Has anyone pursued a private pilots license for the purpose of hunting ?

[Loo.wii]

What’s the utility of a private pilot license for hunting purposes?

 

[isItFallYet]

Doing it with my son. I plan on living in AK for a bit after he graduates.

 

[Geewhiz]

What’s the utility of a private pilot license for hunting purposes?

There are a heck of a lot of rules and regulations prohibiting you from being able to do many of the things that initially make it look like a good idea.

 

[HuntHarder]

LOL, After my first AK hunt, I started looking into a cub and the license. haha. Just not as easy to use in AZ vs AK.

 

[Josey Wales]

I pretty much did just that.

In the middle of the Covid mess, driving back to central Texas from Colorado, i realized my wife was never going to agree to move closer to the mountains, so I had to have a faster way to get there. I took my first flying lesson a few weeks later, and had my private pilot certificate 6 months later. I enjoyed that process so much, I followed up with my instrument rating and a commercial certificate. This year, I flew up there with my son on a long weekend scouting trip, and ended up flying up for the hunt too. It shortens the trip from 12 hours one way to 2-3.5 hours, depending on the plane. And it’s a whole lot more fun.

We have also used it for some family trips, for charity flights, and some for business.

It doesn’t make sense from a financial standpoint, but it was a life long dream of mine and is another great hobby (not that I needed another one).

If you are seriously considering it and want to talk, shoot me a PM with your phone number and I’ll give you a call.

 

[TandKHunting]

I am a private pilot. Thinking about continuing on my education to obtain my instrument, multi engine, and commercial rating.

1. A lot of states are creating laws that prohibit scouting for game in an aircraft from late summer to early winter.
2. My private pilot license cost me roughly 10-12K. That's a pretty expensive endeavor for the purposes of scouting. Not to mention the cost of renting a plane and fuel. If you think fueling your truck up to go scout is expensive...wait for that bill.
3. A good pilot, in my opinion, is one who loves to fly for the sake of flying. If you're not doing it for the love of flying...it's probably not worth the time or finances it will take to obtain it.

 

[ElevateIdaho]

Flying into remote airstrips gives you a one up. Many of these areas can only be accessed by plane, especially during late season hunts.

 

[Wallace]

My business partner has his license. He's got a second home where a flight is necessary so he uses his a good bit. He also flies his plane when we hunt (single engine Cirrus), he just met me in North Dakota last week to bird hunt.

I've come really close to getting a license as well but always change my mind. The reasons I've never gone through with it:

1) It limits the gear/dogs/ppl you can bring (unless you have the money for a larger plane, I don't).

2) I don't have a real need to fly once a week/2 weeks/month outside of hunting season, the lack of windshield time always makes me nervous.

3) It's expensive ... really expensive ... I can take a lot of Delta flights and be no where close to the same amount of money spent.

4) Weather. Numerous times my business partner has had to leave a trip early or late, because weather is coming that he can't fly in.

5) I know technically you have a better chance of dying in a car wreck ... but damn if I don't seem to always see a private plane crashing on the news weekly.


I'll probably get a license one day, but I've come to the conclusion if I am, it will be when my kids are older and don't depend on me.

 

[BigCountry49]

My business partner has his license. He's got a second home where a flight is necessary so he uses his a good bit. He also flies his plane when we hunt (single engine Cirrus), he just met me in North Dakota last week to bird hunt.

I've come really close to getting a license as well but always change my mind. The reasons I've never gone through with it:

1) It limits the gear/dogs/ppl you can bring (unless you have the money for a larger plane, I don't).

2) I don't have a real need to fly once a week/2 weeks/month outside of hunting season, the lack of windshield time always makes me nervous.

3) It's expensive ... really expensive ... I can take a lot of Delta flights and be no where close to the same amount of money spent.

4) Weather. Numerous times my business partner has had to leave a trip early or late, because weather is coming that he can't fly in.

5) I know technically you have a better chance of dying in a car wreck ... but damn if I don't seem to always see a private plane crashing on the news weekly.


I'll probably get a license one day, but I've come to the conclusion if I am, it will be when my kids are older and don't depend on me.

Statistics of flying a single prop plan as a new pilot cannot be better than driving a car. I would never get into a small plane with a new pilot lol.

 

[Castronova]

I just found this as I'm looking into getting my license in the near future. I'm still weighing the usefulness of it. It's not specifically for hunting but it would certainly be used to get me to some of the 4 or 5 trips I take a year and everything is out of state for me.

I spoke to 3 different people today. I good friend owns the mechanic business at Key West airport and owns the 2 planes that the instruction school rents for students. My old boss (former City Manager) who was a career F-14 pilot, and a landscape architect who I do jobs with who has flown for 20 years. Being as remote as we are they seem to love it and none of them tried to talk me out of it.

Much like most of you I have more hobbies than I should. I gave up serious spearfishing all over the map once I had my 2 kids and now hunt may times a year (this year Georgia mountains, Michigan, Texas, Alabama, and Turkey in Virginia) and play golf 2 times a week and head to Pinehurst for a week every summer. Between my business, kids, and other hobbies my main concern is what will I be willing to cut out to let this in (likely it will be golf).

My oldest dreams of memory are loving jets and the idea of flying as a little kid and that has never left me. At 42 with a good enough financial foundation to do it I'm really considering it. I think if you are trying to do it just to extend another hobby you may be selling yourself short though. It's probably not financially advantageous in anyway in that regard and has said before, I think you really need to love flying. Not flying just for the sake of reaching a remote game. Although with enough drive I can see how those 2 may make sense for someone.

The initial challenge, the $15k in costs, the license, none of that means much if you can't or won't continue to fly to be a proficient pilot and gain experience. My fear is not crashing or failing to process, it's more wasting the time and money and then not following through to create it's full potential.

Life is way too short, It's at the top of my list right now.

 

[jayhawk]

How to start a 10 page thread:

Step #1: Ask a bunch of pilots to talk about themselves

 

[TaperPin]

I have no reason to enjoy aviation channels, other than it’s fun to understand how everything works - but I’m hooked on Juan Brown talking about accidents, Trent Palmer flying his carbon cub to all the little hill tops and gravel bars, and Kelsey on 747gear explaining how commercial jets operate. Oh, and Mike Patey building one off custom plane parts - I learned a lot about carbon fiber from his projects.

General aviation is not forgiving of mistakes - I’d be thinking of a Vicki Stark video and fly right up a box canyon - probably something I should avoid - both Vicki’s videos and piloting a plane. *chuckle*

 

[eddielasvegas]

5) I know technically you have a better chance of dying in a car wreck ... but damn if I don't seem to always see a private plane crashing on the news weekly.

That's for commercial flights (part 121).

After watching the YT channels blancolirio, Pilot Debrief and Dan Gryder for the last 2-3 years, I'll never fly a GA (parts 91 or 135) flight again.


Eddie

 

[Draak]

Flying is far less practical than you may be led to believe from media. First off, it's very expensive. The price to get your PPL varies significantly, but think in the order of 10-15k. Cost depends on the type of aircraft, aircraft equipment (6 pack vacuum gauges or full glass electronic display) and how much time you need to become sufficiently skilled to pass your checkride. You also really should try and get all the training done within a short time frame, think 2-3 months as flying is a depreciating skill, and if you aren't flying all the time the skill quickly fades.

In terms of being able to travel to locations at will.... well you sort of can. If you want to do that, first you need to have access to an airplane, and that means buying in on an aircraft or buying one yourself. Rental airplanes don't make money sitting on the ground, so you won't be able to fly it out somewhere for a week and bring it back without paying for the rental cost of that week, and that is not cheap. Rental companies also generally do not allow flights that land on anything but a paved runway. If you have your own plane you can go.... assuming you have clear whether to do so. If the weather is poor, you need an instrument rating which about doubles your training cost or more, and you need an ifr equipped plane. You still are restricted to warmer weather unless you have a plane certified for icing.... which means more money. More equipment also generally means more expensive maintenance, which is again... expensive, but must be done to fly safely. You then have to calculate how much range your plane has for the given conditions, and how much weight the plane can safely carry. Every gallon of avgas means 6lbs less cargo weight you can carry safely. A general aviation small plane will cruise at a wide range of speeds, but lets say 125-150 kts or about 140-170mph for a turbine powered plane. This is significantly slower than any commercial jet aircraft, so if you have to travel long distances, it will take significantly more time, oh and 100 low lead floats anywhere from $6-7 per gallon these days.

All this to say again, being a pilot is generally not practical. It is almost always significantly cheaper to pay someone to either take an airline or a small plane to drop you off.

However, flying is one of the most incredible things you can do and will give you completely new and wonderful experiences. I absolutely recommend learning to fly.

 

[Geewhiz]

I have no reason to enjoy aviation channels, other than it’s fun to understand how everything works - but I’m hooked on Juan Brown talking about accidents, Trent Palmer flying his carbon cub to all the little hill tops and gravel bars, and Kelsey on 747gear explaining how commercial jets operate. Oh, and Mike Patey building one off custom plane parts - I learned a lot about carbon fiber from his projects.

General aviation is not forgiving of mistakes - I’d be thinking of a Vicki Stark video and fly right up a box canyon - probably something I should avoid - both Vicki’s videos and piloting a plane. *chuckle*

Note: Trent fly’s a kit fox not a carbon cub.

I’ve spent more time than I’d like watching Trent palmer and Mike patey as well. Patey’s builds are nothing short of amazing. The guy’s a genius.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Following this as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WCB]

always thought about getting a paramotor trike to fly into land locked spots. Just take off from a dirt road or piece of BLM...fly in hunt flyout.

Haven't check into legality but a lot cheaper than getting a pilots license. Of course your not taking cross country trips and all that.

 

[jhm2023]

I started working on my private license after a fly out sheep hunt thinking it would be nice to fly myself. A divorce stalled that endeavor and when I was ready to start again, a cost analysis made me realize the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. Between licensing, aircraft cost, maintenance, inspections, insurance, etc. I figured it to be cheaper and far less hassle to pay a transporter one or two times every year to fly me into remote places for hunting.

 

[Maverick1]

How many runways do they have in the mountains, or even close to where you hunt, in the lower 48?

Look at the cost, logistics, and total travel time from your front door to where you’d actually be hunting.

 

[ShadowAviator]

I am not sure I would recommend getting a license and plane just for hunting.

Cost: The license isnt cheap these days, but if you buy the plane first, you may just need to find an instructor.
Good plane might run close to $100,000. Prices have gone up alot. Insurance and annual inspection eats up a few thousand each year. Its more if the plane needs something repaired. You really should have a hangar which can be very costly depending on location. You need to fly somewhat often, even if you arent hunting which adds fuel cost.

General Aviation: Its as safe or dangerous as you want it to be. You are the pilot. If you avoid weather and make sure you have plenty of fuel, that cuts out a lot of accidents.

Some pilots fly to an airport nearby and then drive to their hunting locations with a buddy or maybe a rental. That can cut alot of time if your hunting destination is a few states away. If the airport is less than 4,000 feet in elevation, then there isn't too much extra to account for.

Backcountry/High Elevation: If you want to fly into your camp/hunting area, then thats where it gets tough.
You really need extra training beyond the license to fly into backcountry airstrips. Well, and a backcountry capable airplane.
Backcountry airstrips are usually short, and sometimes rough. There may be terrain in the way. Some airstrips are one-way in with no chance for a go-around. Some are down in canyons.

High elevation airstrips/airports are more dangerous than most realize. You know how you feel at high elevation? Well, the plane feels the same way. The engine makes less power and the aircraft has to fly faster to get the needed lift. Additionally, if its warm out, the air is even thinner. The airstrip elevation might be 8,000', but the density altitude could be over 10,000'. Less performance means you hit the mountain instead of flying over it.

Thats a bit of a wall of text, but the point is backcountry flying is way more challenging than general aviation. If you're tired after a long week of hunting, you still have to be focused for the takeoff. That's when its easy to make mistakes.

What would I do? I would probably prefer to drive. That way I can focus on the hunt. I do take big backcountry flying trips with my Cessna 172, but those trips are focused on flying. When I go on a long backpacking trip, I drive.

That said there are times I might be able to fly into go on a hunt, but that wouldn't be the norm.

Oh, or if I had tons of money I would buy a shiny new high performance backcountry plane, and fly in for hunting, hiking, or whatever.

I hate to discourage anyone from flying, but its good to be aware of what you are looking at. And if you are really serious about flying, then keep looking into it, but remember to be realistic.