How do you fund your hunting trips?

[DuckDogDr]

Great replies...I've always been single or if I was with someone i did what i wanted and spent what i wanted regardless....but now I'm getting ready to settle down and trying to budget some of this skit out as well...hence reading this thread


We have a weird dynamic..each keeping our money completely separated (we're on the same playing field financially) as weve both had exes that saw dollar signs and tried to take advantage.

She doesn't care what I spend and vice versa ....but I'm smart enough to realize or at this point in my life or respect her enough there needs to be more than peanut butter and jelly and fumes in the gas tank as season's end approaches

1) No more Starbucks runs with peeps at work (expensive, sugar filled, and I can't in good faith support their agenda)
2) Getting ready to do what one member said and set up a completely separate high yield short term investment account
3) With this inflation BS ..being more diligent about eating from the freezer (this adds up quick)
4) Get organized so I'm not buying the same wrench 2x
5) quit putting skit on credit cards..(unless absolutely necessary). .the interest each month is literally money thrown away.. some where the light bulb clicked ..that $100 in interest can go into #2
6) meal prep - carrying my food to work is so much cheaper and healthier than eating out..and I feel better doing it was well too..fast food is now ~$8 a meal ..($8.00 x 20 days = 160 a month (now add in starbucks run seperate..$4.00 x20= $80)... those 2 alone add up to 240 a month..which equals $2880 a year in your pocket..

 

[Tbone58]

I’m a diesel technician. I work way to many hours each week. I have an extra checking account I put money into to help fund it. I have done side jobs in the past fixing trucks for guys for cash and using that for trips/gear.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

It sounds like you don’t really need to “earn more” to fund your hunting, you just need to budget for it and make sure your family isn’t sacrificing in order for you to go.

I agree with setting money aside for each of you to do whatever you want with. If hunting is basically “it“ for you, I’d figure out what an average hunt costs, then add a bit more for the more expensive ones every 5 years or so. Once you have all the gear the hunts aren’t insanely costly in most cases.

That’s what I need to start doing, as DIY elk hunts are relatively cheap and you can just pay for it at the time, but stuff like fly in caribou or moose are a bigger chunk of change.

Eating and drinking out are huge wastes of money, but make sure it doesn’t turn into “no we can’t go on a date or to have a few drinks with our friends, that’s hunting $.”

I‘m a cheap ass by nature but like nice stuff, which means I will have something I want for years but wait until I find a “deal” to actually buy it. I almost never make an impulse purchase.

My wife is the opposite and random inexpensive junk shows up on our doorstep all the time. When I ask her what it’s for or where it’s going she doesn’t really have a plan.

Fortunately we don’t have to watch every $ in our budget, living that way for an extended period of time sucks.

 

[Crusader]

Gigolo.

 

[WCB]

"normal" 9-5 guy here and do get overtime. Wife is a teacher. We live within our means. Wife got her Master plus additional licensing and we paid it all out of pocket as she was enrolled. We have two kids and too many hobbies. We fly fish, hunt (bow, rifle, upland waterfowl), open water fish, ice fish, etc. We eat out or order when we want to and don't question each others purchases etc. What we don't do besides our car payments and house is finance our lives away.

You sound financially squared away. "budget" for it and go plan and simple. If you sit an analyze it for what it is financially is doesn't make sense. But life/living wise best investment you will make is enjoying life. Again, if you are financially squared away and not hurting for money are you going to miss that $2000 if you die tomorrow?

 

[wind gypsy]

OP, you did it backwards. You're supposed to be balls deep in out of state hunting trips before you get married so it's not a new ask.

I just keep a low profile lifestyle and drive used vehicles I paid for in cash.

^ This.

Live below my means with about everything else but don't skimp on hunting costs.

In reality it's still not that crazy expensive compared to a lot of other hobbies. Fishing/boats/motorsports could get out of hand on cost at least as easily.

 

[TonySkyline]

I went crazy with buying as much high end gear as possible before I purchased my house. Now I have enough sitka gear for every season for both me and my son. Now my youngest boy took his first deer but in going to wait until he gets a little bigger before I get him first lite/sitka so he doesn't grow out of it. I get extra $ in commission through the summer time and other than house costs and vehicle repairs, I spend my money on hunting gear. Its what I live for and what makes me happy and gives me something to look forward to all year when I'm hating my life as a salesman for a corporate greed company such as B!owes.
I do look forward to stacking points out west for my boys but that can add up really fast and get expensive. Some states like MT are crazy with how much money you have to put up to get bonus points.

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[fngTony]

I have a second job selling extended warranties for cars .

 

[bradr3367]

There have been some great responses and I appreciate all of them! Lol
I think I should probably clear up a couple of things. We both have pretty solid jobs and have been pretty good about handling our money. The only debt that we have is the mortgage and our daughters college that we pay for as we go. No student loans.
I could probably afford a budget guided hunt every year or 2 but I don’t want to pull from the household funds to do it and honestly, if it’s something that I really want, she would be ok with it. Been married for 21 years and the only thing we disagree about is who’s picking dinner. Lol
We have always kept from blowing money on pointless things and that’s how we got in this financial situation. So, the whole wife thing was really just a joke. I would just like to find a way to make extra money through the year to not have to change what we do now.

I fund my hunts & gear with a part time job that I work once a week on one of my days off from my full time job. It works out great because I opened up a savings acct in a different bank and my PT job money gets direct deposited into that savings acct & I never have to dip into our household acct for hunting money.

If your job/schedule doesn't allow you to work a PT job, let me ask you this, do you keep a detailed monthly budget? If so, and only if you can afford it, put a line item in your monthly budget earmarked "hunting fund", and then tuck a designated amount away every month. This might be a way to save for hunting trips/gear. If your wife isn't in favor of this, then make a line item in the budget for her as well. Then, there should be no arguing or resentment since you'll both be getting a cut. Just a thought. But yeah, a PT job once a week works great if you can swing it.

 

[String&stick]

I'm married with 3 kids ages 11, 8, and 4. We both make decent money and have hammered out a budget so I'll throw a few things out there that I didn't see while skimming along.

1. Price it out first, if it's DIY it's probably cheaper than you think.
2. If you aren't set up with gear spend one year buying that and then go on the trip the next year.

Now onto the actual paying for things without taking away from family stuff.

1. Gifts - I always tell my wife if she doesn't have any plans for a gift for my birthday or Christmas just throw some money in my hunting account.

2. Cash back/points (only if you are financially responsible!!!). You sound responsible so if you are use that. Get a cash back credit card and put every expense you can on it, but pay it off every month so you don't pay interest! It's amazing how much accumulates if you pay your utilities, groceries, fuel, etc every month.

3. Ibotta app - goes with #2 but tons of stuff your already buying can earn cash back. My wife uses this and saves it up then cashes out around this time of year for buying Christmas gifts. Simple and pays you back.

4. Actual side gigs - I flip houses and have rentals. . . It's a bit labor intensive and definitely can be capital intensive. But when 1 flip nets $20k-$30k profits it takes care of vacations, hunting trips, and adds to savings!

Depends on where you live but as dumb as it sounds, a paper route! I have a buddy that walks with his pack most days and he picked up a paper route in the area he walks, said the paper company is happy to find people to cover when He travels because he is their most reliable person. . . Gets some exercise and makes some easy money doing it.

Along the same lines mow some lawns. . . Have to be around but a couple of lawns could be $100 a week of side money for an hour or two of work a week. Also gets some exercise.

Fixit jobs. If your good at fixing anything there are 40 people close by that aren't good at it that will pay you to do it!

Or just open a checking account and put $xx.xx per paycheck into it. At the end of one year hand your wife half the money and tell her you're using the other half for your hunt!

As for the time thing you just have to talk with the wife. My wife takes her time in small chunks all year long, a nap here, dinner with the girls there, a few hours at home while I take all 3 kids somewhere. I take what she calls my personal vacation each year. We tease each other but we both know while it doesn't balance month to month over all it balances out, we aren't counting hours either because we both want the other to do the things they want!

 

[GoProTiger]

My 9-5 usually covers it.

 

[Fatcamp]

There have been some great responses and I appreciate all of them! Lol
I think I should probably clear up a couple of things. We both have pretty solid jobs and have been pretty good about handling our money. The only debt that we have is the mortgage and our daughters college that we pay for as we go. No student loans.
I could probably afford a budget guided hunt every year or 2 but I don’t want to pull from the household funds to do it and honestly, if it’s something that I really want, she would be ok with it. Been married for 21 years and the only thing we disagree about is who’s picking dinner. Lol
We have always kept from blowing money on pointless things and that’s how we got in this financial situation. So, the whole wife thing was really just a joke. I would just like to find a way to make extra money through the year to not have to change what we do now.

Don't use a guide.

 

[Wolf_trapper]

Don't buy the fancy new name brand hunting clothes...

 

[Cedarsavage]

We live by a pretty strict budget. My wife and I both have a set personal entertainment fund that we can use on whatever we want. I always say no when someone asks me to go get a beer. At the beginning of the year I look at anything I need and figure out what it's gonna cost then spend the rest on out of state trips. One of the guys at work said "I wish I could go on hunting trips like you," I said "sell your 4-wheeler, snowmobile and hunting camp and you could go on cooler more expensive hunts than I do." I make some knives and bows that I've sold through word of mouth and Etsy, that kinda picks up the difference.

 

[wind gypsy]

I'm sure it's in this thread somewhere but don't let rokslide be your baseline for what gear you need. It's pretty easy to want to the best gear and end up spending 4x more than necessary and have the same hunting success. Spend on the items that will make your trip more enjoyable (happy feet, comfy pack) and don't get fooled into thinking you need the high speed ultralight backpack camping gear because in many situations a truck camp is just as effective and more comfortable while being less gear intensive.

For lots of family men, time is harder to find than money if you dont spend foolishly.

 

[DCT1983]

My wife and I keep all of our normal family money together, except we both have our own savings accounts (actually one account that we just keep track of). So, we each get a monthly allowance from our main fund, then any overtime either of us work the main account gets 50% then we each get 25%. Any bonuses are the same way. Any gifts we buy each other comes from our own savings rather than the family funds, and then any trips fun stuff that’s just for me or her also comes from personal savings. It works for us and that way there is no fighting. If you have the money go do it, if you don’t you wait until next year.

 

[zacattack]

My wife is into horses, so whatever I spend on hunting and fishing doesn’t come close to what she spends.

 

[TonySkyline]

My wife is into horses, so whatever I spend on hunting and fishing doesn’t come close to what she spends.

Lol, I bet! Horses can get super $$$ expensive. My fiance asked about horses and she got chickens, hahaha

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[vectordawg]

some where the light bulb clicked

This happened to me a few years back with a HELOC. When the balance was high, I showed my wife how we were paying around $300 a month for "the privelage of owing them money". I woked my tail off to pay off that as quickly as I could.

 

[Fitzwho]

To cover tags and gear, I have been doing european mounts for a few years. I have been doing my personal ones and some for buddies here and there since high school, but more recently, put an add out on craigslist and have done 20-30 per fall at $100 or so each. I have already done 2 heads for clients this past weekend, plus 2 of my own. Already have 1 head in the freezer waiting and expecting a hog and 3 more deer to do this weekend. I'm up $300 and by this time next week I should have another $450 in the books. I earmark all of this for tags and gear to alleviate pressure on the everyday budget. Some ends up paying for tags, some pays for stuff on the truck, or I'll sell gear and cover the difference for the upgrade with these funds. I don't necessarily intend for it to ever get any bigger than what it is currently, but as a seasonal/free time side gig it pays pretty well. I can knock out 3-4 mounts per weekend in just a 2-3 hours of work. Then a night or two during the week messing with whitening and clean up.

I spend around $1200 per year on applications (qualifying licenses, app fees, etc). Depending on tags drawn, I usually spend $800 to $1200 per year on tags. So $2000-$2400 on apps and tags. A lot of the applications I just use my personal monthly "allowance" to cash flow. I do go without some of those months. Because they are staged out from January to August for the most part, I rarely spend more than $200 per month applying, except for Nevada and Arizona ($160 licenses get you).

The hunts themselves I can usually cash flow. It's really just fuel and maybe a hotel on the drive up or back. You eat whether you are on a hunt or not. I would just say, only buy/bring food that you know you are going to eat. Don't spend $160 on dehydrated meals if you plan on staying in town and tend to eat out when you get back to your hotel. You can definitely get yourself sunk with gear, but if you can swing decent to good gear, it will last you several years. My favorite piece of hunting clothing is a jacket that I have been wearing for 5 years.

For the most part my only additional expenses once I am on a hunt is maybe extra fuel and a hotel for a night or two. There's always the chance of tearing up tires or breaking something else on your vehicle etc. That sort of stuff should be built into your everyday budget.