Hunting for food...does it justify the cost?

[Arkantex]

Oh yeah, as many have mentioned above, I do not just hunt for food. There is just something about being out in nature that calms me. And it does a better job than any prescription could ever do. My family and I live on 10 acres. When I get stressed out, I put on my boots, walk out onto the pack part of our land, sit down, and look at the plants, animals, inects... etc, and pray. It doesn't get any more relaxing than that.

 

[Bettacreek]

We lived off of deer meat growing up. My dad paid 300 a year in hunting camp fees, then ~30 for his liscense. We didn't have to get a liscense until we turned 16. Between my dad, two brothers and myself, we would fill our freezers up. We processed our own meat so there wasn't any other fees on top of that. Usually that would last us until next deer season. So, for $330 my family of 5 had meat all year round and alot of fun getting it. I pay about double that for my family to hunt now a days. I don't care if it costs 10x that much for me to take my family hunting though. I will do it. Some of my fondest memories growing up are of dad teaching us to hunt, skin out and process deer, turkey, squirel, duck... etc...

I can't wait til the boys are old enough to start learning how to hunt. As a kid, I remember helping my dad butcher out the deer, cube it in the kitchen, then my mom would can it all up. For now, the boys are just learning how to track and forage, because they're only 3 and 4, so they have a long ways to go before they're out there hunting, lol.

 

[Arkantex]

Well you are ahead of me. I have a 22 month old son and another boy due any day now... I am definitely looking forward to it though.

 

[Mr.Andersson]

It don't cost me a dime, I don't miss!, anymore.

 

[Neiklot]

Here in Sweden are different prices for hunting ground very much. (I do not have access to private land to hunt on, so I'm in a hunting team)
If you DO NOT bother to hunt elk, I think it is financially OK. But then again, nothing tastes better than moose stew, with home grown vegetables ..
Counting thereto everything you gain, exercise, fresh air and good friendship so obvious: Hunting is fine financially - if you want!

 

[Blaundee]

Ok, I know most people probably hunt for the SPORT but...when it comes to the economics of it is it really worth it if you are trying to save money on the grocery bill?

I mean after you pay for amo (and how many shots you MISSED) and the butcher and all the times you spent all day and didnt get ANYTHING (your average hit/miss ratio ) then ad in SOMETHING for your time and compare the cost to store bought meat...

is it worth it?

It depends. We butcher our own, so the expenses are= gasoline, wear & tear on truck & tires, insurance on truck, a small fee for the tag & license, butcher paper, and freezer tape. Oh, and electricity for the meat grinder. Take into account that we'd already be paying at least as much if not FAR more in gas and vehicle maint. and the exact same insurance to go to town to buy store bought meat (2 hours to town vs elk and deer on our own ranch), and if we divided the tag fee/butcher paper/etc by the lbs of meat in the freezer, it is WAY CHEAPER to hunt for meat than buy it in the store. But if we were loking for convenience, it's a lot more work, though only one day's worth of work.

 

[Blaundee]

Here in Sweden are different prices for hunting ground very much. (I do not have access to private land to hunt on, so I'm in a hunting team)
If you DO NOT bother to hunt elk, I think it is financially OK. But then again, nothing tastes better than moose stew, with home grown vegetables ..
Counting thereto everything you gain, exercise, fresh air and good friendship so obvious: Hunting is fine financially - if you want!

Just a little trivia- what we call Elk in the USA is a different species what Europeans call Elk- it is more similar to Red Deer, and Red Deer and Elk can crossbreed (which is why it is illegal to farm Red Deer here). What Europeans call Elk, we American's call Moose.

 

[sillychicken]

I personally do not consider hunting a "sport".. I don't think there is anything sporting about it other than the way we treat other hunters. To me this is proper conservation management and necessary.
Second..... this is my favorite thing to do. I save a week of vacation just so I can hunt (and get paid while doing it, LOL!), and it is a shared family event. I still hunt every year with my dad and sister! Just like anything you enjoy, you don't
really think about the cost involved if you enjoy it.

Once the initial cost is invested. A good gun will last a life time if properly maintained. I've been shooting the same Remington 1100 20 ga since I was a young girl (hunting over 34 years with it)

Clothing options change as we get older. When I was young, jeans and a red plaid hunting coat and orange hat and snowmobile boots were enough to keep me warm. Over the years I've invested in a good suit and boots.. (good boots if you hunt in the colder climates is a MUST)! Tree stands, tents, I buy at end of season on sale. Never have to pay full price for stuff. Also craigslist and yardsales are great places to get good deals on stuff.

Time invested in hunting itself... depends. It's different every season, every day........every second. One year I filled a tag opening morning at daylight... the next year I didn't see or get a darn thing after hunting 2 months (week off, holiday weeks and all weekends in Nov/Dec). Some years I've gotten deer on the last day, just before dark. There is NO guarantee that you will or will not get, or see a deer.

There also should be no misses or wasted ammo. One shot is all it should take to bring down a deer. If someone is missing a lot or using multiple shots to kill a deer, then they need to spend some time PRE deer season, sighting in and honing shooting skills practice. The hunter should never take risky or questionable shots... if it's too far or a bad angle or theres' too much brush etc... they shouldn't take the shot. There is a lot of ethics and patience in hunting... Unfortunately many people choose not to use either. I'm not perfect cause I am guilty of it myself.

So, costs for me are generally, a couple boxes of shells, to check sites and for hunting, and the licenses (buck and doe are separate in MI)... I do send mine out for processing, but it's just a time factor for me. Plus they vacuum pack it for me. 65$

 

[chrissum]

pennies for a rabbit, or squirrel, dress it yourself. same way with fishing. you can freeze what you dont use right away.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I personally do not consider hunting a "sport".. I don't think there is anything sporting about it other than the way we treat other hunters. To me this is proper conservation management and necessary.
Second..... this is my favorite thing to do. I save a week of vacation just so I can hunt (and get paid while doing it, LOL!), and it is a shared family event. I still hunt every year with my dad and sister! Just like anything you enjoy, you don't
really think about the cost involved if you enjoy it.

Once the initial cost is invested. A good gun will last a life time if properly maintained. I've been shooting the same Remington 1100 20 ga since I was a young girl (hunting over 34 years with it)

Clothing options change as we get older. When I was young, jeans and a red plaid hunting coat and orange hat and snowmobile boots were enough to keep me warm. Over the years I've invested in a good suit and boots.. (good boots if you hunt in the colder climates is a MUST)! Tree stands, tents, I buy at end of season on sale. Never have to pay full price for stuff. Also craigslist and yardsales are great places to get good deals on stuff.

Time invested in hunting itself... depends. It's different every season, every day........every second. One year I filled a tag opening morning at daylight... the next year I didn't see or get a darn thing after hunting 2 months (week off, holiday weeks and all weekends in Nov/Dec). Some years I've gotten deer on the last day, just before dark. There is NO guarantee that you will or will not get, or see a deer.

There also should be no misses or wasted ammo. One shot is all it should take to bring down a deer. If someone is missing a lot or using multiple shots to kill a deer, then they need to spend some time PRE deer season, sighting in and honing shooting skills practice. The hunter should never take risky or questionable shots... if it's too far or a bad angle or theres' too much brush etc... they shouldn't take the shot. There is a lot of ethics and patience in hunting... Unfortunately many people choose not to use either. I'm not perfect cause I am guilty of it myself.

So, costs for me are generally, a couple boxes of shells, to check sites and for hunting, and the licenses (buck and doe are separate in MI)... I do send mine out for processing, but it's just a time factor for me. Plus they vacuum pack it for me. 65$

You realize you severely contradict yourself repeatedly in this post right? I'll show the biggest and most obvious example.

I personally do not consider hunting a "sport".. I don't think there is anything sporting about it other than the way we treat other hunters.

...and you later go on to say...

There is NO guarantee that you will or will not get, or see a deer.

...followed by...

There also should be no misses or wasted ammo. One shot is all it should take to bring down a deer. If someone is missing a lot or using multiple shots to kill a deer, then they need to spend some time PRE deer season, sighting in and honing shooting skills practice. The hunter should never take risky or questionable shots... if it's too far or a bad angle or theres' too much brush etc... they shouldn't take the shot. There is a lot of ethics and patience in hunting...