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

[svivian]

I think we should have someone from Rokslide do an article where they have to do an elk hunt on a set budget starting from scratch.

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

I think we should have someone from Rokslide do an article where they have to do an elk hunt on a set budget starting from scratch.

That is an awesome idea! I would love to contribute to this as well for something in my state. I can find a new hunter and do a budget breakdown of what it actually costs to go on a mule deer doe hunt.

 

[HaydenLane]

I think we should have someone from Rokslide do an article where they have to do an elk hunt on a set budget starting from scratch.

I think this would be easy to do when you have a certain level of understanding gear that comes from experience. It would be significantly more difficult for someone who has no basis of knowledge in hunting or outdoor gear.

 

[svivian]

I think this would be easy to do when you have a certain level of understanding gear that comes from experience. It would be significantly more difficult for someone who has no basis of knowledge in hunting or outdoor gear.

I agree, I also think forums like this make it extremely difficult as so many say buy the best or buy once cry once. I guess the idea is have someone who knows their shit and can choose quality gear for a set budget that new hunters could follow as an example.

I think there are too many that think you have to have the best equipment to be a successful hunter and its simply not true. It would be great to see some reviews showing the opposite for a change.

 

[Idaho4x4Bronco]

If I was cold and wet, I wouldn't want to keep hunting when it was cold and/or raining.

One of my biggest concerns when buying gear was making sure I wasn't cold. I hate being cold, and I know I wouldn't stick with it if I was always shivering while sitting still in a stand or at the base of a tree.

I did say a little cold and wet. Are you saying you don't have any rain gear already you could bring along and your only option is shiny new sitka rain gear? When I started out I had a $60 duck hunting jacket and some wool pants from a thrift shop, $20 for gaitors. Never stopped me, and that's in the north Idaho jungle.

You could also drop off the $800 binos you don't need for some decent rain gear.

 

[Maverick1]

I'm quite literally amazed at how effective the Outdoor Marketing Machine has become in the last several years.

Yes....this is very accurate. I started elk hunting almost 20 years ago, and the changes on the marketing front for elk hunting are remarkable from then until now. Absolutely different.

 

[KnuckleChild]

Spring bear this year we flew in, one of the guys bag didn’t make it, only his rifle (no ammo). We ran around town and spent ~$3800 of Southwest Airlines’ money in 6 hours to re-outfit him.

On the flip side when I wasn’t really hunting for a few years due to school, the few times a year I did for whitetail all I ever used was a blaze orange Walmart T shirt, jeans, hip boots, hydration pack and my old .270 savage/Simmons combo Walmart special. Duck hunting jacket if I was gonna be sitting for any length of time. Doesn’t take much to just get out there.

 

[displacedtexan]

I killed my first deer with a borrowed rifle while wearing Carhartts I had for work.

 

[fngTony]

I killed my first deer with a borrowed rifle while wearing Carhartts I had for work.

Me too! I still went down the clothing rabbit hole though.

 

[displacedtexan]

Me too! I still went down the clothing rabbit hole though.

Oh, I have definitely accumulated some nice gear over the past 15 years... But I killed stuff and made memories before that!

 

[fngTony]

Oh, I have definitely accumulated some nice gear over the past 15 years... But I killed stuff and made memories before that!

Some of my fondest memories are from crap gear, it brought character to the hunts and being cold and wet made filling the tag a bigger sense of accomplishment.

 

[displacedtexan]

Some of my fondest memories are from crap gear, it brought character to the hunts and being cold and wet made filling the tag a bigger sense of accomplishment.

I made my first mountain trip in an old Walmart tent. Like, 20 years old. Dad didn't remember exactly how long we'd had it.

But it and a tarp kept us dry and out of the wind! In third rifle.

 

[Lowg08]

I’ve just upgraded as time has went on in the past 3-4 years. I do have nice gear but I started out cheaper and worked into better gear through classifieds or sales deals or selling gear that I didn’t like or fit me or just wasn’t for me.

 

[Wags]

Not me, but both my sons hit hunting age... damn it's expensive. 2 shotguns, 2 riles/scopes, boots, waders, clothing. Etc... I don't dare count it up.

 

[The_Jim]

I killed my first deer with a borrowed rifle while wearing Carhartts I had for work.

I was reading through this thread thinking the same thing. That’s how I started and slowly added things each year.

You have a problem if your financing your hunting gear

 

[displacedtexan]

Not me, but both my sons hit hunting age... damn it's expensive. 2 shotguns, 2 riles/scopes, boots, waders, clothing. Etc... I don't dare count it up.

You're not wrong...

But the perception of cost is definitely a barrier to entry.

 

[displacedtexan]

I was reading through this thread thinking the same thing. That’s how I started and slowly added things each year.

You have a problem if your financing your hunting gear

The deer wasn't any less dead because of it!

Yep, started buying stuff, then upgrading.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

If you are hunting and camping close to the truck you don't need to spend a lot. Initial investment is the gun/scope/rings/rail/ammo/sling, binoculars/harness, boots, and clothing. That alone for good quality, not best quality, is about 3.5K. You can slowly add gear to tailor to your hunting style.
If you don't like hunting sell the gear or if you decide to upgrade sell the gear. It's easier to sell good quality gear vs. cheap gear. IMO.

Aaron Synder wrote a great article on the gear fairy. I would read it!

Now that I have my gear I rarely upgrade. When you buy high quality gear and the latest greatest comes out it usually isn't an upgrade even though it's new. In spite of what advertising is telling you. They just want your money. Keep that in mind.

I will spend on good boots! I will spend on good binoculars and spotting scope!

BUT most of my gear is very high quality, in general, there is no need to upgrade unless the gear is compromised.

I also go minimalist. No trailer or RV. 3 lb tent. Walk back in good country. Set up shop and start hunting. The less in my pack the better which saves weight and money.

 

[Bighorse]

Lets just start with where you choose to live and the costs associated with that. Live in an urban area and all of a sudden your living urban costs trying to access a rural/country lifestyle. I'd consider that an X-factor. If your living in a hunting location that's a cost.

Next is gear IMHO....

My opinion on gear is 5k easy. To get into remote zones where game reside you'll want high performance equipment. Add transport into the equation (Boat, ATV, Snow Machine, and Airplane) and you're super far beyond the perameters of this convo.

Just optics, a Swaro spotter alone with tripod and your over budget. I advocate for glass as it's a fundamental to evaluating terrain and targets.

My $.02, cheers

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I think we should have someone from Rokslide do an article where they have to do an elk hunt on a set budget starting from scratch.

Good thought.

OR just watch one of the youtube videos where they lay out all their gear on a table for a mule deer hunt or elk hunt or sheep hunt. Probably not too hard to price check gear and come up with a total.

SO has a lot of videos with this content.