This is an interesting topic, because in my pov individuals that are entering the fray late in life get inundated with the commercial aspect of hunting and sometimes have a difficult time separating “wants” from “needs”.
Well, I think I have everything I "need" now after starting from scratch late last year. Easily $15-16K.
I agree with
@ShakeDown that I might be conflating needs with wants, but I don't believe that anyone that starts from zero will be too far off in terms of total cost for a similar hunt. Just like
@Hnthrdr I thought for sure when I started this adventure I could do it for under $5K.
Hopefully I'll be healthy next year, be successful in the draw and it won't cost me much more than gas money.
So...looking at my spend does this seem like the gear a typical backcountry hunter would have? Where is the opportunity to reduce costs without suffering? Do you just do a different style of hunt from your truck if you really want to save?
MY HUNT:
I'm solo hunting northern New Mexico in the higher mountains (11,000 to 12,000' elevation). My basecamp is 11 miles in from the nearest trailhead at the bottom of a 1.5-mile long x 1-mile wide, U-shaped valley. In late May I scouted the area and saw lots of elk transitioning into the area from their winter ranges. I think there were more elk visible because the ridges still had deep snow and the elk weren't used to seeing people. I returned for a scout in early September and saw far fewer elk (about 20, only 2 bulls). That said, the first night I got there (Aug 30th) was insane...bugles from 4 different parts of the valley, every couple of hours, all night long. Like a dream. Early the next morning a cow elk and calf walked into my base-camp meadow and barked. No more bugles for 3 days..does that even make sense?
An outfitter has a drop camp about 1.5 miles away in the next drainage basin, but from Aug 30-Sept 3 I didn't see anyone in "my" valley. I left my tent set-up at my basecamp with a tarp over my cooking area and hope it's still there when I return Wednesday. It was a gamble to be sure. I will use a tarp and spruce boughs in case the unthinkable happened and my tent was stolen.
MY COSTS:
Landowner tag: $3k
I was unsuccessful in the NM resident draw, so I called and wrote letters to about 70 land owners and finally landed a LO tag. I promised the LO a front quarter if I was successful because he honored my price even after getting later offers for $4500. I heard, but could not confirm other archery tags in the same unit going for $6,500. After that point I stopped adding up the cost since it was pretty much "game on".
Weapon: $2800
I ditched my 45# recurve ($160) and bought a used Bowtech Revolt X with 50# limbs ($653) ...shot that for awhile and then bought new 60# limbs ($325 with shop time). I'll be hunting at 57#, but could honestly go to 63-65# in hindsight. I only had 2 weeks with the newer limbs so didn't go full 60# before I set my sight tape. Used Black Gold custom 4-pin ($279) and newish Hamskea Epsilon sight ($225), TightSpot quiver ($131); all off EBAY. Scott "Legacy" release with identical back-up ($150). Black Gold Hunter X arrows with Grim Reaper broad heads and matching weight field points ($350). I fletched them myself with an Arizona max left helical jig ($50). Add a bow case, bow pack holder, arrow case, two targets and a cow decoy that attaches to my bow ($525 for all of that). The $125 cow decoy was highly recommended, but feels like an impulse buy. I didn't add the cost for the tool/repair kit which is probably $75 (wrenches, D-loop material, multi tool, etc).
Game Calls: $200
I tried about 3 different brands of diaphragm calls. I like the Phelps AMP Grey and black for bugles. For cow calls I like the AMP Orange and the Mellow Yellow Momma. My mouth doesn't seem to fit the Wapiti River ones with the splits and it takes me longer to get the right position. I also bought a couple of open reed calls (Sleazy something), but haven't practice much with those. I bought a smaller Phelps bugle tube thinking the oz savings was important, but realized I wasn't saving that much weight and instead bought the much larger Rocky Mountain Game call bugle tube for maximum impact when needed. I stole my daughters retainer case to store the diaphragms.
Kill Kit: $400
Caribou Wapiti MOB game bags ($90), Havalon 'Piranta Bolt' replaceable blade knife ($45), Benchmade 'Steep Country' fixed blade with sheath ($163), DMF field sharpener, cordage, plastic, cut-resistant left glove, etc.
Optics and electronics: $1300
I like the Leica 2400R range finder ($595) and even though I desperately wanted NL Pure's, I settled for my 25 year-old Celestron 8x42's (bought for $125 from a friend in 1999). They fit in the Marsupial chest harness nicely. The Garmin InReach mini2 on sale cost me $350. I carry a 10,000mAh Nitecore Power bank ($60) and leave the 20,000mAh ($50) at camp to use for charging overnight. This will last me 5-6 days. For longer trips I carry a tri-fold, 20W solar panel (Eceen brand on Amazon) which will fully charge my 20,000 mAh battery in one day. The solar panel weighs 18 oz so kinda not practical unless packing in with horses. I carry a spare USB-lighting cord, spare batteries for headlamps and range finder.
Clothing and back pack: $2000
Mostly KUIU clothing, backpack and rain gear, except for cheap, lightweight Eddie Bauer pants bought online for $50. Love the merino boxers and Kuiu backpack. That's another lesson learned. I have the KUIU PRO carbon frame and suspension and first thought I could do with a 3300 cu-in bag for everything. For 2-4 day scouting trips it's actually perfect, but add the hunting gear or more food for longer and it wasn't enough. In the end I added a larger bag (5500 cu-in) and a smaller bag (2300 cu-in) for day-hunts from base-camp. Lately I added Fizan walking sticks ($60), but I only have them because they say these are helpful for carrying heavy loads. I bought cheap Extremes gaiters on Amazon ($25) and they seem to work well for my size 14 feet and Kenetrek boots (lightly used, EBAY, $310).
Camp Supplies: $2,000
I'm a bigger guy so I bought a Big Agnes 3-man tent ($480, 54oz) and a large Rapides SL mattress ($200, 26oz). The weight is more than I really want, but I can use the room and comfort. Because I'm older (almost 66) and less flexible it's actually kinda hard to simply crawl out of the tent and stand up. I can't imagine what life would be like in a tiny 1-man tent. The 2L Platypus gravity water filter ($60) is the bomb, but stays at camp. I take a Sawyer mini squeeze ($30, 4 oz) and a few water purifier tablets on hunts. Hilltop bear bag ($125..so just use a cheap dry bag), Toaks titanimum 750ml pot and 450ml mug, Sierra long spoon, Soto Windmaster stove, two BlackDiamond 'Spot 400' headlamps. The cook gear was worth the money IMHO.
The biggest surprise was the cold. I bought a REI 15deg "Magma" bag during their annual sale ($400), but at 30 degrees I'm so cold I have trouble sleeping. I recently bought merino zip-up long undies ($80) and I'll add a down vest over my Peleton hoodie in case the temps drop into the 20's.
Outfitter: $2,500 (Update: The dad charged me an additional $800 to pack out my elk, although $500 was the verbal discussion with the son pre-hunt. The "contract" left that cost at their discretion...my mistake for leaving things open-ended).
From where I plan to hunt I'll need help to carry out an elk. It will help too to not be exhausted from hiking in with all my gear on my back. I found an outfitter after several failed attempts who will pack me in/out. That's another story...since the licensed outfitter I hired later got paying clients for fully guided trips in another unit, his dad and uncle are now going to take me in. Several other outfitters didn't want to bother with dropping off a solo DIY hunter or they wanted to charge me $4,000 plus and suggested different areas to camp [near their other clients?].
I suppose it is customary to tip a packer, but they are kinda independent business men that charge you for the service. Seems weird to add a tip. It's like "I'll paint your barn for $2,500", then you tip your painter? What's normal in a pack-in/out situation if you simply do all that was agreed to prior? (Update: just figured the $300 extra charge for pack-out meat would be my "tip").
Miscellaneous: $1200
I did a lot of local and backcountry scouting. A lot of this was done simply to get into shape so I headed up on weekly trips to my local mtns and set out 8 game cameras on a 2 mile loop. I ultimately found a drainage with a spring where animals seemed to frequent. Cameras cost me about $500 with batteries and I probably made 20 trips since mid April. I also did 4 back country scouting trips (total 16 days) from a more distant trail head. Food and gas for scouting for those trips around $500. My Gaia GPS subscription for navigation and e-scouting (along with Google Earth Pro) cost me $60? I didn't subscribe to OnX or the other fancy tools.
Finally...if I'm successful I'll just dump the meat in big plastic storage bins and drive to the nearest town that has ice. From there it's less than 1 hour back to the house and a mandatory trip to a big box store to buy a $350 chest freezer, some butcher paper and maybe a meat grinder?
Update: Processing costs...almost $1,000. I bought a 13 cu ft upright freezer on sale for $650 at Home Depot, paid about $275 for a meat grinder, 6" boning knife, meat saw and packaging materials. Finally, $60 for hanging the quarters in a cooler for 10 days.
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