SILVERTIP-CO

It's all expensive any more. In 6 yrs I have spent more money hunting in Colo than in40 yrs hunting in PA. And I LIVE in Colo. A trip thru the recent ISE Denver Expo with a knowledgeable friend who has recently hunted worldwide did show me that many hunts are wayyyy overpriced. He did show me some good values there, so it's not all bad. Butguys pay it so it is in fact a market thing.

Capitalism at its finest unfortunately lets some of us hardworkers out[:@].

Hope you get it all worked out. A DIY OTC bull elk hunt can be done for about <$2200 or so if you figger in all expenses and gas from PA and return. I did a lil study on it for another site and others concur with my estimate.

Good luck. Lemme know if I can help.

MichiganWhitetails74

It is a fact of life....some people are raised in an environment that produces all sorts of games and they know how to find it because their life was based on learning the land and hunting it...

For us guys in the mid -west.... for just us guys hunting a 10 acre parcel in Michigan....

We do not know where to go out west...we're afraid to invest on a "Do it yourself "hunt because we're unsure of the land but we want to come home successful...so we go guided...

We just don't know the nature of the land...we were raised in big cities ....we were not raised in zone XXX of Wyoming....

I guess its how life goes depending on where you live....If I could find an engineering management position that would post me out west I would go...I need to take care of my wife and little girls...if its there....show me the way!!

AZBear

A lot of emphasis is placed on being successful on every single hunting trip. If you think about what you have to spend cash wise and the amount of time and effort in getting to know an out of state area then you have to accept the fact that you will pay in one manner or another to hunt. I have always done DIY hunts and yes at times it has cost up to $2000 to come home empty handed and you always have to justify to your better half and maybe to your self the cost of partial failure/success. Your ability to accept this partial failure/success is what is going to determine your likelihood of using a guide service vs. DIY. I struggled with the cost vs. success of out of state hunting for many years, but when I started viewing it as a vacation/get away/renewal period and success is all in what you make of it…that is when it all came together for me. I will have to say that I have been more successful since I have adopted this philosophy then before since the stress of failure isn’t being held over my head (my wife has accepted it as well). Would I like to go on a guided hunt and be catered to and guided into an unfamiliar land…sure I would, but it might be many more years before I will be able to justify the cost of that luxury hunt (vacation).

Guys it’s all in what you feel your time and success in the field is worth. DIY and be willing to accept the cost/time you have to invest in the field or hire the over priced guide (so some say). In the end you are the one who will have to choose which path is right for you. I don’t hold bad feelings against those who can afford to pay to play since I accepted that I must work hard for all that I get and DIY is my path! Good luck and good hunting…

James B

Simple, there are to many people that will pay it. Just like gas. I f we pay the price , they will charge it.

EKM

Then don't pay, and.... don't go....
Thus the popularity of the local deer patch....

Probably better for your health anyway.

txhunter58

Silvertip, was your study done figuring cost of one person coming by themselves? Otherwise, I can't see how it would cost that much per person if you were on a budget. We have a group of 3 to 4 guys to share expenses, and it costs us about half that.

Bull elk tag = $500 (probably more this year)

Gasoline: 3000 miles total (15 miles to the gallon average for whole trip): $3/gal gas split 3 ways = $200 (I realize this doesn't include wear and tear on the vehicle driven, but for the sake of argument, lets say that it is not your truck that is taken)

Hotel bill (1 stay each way) =$30-50/night/person = $100

Spending money for traveling/eating out/etc =$100-200

Food: you have to eat whether you are on a trip or at home, so this is not really an ADDED expense, but also for the sake of argument, lets add $100 for extra cost beyond what you would spend at home. = $100

a place to stay; someones tent, after the intial expense: $0

Meat processing. Again, this is not really an expense. If you come home empty handed, you don't spend this money. If you get an elk, the meat you bring home more than pays for the processing, so I don't consider this an expense above what I would spend if I didn't go. In fact, it helps recoup some of the expense to go!

So far I am at $1100. I am sure I missed a few things, but there are also corners you can cut if you are really on a budget: Don't stay at a motel: pitch a small tent at a campground, sleep in your truck, etc. You can also live on peanut butter sandwiches instead of eating out, drink water instead of sodas, and the deepest cut of all:don't buybeer!

blaserman

I am a working man for the most part I work hard for what I have . I am an Auto Mechanic, Hard work and long Hours. I save and work extra hours and hussle on the side to do my hunt-vaccations. I have hunted from Africa- Mexico , all the prices went up this year because of the fall value of the US dollar.
AS for not a rich mans sport yet - Caribou went from $3900 w/license$5000 + wo/license
WhiteTail deer in Sach - $4500 - $9000 and they take 60- 80 people a year. How can you produce big deer with this many deer taken out every year , IT CAN"T BE DONE.
I think this year is the year the way people are holding onto money , the outfitters will have alot of cancelations and will have to drop the price on somethngs. I have already had emails on a bear hunt for $1400 that has 5 cancelations.
I am done now But Food for thought NOT A RICH MANS SPORT $28,000 Stone sheep --- Polar Bear $45,000

Alsatian

johnny2:

If I could guide-outfit a one-client hunt for $2,500 and earn $100/hour for the hunt, that would be pretty good money. On the other hand, if I could only do four such hunts per season, and I had clients lining up to do the hunt, and I could find three hunters to pay $5,000/hunt, I would do the three hunts at $5,000/hunt and maybe sit at home in the easy chair on the other hunt rather than drop my pricing structure.

It is simple economics and capitalism. Why do tickets for the Dallas Cowboys cost $110/seat? Because they can sell them for that figure. If they could sell out pricing the seats at $200/seat, you better bet those seats are going to go up to $200/seat.

I say go out there and arrange do-it-yourself hunts. That is what I do. The satisfaction is pretty high knowing you did it all yourself. Of course, those guided/outfitted hunts often have a line on the best hunting grounds for bagging the biggest bulls and the biggest bucks. And maybe they have special exclusive hunting leases arranged with private land owners. And these guided/outfitted hunts have invested some effort up-front scouting to know where the big trophy animals are, which the typical DIY hunter may not be able to do so readily. If you are into it for the trophy, be advised money is going to provide you a big advantage. Trophy hunting has become commercialized in a number of senses and more money spent links strongly with bigger trophy in many cases.

Howler

You're correct when you say it can't be done, because let's face it, not every hunter kills a deer! Find out what the success rate is, maybe 25%, just a guess. And a BIG deer to Joe Blow might be a dink to his brother Joe Smoe! Of 60 to 80 guys, might be 10 guys shoot BIG deer!

Until outfitters run out of paying clients, the prices will continue to rise. I've gone on a very expensive hunt once, took 7 years for me to save the money to go, and I don't regret doing it, and I'm saving to do something like it once again the near future.

remington_girl

Well, if any of you guys are interested theres a place near me thats an estate and has many trophy red stags, its 1 stag over 5 days for $400 and you get to keep the meat and you can get the head mounted.

Only thing is, you need your own firearms.

Trophy hunting here isn't as expensive as the US.


Just my 2 cents lol