How do you pay for your gear?

[Jimmy]

I started with cheap stuff and usually upgrade one item a year.

I save the money from side jobs.

 

[tpeterson27]

Primarily start used, see what I like about the product or don't, then will commit to a higher end purchase on most pieces of equipment when i've justified my use case

 

[Weldor]

Cash

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I married a woman who makes a lot of $$$, decided not to have kids and bought property back when it was cheap.

Now I have lots of extra $$$ and time. Its great.

 

[IdahoBeav]

Deficit spending, Build Back Better!

 

[Geewhiz]

Working an additional 20+/- hours a week helps but still often times isn't enough to keep with my expensive taste. Sure would be nice if I enjoyed cheap hobbies.

 

[Bachto]

I am the used gear king. Almost all my expensive gear i bought it second hand here for way less than retail. Me and my wife also budget well so that gets included in there for things I need like new boots last year. If I get a large bonus at work then I'll splurge a little on something I didn't "need" but I usually have to offset with something for the house my wife wanted lol.

 

[AME]

Well,considering that my primary rifle was my Great Grandfather's (Who bought it new for a moose hunt sometime in the seventies when he was in his seventies), and my bow is about a decade old, I guess I fall into the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' category. This philosophy of course comes with drawbacks, and by far does not make for the most comfortable hunting experiences. However, it is a lot of fun when you see a couple empty Cabela's hunters in full Sitka and $3000 worth of optics watch as you and your buddies pack out a bull on 25 year old aluminum frame packs.

That being said, there are certain things that a person just needs (Boots, Bullets, etc) to replace ever so often. I look for sales on quality items, and buy things that should last. Reloading my own ammo has saved me some money, which I put back into other gear. Credit Card rewards are kind of a scam, but they can be useful. Air miles for new places to hunt I guess?

 

[P dog]

Side jobs and saving it. I am kind of a KUIU junkie but it flat our works for me. Still use my BAR 7mm for all big game hunts and my bow is a 10 year old Hoyt Faktor. Optics are Vortex binoculars and range finder. Saved for three pair of good boots, Kennetrek, Crispi and Mendls. The rest of the side money earned goes to tags, fuel, hotels, etc. I am set up for a long time with my gear as far as i am concerned.

 

[CorbLand]

Working an additional 20+/- hours a week helps but still often times isn't enough to keep with my expensive taste. Sure would be nice if I enjoyed cheap hobbies.

There is no such thing as a cheap hobby.

 

[Geewhiz]

There is no such thing as a cheap hobby.

My daughter likes to weave little pieces of fabric to make pot holders

 

[Jason Snyder]

Overtime.

 

[*zap*]

cash earned from hard work....no debt for me.

 

[dan33]

I get paid extremely well to be homeless

 

[deerninja]

I'd say only buy what you will use and what you need, no reason to spend money on high priced crap that you will never get a return out of other than the dopamine hit when you make a purchase or bragging to your friends who really couldn't care less about what you have. Might want to take a trip to the local surplus store too and you'll find lots of good stuff at a fraction of the costs. Buy smart....Hunter smarter

 

[kherbstreit1775]

Generally stick to the rule of not paying for something with a CC if I can't pay it off that same day anyways. If you play the CC points game right, they can be nice to use the points for travel. Recently, my mom got our family of 4 flights back from Hawaii on United for about 30% of the normal amount of points it would have taken by first transferring the points/buying the tickets through Turkish Airlines (I forget exactly what she did). Point being that if you are going to buy expensive hunting equipment, it can be useful to purchase it with the right CC, or even with a new CC to meet the sign-up bonus spending limit

 

[RockAndSage]

My approach might be summarized as, "Minimal gear, maximum quality, never add capacity until you've maximized capability".

For example, I don't have a lot of guns compared to most guys, but I have more money in just 2 or 3 of my hard-use/regular use guns than a lot of guys will have in their whole collection, when you add in quality optics, accessories, and the amount of ammo and training I put through them. None of those guns or their related gear gets upgraded until I have absolutely maxed out my capability with them, and where an upgrade actually, genuinely takes my capabilities and performance to another level, or at least removes genuine barriers I'm hitting in improving that performance.

When a purchase is made, I also try to buy the best quality I can afford at that time, and do so with cash, not debt. There's a certain threshold for most things where they get relatively "expensive", but they cross a quality tipping-point where they're absolutely reliable and won't need to be replaced because of failure, and that's the minimum quality I try to shoot for. I would far and away prefer to set aside money for a few months and cross that quality threshold, than get something cheaper that won't hold up over time.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I worked my butt off for 31 years, retired early and can buy what I want. Didn't hurt to marry a gal who made more than me. If I have gear that works for me, I see no reason to replace or "upgrade" it. I have hunted with guys who had to have the latest and greatest, most expensive stuff every year. I don't follow that reasoning.

 

[5MilesBack]

When I do spend money I still take advantage of everything I can. I bought a Seekins rifle online at Bass Pro so used Active Junky, plus military discount, and bought three $500 gift cards at King Soopers at 4 times fuel points. So now I have 6000 fuel points available for September which I'll need......because it's hunting season. That equates to $210 off of fuel. And I'll also get 1.5% cash back on my CC.

I do the same thing with Home Depot and Lowes cards whenever I've got a project going on at home.......free fuel points because I'm going to spend the money regardless.

 

[Fullfan]

Retired from a great Carrer and married a gal that I knew had great earning potential. So I buy what I want when I want it.