# How do you afford it?



## dixon (Aug 17, 2011)

I am glad some of you folks can afford to go off on all the wonderful hunts.Ill. Kansas Utah Ohio Deer Moose Elk etc. but just tell me how do you do it.Doesn't seem like I ever have any extra cash trin to raise a family or does it not cost as much as I think?


----------



## creekrocket (Aug 17, 2011)

Save Save Save......Public, do-it-yourself, hunts can be inexpensive. You have to hit the books and find out everything there is to know about the laws, the game, the terrain, etc.....Public land hunts can be possible if you budget your every day expenses correctly, while throwing in the 'Hunt of a Lifetime' in there with them....


----------



## nkbigdog (Aug 17, 2011)

Years ago I did the envelope trick...Every day I would take my change and 1 dollar bills and put them in a coffee can change and envelope for bills...You would be shocked how much you can put away in one year..Good luck


----------



## ben300win (Aug 17, 2011)

I am a member of the DIY public land  hunting club. The only thing I do not scrimp on is a place to stay. We rent a house for 125.00 a night and split it 4-6 ways. I am a better hunter when I get a good nights sleep and a shower. Our yearly hunts are about 1500 to 1800.00 for everything. I use my Christmas bonus from work to pay for mine.


----------



## Havana Dude (Aug 17, 2011)

dixon said:


> I am glad some of you folks can afford to go off on all the wonderful hunts.Ill. Kansas Utah Ohio Deer Moose Elk etc. but just tell me how do you do it.Doesn't seem like I ever have any extra cash trin to raise a family or does it not cost as much as I think?



I'm in the same boat as you. I actually have the money though to do a trip, but one kid in private school, another in college, debt, etc., it just aint happening. Priorities. And to be honest, I really don't have a desire to go out west. I would rather spend the money on a top notch lease, stay local. I enjoy time in the woods, more than the pursuit of huge critters. Thats just me, and I am not knocking anyone who does it. It's just not for me.


----------



## RealIsPatt (Aug 17, 2011)

Luck out and have family in Colorado.  It nice to have private land to hunt in Unit 20.  If it wasnt for that I would not be able to chase elk.


----------



## georgia_home (Aug 17, 2011)

I have had to stop.

I used to take 2 trips a year, nothing exotic, a mid-Atlantic state. 730 miles each way, or airfare+car, license ($150), food, extras, time wife has to take care of son alone. I will eventually start again but it will be less then twice a year. I REALLY MISS THIS DEER CAMP!

Do the change thing, and maybe $50/paycheck, in a few years you may be able to swing something. Lots of ways to save, just need to put your mind to it, it ain't easy. Also, try to work with friends to help spread costs, if possible.

Good luck to ya! Hope you find a way to get it done!


----------



## Mark K (Aug 17, 2011)

Tax money, extra paycheck money, extra change throughout the year. If you want to do it bad enough you'll find the funds. We travel for turkeys. We (my son and I) went to Kansas for 9 days last year all for $1100. The year before I went with a buddy and did it for less than $500. Gas is the biggest expense. Take your own food and sleep cheap!!


----------



## Sargent (Aug 17, 2011)

You can find money if you want to.

I have a friend who always complained about being broke.  He made a decent income and his mortgage/car payment combined was only $900 or so.  After all his expenses, he still had plenty of money left over.

So, I started quizzing him.

He dipped Copenhagen like a madman-  I am guessing at least $25/week (1300/year).
He ate fast food every day- 2 times per day @ $5 each (3650/year).
He spent about $100/month on beer.

I told him to cut everything in half.  He did it and saved a little over $3k in a year. 

Track your expenses.  See what non-essential stuff you're spending money on.  Cut it.  Save the difference.

It is addictive.... but only if you establish a base line and constantly measure your new found money from there.  You will start challenging yourself to save more next month than you did this month. 

At the end of the year, spend a portion (not all) of your savings.


----------



## Michael (Aug 17, 2011)

Every penny of my tip money goes into a special savings account that I only use for "fun".


----------



## FX Jenkins (Aug 17, 2011)

I start planning for Sept in January.   

A DIY Elk trip to Colorado will only set you back about a 1k...thats an either sex tag, gas, food, and a tent next to a babbling brook. Just reserve part of your tax return for it, or put 20 dollars a week in an envelope starting now and next year your set.


----------



## markland (Aug 17, 2011)

I save and plan all year for my trips, of course with my daughter in college that means closer or less trips, but still manage to do it and started out hunting public ground and only had travel expenses, always seemed to find a place to stay but plenty of camping options as well.  It can be done, you just have to plan, sacrifice and prepare for it.  Also no hunting club around here, just hunt small tracts so that saves some and I concentrate most of my deer hunting out of state.


----------



## holton27596 (Aug 17, 2011)

what they said. Plus i plan my trips 1-2 years in advance and I use an outfitter who is very reasonably priced and lets me make a down payment and 3-4 payments over a year or two interest free, no extra costs. A 2000 dollar quebec bear hunt is very affordable when paid this way.


----------



## markland (Aug 17, 2011)

I guess I could also add that it does take some sacrifices in your personal hunting as well, but you have to decide what is more important.  If you want to shoot a big buck then you need to go to where they live.  You can spend every weekend of your life hunting around the house and down at the hunt club and never have a chance at a true trophy sized deer much less see 1, but 1 trip to the right place and you can see several in a normal hunt's time and have a legitimate opportunity to kill something worthy of trophy status.  Not to say they don't exist here, but really they are few and far between unless you have the right property or extreme luck and that usually requires alot of expense.  So if I want to hunt, see and hopefully shoot a big buck, then I will sacrifice some local hunts and hunting time, save that money I would have spent and go on a bigger hunt somewhere where the opportunity truly exists to have a much better chance of filling my goals.
It's all a personal thing, for me as long as I can shoot a few does and see and have an opportunity at a big buck then I am happy, I have killed many deer over the years and do not have to go and shoot something everytime I am out just to have a good experience, for me the experience IS the hunt and to bag something is just a bonus.


----------



## Killdee (Aug 17, 2011)

I keep a hunt fund that I tuck away any extra $ I can to pay for my lease and or anything outdoor related. I also do any side work I can. I did manage a nice DYI trip to bowhunt Illinois couple years ago, but I'm self employed so I work when we have work and cant really afford to go every year. I may try a trip next year since some acquaintances have found a nice lease in Kansas.


----------



## ben300win (Aug 17, 2011)

Seeing alot of GA leases are over 500.00 per person and up. Have seen some that are more than what I pay for Colorado Elk. You could kill 4 deer here to equal the meat you would get off 1 elk. Granted the tag is 550.00 and the state average is only about 25% per kill. Meaning 1 in 4 kills an elk. I have been 6 times and killed 4 elk. Not monsters, but decent bulls. The 25% is across the board with bow, ML and rifle and cows and bulls and public and private land. So if you figure a DIY on public land you are looking at about a 10% chance you will kill an elk. Luckily I go 1st season where you can kill a bull or a cow. The first day I saw about 150 head of elk and shot a decent 5x5 last year about 100 yards from where I killed a 3x4 the year before. It is all about getting off the beaten path and away from the roads. My honey hole is 2.2 miles straight line from the truck at almost 10000 ft. Heck of a pack out. We paid an outfitter 200.00 to drive our 2 elk out on opening day. Money well spent. If you were unsucessful I would say you could do the hunt for less than 1500.00 and cheaper if you camped and brought your own food. Maybe close to 1000.00.


----------



## mattech (Aug 17, 2011)

Priorities. You ever ride through da hood in section 8 housing and see all the escalades with chromed out rims.


----------



## jigman29 (Aug 17, 2011)

I started getting my wife to cook breakfast and started bringing my lunch every day to work instead of eating out.This saved me over 50 bucks a week,so I put this back and then I started keeping a cooler in the back of the truck with snacks and drinks for the kids so no more stopping and getting this while riding around fishing and stuff.If you really analize what you spend you can save enough to go off hunting and fishing a few times a year.I go to Ohio on a do it yourself hunt for way less than 1k for the room license and all,very affordable compared to a lot of guided hunts.


----------



## Throwback (Aug 17, 2011)

I got enough money to burn up a wet dog.


T


----------



## donald-f (Aug 17, 2011)

1 trip out west (hunt 3 days) = $2000.00 + club dues to hunt closer to home.
Join 2 clubs @ $1000.00 (local - hunt all season) = $2000.00
I think I would stay home and enjoy hunting closer to the house.


----------



## THWACKG5 (Aug 18, 2011)

*Yep*



mattech said:


> Priorities. You ever ride through da hood in section 8 housing and see all the escalades with chromed out rims.



Priorities is it. And of course a good carrier helps out as well.

That's sort of like asking how do so many people afford expensive cars...you just see them driving around in them, you don't know how ridiculously far in debt they are to have it.. Or how they can barely make the payment on it. Esc.

Same with big expensive hunting trips, you can't assume everyone who goes on them can afford it. How many people do ya think slap up a 3-5 k hunting trip on a credit card that can't really afford it..

Personally for me, I'm going to Montana for a 6 day guided wild elk, muley, bear hunt from the end of oct, to the beginning of nov. To pay for it I have a separate account and have x amount of dollars go to it automatically from my paycheck that I don't even see months ahead of time. When it comes time to pay, I have the money and its a great feeling to pay for it, instead of go on credit. 

I've always hunted somewhat locally, but had this opportunity come up for an out west big time hunt so I saved and took it.


----------



## THWACKG5 (Aug 18, 2011)

markland said:


> i guess i could also add that it does take some sacrifices in your personal hunting as well, but you have to decide what is more important.  If you want to shoot a big buck then you need to go to where they live.  You can spend every weekend of your life hunting around the house and down at the hunt club and never have a chance at a true trophy sized deer much less see 1, but 1 trip to the right place and you can see several in a normal hunt's time and have a legitimate opportunity to kill something worthy of trophy status.  Not to say they don't exist here, but really they are few and far between unless you have the right property or extreme luck and that usually requires alot of expense.  So if i want to hunt, see and hopefully shoot a big buck, then i will sacrifice some local hunts and hunting time, save that money i would have spent and go on a bigger hunt somewhere where the opportunity truly exists to have a much better chance of filling my goals.
> It's all a personal thing, for me as long as i can shoot a few does and see and have an opportunity at a big buck then i am happy, i have killed many deer over the years and do not have to go and shoot something everytime i am out just to have a good experience, for me the experience is the hunt and to bag something is just a bonus.




x2.

X2


----------



## Darkhorse (Aug 18, 2011)

My wife would take meticulous notes concerning everything; Driving times, distances, expensives etc. Especially expenses. So the actual costs for my last 2 hunts out west run right around $1500. NOT COUNTING ANY OUTFITTER COSTS!   This is gas, motels both ways, food, camp tips, souveniers and your hunting license.
These last 2 trips were a New Mexico elk hunt in 96 and a Colorado elk hunt in 98. I would budget higher in todays economy if going now.
Going with 1 or more other hunters can lower the costs somewhat.
I will retire in September and I'm going back hopefully in 2012. It will be public land DIY to a spot I discovered some years back for elk.
Depending on my health I might be looking for a couple of hunters to go with me.  More on this later.....
Bottom line is; Now's the time to start saving.
BTW I really like the idea of a separate account with direct deposit.


----------



## rjcruiser (Aug 18, 2011)

This fall will be my first time hunting out of state.  Going to Kansas.  Cost is just over $400 for the tag along with Fall Turkey.

Got family land to hunt...crashing my granparent's basement.  Got two buddies going with me and since I got the land and accomodations figured out, they're covering the gas and drive out there.

Probably add another $100 in food and gifts to my family for putting up with us out there.....


We'll see how it goes.  I don't do it every year, and might be a couple more before I do it again.


----------



## swamp hunter (Aug 21, 2011)

I love My N. Fla. Lease. Got a Cabin and 93 Thousand Acres to hunt out the Back Door .
You Fellas that Live and Hunt the Local Woods ALL need to take a Big Game Mountain Hunt some Day .
You,ll be Amazed .. Freakin Amazed . Save and DIY . You,ll Thank Me later.


----------



## CAL (Aug 21, 2011)

Throwback said:


> I got enough money to burn up a wet dog.
> 
> 
> T



Yep,me too! I just don't want to smell the smoke.
In reality it is unreal what people throw away every day.
Put a little book in your pocket and write down everything you spend money for.At the end of the week,look at what you did.Probably much there you could do without,just saying.


----------



## Win1917 (Aug 31, 2011)

> Doesn't seem like I ever have any extra cash trin to raise a family or does it not cost as much as I think?



Lots of good advice so far. I'm 35 and have a young family with another member on the way and the budget is pretty tight too. I hunt with a lot of guys though who are in their 50's and 60's and the thing I have to remind myself sometimes is that they're in a completely different stage in life. They're close to retirement and in their peak earning years, kids are mostly out of the house. They have disposable income now but when they were 30 and raising a family they weren't traveling all over and spending money on the same things they do now. With so many baby boomers out there in a similar position, for younger people it can kinda skew our perception of things a little bit.

The other thing I'd say that has already been mentioned is that we have no idea what other peoples financial situation is looking from the outside. All we can do is our do our best to manage our own. A lot of very wealthy people are also very frugal and vice versa. The statistics are something like 80% of millionares drive a car that costs less than 25K and live in a very modest house but the only ones we notice are the 20% with a flashy car and a big house.


----------



## ben300win (Aug 31, 2011)

Read a great article in BUGLE Magazine (put out by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation) by Randy Newberg from On Your Own Adventures this week. He outlines how you can do an elk hunt for less than 1000.00 as long as you have a couple buddies to go with you to share the gas and are very frugal with your spending. He is a CPA by trade and has calculated it down to the cent. You cant stay in a hotel every night and eat steak dinners, but you can have a blast with some of your buddies on the down low. Good luck this season folks.


----------



## markland (Aug 31, 2011)

Yeah it's possible but I would put a minimum at about $1500 with having to buy the license which is at least $500-600 of that, the rest will go for gas, food, etc. as long as you have enough people going to split the cost, it is not bad, but 4 in a 4 door vehicle should work out well, just tow a trailer and setup a cot in the back and take turns swapping out drivers along the way and it can be done.


----------



## ben300win (Aug 31, 2011)

Randy Newberg did not count food as you would be eating here. He also said to make food at home ahead of time and freeze it to heat up at camp. I am more of a hotel, house kinda guy and would rather fly and take less time.


----------



## O-Country (Aug 31, 2011)

Save all year long, work all the extra time I can,swap out chores with friends (to take care ofwhile Im gone),plan trips with family and friends you can count on,keep supplies to a minimum( just what you need),make it a goal,and the one of the  biggest extra funds boost I done was take my wife up on the offer of if I will quit dipping she would give me the amount I would have spent to put towards my hunt each year.
P.S. I miss my dip but I love my DIY elk hunt.


----------



## j_seph (Aug 31, 2011)

Win1917 said:


> Lots of good advice so far. I'm 35 and have a young family with another member on the way and the budget is pretty tight too. I hunt with a lot of guys though who are in their 50's and 60's and the thing I have to remind myself sometimes is that they're in a completely different stage in life. They're close to retirement and in their peak earning years, kids are mostly out of the house. They have disposable income now but when they were 30 and raising a family they weren't traveling all over and spending money on the same things they do now. With so many baby boomers out there in a similar position, for younger people it can kinda skew our perception of things a little bit.
> 
> The other thing I'd say that has already been mentioned is that we have no idea what other peoples financial situation is looking from the outside. All we can do is our do our best to manage our own. A lot of very wealthy people are also very frugal and vice versa. The statistics are something like 80% of millionares drive a car that costs less than 25K and live in a very modest house but the only ones we notice are the 20% with a flashy car and a big house.


 I can undertand ^^
Also look at it another way, the older you get the more likely of health issues and not being able to do it physically. I have been to Kansas once and Ohio twice. I watched my dad go through the years you mention above only to end up not being able to hunt period and barely get around. Do it as soon as you can is my suggestion, I may never go again but I can say at the retirement age that I have been.


----------



## Win1917 (Sep 1, 2011)

I agree 100%. In all things balance. Now rereading my post it sounds like I'm advocating sitting at home until retirement but that's not quite what I meant to say. I was thinking more along the lines of just recognizing that everyone's budgets are different. Once we recognize that I think it makes it a lot easier to cut back on spending. That in turn frees up money to do the things you want.   

We've become such a spending culture in the last 20 years give or take that when you think about it, people my age have spent their entire adult life in an environment of frivolous spending. New trucks, cell phones, cable tv, etc. Heck the average person spends enough money in a year on those 3 items right there to practically go on an African safari .


----------



## CAL (Sep 1, 2011)

You know Win.you make a lots of sense.I would challenge you to sit down with pencil and paper and list what you spend in one column and in another what you could do without.Now,you will be getting somewhere.That is if you wish too,some people don't want to have anything but today.Let tomorrow worry about itself when it gets here.Don't misunderstand that statement,not saying what you do at all just saying.


----------



## CAL (Sep 1, 2011)

JUst one story about saving.Years ago when I was going to cardiac rehab.There was a lady there I got to know and talked with most every day .She was retired from civil service.She told me one day that she was raised by her Grandmother.When she was very young and started to work her Grandmother told her she didn't have to bring any money to the house but she required her to put 1/2 of her paycheck in the bank in a savings account.The other she could use however she please but if she continued to live with her this was a requirement.She told me she did what her Grandmother told her to do,it was the order of the day and not a suggestion but a requirement.After she once got in the habit of doing this it was not a problem and she had continued this all her life and still did this.She was in her 70's then.Can you imagine how much money she had accumulated.She never told me how much but did say she could afford anything she wanted!


----------



## Win1917 (Sep 1, 2011)

I agree Cal. There's no better way to see where your money is going than writing it all down. I've never been in any kind of debt per se but I lived paycheck to paycheck for far too long. Years of working with virtually nothing to show for it. Now I own my own business so money in and out is all recorded and it's a real and eye opener that's for sure. My old sales manager used to always say "cost is king". It takes an extra 2 dollars of revenue to offset an extra dollar in cost.

A couple things that have helped me to cut spending is to always look at monthly expenditures on an annual basis. So if the cable bill is $80/month, don't look at it as $80/m, look at it as $960/yr. The second part is that $960 is paid after taxes. So because I have to pay uncle sam 30% (just to make round numbers) in income tax before I get that $960, the true cost of that cable is $1250/yr. Anything I buy I automatically add 40% to the cost (8% sales tax +30% income tax) and then decide whether I want to buy it at that price as opposed to making a decision based on the sticker price. When a friend of mine showed me that, that really changed my spending habits.


----------



## Uncle Nicky (Sep 2, 2011)

I work a second job, mostly to fund a hunting & fishing habit.

It can be done....pack a lunch instead of going out each day, search hard for deals or DYI trips, travel with a couple friends to cut gas/motel costs, don't take everything you kill to the taxidermist, learn how to butcher your own meat & figure out how to cook it, borrow guns or gear if you can't afford them, try to find folks on the net away from home that you can trade hunts with, the list goes on.....


----------



## Curtis-UGA (Sep 2, 2011)

I do a good bit of out of state trips. I never pay for a place to hunt. I am blessed to have friends who have very good access to land. We try to nurture these relationships. For instance we sealed the roof on a friends camper in ky while we turkey hunted a few days. I also rarely hunt the real sought after game. A lot of people could care less about a turkey, pheasant or a duck but don't even ask about deer. I enjoy all kinds of hunting and just seeing new places. We also swap hunts here. Usually just pay gas, tags and grub. Most trips under 600.00 dollars. I am also a 30 something with young children.


----------



## capt stan (Sep 2, 2011)

I got back in touch with an old Army buddy. He dropped my name to a friend of his. I was invited to duck hunt. When I travelled up to  NE Missouri, I had a cooler full of wild hog sausage/ steaks and saltwater fish, plus a big batch of homemade BBQ sauce. Everone got some!!!  Well first day in the duck blind when them boys cooked up the hog sausage.... I was a hit!  Got the open invite back to go snow goose hunting in the spring.

I went, saw the set up..said..HUMMM I can make those. So this past week I just sent the last batch. 300 silsock snow goose deks. Only cost me some sewing thread and some spare time. And I just added 1/3 more  to his spread.  YEP I'm locked in now!!!  300 sil socks will run ya about $1200 bucks easy to buy um.

I go to Missouri for 7 to 10 days of ducks in the fall and again for snows in the spring for about 700 bucks a trip and I bring along one other person. Biggest expense is the fuel. One of us get it going, one gets it comming home. Too easy. My Army bud puts us up, I slip his wife 150 bucks for food and take them all out to dinner once each trip.  Thats how I go about it. One hand washes the other. Hopefully those Missouri boys will be down this year for some saltwater fishing and maybe a turkey/ hog hunt.When they do I'll put them up at the house and take care of um.

Swap out what ya got........  that they may want...... Met some great folks and we have become good friends... that's the way to do it in my book!


----------



## gordylew (Sep 2, 2011)

One aspect of the cost of a hunt that is not being addressed is the cost on ones marriage, time away from the kids and family functions.  If your planning a out of state hunt you need to plan a trip for the family as well.  I know too many guys that have spent a fortune on hunting trips that end up with a divorce as well. 

With that said, There is a lot of good advise on here.   An out of state hunt can cost as little as a few hundred dollars for something like a Texas pig or Javalina hunt to 20K or more for a guided New Mexico elk hunt.  The problem with watching too many hunting shows is most of them are way out of normal peoples price range.  If I could save $25K to go hunt Moose with Mr. So and So and his Yukon adventures, could I justify spending the money on a hunt like that, when it could go into one of the childrens college funds.
My best advise would be pick one hunt that would be your dream hunt. tell your family that this would be your
Christmas, fathers day, birthday and Etc. and save for how ever long it takes.


----------



## GASeminole (Sep 2, 2011)

Hers's an idea:

Buy/finance your own land, build a cabin and bring the family with you. 

Your family is happy because it is somewhere different and you can all be together when you are not in the woods.

You are happy because you get to hunt whenever you want and do what you please on your own land.

Sounds like alot of money, but most people's car payments could pay a 30 yr note on 100 acres as long as they look in rural enough areas.


----------



## Wolf'n (Sep 3, 2011)

> Priorities. You ever ride through da hood in section 8 housing and see all the escalades with chromed out rims.



And getting your 8 kids (ages 10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17) to sell crack for you does help, but you do have to join the Democratic Party.


----------



## ben300win (Sep 3, 2011)

Wolf'n where did you get the picture of the albino rattler? That is sweet. Picture only, never want to see any snakes in the woods. LOL


----------



## SELFBOW (Sep 3, 2011)

j_seph said:


> I can undertand ^^
> Also look at it another way, the older you get the more likely of health issues and not being able to do it physically. I have been to Kansas once and Ohio twice. I watched my dad go through the years you mention above only to end up not being able to hunt period and barely get around. Do it as soon as you can is my suggestion, I may never go again but I can say at the retirement age that I have been.





gordylew said:


> One aspect of the cost of a hunt that is not being addressed is the cost on ones marriage, time away from the kids and family functions.  If your planning a out of state hunt you need to plan a trip for the family as well.  I know too many guys that have spent a fortune on hunting trips that end up with a divorce as well.
> 
> With that said, There is a lot of good advise on here.   An out of state hunt can cost as little as a few hundred dollars for something like a Texas pig or Javalina hunt to 20K or more for a guided New Mexico elk hunt.  The problem with watching too many hunting shows is most of them are way out of normal peoples price range.  If I could save $25K to go hunt Moose with Mr. So and So and his Yukon adventures, could I justify spending the money on a hunt like that, when it could go into one of the childrens college funds.
> My best advise would be pick one hunt that would be your dream hunt. tell your family that this would be your
> Christmas, fathers day, birthday and Etc. and save for how ever long it takes.



My wife works at the hospital and had a patient in his early 50s that had health issues since his 30s. He loves to hunt but never got to go anywhere in his life and now he needs help just to hunt local. We became friends and after a while My wife and I starting discussing out of state hunting as I had never been and I didnt want something to happen to me and never get to do any of it. After a short discussion she agreed that should experience so in 05 I started at 35. Texas, South Dakota and Ohio(3 times) for deer and Maine for bear so far. I feel like I know when I can go or need to stay home(money,etc) and always search for deals which are gettin harder to find seems like.

Long story short if something prevents me from ever going again I am satisfied with what I was able to do.


----------



## hoghunter007 (Sep 3, 2011)

*got to want it bad enough*

dont forget to use credit card companys. everything my family buys we use a credit card that gives you points. i have bought cars with them and then went to the bank and got my loan to pay off the credit card company. there is a group of 5 of us that go on a hunt every couple of years. this year i got the airline tickets rental car and all hotel rooms for all 5 of us using credit card miles. i then sold all of that to my buddies for about 70 percent of what it would have cost them. they were happy for the discount and i was happy that they paid for my tag and outfitter fee. i go to wy in2 weeks for antelope, with an outfitter, and it isnt costing me anything!!!!!!


----------



## holton27596 (Sep 3, 2011)

which outfitter are you using? I go to wy in 3 weeks for antelope.


----------



## Wolf'n (Sep 4, 2011)

Ben, I found it on the internet some time ago, I don't remember exactly where.  He is a rare critter as are most.  Most folks think it is an albino, actually the gene is leucistic.  I have only seen in person one other snake with the double recessive leucistic gene and that was a ball python at Repticon in Lawrenceville.  If he were an albino he would have pink eyes and a light yellow or orange markings like a normal rattler; the absence of all markings and blue eyes are the traits of leucistic. If you couldn't tell, I love my snakes, I don't keep hots, but I have a few constrictors.


----------



## treemutt (Sep 5, 2011)

I go out every yr w/ my Dad & it only cost us about $1200 each.We hunt public land,drive out(split the gas) & stay in a cabin for $40 a night.You just gotta be frugal.I save up through the yr.just to be able to go.You gotta remember though it's the exp. not just harvesting a critter.The time spent w/ my Dad & seeing the rockies makes it worth while.


----------



## jerry russell (Sep 5, 2011)

If you have enough desire you can make it happen. So many people fall back on the "it will take to long to save for it" mentality. The truth is regardless of the time it takes you to save for your dream hunt you simply have to set a goal and make it happen. If it takes you 3 years, so be it. If you don't go for it you can bet that three years from now you will still be dreaming of it.

I have used a variety of methods but a seasonal part-time job is a good start. Just think of it this way- no matter what you are doing as a side job if the money is ear marked as hunt money only those checks will make a big difference very fast. Sell some crap on craigslist and cut back on things that you really don't need and you will be shocked how fast you can attain you dreams. You know just cutting down on some things you don't need will put a ton of money in your pocket and even extend your life- Cigs, dip, alcohol, fast food. You get the picture.
I love hunting Georgia but I hope that everyone gets a chance to see just how unbelievible the hunting can be out West, Alaska, Canada and even Africa. 
Remember every single day that you save in that 2-3 year period is counting DOWN towards a hunt you will never forget. Will today be the day that you set that goal towards your dream? I sure hope so because you can do it.


----------



## hav2hunt (Sep 8, 2011)

The Ranch I hunt in Texas lets me start paying  in January for my hunt in December.
I pay a little every month or two & before you know it it's payed for.


----------

