Driving vs. Flying?

[bipock]

If you are going guided, how many of you drive out to your hunt vs. flying?

In doing the math, the cost between the 2 is pretty close. However, it's a 30-hour solo drive for me. Did it last year and enjoyed the trip out, not as much the trip back. There are pros and cons to each, so looking to see how some of you justify the transportation manner.

 

[Cady Creek]

All depends on time constraints. In this case, can you afford the couple days extra on each end to drive. I'm in the camp of prefer to drive. We drive 20+ West as well as 20+ to Florida a couple times a year. Flights are not getting any better, and airports and people suck. Just flew to Burlington VT this past weekend. Would have been a 15+ hour drive. Flight out took over 9 hours and flight home was 13+ all in from arrival time to baggage claim. Every flight we had was delayed, zero control and plenty of annoyance in the airports along the way. Solo drive could be a factor too though. Those get long.

 

[LFC911]

How are you getting the meat, horns, and hide back if you fly? I know you can pay for anything but the easy answer for me is drive. I like the solitude and scenery West of KS.

 

[Rich M]

I've done this 3 times. Drove 2x and flew 1x.

Drive out all excited, hunt for 7-10 days, drive back. At home exhausted both times.

Fly out, rent car, drive 3-4 hrs, hunt, do sight seeing, fly home with antelope in a sot cooler. At home tired but not too bad.

In future i hope to drive but also hope i won't be working either. If I'm still working - will fly.

 

[chizelhead]

For me it depends on meat and antlers. If I have confidence it can return safely, then I'm open to flying if it saves a lot of time. I have confidence in using Alaska Airlines. Less so with other airlines. It also depends on if I cross into Canada or not. If crossing into Canada, I definitely drive. The long drives can be difficult, but I kind of forget them shortly after arrival.

 

[grfox92]

I could never in my life imagine showing up to a hunt out of state without my truck with all my shit it in it. Unless it was not drivable, I am driving every time.

 

[Nine Banger]

I could never in my life imagine showing up to a hunt out of state without my truck with all my shit it in it. Unless it was not drivable, I am driving every time.

It takes planning, prep and training just like anything else we do to hunt.

Why limit yourself?

I can't drive anywhere fun due to work schedule and my family.

Flying to shoot and hunt was daunting and strenuous at first and now it's easy.

 

[bipock]

I like the solitude and scenery West of KS.

In a bit of humor, this was the part I was thinking about the most - missing western Kansas and the rolling hills. and wide open spaces.

 

[Jack321]

95% of the time I'm driving, just because I have all of my gear, coolers and equipment.

While its good to scale back equipment for a plane ride, I'm a "Id rather have it and not need it" type of guy.

Flying makes you really consider gear, checked baggage and return home with meat/horns.

Also, I'm fortunate, I drive with family and friends to divide up the cost of hotels and gas. Makes it cheaper.

I flew 2x to hunt. One was Argentina for doves and obviously in this case we had to fly. The other was a family vacation that had a 2 day hunt for hogs squeezed in the middle. Other than that. It's driving 10-25 hrs depending on which side of the country were heading.

If Im ever able to get to Alaska, I'll probably fly. But thats a LONG way off. And I'd have to hit the lotto for that.

 

[arrow179]

Best of both worlds…

I can turn a 30hr drive into a 12hr flight and don’t have to deal with TSA or any of the crazy people at the airport.

 

[LFC911]

The other thing i wanted to mention is I hate burning PTO for commuting to a hunt, I want to save that for more hunting days. So i drive out the weekend a full week prior to my hunt and work remotely. This also gets me accilimated to the altitide difference and climate. A couple of years ago in ID, I rented an AirBNB camper and worked remotely a week prior to the season. You won't need this with a guide but as a DIY hunter and the time difference, I could work remotely in the morning and with the long days in September, this allowed me ample time to scout in the evenings. Now i just take my camper and a starlink with me. I did this last year in ID and NM, working remotely on top of a mountain in a NF can't be beat...other than not working at all!

 

[fatlander]

Flying, especially when successful, is always more expensive.

Only you can weigh the time vs cost.

Flying also sucks when you’re doing a diy backpack hunt and they lose your stuff for a day or two on the way out or they cancel a flight. Been there, done that. I drive in the lower 48.


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[rookieforever33]

I have done a lot of road trips for hunting and vacations. The thing that makes it easiest for me is to have a destination on the way home. The dead drive at the start of the trip is easier to power through than the way home. Visiting and old friend or relative, a state park or national park with sites, a museum, a big outdoor store, or even a trashy road side attraction that gives you a couple hour break to look forward to.

 

[EdP]

I absolutely hate flying commercial and can't afford to charter, so I drive unless time constraints or geography dictate otherwise.

 

[cole96]

fly there and drive back

 

[MallardSX2]

Flying is a hard no unless we are go on a guided hunt where I don't need to bring anything (which is extremely rare). We typically always drive. I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to our out of state hunts. I no longer have control when I involve an airport.

The below are the only three trips I have ever flown for and they all turned out ok but I hated ever second of those communist run airports.

-Nevada to hunt Mt. Lions.
-Alaska to hunt bears.
-Alberta to hunt bears.

By the time I drive to the airport and spend 4 hours there trying to get on a plane, I am 6 hours into what could have been a 22 hour drive. Add another 2-3 once you get to the airport to deal with the rental care and all of the baggage BS and you are sitting at 8-10 hours. Plus the extra fees for the rental car, baggage, and overall flight cost and you'll see that its just better to drive it in almost every situation. Oh yes, and I almost always get sick after flying in those winged petri dishes.....

Its different for us because with three of us going on about every hunt in the west, its an easy decision to drive. Especially when you start adding up the airfare costs that hit my paycheck directly.

 

[deer310sg]

Always drive for our bear hunts. Range from 19- 27 hrs one way, depending where we hunt

 

[grfox92]

It takes planning, prep and training just like anything else we do to hunt.

Why limit yourself?

I can't drive anywhere fun due to work schedule and my family.

Flying to shoot and hunt was daunting and strenuous at first and now it's easy.

I guess I also just dont like going anywhere without a vehicle if I can help it.

If you cant spend the extra time driving due to time restraints then flying is the obvious choice. Just that if I had the choice to drive or fly I would choose to drive 100% of the time.

 

[Nine Banger]

I guess I also just dont like going anywhere without a vehicle if I can help it.

If you cant spend the extra time driving due to time restraints then flying is the obvious choice. Just that if I had the choice to drive or fly I would choose to drive 100% of the time.

The side effect is you pay attention to what you actually use and don't verus just filling the truck with maybies and nice to haves.

 

[180ls1]

I find a simplistic T chart with pros/cons (on paper) helps a lot with these types of decisions.

A hybrid approach also works where you fly or drive in one direction.