How do you guys go on these cool hunts?

[ez_willie]

Apologies if it’s been asked already, but you don’t need a new pair of binoculars or some gas station snacks by chance do you?

 

[Fullfan]

Look up every major city law enforcement agency and pay scales. Get in shape. Apply and get accepted. Go through the academy. Get tazed, maced, and spend 8 months listening to some idiot yell in your ear. Graduate Academy. Go work evening or night shift for 3 years. Get spit on by homeless people and clean human shit off your boots every few weeks. Join a specialized unit. Work 65 hours a week. Always on call. Get promoted. Review a couple 1000 child porn images every day and kick in doors at 5a instead of going to kids basketball game. Get promoted again and do it all over again but make sure you have all your guys wives numbers so you can call them at 2a when they get shot or rear ended by a drunk. Promote again.

Save 20% of everything you make and empower your spouse to do the same. Stay fit. Join a good church.

By your late 30s go hunt anywhere you want. Chase tarpon in Belize. Hunt Grizzly in Alaska. Go to Colorado every elk season.

I think that might work.

LOL this is why I could spend 3-4 weeks chasing Sept bulls, and a month chasing spring gobblers.

Exactly is what I did when I returned home from the first Persian Gulf War.

SO, glad I lived to see my retirement.

 

[ColoradoV]

Wow 12 pages of advise...

Actually what gets me the most free Land Owner tags is irrigation.. One of my many jobs is to work with water/ranchers and my kids will volunteer to clean ditches, set tarps, and ck gate levels.. Gotten me more tags lately than if I had a 15k yearly budget.. The main landowner tag I like I get because well I got a knack for finding a certain type of deer.... Many ways to skin a cat if you are again willing to put in the time and work.

After reading a page or 2 = my girls wonder why and actually bitch that they never get "paid" to work at our restaurant or when they clean our air b n b's = as 100% of what they make goes into their Roth IRA... Both started before they were 10... Or another way of putting it is to start a generational plan for your kids today if you have not already...

Now if the damn silver mines would just pan out .......

 

[270-300]

Well for me it was moving close to where I want to hunt. I live in wyoming. I live in a place i can make a decent income and am still 35 minutes from a world class elk hunt, and 2 hours from a wilderness area hunt few ever get to experience. As a resident i can buy elk tags over the counter, and easily draw resident tags for rugged wilderness areas no one wants to hike in and out of. With a million acres of national forest within an hour drive of my house, i dont have to worry about buying hunting land.

As far as budget, I bought a quality but modest house when prices were low in 2020. I drive old vehicles with no rust that are in excellent condition. Only loan I have is the house. I dont waste money on expensive hunting gear. I hunt with vintage rifles that i buy at bargain prices when lots come up at estate sales. Typically small shops will buy the whole 4 dozen or so lot, and sit on them for 3 years because they arent hot items. I come along after a couple years and they are willing to take about anything for a rifle or two to get it to move. Through this methods and trading, the most ive paid for a long gun to date is $300. My collection includes a mint recent model Browning Citori grade 2 and several pre 1980 bolt action rifles with beautiful walnut stocks. There are deals to be had if you know how to trade, typically trading across interests is best because you will be able to get smoking deals from those guys who thought they were going to be the next duck dynasty when they dropped 5k on a shotgun and then it sat in the closet for a decade after they missed every bird 3 trap nights in a row. Trade them something that appeals to the next hobby they have moved onto. Having vintage stuff thats uncommon can be worth more than gold to the right guy whos in the market.

Optics are always best bought used from the guys who hit the september sale and hunted once and need to pay off the cabelas credit card before the interest kicks in. Ive never paid over 60% of retail for any optics.

Packs and blinds can be found by the dozens used for almost giveaway prices.

Find some old paint peeling decoys and they will almost give them away. A weekend with a spray can and they will be serviceable.

Instead of hunting leases scope out rugged public land. Most public land hunters wont touch anything that requires walking up a steep hill.

Get an old inexpensive hunting truck. The worse fuel mileage the cheaper it is and the better the insurance cost.

Sleep in your truck or a tent. Bring a skillet and a propane stove and cook inexpensive food.

Hunt animals that help your food budget. In 3 hunts last year i shot 250 lbs of red meat. I process myself. Havent bought beef since august. That enables me to reinvest some money into hunting gear bargains and save money.

Save money. Put it into funds that dont lose principle such as cds. I put this years tax return into a cd. The interest in one year at 4% will pay for a 4 day weekend hunt.

Heres a moose I saw on a sunday morning hike 35 minutes from my house last month.