How do you pay for your gear?

[FLS]

Realize most of what you see is an infomercial, Separate needs from wants then buy used from the gear junkies that that have to have the latest and greatest then never use it. I’ve bought hunting gear for half of retail that still had the tags on.

 

[Nicaburns]

I make custom knives as a hobby so I just hit the forge when I need some "toy money"!

 

[justinspicher]

All of my gear is used, except my boots and bullets. I buy those new. I still have the same boots, bought them back in 2015…..

 

[KurtR]

Follow Duece Bigalows blue print

 

[Wolfshead]

I buy what I want, and if I don’t like it, I return it, or try to sell it.
Most of my things are pretty well researched out.
My journey of late has been to get my “kit” to be what I want, and need it to be, for my style of hunting.

 

[5MilesBack]

I started saving and investing when I was 12, so I can afford pretty much whatever I want or need. But I'm also frugal as heck. Most of the time when I buy something, I sell something so that I break even. That way I keep the amount of all my stuff in check as well. Every time my wife comes home with a new bag of clothes or shoes I say "so......what clothes and shoes are you getting rid of now". Unfortunately she doesn't operate on the same principle as me.

 

[MallardSX2]

I started saving and investing when I was 12, so I can afford pretty much whatever I want or need. But I'm also frugal as heck. Most of the time when I buy something, I sell something so that I break even. That way I keep the amount of all my stuff in check as well. Every time my wife comes home with a new bag of clothes or shoes I say "so......what clothes and shoes are you getting rid of now". Unfortunately she doesn't operate on the same principle as me.

I literally operate the same way.

And my wife also mirrors your wife with her tactics. lol

 

[Boarmaster]

I started off back in the mid 80s. On my own with no mentor or hand me down gear. Or knowledge. So different times. I started off with bare minimum to hunt.

As time went on
I added things like binos , better knives and other accessories. I saw what worked clothing wise mostly ordering things out of Cabelas or Gander mountain. I would characterize the gear I bought as lower end but functional.

I used pretty much what I had bought up until about 2002/3 when I became more financially better off. About this same time hunters became connected by the internet and knowledge was shared across tens of thousands of hunters not just my three hunting buddies. I learned more about what top tier gear was.
I started making the jump into quality then and from then on I saved up and bought the best gear where
I felt it counted for me. Swaro binos , Leica rangefinder , semi custom rifles , good scopes, premium ammo and other things. This turned out to be good for me as I still use much of that gear today 20 years later. I made minor tweaks as I pleased.

I never went in debt to buy equipment any more than I could payoff the next month and that included
Hunting leases,trips, cabins , Atvs , SxS and other camp equipment.

Others may take another route and I’m not in the habit of making policy for anyone but myself.
Like most others I got a few boxes of items I couldn't live without that turned out to be wasted money.

 

[Macintosh]

1. We sock away money for all bills and expenses, retirement, etc first, and then the wife and I each have a “fun” account that gets a few dollars each paycheck. If it comes from the “life” accounts we make decisions together; if it comes from the “fun” accounts, no need to consult, do what you want. Bonuses are not a direct part of our salaries but we each get them at times, we always put at least half into retirement funds, the rest can go into fun money.
2. I am inherently frugal. If I can make it, I’ll do that before I buy it. If I cant make it, I’ll research and buy used or where I think the best value is for me. Sometimes thats top tier stuff, many times its not.
3. I generally am not the type that needs to try new stuff all the time. Ive worked in the outdoor industry in product management for decades, and am 100% certaintain that newer stuff is absolutely not always better. In fact, barring technological changes in many cases I think thats the opposite of reality... consequently I tend to find stuff that works and use it for 3 seasons after most people would have thrown it away.
4. If you look for quality and you arent a jackass, one really is one, and two is just heavy. Some things it makes sense to have a backup, but redundancy is an anchor and to be avoided where possible. I’ll take reliability over redundancy 10 days a week, so I simply dont need as much stuff.
5. Most problems are best solved by something other than more gear—my default is always to do without. I am a minimalist and skeptic at heart, so I will virtually never bring something to “see if I’ll like it” or “see if I use it”. There is an entire multi-billion dollar industry whose sole goal is to sell me more crap...I know, Ive sat thru that meeting many, many times. Guess what? Much of the time, if it isnt the “same thing” I already have, that stuff is a solution looking for its’ problem. If a product doesnt answer a question or solve a problem I have already identified, I simply dont buy it.
6. If a product works for me, I stick with it 99% of the time. If I was happy with it yesterday, just because some thing else comes along that is incrementally better, doesn’t mean my needs have changed. I avoid buying new stuff unless 1) it wears out, 2) my needs change and what im using no longer meets my needs, or 3) technology, production, etc has changed enough that many iterations of incremental improvement have resulted in a sea-change in what Im getting. I don’t replace gear to save a couple ounces, I replace gear to save pounds. If I use some thing every single year, every single trip, many, many times, I may replace it to save a couple ounces. But if I use it in frequently, and only every couple years, I probably won’t even replace it to save pounds.
7. I am not an early adopter of almost anything. I like to be aware of new things, and if I have an opportunity I’ll try out someone else’s newfangled gizmo, but my experience is that many products that I find new and really interesting require a couple iterations to work out the kinks. I would rather save my money until those kinks have been worked out, and have found this has worked well for me over the years. If I’m doing product development and testing for someone I want to be on the payroll, I don’t need to pay them for that privilege.

 

[TNHunter18]

Picked up a few yards to mow on the side. Used that mostly for gear.

 

[Mojave]

Get the wife on only fans. Or if you are brave and don't mind being seen in public yourself.

Seriously, though.

Don't worry about having the best stuff.

I am in my 50's, I have good grear. I recently completed a hunt with 5 other hunters and thought I had very Gucci gear. But I didn't have my work flows figured out and I screwed myself and missed two bucks.

The difference unlike a young guy in camp hunting with his grandfathers antique rifle and an antique scope, within a few minutes I figured it out and fixed it.

Advocate for yourself that you'd like to try a product, for instance a Swarovski 10x50 EL. Then do a ton of research, make sure that it doesn't impact the family budget. Get rid of things you don't need. Once you have advocated and downsized and ensured that Mrs. Squirrel has her nuts. It will be fine.

Don't get brand asphyxia. Also don't buy into trash talk. There are perfectly suitable Leupolds, Savages, Rugers, Vortex, high-end Bushnell and so on.

Maybe you can buy into a big product on a discount when they change models.

Often I find that I am weighed down by having an issue with a top tier Product, or the top tier product not being the thing I really wanted.

I am somewhat of a Kuiu fanboy, shoot a variety of rifle brands currently Blaser and Sauer. I have Swarovski and Zeiss on most rifles and binoculars.

Don't waste money on gear over a hunting budget.

If your wife doesn't hunt, and has no interest she will be not understand it as the same money. Even though it really isn't.

 

[Mojave]

I literally operate the same way.

And my wife also mirrors your wife with her tactics. lol

Mine tells me she has no clothes about 80-90 times a week.

We probably have a USPS bill of $2000 a year on returns. At least she returns things.

We both have professional jobs. But I mostly wear the exact same thing every day.

 

[5MilesBack]

But I mostly wear the exact same thing every day.

My daughter just shakes her head every time she sees pics of me from the 80's and says "Oh my gosh, you haven't changed at all have you.......you still have that exact same shirt in the pic, don't you".......well, if nothing else it's a testament to the quality of clothes that were made back then.

 

[H2PVon]

I just don't call it "gear". As long as it's just "stuff" I've got an unlimited budget.

 

[Luked]

I had a job for a while that paid way more than what I was used to and gave me quite a bit of extra. Worked there for almost 2 years until it got to me enough I left.
During that time I bought all of my Hunting clothing. Think I spent about $3k on it all at one time.
Still have it and it all works great still 4 years later.

The stuff i buy now I buy some used depending on what it is.
Rifles and Scopes I don't buy super high end but do have some high end stuff that has been passed to me by a good friend who doesn't use it.

The other gear like smaller stuff I save for, the way we do our bills at home leaves each of us with extra each week and I save that. I also sell Marine Electronics with a buddy as a side gig and do ok with it.
Use most of that to buy whatever I want.

Ill also sell stuff I dont use or need and buy something else.

 

[Mtnmilsurp]

Yesterday I helped my 15 year old son rent a chipper and we each cleared about $350 in 3 hours work in our neighborhood. That’ll get me a SWFA when they come back in stock.

I also thought of renting out my hunting outfit for archery through 4th rifle since I live in Colorado and only use the tent/stove/cots for December cow hunts. I could almost pay for the setup in one fall if I got takers for all 5.

 

[NDGuy]

I try to buy used when I can.

I also use my Scheels Visa to just buy $500 gift cards every 6 months or so. Helps take away the sting of a big purchase whenever I find something. The Scheels Visa lets you do 6 months no interest on $500+ purchases so I can pay $80/mo for a gift card to save up.

 

[doc holiday13]

Due to low birth rates in Japan, there are plenty of fertile japanese girls looking for a donor if you catch what I'm putting down

 

[AKBorn]

I never bought into the gear craze, never saw the point in it I guess. As far as I could tell, the animals couldn't tell the difference either.

I started doing hunts in remote Alaska back in 2002. I did my last remote Alaska hunt last September. The coat I was wearing was the same on both hunts, and also happened to be my coat for hunting whitetails in Maryland during all those years.

Got a photo of the moose I shot in AK back in 2006. The rifle is the same rifle I used to shoot my last caribou, last fall.

Got a photo of a caribou I shot in AK in 2010. Wearing the same pants and shirt that I was wearing when I shot my caribou last fall.

During all those years I used the same Ruger Model 77 bolt action rifle; the same Nikon Monarch 10x42 binos; the same Nikon 16-48 spotting scope. Never even thought about upgrading any of those items. They all worked, and work to this day.

A couple of times I skinned and quartered my caribou using 2 Victorinox paring knives (1 straight edge, 1 serrated) that cost less than $10 apiece including shipping. The caribou didn't seem to notice the difference.

I have never owned name brand hunting clothing, and all of my hunting clothes cost $50 or less per item, including my heaviest coats. The only exception was the boots that I wore, had to break the bank and pay $100 for those.

The only gear item I ever splurged on was a Barney's freighter frame and backpack, because they were (and are) the best in the business and can haul way more weight than I could ever handle. I think I paid $500 for it back around 2006 or 2008; sold it after my hunt last fall for $450.

I see all the gear on the market these days, and marvel at how many guys were able to get it done in the 60s and 70s using cowboy boots, blue jeans, and cotton clothing. Wonder what those guys think of all the newfangled stuff that sellers try to convince us we HAVE to have.

Maybe accumulating gear is a mindset that you either have or you don't? If that's the case, I am glad that I didn't have it - saved me a lot of coin that I was able to use to go on all of my AK hunts.

Guess I do have to admit to one gear upgrade recently...when I retired back in 2020, I gave my old hunting/fishing/fun truck (a 1994 Mazda 4WD that I paid $7000 cash for in 2001) to my best friend's son. Treated myself to a 2022 Toyota Tacoma when I could find one. Guilty lol.

Best of luck to all with your hunts this fall.

 

[Steve300xcw]

No wife or kids, so that helps. Am also very aware that I dont need a $500 rain jacket to kill something.