How do you guys go on these cool hunts?

[Jpsmith1]

Gotta learn that thing called self control my man.

I am sure some are legit and some aren’t. Honestly, guided hunts are so far out of the realm of my ability, I couldn’t tell you a thing about them. Just know a few guys that have gotten in on some cancellations for good prices.

When I say I got a good deal on a duck/fishing boat, I am not talking I got a 40K boat for 20K. It was a 4K boat for 2.2K. I ain’t working with much.

We're talking about the same kinds of numbers, my man. We had a big financial setback a few years ago where we had to live on my "hunting fund" for a couple months while I recuperated from an injury, so the 6kish I had set aside for a hunt rapidly shrunk, and we've been scrambling to replace it ever since. I've probably made a few rash purchasing decisions along the way, too which doesn't always help.

I'm finally back to a point where I can think about small hunts and do some cool stuff more locally or save all my pennies and never do a hunt until I'm too old to do the hunts I want to do.

 

[Conrad101st]

If you really want the truth. Always marry up to a woman who can earn as much if not more than you. Only weak men purposely marry women who will not challenge them intellectually.

Work ass off.

Don’t have kids because that cuts into your savings and vacations. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on a beach sipping beer and thinking how nice it is to not have to waste money on children.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

If you really want the truth. Always marry up to a woman who can earn as much if not more than you. Only weak men purposely marry women who will not challenge them intellectually.

Work ass off.

Don’t have kids because that cuts into your savings and vacations. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been on a beach sipping beer and thinking how nice it is to not have to waste money on children.

View attachment 1020378

My life. Married a gal who made more than me, worked my ass off and although we wanted some kids, it never worked out. Retired at 53.

 

[Conrad101st]

My life. Married a gal who made more than me, worked my ass off and although we wanted some kids, it never worked out. Retired at 53.

Amen sir!

 

[270-300]

I have spoken elsewhere on this forum about the challenges I've faced trying to build a group to do self-guided DIY hunts in the west and how doing it solo just isn't a realistic option for me.

So, my options are building a group to go which is proving fruitless, finding a group to jump in on which is also proving a challenge or going guided which is close to out of reach for a blue collar dude.

Finding that these aren't scams or sketchy does open some avenues that are more realistic than entering tag/hunt giveaway raffles and hoping.

I would encourage you to focus on getting the most out of the hunts that are around you. Its ok to tell yourself the western hunts you dream of are not in your reality.

Ive hunted both sides of the coin. White tails and birds in grain fields in the east, and the western hunting. Solo hunts.

Theres a lot more to western hunting than the magazines and tv shows portray. After you obtain tags that are often difficult, even as a wyoming resident, there are other difficulties. One of my favorite places to antelope hunt is a wilderness area. Its about an hour in from the time i turn off of the county road till i park where i hike in from. I camp where i park, then each day hike from there into the wilderness area. I love the scenery, and the fact I am hunting in the rocky mountains. It takes days of glassing off of a tripod over many miles of ridges to understand the animals in this area. Lot of lugging gear around. If its extremely dry or extremely wet the animals change locations all together. Putting in 8 miles a day of up and down ridges that are 600 feet tall with 20 degree slopes is something many people do not enjoy. The first antelope i shot in this area was 2 miles from where the roads end. It was 2 miles back, with a total of 500 feet of elevation gain, BUT i had to cross 6 ridges along the way with the tallest being 750 feet tall. Most people who actually come here for hunts end up not enjoying a majority of the hunt because if this rough terrain. Ive run into several groups over the years that packed up and went home mid trip, or like the out of state group i met last year, gave up on their bear hunt and just drove around the national forest getting drunk till the week was over. If your in the small percentage of people who truly enjoy this kind of experience its wonderful. Im not trying to talk anyone out of western hunting. But to go from tree stand hunting white tails in grain land to hunting this way is a completely different world.

 

[hunt1up]

Acquire tag, drive truck, hunt with tag. Done.

I have people always telling me they wish they could go on all the cool trips I go on. But when I explain how to do it, they don't do it. Therefore they don't go. All sorts of hunts to be done on the cheap. People largely don't want to put the effort into planning, so I've basically given up trying to explain it.

 

[Jpsmith1]

I would encourage you to focus on getting the most out of the hunts that are around you. Its ok to tell yourself the western hunts you dream of are not in your reality.

Ive hunted both sides of the coin. White tails and birds in grain fields in the east, and the western hunting. Solo hunts.

Theres a lot more to western hunting than the magazines and tv shows portray. After you obtain tags that are often difficult, even as a wyoming resident, there are other difficulties. One of my favorite places to antelope hunt is a wilderness area. Its about an hour in from the time i turn off of the county road till i park where i hike in from. I camp where i park, then each day hike from there into the wilderness area. I love the scenery, and the fact I am hunting in the rocky mountains. It takes days of glassing off of a tripod over many miles of ridges to understand the animals in this area. Lot of lugging gear around. If its extremely dry or extremely wet the animals change locations all together. Putting in 8 miles a day of up and down ridges that are 600 feet tall with 20 degree slopes is something many people do not enjoy. The first antelope i shot in this area was 2 miles from where the roads end. It was 2 miles back, with a total of 500 feet of elevation gain, BUT i had to cross 6 ridges along the way with the tallest being 750 feet tall. Most people who actually come here for hunts end up not enjoying a majority of the hunt because if this rough terrain. Ive run into several groups over the years that packed up and went home mid trip, or like the out of state group i met last year, gave up on their bear hunt and just drove around the national forest getting drunk till the week was over. If your in the small percentage of people who truly enjoy this kind of experience its wonderful. Im not trying to talk anyone out of western hunting. But to go from tree stand hunting white tails in grain land to hunting this way is a completely different world.

So, as someone who is probably the least successful hunter on this forum, I have to say that the experience and the landscape and the "other" parts of the hunt are as important to me as the animal itself is.

I don't want an elk as much as I want to be where elk are. You get me?

As far as the general thrust of your comment, I do appreciate it and I'm working on doing exactly that. I'm eyeing a bear hunting trip in Maine, I have a line on Arizona with a forum member here and I have considered going back to SC to hunt pigs again with either a bow or a pistol because they're delicious.

I also have plans for a huge hunt when I retire as a present to myself for working 2500-3000 hours a year for 40 years to support a family.

 

[180ls1]

So, as someone who is probably the least successful hunter on this forum, I have to say that the experience and the landscape and the "other" parts of the hunt are as important to me as the animal itself is.

I don't want an elk as much as I want to be where elk are. You get me?

I've come full circle on this, you're on the right track skipping ahead.

I had an absolute blast recently hunting spring toms in an elk unit that would have taken me 20 years to draw. Same landscape, running ridges calling, 1000's of feet elevation, glassing, herd dynamics, all the above, just a different species...

You can do the same interchanging bears / mule deer and a lot of other species.

 

[Jpsmith1]

I've come full circle on this, you're on the right track skipping ahead.

I had an absolute blast recently hunting spring toms in an elk unit that would have taken me 20 years to draw. Same landscape, running ridges calling, 1000's of feet elevation, glassing, herd dynamics, all the above, just a different species...

You can do the same interchanging bears / mule deer and a lot of other species.

But I'm still faced with the same dilemma of having a group to go with or paying someone to shepherd me around. This is pretty much a non-negotiable with my wife. Solo hunting is a hard no far from home.

 

[magnum44270]

Build a budget, prioritize your needs, get cheaper vehicles, cut out extra spending ( fast food, soda, coffee, nicotine ,Alcohol) and start saving 50-100 a month.
Start Building points or make a plan on a hunt and In a year or two make it happen.

I wasn’t able to do any awesome hunts until I moved out west and got smart about my money

 

[MTlan66]

There was a time in my life when Arkansas was where I hunted out of state! Some of my best deer hunting memories are there.

I hunted for 30 years before I ever got to hunt in the west, and only then because other circumstances in life brought me to live out here. I have made my wife and kids (5) the priority in my life, and I couldn’t be happier!


I agree with all the people here saying to make the most of where you are, right now! Save for some big hunt in the future, if that’s what’s important to you. I can now knock off work early, and hunt elk on the way home, but many years ago, when the only hunting that was available to me was a little dove hunting, I made the most of that. I have fantastic memories of those early, hot mornings hunting dove with my boys when they were toddlers.

I’ve lived in the south, I’ve lived in the east, and now I live in the west. Every place has its pros and cons, and every place has fantastic opportunities for adventures of all kinds. Go make the most of them, and don’t bellyache too much over not hunting Dall’s sheep or something.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

That is sage advice. 80% of my out of state hunting is on my land in Missouri. But most of my hunting is done here in WA. Not the greatest hunting, but still hunting.

 

[307]

But I'm still faced with the same dilemma of having a group to go with or paying someone to shepherd me around. This is pretty much a non-negotiable with my wife. Solo hunting is a hard no far from home.

There’s your limiting factor. I’d fix that asap.

 

[North of 60]

Acquire tag, drive truck, hunt with tag. Done.

I have people always telling me they wish they could go on all the cool trips I go on. But when I explain how to do it, they don't do it. Therefore they don't go. All sorts of hunts to be done on the cheap. People largely don't want to put the effort into planning, so I've basically given up trying to explain it.

There is much truth to this...the due diligence in planning can make a world of difference on DIY hunts on public land.

 

[Jpsmith1]

There’s your limiting factor. I’d fix that asap.

I'm gonna keep her.

 

[307]

I'm gonna keep her.

I didn't say you shouldn't but I can't imagine being in a situation where my wife was in control of my life in that way. I think you can negotiate that part a lot better.

 

[Jpsmith1]

I didn't say you shouldn't but I can't imagine being in a situation where my wife was in control of my life in that way. I think you can negotiate that part a lot better.

Let's put it into a different perspective.

I'm a 50 year old man who hasn't been west of the Mississippi since before I could walk. I'm a higher mileage individual who hasn't taken the best care of the meat suit I live in. I have had 2 back surgeries and a couple other injuries along the way, and I am the sole wage earner in our home.

So, putting yourself into her shoes, you can understand a reluctance to want that to "let" me drive 2000ish miles across the country to climb a mountain I've never seen in territory I've never been in ALONE.

 

[307]

Let's put it into a different perspective.

I'm a 50 year old man who hasn't been west of the Mississippi since before I could walk. I'm a higher mileage individual who hasn't taken the best care of the meat suit I live in. I have had 2 back surgeries and a couple other injuries along the way, and I am the sole wage earner in our home.

So, putting yourself into her shoes, you can understand a reluctance to want that to "let" me drive 2000ish miles across the country to climb a mountain I've never seen in territory I've never been in ALONE.

I think you should both come out here, drive around a bit, do a little hiking and realize that it's not quite as dramatic as you're making it out to be. Plenty of people who can barely walk around the block can cruise up in the hills in the fall and look for critters near the roads or within easy/flat hike distances.

It doesn't have to be a weeklong solo backpack hunt in the thorofare in order to be an adventure.

 

[satchamo]

Ignoring the finances of it, I think the point that’s being glazed over is having a hunting partner or partners that are as passionate about it as you. A lot of out of state hunting blows ass to do solo. Like I can hunt solo all day but I won’t bullshit anyone, camping and driving alone sucks for me. I like company and camaraderie. Oh and packing out animals alone sucks too.

If you get into this alone and no one else in your circle is jumping in with you it can be a lot harder to get into - not impossible, but definitely harder in my opinion.

I’m lucky I have a few great hunting buddies that give their time to go on hunts with no tags just to help.

 

[Johnboy041586]

Another vote for move to a state that has "cool" hunts and don't look back. I relocated 4.5 years ago to AK and have no regrets (except moving to an island which make some "cool" hunts a pain logistically )