The price to hunt...Please provide your input

A

archeryelkaholic

Guest
I have been drawing tags (trying to) all over the west for 15+ years now. I have been lucky to draw a few good Elk and deer tags. Never a Sheep, Moose or Goat tag that I apply for.

I have been pretty much pounding every species in every states. As you know this comes at a cost. Most states like AZ charges you for a hunting license to get a preference point.

Well, bottom line is this total cost for all states is more than $1200 each year just to have the opportunity to get in this pool of tags and the draw odds are terrible. I see it getting worse and more expensive every year.

I can take this same money and go on a moose hunt in Canada in a couple of years.

I am a normal working man and this has reached a point that I am not sure I can continue to do this.

Anyone else in this situation? Any sussestion?

Archer
 
I've done the comparison myself and that's why I've never applied for Idaho. I figured that the tag I wanted, on average, would cost me over $3000. (over $100 per year to apply and near 30:1 odds) Everywhere else still seems worth applying for, for the moment.
 
ARCHER, I COULD NOT AGREE WITH YOU MORE. I TRY TO HUNT 2-3 TIMES A YEAR OUT OF STATE, AND I AM BUSY 24/7 TRYING TO PRODUCE QUAILTY HUNTS. BETWEEN DOING HOMEWORK,BUILDING SOME POINTS,TALKING TO PEOPLE, VOUCHERS, APPLICATIONS, ITS GETTING INTERESTING. I CANT PRODUCE ENOUGH DRUG TO SUPPORT MY HABIT, BUT I BUST MY BUTT TRYING. WHEN I STRIKE OUT I LOVE TO GO ON A FUN COW ELK HUNT, THERE A BLAST. IT EVEN GETS TOUGHER WHEN YOU TRY TO PLAN SHEEP, AND ELK HUNTS ONLY. LET ME KNOW HOW YOUR DALL SHEEP PLANS TURN OUT, I DO HEAR GOOD THINGS ABOUT LANCE KRONBERG BY THE WAY. I AM NOT WEALTHY, AND YES I TO AM IN THIS SITUATION ALSO. TAKE ER EASY.. YD.
 
You are spot on with your assessment. I am considering the same thing...booking a Canadian hunt or NZ every other or 3rd year and just quit wasting my time trying to draw tags that cost you so much to earn. A couple of friends of mine that play rugby with me live in South Africa and can set up a great hunt on the cheap. Compared to Having to "BUY" a quality tag that is a sure thing if you go through an outfitter. I think it is poor thinking to price it so high that so many can't afford it. It will only lower the number of hunters in the long run and weaken the "Voice" of the supporters that defend our hunting and gun priveleges. But that is another discussion and If I get on a roll, who knows where it will end.

Cheers
Roadtrip
 
It is pretty sad where our hunting heritage is going! I can't imagine what it is going to be like when our kids are grown up. In fact, I think it is our kids that are going to suffer from what is currently going on throughout the West. It would be quite simple if everyone just hunted their own backyard but the grass is always greener on the other side! Another problem is it is becoming tougher and tougher to draw quality tags on your side of the fence!
 
If you do the math it does not take long to spend tag money and any lease money you may have to pay and at least hunt Sheep and Moose one time in your life or maybe go to Africa. Never thought that much about Africa before I am starting.

Any suggestions there?

Archer
 
THERE ARE A FEW THINGS IN LIFE YOU NEVER DO!!!

THE # 1 THING YOU NEVER DO IS ADD UP WHAT YOU SPENT LAST YEAR HUNTING!!!

TAKES ALL THE FUN OUT OF IT IF YOU DO!!!

THE ONLY bobcat THINKING,I WON'T!!!,I WILL NOT!!!,I REFUSE!!!
 
I have often thought the same thing. Many gave away some of my ideas.

First cut out the states where you drop a license fee for 100:1 odds - and no points. If there are bonus points maybe keep them up. Maybe set an upper limit then figure out of to best spend the amount you set by draw odds.

Idaho for goat is it. 1:8 overall draw odds. Hate to say that here.

Buy LO tags in NM (elk), you can get LO tags in great units for $2k, and go every year!

Goat hunts in BC are not to pricey, in some of the best scenery anywhere IMO and you can take 2 goats with very high success rates, even for bow.

Africa is another great hunt for the price.

Often time now I take the draw odds and figure out how much it will cost me to draw a tag. For example it is 200:1 odds and costs $10 to try that is $2000. For that price I can buy a great LO tag. And, with a LO tag, you KNOW you are going, can plan it, and not wait for some draw and be surprised when you get a tag, and possible unprepared.

Believe me I am thinking the same thing you are.

Heck, you are lucky, I have never pulled a tag - ever! Not even elk! My wife teases me and says I have to sleep with someone at the DOW - otherwise it is a plot against me!

Good luck

DonV (poor and tagless)
 
As an older guy with who has recently had a renewed passion for big game hunting I know my opportunities are somewhat limited. I don't have a lot of money so I'm in the same boat as a lot of you fellas. I'm saving for 1-2 big hunts and hoping my health holds out.
 
It won't be to many years for me before I quite hunting all together..I love hunting as much as the next guy but it's getting to the point of being stupid..Hunting was always special to me as a young men BECAUSE you didn't have to be rich to hunt with the best of them. Money wasn't the deciding factor!!. It was all about dedication and effort. Not now!! Typically the best opportunities go the person with the most coin. It's a dieing sport fellas!!. It's gone the way of the $10.00 football ticket. I use to have season tickets years ago to the Seattle Seahawks BUT once again I was priced out of the ability to afford that simple pleasure...My kids have been to just a couple Seattle Mariners games simply because it's just to much money for a family of 5 to go to one of there games...Hunting will soon be only for the elite and that is to bad considering it was really discovered and enjoyed by people who hunted for substance not fame.............IMHO.
 
I agree with Kingfish. We have serious issues facing sport hunting. One thing that we all can agree on is that for hunting to continue we need to make sure the younger generation gets involved. How are the young going to be able to afford to hunt with the way things are heading?
 
I totaly agree that trying to draw tags out of your home state is not afordable for the average working man. I don't have the money to even consider putting in for all the hunts you all are talking about, but if I had the money I would do it in a heart beat.

As for hunting in my home state of Utah it is still very afordable even with the 2005 increases. In 2004 I hunted 3 deer hunts, 1 elk hunt and am in the middle of a cougar hunt now it the tags were less then $300.00. I also go along on friends and relatives hunts when I get the chance. The off season I shed antler hunt, scout and video at no charge. The bonus to this is I am doing it in areas that I know and love.

I hope that it never comes to the point that a hunter gets priced out of the sport and dosen't pass the heritage on to their sons & daughters. The anti-hunting groups are growing in numbers and the last thing wee need is a decrease in sportsman. Now I'm starting to rant and rave but I guess my point is don't give up and do what you can afford and ggood luck on what tags you do put in for.
 
If you don't live in the West I feel you are behind the 8 ball before you start.
 
I agree with you 100% on this one. I live in the east and have been hunting the west since 1997. Not being able to scout puts the average hunter so much at a disadvantage right off the bat. I have hunted areas 3 and 4 years just trying to figure them out, learn the animals movement patterns, etc. I have made many many calls to Colorado and Wyoming state G&F offices plus national forest offices looking for information and most give you the basic worthless info about the game being at the state's management goal level. I have only talked with one biologist in WY who gave me straightforward info that I could use and he honestly seemed to enjoy helping me. He retired 2 years ago and moved out of state.
 
I go to high school. I live in Utah County. I love to hunt. It is an obsession. I know of only about 5 guys in my school that are serious about hunting. It is hard to find a guy my age who loves to hunt. 3 of those 5 guys that I know love hunting are my friends. I know that when I have my own kids, I am going to pass on the traditions that were passed on to me. I hope that hunting won't become all about the $.


WIDOW_MAKER
 
Thank goodness there is a hell of alot of hunting you can do that doesnt require you drawing tags or having access to alot of private property (Grouse for example).

There are still some good deals out there for people who do their own research. I did 4 years straight Pronghorn hunting in WY with my wife. 100% chance to land a tag, and we were only charged $200 to be GUIDED on private property, we had one heck of alot of fun, shot alot of goats over those years (wife hunts too). Sadly me and my wife didnt draw last year but we are optimistic for the upcoming one.

As hunting becomes more and more competitive there are still good deals out there, but they are just getting more and more protected by those who are "in the know".


-DallanC
 
I don't think there are that many "in the know" quality places left. Maybe a few states for now and shoot any animal but that is about it.
 
It's all about supply and demand. That being said, the rich are really going to shoot themselves in the foot on this one. Without the support of the average hunter's vote, Hunting will be outlawed in this country. The rich will just move on and hunt Africa, Asia, ect.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-18-05 AT 11:02PM (MST)[p]i think this comes down more to where you're from than anything else. hunting for the average man is not dead at all, or dying, just hunting for the average out of stater. im just out of high school and spent over 70 days big game hunting this year for bear, elk, deer and antelope. im able to do this on my bowling alley burger flipping budget. its really hard for me to grasp that you cant hunt unless youre rich, simply that you dont get as many opportunities and cant buy yourself into a hunt.
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-19-05 AT 08:55PM (MST)[p]Like you said, you are just out of high school. How would you feel if you lived in Nevada? We have let our F&G manage our wildlife properly, and paid the price by only drawing tags every 2-3 years. It's OK with most of us because we care about the wildlife in our state. We also pay higher resident tag fees than any other state if I am not mistaken. With the new court ruling my state is now a free for all for some guy from Utah, where I have a chance in hell of drawing a tag because they are not in the 9th circus? How can NV and AZ residents have to face quotas in other ststes yet not have the same advantages in their own state? I guess we are paying the price for actually managing our state's wildlife properly!
Although I disagree with the idea. If nonres. quotas are lifted on two states they should be lifted on all Western states. It's all about $$$$$.
 
i guess it would be quite a bit different in a state like that. here in montana we really dont have a need to hunt out of state unless you are a serious trophy hunter, (because its no secret the next wr muley aint gonna be from montana). At an absolute minimum i get tags for 3 different big game species a year, all over the counter, so i can see the standpoint from a state like that.
 
I keep applying for my Honey-holes on elk and muleys where my draw odds are pretty respectable,but on the big $ hunts,like sheep and moose,I stick to buying raffle chances for a less-cost chance at drawing one of these hunts,and in the meantime the years I don't draw,I save that $ back and try to splurge on myself and take a guided hunt about every 4 to 5 years.



No Guts...No Story!
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-21-05 AT 09:30PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-21-05 AT 09:29 PM (MST)

Well I'm not going to give up just because it is expensive. I just wish there was a way for real sportsmen to avoid the "outfitter traps" and high dollar deals and still have a reasonable chance at affording and drawing a tag. I can't say enough that locals should do all they can do to keep their states from raising these prices to astronomical levels. Pretty soon you will only have rich idiots that know nothing of hunting, ethics and conservation affording these tags.

Sorry to get on my soap box, I'm sure most of you get enough preaching on Sundays.

Cheers
Roadtrip.
 
I agree its to expensive I started caring a gun when I was 13 and I worked all summer just to pay for my elk tag.. 60$ for a landowner tag and it probably doesn' t seem like a ton of money to some people but if everyone wants young people to hunt they gotta make it affordable. ( the money for tags is the reason a lot of my friends don't hunt) especially if there dads don't pay it for them

Just a thought ARCH
 
Even though I agree with all that has been said about expenses running wild when it comes to tags and hunting, I'd like to add something more.
We all should be thankful that we have the abiliity, wealth, health, knowledge, and opportunity to take part. I was noticing most posts complaining about something or another in regards to hunting, it's costs, etc. Remember, it could always be worse, be thankful for what you have.

Lien2
 
Cow elk is about $280 in Colorado and several units have very high draw probabilities. What about putting in for mule deer permits where there are lots of permits available?

If you are hunting to bag big racks, be advised this is a rich man's sport, plain and simple. If you don't got the scratch, get out of the game. I am in this category -- modest means. I, however, do not consider the success or the pleasure of my hunt to be a function of the size of rack I'm collecting. If I can't get the head mounted, why do I care how big it is or even if it is a male? I can't fit a big Elk head in my house, hence I have no reason to get an Elk head mounted by a taxidermist, hence I have no need to bag a bull Elk. For eating purposes -- the original purpose of hunting, the fundamental purpose of hunting, I would argue -- cow elk are better than bull elk.

Wherein does the pleasure of hunting reside? Many people talk about the beauty of the hunting environment -- high mountains, pretty streams, other wildlife spotted. Many people talk about the physical challenges of getting into position to have a shooting opportunity. How much of the pleasure of hunting can be enjoyed hunting a cow elk, doe, etc., versus a male of the species?

It is your money. If you choose to not hunt if you can't pursue trophy sized horns, that is your choice. Just know that pursuing big racks is for sure an expensive proposition.
 
Good reply and you are right. I have to admit I don't plan my year or my hunts this way but it would make my life easier and cheaper.

Archer
 
What about hunting without a tag???? I still go out during bow elk, rifle muley and rifle antelope whether I have a tag or not. I totally enjoy being out there helping on the hunts and seeing the animals even though I dont have a tag. This would not be my ideal situation but its better than not hunting at all. It cost me very little to go out and hunt without killing, and hope I draw the tag some day. Just a thought for those who dont draw to still get out and hunt weaponless..... Thanks, Allen Taylor......
 
Thought about doing that this year. Pick one of the top units and just backpack during the bow season if I don't draw anything.

Archer
 

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos
Back
Top Bottom