasing animals is worth way more than any vehicle I could ever imagine.
Wow… I guess I’m In a small minority…
Never like that, but I have stopped occasionally pondered how much $$$ I have in hunting gear and equipment!! I can be a bit staggering!!
Nope not once. But then I made sure my finances and life were squared away before I started my more adventurous (expensive) hunts.
Shug,
You are in a small minority in general!
And I think about every dollar ever made or spent. I think most do. Doesn’t mean I won’t spend money, but I damn sure recognize how I got the money to spend and what it means to give it away
I hunt several months a year and will hopefully continue to do so. As I get older, I regret almost all of my shoulder mounts. I find more connection with friends and dogs I still hunt with, than the trophy. Too many other things I enjoy than to spend outrageous amounts on a hunt that will mean nothing to those that buy or inherit the trophies that will collect dust in a few decades. I guess that means I've decided against Africa?
If I had the money to spend on a hunt like that then I would say that I’ve never regretted it too. I’m still driving an old Chevy 1/2 ton from 2004. Thing is nickel and diming me to death so I would definitely prefer a new truck over an expensive hunt. Would rather use a more dependable truck and go on more elk and deer hunts for myself and my kids.
Yep. One of those animals I had a shoulder mount done on now resides in the bedroom closet of one of my college age daughters...
Nope. The older I get, the more I cherish the memories over money. I’ll run out of health before money.
Zbone, I know this doesn't help you, but the bush flight was one of my favorite parts of my Alaska trip a couple years back. Money well spent, even if I was a chunk of change.
I think about that hunt daily.
For the record I never said anything about regretting any money I’ve spent in my hunting endeavors…I just thought it was a natural thing to question it…
And don’t get me wrong I’m not canceling anything I have planned and I’m not gonna stop doing what I do …. I also wonder how many of you guys above just won’t admit it.
I've not had the opportunity to have taken an expensive hunt. I should say, I haven't been willing to pay for the opportunity to take an expensive hunt yet... I'm pretty sure that if I get to check off some of my bucket list hunts I won't regret the cost. I'm also pretty sure I won't be checking anything off anytime soon!
Thanks tkjwonta... Yeah, one of my life's biggest regrets... Wish now I would went when thinking about 30-40 years ago trying to save money to do so, but as we all know other things in life happens... If I'd had a do-over, would have gotten a loan...
I'll pass along to my kids and grandkids the thrill of your bush plane flight and maybe they will actually go... Thanks...
"I spent half my money on gambling, alcohol and wild women. The other half I wasted."
W.C. Fields
Not since about....... yesterday!
Then there is the money whizzed away on taxidermy!
I've seen me do it!
Pete
No. Actually the opposite….because guided hunts were so inexpensive back then. Lol
Never went on expensive hunts but I did spend a fair amount of time and effort (and gas $$) driving to and maintaining a hunting camp. Don't regret a penny of it.
Yes, and quit going on expensive hunts. I was a slow learner, visited Alaska many times. Instead invest in property now.
Nope, bought land instead
Nope. Have only ever done DIY.
What are you calling high dollar? I'll assume over 10k. Anyway, Ive never looked at it like I could have used this money for a down payment. I have looked at a lot of vehicle sticker prices and said, wow thats a brown bear hunt plus taxidermy....I think I'll drive my beater truck a little longer.
I did calculate the $/# for my Newfoundland moose hunt. $18/#. Not terrible considering the "adventure" part was free ;) A recent duck hunt cost $75/#
Never been on a paid hunt.
"Have you ever held the horns antlers or skull of something you’ve taken on a high $ hunt and thought to yourself… I could have put a down payment on a vehicle etc… with what I dropped here?"
not specifically as you describe...but about 10 years ago or so i came to the conclusion that id rater spend money other other travel adventures with family and friends and get my hunting fix locally.
I can barely justify the expense of DIY / Public Land hunts. Can't imagine dropping the amount of cash that some guys do on an annual basis.
A few years ago, I would've answered this differently, but after leaving the Sheep Show and seeing how some of these hunts have really gone crazy, it has made me question things a little bit.
I don't think about it after the fact, but looking at stone hunts to complete my archery grand slam really has me wondering if I should just say the heck with it and go chase critters on the other side of the pond.
It's just money. Buckle down and make some more. Life is short before you know it you won't be able to go on exciting hunts or even get your ass into that expensive truck.
I'm spending it now and hopefully don't die with a shitload of cash left to some undeserving individuals.
Never been able to do a high dollar hunt other than random draw special in Wyoming last year :)
I thought this thread was going to be a 'have you ever thought about.....' and we'd fill in the blank. Mine would have been "....buying a sailboat and sailing off into the sunset !!!!"
Funny what your mind comes up with when you get to your 60's and the tag hussle has become tiresome.
Cheers, Pete
No.
I've never chosen to go on a big money hunt. It's not something I'm into at this point. Maybe some day I will do one. Dont know. At this point, if I'm thinking of spending substantial money, I'd be thinking about other things I could have done with that money, kids school, investment, donations, etc. before I'd choose to use it on a hunt.
I killed 2 moose in NL and don't regret it even for a second. Those memories make me smile every time.
To answer honestly, all the time. I think about it even more when looking at photos of a hunt where I didn't bring home horns/antlers to hold. But as most have said, no regrets!
Just bought a new car last week and paid cash. I could of went on a hunt but I’d rather drive a new car without a car payment.
I have only ever done two big hunts in AK., and it took me years to save enough to afford to go, but I never had second thoughts about the money, because, well, I saved the money for that purpose without making other sacrifices to the budget. Have another savings account currently, with plans to go to AK for the 3rd time.
The level of cash I've spent on hunts had me losing out on a down payment on a tricycle.
i never thought i could have spent money on a vehicle instead. a vehicle is near the bottom of my list. you can get a good vehicle for $20K-$40K and make it last 10 years or more. despite being a depreciating asset, that is not a bad 'return' when you factor in the use of the vehicle.
i have never been on a high dollar hunt and never will, but i do think about and have some regrets of the money i spent on hunts and gear. i would do things differently if i knew then what i know now. just a rough guess but i would likely be two years closer to retirement had i not spent some of the money and instead invested it.
anyway, such is life i suppose.
I look at some of my sheep and think if I invested that money I could afford to go on more sheep hunts. Then I remember what an awesome time I had on the hunts and Im glad I went.
Warning! Long post on first and only guided hunt*** I’ve only done 2 what I thought were high dollar hunts.
#1 was a mule deer hunt in Alberta. Several friends had gone multiple times with the outfitter, and had a fantastic time. First guided hunt. It was supposed to be just me and the guide/owner. For a week. Talked multiple times throughout summer leading up to the trip.” Don’t shoot the first 170 buck & you should be able to kill a 180+”. The week before I’m supposed to go, he said I could come up early. So I drive up from Oregon on a Wednesday morning. There’s another guy whitetail hunting, so we have to drop him off at stands and pick him up. At dinner the first night I arrive he is talking about really hoping I tag out fast so he can drive home to his kids football game Saturday night. This is before I have even hunted. I just got there an hour earlier and paid my remaining $4k balance,WTF!
Thursday no big bucks seen. Friday morning, a possible hood buck is spotted from a long ways away we sneak to 30 yards waiting for the group of bucks to stand. After about 90 minutes they do. I’m at full draw, pin on the buck at 35 yards broadside. Looks like a solid 170 buck to me, me a touch bigger. After about 10 seconds the deer runs off. He asks why I didn’t shoot it. I said wasn’t it about a 170 buck? He said yeah, that one of the better bucks he’s seen in the zone my permit is good for!!! Another WTF moment. All year he told me don’t shoot a 170, and you’ll kill a 180-190. He was very off after that. He said he was going to head out to his kids game. He assured me it was no problem if I just hunted the rest of the next week like the original plan, since he was bailing and I only hunted 1 full day since arriving, before he bailed.
I spent the next couple days driving around, and glassing the areas he could hunt. I located a really funky buck, That was super heavy and palmated. Definitely a big buck. I was pretty sure Monday morning we be able to get on him.
Late Sunday afternoon the outfitter shows up, and tells me Jason( one of the guys I knew that hunted here) and his buddy would be arriving soon, WTF!!!
Again, this was booked as a 1 on 1 hunt, now it’s 3 hunters one guide. He assures me it won’t be a problem, they mostly just going to whitetail hunt.
I tell him about the buck I found, and where we need to go at first light to glass him. We find the buck, everyone is pretty pumped( the other guys didn’t go whitetail hunting, they followed us to glass in their truck???).
I’m watching the buck bed down, and can see an obvious way to kill this deer. Now remember, this outfitter can flat out get people close on bucks for a shot. I learned some great stalking skills from him on the trip.
The outfitter is himming and hawing, saying there’s no way to get in the buck where he is, another WTF!!!
I tell him I’m ?? percent sure if we’re drive around the backside of the hill, ones the wind starts blowing up the hill I could sneak to a bench above the bucks, and it looks like a 40 ish yard shot when they get up. This is a wide open hillside and we’re glassing from a mile away.
He finally concedes this plan may work, but Jason should be up since I hunted last week, and had that opportunity at the 170 buck, another WTF moment!!!
We do exactly what I planned out. All four of us sneak to where I described, and wait.
The bucks get up, Jason shoots the buck in the ass broadside at 40 yards, and it dropps. We go over and he misses it 2 times, then finally shoots it in the lungs.
It ended up being a couple inches shy of 190 inches. I hunted with all of them two more days. Dropping them off and picking them up at their whitetail stands for each morning and evening hunt. It was miserable. By the time we could go glass most of the bucks were bedded. The evenings were odd also since we had to get them at dark at two different stand sites.
Wednesday morning I threw my stuff in the car, and started the 13 hour drive home.
I drove a piece of crap, branded title, stick shift, 97 Subaru forester with no ac, and oil leaks for 2.5 years to be able to do this hunt of a lifetime for a huge mule deer and completely got screwed.
Turns out, Jason the guy I knew that showed up had loaned the outfitter the money to buy a bunch of additional permits. Jason and his buddy had to change the week they were going to hunt at the last minute, and I got the shaft.
I really wish I never spent the $6k, plus has, plus time off work on that trip.
Nope didn’t even enter my head Mark. Life is short do what you love and never look back.
Will tell, keep living that way and you'll eventually be able to do a travel hunt if you want. That's what I did. Live within your means, don't pay interest if you can help it and don't buy "ego junk"
I sure think about the memories of the hunts that I've spent money on a helluva lot more than the money I spent...and especially a hell of a lot more than the time I spent earning it.
I guess I’ve never been on a “high $” hunt unless you’re talking about buying an of state elk tag. In that case the answer is definitely not. Money is a tool. Yes it’s our job to steward it well and as men take care of responsibilities in a certain order but I work dam hard for what I have and I figure I can’t take $$$ with me to the grave so I’d rather spend it on living an experience while I’m here than to buy junk I really don’t need. Different strokes for different folks. We all have our own priorities arranged in different orders. Responsibilities taken care of ? If yes…. Goin huntin.
I've never gone on a guided hunt, but my muskox hunt turned from a 1 week trip into a 3 week trip due to weather. The lost wages of two weeks without pay was a chunk of change I would have rather had and worked for instead of sitting around twiddling my thumbs, but I honestly hadn't thought about it since this thread and I'd do it again.
"It's just money. Buckle down and make some more."
LOL. At what cost?
I haven't, but my wife sure has!!!!!
No, because I've never given in and gone on a high dollar hunt. Can't justify it.
