Assumming you had the guns you wanted, how would you prioritize things? Lease, blinds, feeders, cameras, camper, 4WD vehicle, etc..

Let me know what you would have done. And please consider that not all of us have much money to spend. Cause I sure as heck don't...

I'd have probably foregone lease hunting altogether when I first started deer hunting (or at least when it started getting really expensive) and saved/invested the money instead to go towards my own land purchase. Definitely would have been a sacrifice, but I could have still hunted some here and there in the interim.

Hard to say on the other things since I always built my own stands and feeders and really only spent money on good timers that would last. And as far as the truck, I've always had 4WD, but buy them right oftentimes used 2-4 years old and drive them for a long time, most of which with no payment. And the trucks, I would own anyway.

1) I'd try to buy land vs leasing.
2) Do you really need a blind?
3) Feeders - sure.
4) Cameras - sure.
5) Skip the camper and see #6.
6) Sleep in a tent or if you already have a truck sleep in the bed or inside.
7) Do you already have 4wd? If not, do you need it for anything other than hunting? If only for hunting do you actually need it? Could you get buy with a used ATV or side-by-side? Does getting an ATV or side-by-side make financial sense vs 4wd?

The way I see it many people are "keepin' up with the Jones"... oh you have a blind, well then I'll have one, maybe two. 4wd? Pfft - I've got a lift and cool light bar. Camper? Ha, with a 60" flat screen and satellite. I could go on but I think you get the point. Forget what others do and really think about your needs and your pocket book.

4x4 with a good truck you have a place to sleep, a blind, and you can haul your stuff to NM, CO, WY, MT...... and go hunting on public land. Save you money and then buy your own place here in TX.

MM agree with "keepin up with the Jones"!!

Lots of merit to what Mickey Moose said.

I see and hear a lot of people with $20,000 utv's that complain about not having a tractor. Tractor sure isn't as cool but is much more useful.

My goal would have been to start saving to buy land sooner.

1. Land first lease/buy
After that it is all up to what you want and the priorities you give them.
Myself:
2. Game cameras
3. Feeders
4. Some types of Popup/tripod/box stand
5. Pickup tent
6. Camper trailer

Then before you know it. Its ALIVE! It now continues to evolve and grow.
Ok, maybe not quite like that.
I started off with nothing and now I value a stand that at least keeps me out of the rain.

Exactly. Do what you need to do to take care of your family but do something that will allow you to buy land. Don't fall in love with the place, but take good care of it so that you can flip it into something better and bigger.

I started with a small place and flipped it and number of times over a dozen years into a section of land. During that period I even had to forego hunting as I depended on lease hunters to help meet my payment obligations. Of course, if you are married, your spouse needs to be on the same page you are, or this simply will not work.

I drive a 14-year-old truck so that I don't feel guilty (judging myself) when I need to buy an implement or possibly another tractor. In fact, I've made it a goal to drive the oldest truck in town one day, that way I've totally reconciled within myself that another truck purchase is not going to happen. With the prices a new truck demands, I see it as a total waste of money. I do have a UTV, a working machine, and it saves a lot of wear and tear on that truck. My truck only has 63,000 miles on it and when washed looks new. I'd buy a new UTV before I would buy a truck. Heck, a beater work car can pull a trailered UTV to get you to public hunting while you work through your financial life plan.

I have some version of almost everything listed on the OP, so I'm not trying to sound holier-than-thou, but here's something that hunters in the rest of the world do:

they walk.

I agree with Mickey Moose....

Cant tell you how many people I know that drive a $70K truck and pull a $20K+ UTV behind it, own $20K+ in guns; then talk about how they cant afford property.

One recently popped off to me "Well that's easy for you to say, you own your own property now!".... He looked like he had been slapped when I pointed out that I drive a 9 year old truck that's been paid off for years and that the payments on my farm is less than his truck and utv payment......

He really got mad when I pointed out the different in spending your money on assets vs. depreciating consumer goods....LOLOLOLOL

^ That's me. I have 4wd and could use it more than I do but I enjoy the walk and try to take care of my belongings. On my current lease it takes about the same time to walk from camp to my hunting spots as it does to drive... but the walk is enjoyable and the drive is a nuisance with the gates that need opened and closed and stupid cattle and annoying donkeys.

I've never had an ATV or side-by-side but used to hunt with a guy that did. He also had a RV. Again, I've never had one. But my cost to use his side-by-side and RV was a new 16' trailer when he needed one. He would have easily bought one himself but it was a nice contribution from me for his generosity. Prior to hunting with this guy and since I no longer do, I tent camp or sleep in the bed of my truck or inside my truck as suggested in my previous response.

One good gun....not the most expensive one, but a dependable one. Then save everything I could to buy land. Even take a part time job if that would make the payments. I've slept on the ground before, and set high up in a tree just sitting on a limb. Land would come before everything, then everything would come with the land a little at a time. So wish I had started doing this when I was 20. In 1977 I passed on 250 acres near Jacksboro with a 10 acre corp lake on it for $150 an acre because it was just too expensive. And I was driving a brand new 1977 Ford Bronco at the time. What I would not have given now to have been driving an old truck and using the difference to make the payments on that place.

#1 Put money in retirement (or in a mason jar if that makes you happy. Point here is "Pay Yourself first".)
#2 Pay your bills

After that see whats left...

#3 Put all that hunting & fishing stuff on a list with cost
#4 Divide the cost it in half
#5 Put half of it in savings

then

#6 Make do with the half you have left......

I never bought or used any of my paycheck for "things". My paycheck was for family, bills, or other priorities. I used part of my overtime pay for that fun stuff. Way too many people either don't budget or don't follow the budget they have set. I certainly agree that way too many people are in the "gotta keep up with the Joneses" train of thought. They don't realize that many of the Joneses are so far in debt they'll never see daylight again.

No ragerts

I would have done more out of state stuff when I was younger if I could go back, that's it.

If I'm gonna hunt, I'm gonna hunt right. I'm gonna have comfortable blinds, a decent place to stay, good equipment. Financially it wasn't all possible when I was younger but when I could afford it I bought better gear.

Hunting on investment land you own and buying land just to hunt are two separate things. Buying land for the sole purpose of hunting isn't a great idea, the math doesent add up, especially if you factor in interest if you borrowed money on it.

I do believe that people waste money on hunting stuff, but is it enough to get in the way of land ownership? I doubt it.

The generation before my parents in our family sold all the family land and pizzed away the money on stupid stuff. My brother and I hope to have land again some day to pass down to our children to enjoy. If we can enjoy it in the mean time all the better. In the long run land is a pretty sound investment, no matter what you intend to do with it.

I'm not talking about investment....land is a great investment. its a poor choice economically if your buying it just to hunt. Leasing is normally I lot better value. I can lease land for a fraction of the cost of what it costs to own.


Once you buy a place its not like its free at that point either, it costs money to own a place. Hell on my 4 acres I bought to build on the taxes are enough for a spot on a decent lease.

" In the long run land is a pretty sound investment, no matter what you intend to do with it."

Amend

Blinds are completely unnecessary, but they greatly add to your comfort and ability to do other things (read your phone, etc) while hunting. On my last place, I only had tripods or tree stands and they didn't hamper my hunting at all. Biggest buck I shot off it was sitting at the base of a tree about 100 yards away from a feeder over corn I hand-tossed. 2nd biggest buck I shot was in a tripod I bought for $100 at Academy in the offseason in the middle of a field of johnson grass during the rut.

Where I would say, "Just spend the money" is on good, quality feeders. They'll last 20 years compared to the junk ones you can get for $150 or less that will often times completely fail in a few years or less.

Agree with Mickey Moose for the most part. Only three absolute priorities I see:

1) Public land or Land purchase > lease.....but you have to have somewhere to hunt so that's priority number one
2) Some form of transportation to get you from your home to your hunting spot, carry all your stuff, carry game back home (4x4 is nice but not always necessary)
3) A good backpack (to haul gear and game)

A nice added luxury but not a necessity would be:

4) Feeder to greatly increase yours odds of being successful.

Nothing else is an absolute need. They are all wants and in my opinion won't significantly increase your odds of being successful. They may make it more comfortable or less work but do you really need them to hunt?

For example:

* game cameras - yes I love to look at the pics, but I grew up without them and was successful. I wouldn't buy them again however. Batteries get expensive.

* blinds - I have killed just as many animals sitting behind natural browse as I have sitting in a blind. Sure, the blind is more comfortable and keeps you out of the elements, but it's not a necessity

* atv/utv - own 2 of them, have never used them for hunting except in Colorado. If I owned my own land then sure, they or a UTV would get more use and would allow me to not abuse my truck but they are totally unnecessary IMO.

* camper - don't own one. I sleep in a tent or my truck
Just my .02

I reckon the only big thing I'd change would be to buy quality stuff the first time around. Started out hunting an inexpensive lease on a shoe-string budget, and tried to save money at first by by buying cheaper stuff. But, what I found out is, in the long run you will actually spend more replacing the cheap stuff vs buying good stuff the first time round. I've found this holds true in most of life, not just hunting.

So, If I had it to do over again I would have made more "cry once" decisions on things like feeders and blinds, and saved alot of work, expense, and negative surprises in the process!

I much prefer to lease as i can gain access to significantly more land tban i could ever purchase

I really enjoy hunting out of a tripod.


something about it makes it more "real" than hunting in a blind or popup.

Little elbow grease and a few hours after work for a few days and you can build blinds and feeders as good as expensive ones for what the cheap ones cost or less. I have built a few blinds and feeders as we have expanded stuff, but also have a few home made feeders that my grandfather (who died in the early 1990's built) that we still use.

I would have started archery hunting out West sooner.

I'm happy with my 4x6 box blinds but I don't think its feasible for a guy to build Atascosa or Ranch king quality blinds unless he owns a welding and sheet metal shop.


No way can I build a feeder that is as good as All Seasons are. Serviceable yes, but not near as quality.