How do you guys go on these cool hunts?

[11boo]

Gotta be a big chunk of us who live in elk country and get to go yearly.
Don’t try and compare yourself to that. Our resident tags are cheap, self guided is cheap.

 

[loganwayne]

That's how to do it. You'll be in much better shape than your peers if the bottom falls out of things like 2008.

I work in a market of construction that caters to extremely wealthy people. Most pay cash. So it is somewhat insulated from things like 2008 happening again, not that it cant. But we are also very close to a point where if it happens I could go work at Walmart and make ends meet. Wouldn't be doing what we do now but could easily survive.

 

[travh879]

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.

This industry has gotten very expensive and door knocking has fewer and fewer results due to leasing agencies. It's officially a pay-to-play world now unless you have access to some good public land. I've hunted some amazing public land in Ohio with views and experiences that you would pay a lot of money for if guided.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Gotta be a big chunk of us who live in elk country and get to go yearly.
Don’t try and compare yourself to that. Our resident tags are cheap, self guided is cheap.

Yep, until this year when the prices got jacked up, I could buy a combo elk-deer-bear-cougar for $96. Now I think it's about $138. Still pretty cheap. All OTC with some limitations, spike elk only on the east side and 3 point min on mule deer. All cool hunts to me with my buddies.

 

[loganwayne]

Yep, until this year when the prices got jacked up, I could buy a combo elk-deer-bear-cougar for $96. Now I think it's about $138. Still pretty cheap. All OTC with some limitations, spike elk only on the east side and 3 point min on mule deer.

Dirt cheap compared to out of state. I'll spend more than that on fuel just to get to the Mississippi.
Then again I can go to the adjoining states and push killing 20 whitetail if I wanted to

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Dirt cheap compared to out of state. I'll spend more than that on fuel just to get to the Mississippi.
Then again I can go to the adjoining states and push killing 20 whitetail if I wanted to

Yes, I realized a few years ago I could buy all my permits here in WA, plus 3 in Mo and 1 in WI for less than 1 deer tag in MT. I don't hunt in MT anymore.

 

[Mr. October]

This industry has gotten very expensive and door knocking has fewer and fewer results due to leasing agencies. It's officially a pay-to-play world now unless you have access to some good public land. I've hunted some amazing public land in Ohio with views and experiences that you would pay a lot of money for if guided.

Where I live, landowners mostly just slam the door in your face if you are asking about hunting. They've been asked so many times they don't want to hear it anymore.

 

[iamthenick]

I play the powerball every once in a while... only need to win one time!

 

[Pausekey]

I think the single most important point is to not try and compare yourself to the snapshots you get of other folks' lives. People at different income levels will do things differently. This comes down to available money, but mostly time.
People in the top 5% of tax filers don't have the time to screw around with stuff. They may not have time to scout over summer, or plan a long hunt to get a feel for an area. So they leverage $ to maximize their time and success.

If you fall into a different income camp, take advantage of your resources. Maybe you do have time as a resource, so use it to plan and scout for cool hunts.

Also a bit of a nuanced point here, but debt is not evil. Debt is a tool that can either hurt or help, depending on use. I completely understand those who avoid debt because they do not trust themselves to avoid getting trapped. But too often the mantra just becomes debt is bad.

 

[Andrew12gauge]

This industry has gotten very expensive and door knocking has fewer and fewer results due to leasing agencies. It's officially a pay-to-play world now unless you have access to some good public land. I've hunted some amazing public land in Ohio with views and experiences that you would pay a lot of money for if guided.

Expensive is no joke, went out squirrel hunting on a small piece of public here in Idaho today, neighboring property has signs for a duck club with website on the bottom. Out of curiosity I looked up the club. For the low low price of $15000 you can hunt 10 days a season, or if you want a real bargain you can up your membership to $25000 and hunt 20 days. Assuming you limit every day out that’s only $214.29/duck for the 10 day membership or $178.57/duck for the 20 day


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[Howdoyoulikemenow]

Been big game hunting every fall since I was fourteen years old. I’m sixty seven. I couldn’t afford to hunt more than my resident state until my early fifties. Even then I only used my overtime funds that I earned. Wife, two kids, mortgage etc. I worked hard. Took some college courses. Learned new skills. Got promoted several times which greatly increased my income. This was a thirty year span… not overnight. Now I’m retired. Some years I’ve hunted three states. Almost always at least two. My point is to not wish your life away and stay in your lane until you can merge into better jobs/better pay. If you work hard this will come to pass young man.