I was reading an article from my old hometown paper which says that deer hunting is unexpectedly up this year. I know some people who work seasonal jobs like construction will hunt to keep their families in meat through the winter. The general economy in MI is in the toilet, so I wondered if maybe hunting was up because it’s cheaper than meat from the grocery store. But Lord knows guns aren’t free, neither are bullets and certainly not a decent hunting bow; so tell me, hunters, have you spent more on the hunt than you ‘gained’ from the animal? Do you feel cheated if you don’t get anything at all?
(Unless you’re like my dad, who could always just fill his coat pockets with squirrels if he didn’t get anything bigger. Blech and double-blech.)
The gun, for the most part, is a one time purchase and a box of 20 shells (after the rifle is sighted in) is more than enough for a full hunting season. There is a initial investment that needs to be made, but if we took a comparable amount of beef to what can be harvested with that initial investment the cost is negligible.
On a cost per pound basis, what I’ve invested for what I’ve harvested would exceed even the most ridiculously inflated prices at the most posh restaurants in the world. Obviously then, there’s a great deal of “value” derivable from the experience itself. The travel, enjoyment of the outdoors, maintaining extremely fine pieces of engineering, nurturing friendships with friends and relatives, enjoyment of planning and fruition of good game management practices, etc.
Let me add to that by saying “it depends” because situations can vary so wildly. When, as Cluricaun notes, you’ve already got your gun and permission on land, it can be amazingly cheap; usually just the price of a license, ammo and the gas to get there.
Or, you might have to purchase a gun for the type of hunting you desire, travel an appreciable distance to get there, pay an out of state license, maybe a guide fee, lodging, have gone in on a lease which can run many thousands of $$$, etc, etc, etc.
But, regardless of which you practice, for many of us it comes down to so much more than a cost per pound decision. For the second part of your question, with so many more intangibles to enjoy, I’d guess the sense of feeling “cheated” might be lessened or not even realized at all.
So it sounds like Cluricaun is a much better shot than lieu. 
Thank you, that made me laugh out loud!
Have any of you hunted solely because it was cheaper?
Heh. shakes empty shell casing at muldoonthief Nine deer and antelope with nine bullets. Cluricaun apparently is lining up two in one shot! 
Well to be fair to Lieu, non-sustanance hunting can become insanely expensive. An old landlord of mine had finished the Grand Slam of North American sheep, and IIRC, it had cost him into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I’ve never hunted soley because it’s cheaper, but I’ve also never gone red meat shopping while there is venison in the freezer either.
The harvest rates for deer in California are horrible, so no, hunting is not a cost-effective way for me to put meat in my freezer.
It is my main hobby though, and as such, I’m willing to spend quite a lot of time and resources on it.
I think a hobby is never cost efficent.
Depends what you want to eat.
For stuff that farmers consider pests, it can be next to nothing, and you don’t necessarily need expensive firearms. In my part of the world, if I want to eat rabbit (a meat I actually like), any number of farmers would lend me a ferret and some nets. For kangaroo, I’d need a gun, but there’s a lot of meat on one of those critters.
Virginia requires a general statewide license ($18) and a specifc game license ($18 for a combo bear, deer, and turkey). Adding incidental travel and lodging expenses usually pushes me over $120 total, easily.
I usually take one deer, and from that deer about 20 lbs of venison, donating the rest to this group.
It’s not financially profitable, no.
A buddy of mine is the regional head of Ducks Unlimited. He hunts or fishes just about every single weekend. No joking there.
On the one hand, I don’t think he ever buys any meat. On the other hand he drives about 30,000 miles a year to go hunting. Him and his wife are really something.
He also has two boats and trailers to maintain for fishing. I can’t imagine that he saves any money doing this. But he and his wife certainly enjoy it, and they don’t waste what they take.
I could see that if you lived in the right area, and took a deer or two would save you money. It is also pretty easy to see how it could get wildly expensive.
Bird hunter here. Hunting can be cheap and expensive. When I quail, pheasant or dove hunt it is realtively cheap, as I have places to go without a lot of extra cost outside of shells, license and gas to get there. Duck hunting on the other hand is insanely expensive the way we do it. Duck blinds need to be built in remote areas, special migratory stamps must be bought, you need a boat to get back and forth, decoys, contributions to Ducks Unlimited, etc.
Bricker, that is a great idea! When he lived in Michigan, whatever Ted Nugent got I think he donated to the big Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit. When you’re out there hunting, do you think of getting more animals than you personally need/could use in hopes of donating more?
One og my HS teachers said that the cost of hunting deer was like $8/pound.
I have no idea where he got the figure from and this was the 1980s.
Nowadays deer are a lot more plentiful (at least it seems that way), I’m guessing it is cheaper, esp in CWD areas where WI is practically begging people to kill deer.
Brian
What’s a CWD area? Am I going to regret asking?
As for begging people to kill deer, I relate a story; a few years back there were too many deer in one of the local Metroparks, where hunting is usually verboten regardless of season. Metroparks are just that, a big park in a somewhat urban area, so shooting is too dangerous. The park wound up giving a small number of bow licences to lower the deer population. This was in Macomb County, Michigan, and if IRC, the deer were starving to death.
CWD= Chronic Wasting Disease ( I think) (not a hunter)
There are very few people in the United States who hunt in order to put meat on the table. That is, there are very few in the United States who must hunt if they want to put meat on the table. I haven’t done a cost analysis but I imagine it might take a few years to break even. A rifle can be expensive, depending on what game you’re hunting, but it can last for decades if you take care of it. Clothing can last for many seasons.
What really eats of the budget for many is accessible land for hunting. If I wanted to go duck hunting I’d have to pay out the nose to lease some land. I don’t think most people break even. I might, but that’s just because I inherited my rifles.
Marc
This year was probably the only year I have ever come out ahead.
Usually I end up having to buy some new socks or a new hat or something, this year I just drove to my great-uncle’s farm and shot two deer without having had to buy anything extra.
I butcher my own animals so I don’t have to pay anyone for that, so my total expenses were $22 for a license, $18 for gas and I guess about a dollar for two rifle cartridges. I ended up with roughly 70-80lbs of venison, so not too bad.