Are more people hunting with the rise in food costs?

[rwc101]

 

[ImBillT]

It’s already been mentioned, but I think that most people hunting due to rising food prices are doing bad math, particularly with rising fuel prices.

 

[np307]

Its possible to hunt in a way that does come out cheaper than buying beef. I have never met someone that actually does so, not when you figure in the time and gas involved.

For the average hunter around here, the lease and corn prices also cut into the bottom line a whole bunch.

For me? I pay in gas and time for a very fun hobby. The meat is free.

 

[shannerdrake]

I once did the math and I could take all the money I spend each year on deer hunting and hunting related activities spend it on lobster, replace my deer meat meals and still have some running around money.

 

[DouglasR]

View attachment 232678

Idk if you lived in Illinois and you were like 25% smarter than Dougs Chrondre you could clean house with a crossbow and some $15.50 unlimited doe tags.

 

[rwc101]

Idk if you lived in Illinois and you were like 25% smarter than Dougs Chrondre you could clean house with a crossbow and some $15.50 unlimited doe tags.

I've got a crossbow...

 

[FairWeather]

Luckily deer tags here are OTC, so they don’t sell out, but you can only get one.

I’m a new hunter. Last year was my first deer season. That said, I didn’t get into it to save money. Kinda the opposite, I’m finally at a point in life where I can afford to go hunting. Always wanted to get into it, but couldn’t afford to plunk down the money for a rifle, optics, binos, tags, backpack, calls, etc. It was easily a $2k investment by the end, and would have been more if I didn’t already have camo from my army days. For me the draw is the same as fishing and crabbing. There’s something special about harvesting your own food, and building the knowledge to do so. Plus, the spaces I’ve seen hunting are places that I would otherwise have no reason to venture. It’s really given me a new appreciation for the area around me.

 

[jt13]

Luckily deer tags here are OTC, so they don’t sell out, but you can only get one.

I’m a new hunter. Last year was my first deer season. That said, I didn’t get into it to save money. Kinda the opposite, I’m finally at a point in life where I can afford to go hunting. Always wanted to get into it, but couldn’t afford to plunk down the money for a rifle, optics, binos, tags, backpack, calls, etc. It was easily a $2k investment by the end, and would have been more if I didn’t already have camo from my army days. For me the draw is the same as fishing and crabbing. There’s something special about harvesting your own food, and building the knowledge to do so. Plus, the spaces I’ve seen hunting are places that I would otherwise have no reason to venture. It’s really given me a new appreciation for the area around me.

Have some success and that $2000 starts to make sense. Good gear lasts a long time, use it to get about 40-50 deer and it'll have paid for itself. Not sure where you're at but maybe some neighboring states have easily accessible land and tags to add to your one doe tag a year that you mentioned.

 

[ImBillT]

Its possible to hunt in a way that does come out cheaper than buying beef. I have never met someone that actually does so, not when you figure in the time and gas involved.

For the average hunter around here, the lease and corn prices also cut into the bottom line a whole bunch.

For me? I pay in gas and time for a very fun hobby. The meat is free.

If you only count my successful trips a substantial portion of them have been cheaper than beef, but not all. If you add in my unsuccessful trips, I’m definitely in it for more than beef. It also depends on the location. One of the usually 100% odds NM hunts that I have done three times is actually quite expensive because there are very few legal camping locations in the unit, and very few large tracts. I go through 1-2 tanks of gas per day. On a different hunt that was quite a distance from where I live, I actually drove fewer than 20mi once I arrived, maybe fewer than 10mi. Getting there took a LOT more fuel, but the trip total fuel cost was actually one of my lower cost trips, and yielded 264lbs of meat.

My local hunting is always worth more than the cost, BUT I pay nothing for access to private land, and process my own animals. Heck, I would buy the license even if I didn’t deer hunt, and the resident license is cheap. That meat is almost free.

Again, my average is likely more expensive than beef, and that includes some cheap hunts, PLUS, pre-children, I was almost 100% on filling a tag after I drove somewhere to hunt. I had time to scout, e-scout, and stay until I killed. Now, my e-scouting is limited, my boots on the ground scouting is non-existent, and I have pressure to come home as quickly as possible, and have a maximum timeframe as well.

 

[LopeHunter]

If are honest about the cost for the tag, fuel, depreciation, time away from making money, ammunition and fuel to keep gun ready for season, wear and tear on gear, GoHunt or OnXmap subscription, application fees, points bought as build up points, processing fees or equipment bought to process into burger, unfilled tags, etc...then someone put up what they calculate they paid per pound for the last tag they filled. I did a mountain goat hunt in Alaska a decade ago and when the dust settled was $168 a pound, door to door, all costs included less taxidermy. Was a great adventure with two near-death moments and my first time in a Super Cub and on a glacier hopping over crevasses so worth every penny yet was not a way to cut food costs in my household.

 

[FairWeather]

Have some success and that $2000 starts to make sense. Good gear lasts a long time, use it to get about 40-50 deer and it'll have paid for itself. Not sure where you're at but maybe some neighboring states have easily accessible land and tags to add to your one doe tag a year that you mentioned.

I’m in Oregon. It’s one buck tag. Doe tags are controlled draw hunts. I’ve got one preference point, and it sounds like it’s taking 2-3 to draw these days, so maybe next year I’ll get one.

My original home state is Ohio, where it’s only about $200 for a NR license and either sex tag. Thinking I’m going to have to plan my next family visit around deer season. Of course, the further east you go, the more sparse the huntable public land gets.

 

[ImBillT]

I just did some quick calculations on a couple of my better years, and at $5/lb I lost money. I’ll add details when I have more time. I don’t think it can be done much cheaper than I do it, EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. If I only count local hunting, I probably come out ahead. Even though almost 100% of my out of state hunting is in states that border my own, if I count out of state hunts, I go negative at $5/lb.

 

[Bullshot]

In three lifetimes I could never pencil out the math on my hunting expenditures -vs- meat costs. BUT- hunting could EASILY provide enough meat for my family and a few friends such that they would never have to buy meat if they didn’t want to. For several reasons other than the price per lb, that makes it worth it to me. And all the time, it remains great training for when SHTF.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I haven't read thru all the comments, but in Pennsylvania u can definitely save money on beef by killing deer legally. I did and my family still does to this day.

 

[EastTNHunter]

In TN my family eats about 6 deer per year. I don’t golf, drink, go to movies, etc. throughout the year. My hobby is the outdoors, both hunting and fishing. My wife doesn’t care much for fish, so we don’t keep much fish (I’d 10X rather bream, catfish, or trout fish than bass), but deer meat is the byproduct of my hobby. I enjoy peaceful time in the woods, my kids are very involved and have all 3 killed deer.

Do I save money? I dunno. I do butcher about half of our deer, so that takes away much of the processing fees. Me and my kids all have lifetime licenses, so there are no license fees. I just like to think about it as justification for the hobby that I enjoy, and the offset is that we buy less store bought meat. The time in the woods is priceless.

I do know that pressure on public lands in my area has skyrocketed, and much of that is from people who hunt for the meat. They may have that mindset of saving money, but many are only getting into it for that reason and may fizzle out after a couple of years

 

[jt13]

Not including the cost of gear....

Flights/Gas+outfitter+tags+license.
-Quebec bear- $59/lb
-Hawaii axis Deer- $45/lb
-Newfoundland moose and bear- $41/lb

My wife and I go hunting or fishing everywhere we go. Every trip doubles as both vacation and hunting/fishing. If you averaged in what the non-hunting family spends on "normal vacations" then deduct the meat gained it's a much prettier picture. Most folks come home from trips with coffee mugs and t-shirts as souvenirs, we come home with meat, hides, and antlers.

Normal whitetail doe season
-$21 license
-$7 doe tag x 4
-$100 gas
$149/140lbs = $1.06/lb

Add in that $2000 in gear start-up cost, divided across 20 years of use and its something like $1.78/lb for whitetail near home.

 

[shannerdrake]

In TN my family eats about 6 deer per year. I don’t golf, drink, go to movies, etc. throughout the year. My hobby is the outdoors, both hunting and fishing. My wife doesn’t care much for fish, so we don’t keep much fish (I’d 10X rather bream, catfish, or trout fish than bass), but deer meat is the byproduct of my hobby. I enjoy peaceful time in the woods, my kids are very involved and have all 3 killed deer.

Do I save money? I dunno. I do butcher about half of our deer, so that takes away much of the processing fees. Me and my kids all have lifetime licenses, so there are no license fees. I just like to think about it as justification for the hobby that I enjoy, and the offset is that we buy less store bought meat. The time in the woods is priceless.

I do know that pressure on public lands in my area has skyrocketed, and much of that is from people who hunt for the meat. They may have that mindset of saving money, but many are only getting into it for that reason and may fizzle out after a couple of years

This is a good post and captures why most of us do it. The food is nice. The time outdoors is what drives us. Stuff you kill, process, and cook just tastes better.

Aside, some fishing really starts to make sense financially. I’ve caught about 150lb of catfish this year off of a $17 license using about $5 of bait on 20 year old poles that were Walmart specials. Where I live, fish of any kind is very expensive.

 

[Mallardsx2]

If your buying a license and stepping out on the back porch and shooting a deer with a hand me down rifle from grandpa, then processing it all yourself, you might be saving money. If you do what I do, then deer meat is as about expensive as prime rib...lol

 

[EastTNHunter]

Agreed. There’s a lot of pride that goes into the meat on the table coming from sweat equity and skill, and we actually prefer venison over ground beef or fajita meat for many things. You’d better believe that my wife lets me know if I’ve been to the woods a couple of times and haven’t brought anything home yet. Antlers mean nothing to her, but an empty freezer does

Stuff you kill, process, and cook just tastes better.

 

[Don Fischer]

It cost's as much to hunt as your willing to spend. You really should have a rifle, used will work and not outrageously expensive. Box of ammo to get through the season. Not the expensive custom stuff, box of Remingtons core locks. Then when I hunt big game I hunt from home, I do not drive even a hundred miles to shoot deer. Hunting deer will cost no more than you are willing to spend. Talked to a guy in N.E. Oregon a few years ago. If he wanted to hunt he had to drive several hundred miles to western Oregon. He didn't draw a tag near home but lot's of people from western Oregon did. I found that here when they went to draw. First three years I didn't draw a tag. Strange as 95% of the unit in live in is private property!