Who's recently gotten into the outdoors and dropped $$

[Hall17]

I can easily see how a newb could be overwhelmed and discouraged. However, your friend has not seen where most of us started. I had camo from Kmart when I first started, a hand me down rifle and crappy boots. The crap gear I had had nothing to do with my unsuccessful hunts but the lack of knowledge on woodsmanship, etc. Yeah I own a lot of gear now that is probably way overpriced and I don't need but I can afford it and it makes me happy LOL. But you certainly don't need $5k to get started in hunting.

 

[huntnful]

I’ve spent at least $50k since I started 3 years ago. That said, if I needed to start tomorrow with a $5k limit for a weapon and 4 season back country system, that could be done for around $5k. It does get expensive when you start living out there for 50 days during archery, rifle & late season hunts.

 

[roosiebull]

Just out of curiousity, no tech here.

Who's recently, say the past 5 years, started from scratch and dropped some decent coin from the get go?

This all started from an argument I had earlier this morning with a friend who told me, and i quote, "I'd love to start hunting but I don't have $5000 to get started"

If I would have needed 5k to start, I would have not been able to start for several years… I was a poor kid and we were a poor family… I think that’s why I became what I did, it was cheap entertainment… now it’s not cheap, but that has to do with my priorities (still far from wealthy) and an awesome wife that’s good with money so I can spend money without it having a financial impact.

I am very thankful I grew up poor, it was good for me, I did just fine on the rivers, ocean, and woods, and I think I gained a lot of appreciation for that, and the nicer things I have been able to buy later in life.

The basics and fundamentals are way more valuable than 5k worth of gear, and it’s free to acquire

 

[roosiebull]

Started with $150 Bow and probably $100 worth of clothes and got a used pack for $100.

Similar, but I didn’t have a pack for a few years, which I got sick of, but I didn’t let it keep me from killing stuff… in my early days, I packed several elk out quarters and game bags over the shoulder

 

[Q child]

I mean, how much does it cost to hunt in your area? Like, is there public land access nearby? Or, do you have to pay for tags? If you need to travel or camp or pay land owners or the tags are expensive then $5k seems totally possible.
I bet I spent $1000 to get started to buy a gun and scope. I hunt where I live, so I already had all the clothing I needed - didn't buy hunting specific clothes or camo at all for many years. Tags are free here. So, that's pretty much my whole hunting setup for a lot of years. I'd shoot probably $10 worth of ammo a year. Mostly day hunts. A few trips out on live aboard boats. It was simple and fun. I can be hunting about 10 minutes after walking out my door, so it doesn't cost much.

 

[long hunter]

That's an excuse. Depends where you live and what you're doing. Where I'm from in ND, the barrier or entry for rifle deer hunting is extremely low. $400 gun, $30 vest/hat, $20 tag, and a $40 knife. Most people already have everything else you need. And of the things I listed everyone that already hunts has more than one of and would be happy to share.

The other end of the spectrum is mountain hunting. I didn't have a damn thing when I moved to AK and started mtn/extended transporter hunting trips. I bought a $80 crappy freighter pack and that's about it. Used all my crappy midwest gear (which was mostly not hunting specific). After the first couple pack outs I would get to the pickup soaking wet, cold, hurt feet, and rubbed out hips so I slowly upgraded with low/mid end gear piece by piece. To this day the majority of people on this site would likely laugh at my rifles or the extremely basic gear I take on a 10 day fly out hunt. I have no clue what most people are talking about when they post up their gear lists in the caribou/moose/sheep forums. I get it we are on a gear website and that's great, but people just get wrapped around the axles.

The way your friend is making excuses for getting into hunting can be used at all levels after starting to hunt. People won't book a hunt to AK because they have been brain washed to think they need a fortune worth of technical gear. Just do it.

William, you forgot the ammo, now there is a cost riser now of days.

 

[.204smokechaser]

I took out a 20k loan to start hunting and to buy a gun and ammunition. Took out another loan for a side by side. Shoot I guess I need a new truck time to take out another loan!!!!


I know a few that started from scratch, spent over $10k, and haven’t killed shit. I know others and I have mentored others the last few years who are sporting hand me downs and cheap stuff and are killing machines!

 

[Rich M]

Those of us who have accumulated our stuff over the years are definitely way ahead of the new guys entering the sport.

I would really think long and hard about getting into the sport. Same for reloading.
Same for fishing with a boat. Same for whatever sport has expensive equipment.

Sometimes I wonder what I'd be doing if I hadn't always been a hunter and fisherman. Dunno, but the cost of entry into the sport is pretty high. Fishing you can do it on say $100. Hunting is probably more like $2,000-$2,500 for a starter set - rifle, scope, binocs, good knife, license, warm clothes, boots, etc.

 

[packer58]

Just out of curiousity, no tech here.

Who's recently, say the past 5 years, started from scratch and dropped some decent coin from the get go?

This all started from an argument I had earlier this morning with a friend who told me, and i quote, "I'd love to start hunting but I don't have $5000 to get started"

The last sentence in this post speaks volumes to me, today's younger generation unfortunately wants to start at the top and not work their way up anymore. Hunt for the love of the sport and the outdoors, don't turn it into a runway fashion show, I have my fair share of tech gear but surely didn't start out that way.

 

[Crowmangler]

Maybe he should start with a few hundred $$, get a single shot 12 ga or a 10/22 & actually LEARN HOW TO HUNT first. Generally speaking, a moron doesn't turn into a hunter just because he has $5k in his pocket.

 

[cjdewese]

Just out of curiousity, no tech here.

Who's recently, say the past 5 years, started from scratch and dropped some decent coin from the get go?

This all started from an argument I had earlier this morning with a friend who told me, and i quote, "I'd love to start hunting but I don't have $5000 to get started

I started in 2020 and to date have spent $1500 total for my hunting in California with 0 weapons or experience. I have got 1 deer so far with my bow and this year started setting up my dads old 30-06 and looking forward to start hunting with a rifle as well.

I think you can start fairly cheap, it's keeping it that way that's the trick as you start to enjoy it more and see where your current gear is lacking.

 

[Idaho4x4Bronco]

I don't think anyone has read this and said "me" yet

It's fun to see the struggles of this new generation

 

[BRTreedogs]

When we go to dinner its actually a treat because its rare.
We don't go on "vacation"
Do not really have any other hobbies.
We no not have nice furniture.
No new cars currently.
Dont have cable or go to movies.
No camp trailer etc.

We make alot of sacrifices to prioritize hunting.
All the fantasy stuff does is make it more comfortable.
That being said I think 2k probably $2500 is close to what it would take for me.
Rifle or bow $1500 eats fast.
I've had alot of problems with boots so $400 there if mountain hunting.

 

[roosiebull]

Generally speaking, a moron doesn't turn into a hunter just because he has $5k in his pocket.

…. Prior to social media

 

[Super tag]

Depends on the type of hunt, the terrain, the weather you plan to hunt in, a lot of variables. You could easily spend 5k and that’s actually pretty light depending on your taste. take it a step at a time. Everyone has to figure it out for themselves I guess, but 5k will do it for sure getting started. We spend a lot of days out in the field and have a lot of different gear for specific purposes. A lot of guys have horses, mules etc. utility vehicles, atv’s. By the time you invest in spotting scope, range finder, decent binoculars, rifle, scope, camping gear, the list goes on, you could easily blow through 5k

 

[gbflyer]

Need that much for the Tangent Theta scope.

 

[HaydenLane]

The last sentence in this post speaks volumes to me, today's younger generation unfortunately wants to start at the top and not work their way up anymore. Hunt for the love of the sport and the outdoors, don't turn it into a runway fashion show, I have my fair share of tech gear but surely didn't start out that way.

While there’s some truth to this, one could easily start out with a $5k budget and not have top of the line anything. That’s basically a non-flagship bow kitted out, mid-level binos, a rifle, and a decent scope. Maybe a pack and boots can squeeze in there if frugal.

I hunted basically 20 years with minimal investment, but I didn’t take it seriously, travel far from home, or put in tons of days in the field. It was just something I did every year after work slowed down and before ice fishing picked up. When I decided I wanted to invest significant time and money into hunting more often, more places, and more species, I spent easily over $7k in a single year.

I could have done it with less, but the barrier to entry is pretty high for people who didn’t grow up doing it. There’s no reason to pretend otherwise.

 

[Centralcoastca]

Maybe he should start with a few hundred $$, get a single shot 12 ga or a 10/22 & actually LEARN HOW TO HUNT first. Generally speaking, a moron doesn't turn into a hunter just because he has $5k in his pocket.

This is the right answer, then move up to a decent used or cheap new rifle like a ruger American with a decent scope that with a good pair of binos the rest can be filled in with regular backpacking gear. Camo “systems” don’t matter, regular darker colored outdoor clothes are fine and mil surplus is cheap and works. Ive spent and continue to spend a decent amount on new stuff (and way less than most on here from the sounds of it) because I finally can once in awhile, but if I was starting again from scratch and was on a shoestring budget, I could easily go hunt big game successfully for $1,000 in perfectly good gear and nicer than what I started with. Starting out with birds and small game, a few hundred dollars would do it. You won’t look like a tactical Instagram hunter, but if that’s the point it might not be right for that guy anyway.

 

[tony]

Thought I'd like to bow hunt, bought a Hoyt package bow from a local outfit, $700.00 and it was truly turn key, from broadheads to a bag target, hard case, and release. Probably have a grand in it now and joined an awesome local club.
I've shot maybe 20 arrows out of it since I bought it.

 

[alex_b11]

I started hunting white tails for under 1000 dollars in gear. My tree stand was heavy as shit. I was often cold and my bow wasn’t the nicest. But I got out there, learned what the priority upgrades were and went from there.

I went on my first backpack hunt for elk this year. Was out for the entire season plus a couple days before season opened. I bought used gear, wore some whitetail gear and also spent good money on some important things I didn’t have like an I reach and a pack.

No way do you need to spend 5k just to get in the outdoors.