What’s the most you’ve spent ?

On a single hunt / trip ? I’m amazed at some of the prices I see advertised. I’m a cheapie I guess. I spend $3000 a year on a lease + another $1500 or so for other costs. I went on a guided whitetail hunt once and paid $2500 . That’s the most I’ve ever dropped but would definitely consider more for a moose or elk

Most I have spent in a year I guess was about 8k but for that hunted Elk, mule deer and pronghorn plus my lease in Texas and property in Mississippi for whitetails, turkey and hogs. Fun year for sure. Quite a few years it was around 6k and glad I did those before some health issues hit hard.

Spent about $9500 on an Africa trip 10 years back. $4500 for a Kudu, Wildebeest, Impala and Springbuck. $2000 flight. $1700 Taxi. $1300 shipping. Worth every penny.

I normally try and stick to a budget of $10k/year for hunts and leases. Not including feed.

Africa cost us over $20k before taxidermy, but as mentioned above, worth every cent.

A wise (and also wise-a$$) PH once told me to spend as much on your wife as you do your hunting and you'll always be able to hunt as much as you want and can afford.

Spent $12,000 on my elk hunt on the hill ranch in CO. Retirement present to myself.

Maybe $500 or so when I used to go hunting in Co. or N.M. That was before you had to draw.

We all know you can pay anything from nothing (not common obviously) to hundreds of thousands of dollars (also not the norm) a year on hunts. I am afraid this will turn into a “who swings bigger” contest, though I know that’s not your intended purpose.

As CR said, do your spouse due justice when it comes to evening out your expenses and life will be better( for every $10 on hunts she gets $1.00 😂). Be reasonable on what you can and can’t afford and then reasonable on what you are or are not willing to pay. Some things I can afford but don’t want to pay the price. Some things I simply can’t afford. At the end of the day.....THATS OKAY! I am entitled to nothing.

I have found if you put a little away each month and or sacrifice not paying for certain luxuries each month, you’ll be amazed at the nest egg of money you now have to do with what you wish. Hunts, invest, vacation.... you choose. It’s about what you want/need not what a forum or your buddies will think about it.

Yelp, Cut eating out once a week and it's 2k-2500 in savings

2001 Elk hunt in Gila, NM. New rifle, landowner tag, outfitter fee, license, travel expenses. About 10k, never pulled the trigger. I spent less hunting public land in Idaho for 2 consecutive seasons the prior 2 seasons, and harvested 1 elk. That’s just how elk hunting on public land goes. Now only quail hunting lease in S Texas, 4 bird dogs and year round maintenance I’m sure tops that. As long as there’s some birds for the dogs to point it’s all good.

Maybe a couple grand on Wyoming public land pronghorn hunt. Gas, groceries, tags, and a cabin.

Went on 3 guided elk hunts. 2 of the years I scored nice bulls one was 315, the other was a perfect 7X7 scoring 346. Travel, hunt, tips and taxidermy each year was $10K. Hunt it's self was $5K.
Glad I did it lots of great memories and experience.

Africa 2019: Sable, eland, nyala, zebra, springbuck, mnt. reedbuck, black wildebeest, waterbuck, fallow deer, lechwe, wounded a bushbuck (never found him). All in: flights, trophy fees, taxidermy (europeans and a rug) $20K. Headed back next April.

What country did you hunt in?

RSA

$5,000 on a glorified hiking trip.

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Your $4500 a year for a lease is what I use to justify $3000-$5000 for a single hunt. I get it, a whole lot of people have a deer lease to have a place in the country to go and be in the peace and quiet. I live on a place like that, and it keeps me plenty busy. I don't have time to also go work on a deer lease. To date, the most I've spent has been $3500 for a pronghorn hunt. I've got a bucket list, and that checked a box.

Wife & I went to Namibia in 2015 and took 7 animals, Kudu, Gemsbok, Hartebeest and several others. I kept close tabs on the trip and wound up a shade over 12K for everything start to finish. I have wanted to go back but just can't make myself do that LONG trip back home.

I did Africa a couple of years ago. I think, altogether, including a week in Capetown and shooting 4 animals, taxi, etc, it was about $10,000 for wife and I.

I’ve done it and can’t see me doing it again. But, don’t regret it.

Tags and hunt, my pronghorn were ~$2300 each plus travel and food, so over 2500 and I consider that cheap. I want to do a good elk hunt in the next two years (22 or 23) and expect to lay out $7-10k all told.

Been to Namibia, SA, and MX a few times. Loved every minute of it and don't even think of what it cost. I got completely out of debt 22 years ago so I could afford to do things like that.

2006 caribou hunt in Northern Quebec. $5,600 for the hunt and another $1,000 in travel/tips. Did my own taxidermy work. Shot 2 bulls with selfbow and wood arrows I built. They scored 358 and 354 P&Y

$17K but that was a safari in Cameroon

Lord Derby?

Nope. Lord Derby would cost twice that. I was looking for a really big Roan. Got him too. 34 inches on each side. Also took Western Hartebeest, Nigerian Bohor Reedbuck, Oribi and Harnessed Bushbuck. Passed on a really good Red Flanked Duiker I should have taken and some huge warthogs.

Bobby Hill? If so that ranch is something amazing. So is his place in Glenrose.

If anyone who thinks they are hot shizz because they drop some money on a guided stateside hunt, needs to spend a few days at the DSC convention. Guys there dropping $50-$100k to hunt the big 5 in Africa, or hunt a Altai Argali or a Markor. Even a Bighorn hunt here is gonna coast you $40-$50k.

Will humble you real quick.

The DSC crowd is what I call the white folks downtown. I did Africa once and won’t do it again. Not over priced, just more than I’m comfortable spending.

Done a lot of out of state elk, antelope and mule deer hunting but won’t do it again. Too old and can no longer tackle the mountains.

Yep.....as the old saying goes, "there more you make the more you spend", and then there are the "Jones'"

While not the most expensive hunt but rather the least expensive and one of my most memorable. One of the Annual THF Colorado Elk trips I went on a couple of years ago where I tagged out on a rag horn satellite bull and packed that sucker out by myself. OTC tag was around $650ish, round trip diesel, food and butcher I think I spent $1500-1800 when it was all said and done. Unless you own your own land to hunt on ( and even then) 99% of you are paying more than that to hunt whitetail in Texas. No reason not to get outdoors and hunt other states with the inexpensive opportunities that are available. Sure, you likely aren't going to harvest a Trophy caliber animal however that's not always the case. Further more, for me at least, the experience is worth the price of admission.

I’ll never understand those that will solely bank points and tell others the orange army OTC hunts aren’t worth it.

Hell I messed up on a tag application and probably drew the hardest archery sept mule deer hunt in NM, spent 10 hard days and only found three mature bucks, and only 4 bucks total. Still had a blast and basically know the unit extremely well so when I draw my elk tag I’ll be way ahead.

Had a last minute surgery last year and had to turn back in my CO archery elk tag, kept my rifle $100 bear tag and had a blast. Got on bears, called in a few elk and helped some guys kill a bull. Total trip probably cost me $500.

I’m no high roller but I sure don’t keep track of what I spend. Don’t want that info getting out.

if a person wants to take the time to learn some units, OTC can be a great way to go, especially with archery. I know a few units that are OTC that are absolutely fantastic and you can kill some great bulls/bucks but you are going to work for it....and the work starts after the animal is down.

My only complaint is that I've watched the OTC units I hunt get more and more crowded every year.....areas we used to see maybe 1-3 other hunters are full of them now. You can still be successful but it does take away an aspect of solitude when you are coming down the mountain and see 5 headlamps walking off a spot where 5 guys didn't walk in the past 5 years.


money spent vs. return on enjoyment does not necessarily correlate....I've had absolutely fantastic hunts on OTC ground that cost less than $1500 including tag, fuel and provisions.

some hunts a lot of what you are paying for are logistics related....guides spend 90% of the off season scouting animals, then you have drop camps, fuel for bush planes, helicopters, horses and wranglers, etc. it adds up quick and is a necessary part of the hunt.

People just have to realize Hunting out west isn’t cost prohibitive and even in a premium limited entry unit you will find/run into other hunters.

Two biggest deer I saw all year where in no point high draw odd areas

People just need to get out and learn to hunt and then unit doesn’t mean any thing.

Some friends of mine went to Africa two years ago. It was not their 1st venture over there. For their latest excursion, they hired a photographer, a couple of body guards and then stayed there a month and shot 50 animals including some cats. When they got back, they started on the plans to enlarge their home.

Those referenced above are good people, very good people, but they play in a different ball park.

Its cost prohibitive with time being the currency.

Not many people can take off the time needed to truly learn a unit in one shot. It took me 2- 7 day trips to get to where I was confident in very small area of the OTC unit I hunt in.

I can swing a 7 day hunt....maybe 10 days if the stars align right. Then factor in a 9-24 hour drive depending on where I'm going and it makes scouting trips impossible. I'm fortunate where I can swing that, alot of guys can't break free for more than 2-3 days at a time.



That is where the higher success private land/limited draw with an outfitter comes into play. It may come out in the wash money wise in the end, depending on how many strike out trips you have.

The most I have ever paid would have to be for fishing trips and less than $1,000.

Im cheap in general, but im always saving. It is paying off, just takes some time. Hopefully when my boy is big enough I will get to go do some other hunting with him. Other than that I shoudl have gone and done what I wanted before I was married.

Best time to do it is now. Hit the mountains and chase the hard stuff....its not gonna get easier or cheaper.

You can do an elk hunt for right around a grand and a mule deer or pronghorn hunt cheaper than that, but you will have to draw a tag

Just aint in the cards now.

I focus my spending on bigger out of state trips a couple times a year and for less than what most guys spend on a lease, I hunt as much as I have time for and have what, to me, is a better experience. Last year, I drew an elk tag in Idaho and mule deer in New Mexico. $825 or so for the elk and $450 for the deer. Call it a couple hundred bucks for the New Mexico hunt and maybe another $1000 for the Idaho trip. For $2500-$3000, I got to spend 14 days in the woods, had two great experiences and and brought back a 6x6 bull and no deer.

Before TPWD screwed up the draw system here, I used to pick up a couple of those a year, too, for another $500 or so.

This year, I'm going back for another shot at a New Mexico mule deer and pronghorn in Wyoming. Probably $1500-$2000 on those trips. I'll also get a bonus helping my nephew with his New Mexico oryx tag. Throw in a couple weekends for ducks and hogs around here, and my dance card is full. Lease hunting doesn't really appeal to me, so this is an easy choice for me. At this point in my life with a busy work schedule and young kids, I couldn't spend every weekend at a deer lease anyway. Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

I have been to Africa and spent a lot (for me) and had an amazing time. I will absolutely go back and do that again. I'm also planning on going back to Alaska in 2022, I think, for caribou. Those trips would be a lot harder to swing if I was spending several thousand dollars every year on the lease. We all prioritize our spending of time and money the way that works best, and this is my preference.

you bring up a very interesting " ying vs. yang " scenario when it comes to lease hunting vs. western hunting.


I know guys who have very prestigious leases in South Texas that pay from $12k- $20k/spot for a handful of whitetail deer,with some off season privileges. This does not include cost of feed, and feeding is mandatory. Even a mid range lease here is gonna run you from $3-$5k/year.


So the actual hunting cost is much greater than most western public land hunting, the caveat being that the seasons are much shorter out west, in a lot of instances you have to draw tags and may not get a tag every season for the species you want, or have to hop around the state to units you may not be very familiar with, have to switch weapons, or both.


With leases here, you don't have to travel as far, in most cases you can go at the drop of a hat and enjoy a long season within the confines of your allotted bag. Getting kids into the outdoors is also a factor that I would argue is in favor of lease hunting.



I found out a long time ago, that in most cases, leases don't offer the most "bang for the buck" so to speak that western hunting does, but availability, proximity and convenience are offsetting factors.

TxTro Im glad you mentioned S TX prices. I don’t think any of those guys have chimed in yet. Your 12K to 20K figure for down there is pretty common, but of course some are cheaper as well as some much more. Ive been there and Im not knocking it, but no more. I found a real paradise close to DFW with STx type deer for a little below that STx money but still expensive.
For me I don’t prefer the short time frame type hunts, regardless of price or quality of the experience. Instead, I enjoy the entire process of a lease experience and especially the opportunity to hunt a whole lot. I can drive a short distance and hunt a huge number of days. Even though I have opportunities at big Super Trophy type deer I just don’t pull the trigger very often. I don’t want the hunt/experience to end soon.
As for Huds high roller friends, send them my way. Ill be their body guard, photographer and cook if they’ll just pull out their pocket change to pay for my lease spot.

It is not about how much money you spend, it is about how many memories you make. Some of my best hunts were with my grandpa on a lease 50 years ago. Others were drives to meet up with my former RTO and machine gunner at the Fort Leavenworth, Kansas area. Or the trip to Montana to hunt with my cousin that I served with at Fort Benning. Another was a trip to Tennessee to duck hunt with another USAF dependent I went to high school with. With a few more.

That's him.

You probably fall into the same category I do where you will spend more money to hunt out of state than you would here at home.


I won't pay very much to shoot a whitetail in Texas, but don't mind at all to book a hunt out of state for other game.

well, if you add in the cost of the 5th wheel trailer I needed to have for my new lease and all the rest of the other stuff such as feed, fuel, blind repairs, a couple new feeders....about $15k-16k this year.
Hopefully only about $4k-$5k next 4 years though after that. lol

About $400 and felt like I was wasting money.

Yep, exactly.

Africa, no idea what al the costs were

I think the most I have spent was around $6000 to $6500 on a couple of hunts for WT and MD. Of those two, one was in Texas and one was in Kansas. I have only paid for a few outfitted or guided hunts in my life. Most of my hunting is on owned land, leases or invites.

$3500 for a yearly archery lease
$1500 for a management WT hunt

I try to do a Chambers bow hunt every couple years and it's $300-$600 for the two day hunt. That's the only paid hunt I've done other than my year long lease

I disagree on needing to learn a unit, it’s not overly needed. Helpful yes but not needed at all. I can find elk or deer in any unit and I can probably get 5 starting points with in 15 mins of web searching.

I hunt any opportunity I can get; guided, DIY, lease Etc. Only time I see a monetary benefit to guided, is if it is required to procure a tag, you have very limited time, if you are targeting a score, and or a highly coveted tag you want capitalize all chances(this really goes back to score). In addition for certain animal species private can be more of a hindrance then a help sometimes, especially elk.

One guided hunt pretty much covers gear start up for any situation out west.

I’m in no way saying don’t use a guide or private(I do both), I’m just saying if you are on a limited budget, with the amount of resources available the barriers to entry for a DIY western hunt, get slimmer every day.

My family whitetail lease cost more then what I spend out side of Texas on 2-3 hunts a year. I can only think of 2 elk hunts in 15 years that we didn’t have an opportunity to take animal(miss or pass). I’m not anything special in any away, but I think more you go better you understand how to hunt. The How is a way bigger equalizer then area knowledge, and sometimes even guided.

Time is a huge limiting factor for me. I cant just pause life at home and go. I could get the time off work no biggie, but im not gonna take small children with me and the wife dont want to be home alone. We do very little apart and like it that way for the most part.

Im afraid to answer question even with the 1 in 1,000,000 chance that my wife would see it.

In those 15 yrs of elk hunting...how many elk have you killed on these DIY hunts?

Rifle or archery? 5 rifle, zero archery.

"Rifle or archery? 5 rifle, zero archery." ^^^^^^^^^ in the red ...guess that goose egg in archery is due to lack of a rangefinder

Somes responses would be different if the question posed was, what's the most someone else has paid to take you hunting?

It's archery hunting... [censored] happens, especially with me any any bull over 280/300. I'll kill one this year. Not having an elk tag last two years hurt especially since, I've called in two bulls last year and 7 the year before. I'm not going to archery pronghorn/mule deer this year in oct, so I can hunt more in sept.

You gonna take a back up?

What's the most I've spent?

Well, after the cost of bail/court costs/fines & restitution to the State/impound fees/gas to & from community service & probation etc.....well I don't really wanna talk about it.

kidding.

no you ain't

Nope solo this year. Txshnter won't hunt with me anymore. Last time he went with me, he was at full draw on a cow at 12 yards and I wouldn't let him shoot. We did call in two bulls later but got winded both times.

0/11

You want a random live boar raccoon put in your truck or four flats..

I am not the one bragging about how easy elk are to find on public land.....0/11

I was referring to your need to take an extra range finder as a back up.

That's always a possibility, I need a back up to a buck up

I heard that in Pecos County there is a spare rangefinder under just about every greasewood on one particular ranch....

Why I put down the rifle and really only chase archery bugling bulls now, finding them isn't hard. I helped put a tv crew on elk last year. They got their buts kicked on private and came over to public. I glassed up three bulls while looking for bears. Dropped them a couple of onx pins. They went 1/2 and were really close on 2/2. I will say I do know this particular OTC unit extremely well though. With that said they had an a Idea where elk would be (via looking at maps), and I confirmed it and showed them easiest way to get in, and where I’d seen the bulls.

And yet you are 0/11 in a easy to find them unit...amazing.

That's actually 5 different units and three states

When did killing and finding become the same? Nothing easy about killing an elk with a bow, although I did kill an public land archery bull in I think 15 or 16. If you take out passing(and I've pass a bunch of legal rags and smaller 5x5’s) and or missing more like 0/4 and then take out three years helping two didn't friends in which I didn't take bow off back, it's not nearly as blick as you poke at.

No different then you going to Matador last year. You had opportunity but you passed on smaller bucks. It didn't take you long to figure out how to hunt it. Point is the barrier to entry isn't a steep as people claim it to be.

Don't bring up Matador. He saw something special there and it jaundiced his remaining vision.

Just a little memory refresh; “good for the goose is good for the gander.”

Mr. 0/11...difference is I was went hunting with a mindset for a certain type of deer...not a sightseeing trip for 11 yrs.

which one of youse is the goose?

Same here, and it needs to be bigger then other two I have on my wall...

Just because you look at elk like I do pronghorns as in they all deserve to die, doesn't mean I can't have standards too

How many bow kills on that wall?

300

Absolutely!