How do you guys go on these cool hunts?

[LostArra]

"Comparison is the thief of joy" old Teddy Roosevelt nailed it.

Arkansas deer, ducks and maybe adding a bear hunt while staying happily married sounds like a great year.
Arkansas duck hunting is world class.

My 50th wedding anniversary is this year. Believe me, your wife will eventually be happy with you gone for a week chasing elk.

 

[LostArra]

I didn't start hunting out west till I was in my early 40s, although is something I was wanted to since I was kid. Why did I wait so long... My oldest boy was in HS and my youngest mid elementary so my wife wasn't going crazy qhile I was gone and took a while to save up resources. I coached kids sports, ram taxi for practices, and had to pay for braces 1st..Also had to build up some seniority at work for more vacation days...

Now I have all the gear I need and have building up PP in multiply states...all it takes now is gas and tag money.

+100 This sums it up well for most destination hunters.

 

[Wprinkle]

Man this is a good question and I will throw in my two cents as well.. First I am not filthy rich in money but not starving either. At the risk of bruising the back of my throat things like Rokslide that prove the $600 rifle and $600 scope is is more capable and reliable than the $5000 rifle with the $3000 scope is a massive money savings, so do your research and save that money. I can only pull off a "COOL" hunt like sheep, or goat about every five years. So for four years I hunt the cheapest, hardest to hunt DIY hunts I can. I don't fly there, I don't stay in hotels to and from, I don't eat out while traveling there and rat hole that for the cool hunt. I still get to hunt elk in 2-3 states a year. If I had to drop that to 0-1 elk hunt a year and hunt locally to make it work I would. Another thing I did was quit drinking, I rat hole that money as well and its a lot. Back to bruising my throat: after the S2H class I got home and sold all but 1 of my "custom" 700's, all by totes of Kuiu and the accessories I thought I needed for hunting but don't and that alone cut off 1 year of saving for my stone sheep hunt.

EDIT: Thought of this as well. My wife stays in a newer nicer vehicle because we have kids and it needs to be what it is.. But mostly due to the extent of my mechanical skills, my ranch truck is 40 years and can I can rebuilt EVERYTHING on it in a weekend for like $1500. My town truck is 20 years old and same as the ranch truck I can fix anything quickly and cheaply, and I didnt for out 80 grand or what ever a new 3/4 ton truck costs. Shit I have a kid that works for me that has a $900 a month truck payment at like 11% interest... F all that!!

I have an extremely supportive family and wife that knew what she was getting into as I pretty much set my life up to be either on a horse or in the mountains 99% of the time. That being said the money I use for my "cool" hunt is 100% money I would have spent on ME that I choose not to. Bottom line is most people are either borrowing money they shouldn't, or have it to burn. For us average guys you dont buy a "cool" hunt buy writing a check, you do it $40, $100, $1,000 at a time.

 

[The_Jim]

I know working in a factory can make getting time off difficult. Not sure what the opportunities in your area are, but you could pick up a trade and get a much more flexible schedule. You might lose some benefits, but you'll probably make more money before your apprenticeship is over. Anyway, here is my 2 cents...

1. You can have adventure without hunting. Backpacking trips, river trips, camping and off-roading are all amazing. Some of my best adventures haven't been a hunting trip.

2. I limit myself to one out of state trip a year and 1-2 in state trips(2hrs or more driving). The rest of my hunting is local. I learned the hard way that for myself too many tags is just stressful.

3. Appreciate what you have. Western hunting is great, but I'm sure you have some great opportunities in your backyard too.

 

[BravoNovember]

Six moose hunts and yearly western hunts is my definition of wealthy!

Wealth is subjective. Millionaires envy billionaires.

 

[Turkeytider]

I need some help and I don’t know who better to ask than the guys doing it so here goes. How do you guys achieve the time freedom and the financial freedom to go on these cool hunts. I’m in Arkansas working at a factory I have no kids but I have a wife and a mortgage and I pretty much only get to hunt what’s local to me like whitetail and ducks. I’m looking for adventure.

The first thing is having money…….LOTS of money. Also, some ( many? ) have little, if any, family obligations. This affords them more time.

 

[Gseith]

To save on cash my buddy and I split an elk tag and all the costs from driving from the east. He’s better with the bow so I tag along as an extra set of eyes and packing out. I have a blast not being the actual hunter. We make all the decisions together and have a blast in the woods for a week. We split everything so the cost is lower.

 

[BravoNovember]

In my eyes it comes down to priorities and budgeting. The budget is time and money.

For myself, when I’m not hunting or fishing, I try to be 100% present at home, so when I’m gone the home is in order. I also don’t have other hobbies throughout the year (softball, darts, pool, bowling etc).

I also don’t buy new equipment each and every year, don’t drive a fancy vehicle, have boat, S x S, camper etc payments.

I’m the words of Jocko Willink, “prioritize and execute”

 

[Gseith]

My wife also enjoys hiking and camping so she tags along on a spring bear hunt we do together. It’s our yearly vacation we do together without kids.
I actually don’t want to go this year to save money and she wants to go. I never thought that would happen.

 

[bozeman]

To the OP, approach it this way:
1- define a list of hunts you WANT to go on
2- prioritize this list
3- assign approx costs to each hunt in the order of priority
4- set your timeline and budget needs to reach

for me, once I got this in order, you begin to almost 'snowball' your hunts as the gear/items you buy along the way transfer most times. I like to buy once/cry once and get solid gear to keep for years. as your experience builds so does your time off and earning ability (for the most part) so the snowball effect takes over.

This has worked for me and I have been blessed to go on some great hunting and fishing trips with most starting in my mid 30's.

Best of success in your endeavors!

 

[willfrye027]

what do you mean by “cool” hunts? If you’re talking sheep/goat/moose or something exotic…yeah that’s out of reach for me as well.

I’ve been very happy doing “normal” western hunts like mule deer, elk, and antelope. Even back when my budget was very tight I would save up, drive with a buddy to share costs, sleep in a tent, bring cheap food from home, and had an absolute blast.

Make a plan to drive out west and chase something attainable…be diligent and save up $50-100 a month for a year or two and just go for it. You don’t need super expensive gear to have an adventure.

 

[Marble]

I need some help and I don’t know who better to ask than the guys doing it so here goes. How do you guys achieve the time freedom and the financial freedom to go on these cool hunts. I’m in Arkansas working at a factory I have no kids but I have a wife and a mortgage and I pretty much only get to hunt what’s local to me like whitetail and ducks. I’m looking for adventure.

When I was in my late teens I knew I wanted to hunt and fish as much as possible. I knew it would take time away from work and the money to do it. I choose a profession that gave those opportunities, and then used those opportunities to make it happen. It didn't happen by accident, I purposely made decisions that would lay the ground work soni could do it.

I'm turning 50 this year. I hunt deer elk for 1 month each year out of state and also hunt at home year round.

As far as the wife and kids go, you can still do it. My wife never worked and my kids were born in August and January. That wasn't an accident either.

Lots of guys freak out with a new born at home. We really don't do much for the first several months.

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[realunlucky]

I save money from every pay check that goes into an hunting account. That way I'm always ready if the opportunity arises.

Start networking and join some conservation groups and meet some like minded folks. Those guys can be a great resource and share trips that they've been on in the past.

Start doing it and you'll attract other hunters that also want to join in and split costs. That has it's own dramas but one thing at a time.






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[Laramie]

It's really not hard, it is just discipline and priorities.

10K will buy you some pretty amazing hunts. You could do one of these hunts every other year by working a part time job, at Arkansas minimum wage, for just 8 hours a week.

To keep your wife, make your 10k hunts every third year and use the extra 5k to take your wife on a cool vacation on one of the off years.

 

[Marble]

@Trapperkid

Don't listen to the guys that say you have to have some crazy amount of income.

It is all about choices and making smart decisions, playing the long game. If you can look forward and plan your life 10, 20, 30 years in the future, then you can start making decisions now that effect the outcome in the future.

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[AZDC]

I need some help and I don’t know who better to ask than the guys doing it so here goes. How do you guys achieve the time freedom and the financial freedom to go on these cool hunts. I’m in Arkansas working at a factory I have no kids but I have a wife and a mortgage and I pretty much only get to hunt what’s local to me like whitetail and ducks. I’m looking for adventure.

If you work at a factory sounds like you could look out West for similar roles. Not sure what type of factory you’re at (if you’re in Camden I could take a good guess) but there are some defense factories in Utah & Arizona.

Aside from that in general I’d say have no car payments, have a mortgage that’s less than one of your own paycheck’s per month, keep debt and non-essential spending (eating out accumulates like crazy) to a minimum. Also, find hunting buddies to go with. It really cuts down the cost when you can spread gas between 2-3 people. Gas is what usually kills me because I’m assuming you’re camping. I’d think you’d want to aim to have $1.5K - $2K left over for fun spending/non-essential after all bills are paid for and then just start saving for any big trips. It should be similar to saving for big vacations. If you move out west it gets easier since game is that much closer.

 

[Chris in TN]

There's a ton that could be said here but finding a legal way to make more money, without sacrificing your priorities (family/home/church), is a good start.

Also, be more happy with what you have. If you read here you'd think a lot of people here spend four days a week at the gun range and two months per year on exotic hunts. Reality is much more humble for most of us. We talk about the high points. Comparison really is the thief of joy. I have an awfully good time taking my kids squirrel hunting. Or deer hunting within 300 yards of the house. Or shooting guns here at home.

Save $50 per week into some sensible investment vehicle and you will have a vacation fund faster than you realize, and once you have the basic gear bought, you can do DIY hunts pretty often for less money than you think, but you must be diligent in cost control. AirBNBs and hunting cabin rentals cost money. Guided hunts cost money. Constant new gear costs money. High volumes of ammo cost money.

Also - there's only so much room in life for hobbies. If you drink or smoke (I'm not morally opposed to either - you do you) you're slowly blowing money that could be spent on hunting. If you have a summer lake house, well, you won't likely be doing many fall western hunts. I live on a small farm. That lifestyle has a huge opportunity cost. It took us years to build that lifestyle and I love it but we can't just all leave on short notice - without hiring someone to feed livestock. If you insist on driving newer vehicles, that costs money. If you insist on driving bigger or fancier cars, that costs money, even used. Buy used guns, used optics, do the bulk of your shooting practice with .22lr or .223. Learn to get by with off-branded clothes and gear (except boots - buy quality boots, always).

And do realize that every man yearns for adventure but having a stable home to come back to is a much better thing. I wouldn't trade my home for all the western hunts I could cram into my remaining years.

I got married in 2010 and went elk hunting that fall - then between work and babies and just generally trying to establish a family and life, didn't go again until 2020.

The intervening years were undoubtedly some of the best of my life. Don't lose sight of that. We did a grand western vacation in 2022 and I went elk hunting in 2023 and 2025 and hope to return either this year or the next and make those frequent trips a longer term pattern. But it isn't everything.

 

[LaHunter]

I need some help and I don’t know who better to ask than the guys doing it so here goes. How do you guys achieve the time freedom and the financial freedom to go on these cool hunts. I’m in Arkansas working at a factory I have no kids but I have a wife and a mortgage and I pretty much only get to hunt what’s local to me like whitetail and ducks. I’m looking for adventure.

I was in my mid-late 40s before I was able to start hunting out west. Family, work, & life took priority over western hunting. Even a diy western hunt can be fairly expensive, so you will need to intentionally start saving for it

 

[wytx]

Start buying PPs for some Western states and go DIY.
Yu don't have to be wealthy to come hunt out here.
Many folks just budget for guided hunts, they are not wealthy either. They just plan ahead and save for the hunt.
Bring the wife out when you come to hunt also.

 

[Luked]

I'm in a similar boat so to speak. I don't make a fortune. But I work my tail off doing what I can any way I can. Have a small side gig with a buddy that is fun and make some extra cash doing it.
I have 2 kids, wife house truck camper, boat etc.
It can be done. You just have to put your mind to it and make it work.
It dosent have to be a full blown guided hunt. Make an OTC hunt out of it. Is the outcome the same as guided...probably not. But im betting you will still have a blast. I did.

Buddy of mine is a huge hunter and goes on these big hunts all the time. Never could figure out how he did it. Until I went on an OTC hunt with him and he explained it to me. Its all paid for through his family business. Makes it much easier. But I don't have that. So I do what I can.
Same with everything you see here on Rokslide. From guns to optics to gear. Isn't any of it cheap by any means. Just do what makes you happy at your pace and cost.